President
Obama meets and thanks Polish soldiers, old and new,
in Warsaw's
Pilsudski Square, May 27.
Gazeta Wyborcza, Poland
Polish Jews Express
Gratitude for President Obama's Visit
"Despite
being such an important and meaningful political figure, President Obama found
time to stop for a moment and consider the lessons of history."
-- PiotrKadlcik, president of the Union
of Jewish Religious Communities in Poland
The image of the U.S. president
laying flowers at the Monument
to the Ghetto Heroes is destined to become one of the most important from
his visit to Warsaw. Obama's heartfelt exchanges with representatives of the
Jewish community and the Righteous Among the Nations also left a great impression. He spoke
with, among others, Marian Turski, board chairman of
the Museum of the
History of Polish Jews.
During the TV broadcast of
President Obama's visit to the Monument to the Ghetto Heroes, viewers were able
to observe the president spend quite some time speaking warmly with members of
Warsaw's Jewish community and with the Righteous Among
the Nationswho rescued Jews during the Holocaust. What they said
couldn't be heard. The president spent a particularly long time with Marian Turski, who later related that he told the U.S. president how
he participated with Martin Luther King in a march for civil rights in
Montgomery, Alabama. "The president said, ‘I thank you because it's thanks
to people like you that I was able to become president,’" related Turski
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President Obama came to Muranów after a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the
Unknown Soldier. He stood for a long while, his head bowed, at the Monument to
the Ghetto Heroes. At the time of the Ghetto uprising
in April 1943, there were about 70, 000 Jews remaining there. Almost 14,000
died in the uprising, and the rest were deported to Nazi death camps. Having
laid the wreath, the U.S. president spent 15 minutes greeting and talking to
representatives of the Polish-Jewish community, most of them elderly. Also
present were a number of people honored with the Medal of Righteous Among the Nations, bestowed by YadVashem [Israel’s Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance
Authority].
"We spoke of our visit
to Washington in 2009, when we were invited to the U.S. capitol by President
Obama on International
Holocaust Remembrance Day. For me, the most important part of that day was
that President Obama spoke so warmly and beautifully about the Righteous Among
the Nations, and that has reverberated around the world," said Anna Stupnicka-Bando, president of the Polish Association of
Righteous Among the Nations, when journalists asked her about her conversation
with the U.S. president.
Longevity secrets of the Righteous
The vice president of the Group
of Polish Righteous Among the Nations, JózefWalaszczyk, stressed the
fact that President Obama spoke so warmly to each and every person. "We
were very impressed. The conversation was so intimate and warm, there was
nothing stiff about it: there were smiles, handshakes, and the ladies even got
a kiss," reports Walaszczyk.
He added that in his conversation
with the president, he mentioned his age of 92 years. The president then asked
him what he did to remain in such shape despite his age. "One has to eat everything
and always have young women around, I said. The president then laughed,"
says Józef Walaszczyk.
Obama: I’ll bring my daughters for the opening of the
Jewish Museum
Barack Obama was also briefed
on construction plans for the Museum of the History of Polish Jews being built
across the street from the Monument to the Ghetto Heroes, although, due to
security reasons, he wasn't invited inside the building. In front of the site,
Barack Obama spoke to, among others, the museum's acting director, AgnieszkaRudzińska, the
Museum’s board chairman, Marian Turski, and Minister
of Culture and National Heritage BogdanZdrojewski. Warsaw Mayor Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz told the U.S.
leader about the building of the museum. "I told the president that construction
began just two years ago, although everyone thought such a place should be built
for over 20 years," she told reporters. She added that during her
conversation with Obama, she stressed the fact of the museum documented, "the
thousand years of Poles and Jews living together, with the Holocaust just one
element of that history." According to Mayor Gronkiewicz-Waltz, President
Obama said that he would like to come to Warsaw again when the Museum opens in
2013.
The museum’s director, AgnieszkaRudzińska, also said
the president expressed an interest in visiting the museum when construction was
completed. "President Obama told us that he would certainly come for our
opening in 2013, and that he would bring his daughters. He said that the Museum
of the History of Polish Jews is an important initiative, not just for Poles
and the Jews, but for the entire world," she told PAP [the Polish Press
Agency].
"It was an exceptional
meeting. President Obama spent more time with us than we expected. He was able
to talk about the idea of the museum with everyone, including people from the
Righteous Among the Nations," she said. Marian Turski, for his part, related that he told the U.S. president,
"this is a museum for Polish young people, so that they can appreciate the
vacuum that was created in Poland when the Jews disappeared; and also for Jewish
young people, so that they can learn about their roots, and for all people to
understand the contribution to European and world civilization made by Polish Jews."
Minister Zdrojewski
expressed satisfaction with President Obama, not only for laying a wreath at
the Monument to the Ghetto Heroes, but for wanting to see the museum under
construction. "This museum is quite a challenge, not only for the Ministry
of Culture, but for the entire nation," the minister said. He announced that
the planned opening for the museum was 2013.
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Chief Rabbi of Poland Michael
Schudrich pointed out that the laying of a wreath at
the Monument to the Ghetto Heroes was an important moment in Obama’s visit. He
underlined the importance of having the Righteous Among
the Nations at the ceremony. "For us Jews, it is important to remember the
heroes of the Ghetto uprising, but on the other hand, we can never forget all of
the righteous ones who were equally heroic to us," Schudrich
said.
PiotrKadlcik, president of the Union
of Jewish Religious Communities in Poland, saw the honor paid by Obama at the Ghetto
Heroes as an important gesture. "Despite being such an important and
meaningful political figure, he found time to stop for a moment and consider
the lessons of history," he said.
Completionof the Museum of the History of Polish Jews is planned
for the fall of 2012, and the opening ceremony is planned for spring, 2013. The
exposition is to be divided into eight galleries documenting various stages of the
1,000 year common history of Poles and Jews.
