Polish bishop accuses Jews of using Holocaust as propaganda

A leading Polish Catholic bishop caused a stir on Monday when he was quoted as saying that Jews had "expropriated" the Holocaust as a "propaganda weapon".

The comments by Bishop Tadeusz Pieronek, a former head of the Polish bishops' conference, prompted concern among Jewish leaders in both Poland and Italy after they were published on the conservative Italian Catholic website www.pontifex.roma.

Pieronek later went on Polish television to say his comments had been manipulated and he denied one phrase in which he was quoted as saying "the Holocaust as such is a Jewish invention".

He also said that he did not "authorise" the publication of the interview, which was still on the website on Monday evening.

"It is undeniable that the greatest number of dead in concentration camps were Jews but there are also Polish gypsies, Italians and Catholics on the list," he was quoted as saying.

On Wednesday some countries will mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day on the 65th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Polish President Lech Kaczynski and ministers from many European countries are due to attend commemorative events at Auschwitz on Wednesday.

"It is not right to expropriate that tragedy for propaganda," Pieronek was quoted as saying, adding that memorial days should be held for the "victims of communism, for Catholics, for persecuted Christians and so on."

He continued: "But they, the Jews, enjoy good press because they have powerful financial means behind them, enormous power and the unconditional backing of the United States and this favors a certain arrogance that I find unbearable."

Jews, are like all of the other victims of all of the holocausts of the last century, nothing more and nothing less.

Not quite, you spinmeister. If that were the case, you would not be so vexed by Jewish narratives of the Holocaust; you're not bothered by anyone else's narratives of their suffering; only Jewish ones. So you hold a special criticism for Jews. You claim "They're no different from other victims!" Yet if a black writer tells the story of black suffering under slavery in the U.S., you don't say "They're no different from other enslaved peoples! How dare they tell a story about themselves and imply that ONLY they suffered from slavery!" I suppose Exodus from the Bible irks you, too, since it tells the story of Jewish enslavement in Egypt and is not a general indictment of slavery as such.

The proof that Jews are really not like all other victims of all the holocausts of the last century is that spinmeisters like you always berate specifically the Jews -- no other group -- for telling their own story...and apparently being very commercially successful at doing so. You'll no doubt feel differently about things if and when a Polish bishop can produce a hit movie or best-selling book about Polish suffering under Soviet communism.

Such stories are long overdue. We're all waiting.

don't presume to know what I believe.

You've been telling us what you believe in your posts; no one has to presume a thing.

I am just not convinced that they individually suffered more than any other victim.

No Jew has ever claimed that Jews suffered more than other victims. What you hate is the fact that Jews write about their own suffering. Apparently, you, Stephan, and the Polish bishop wish Jews would just shut up altogether.

I have a great deal of empathy for the victims of the holocaust (all of the victims regardless of demographics) and their survivors.

Unless, of course such victims write books about their experiences, or release movies about it. You're full of empathy...as long as the victims shut up about their historical experiences. Then your "empathy" changes to criticism of how such victims are simply being venal and "cashing in" on their experiences.

I think it the height of identity theft ...

??? I get it! When a Jew points out that his sufferings in the Holocaust are part of his historical identity, that represents theft of some other victim's identity! Now, is this true for blacks, too? If a black writer claims that enslavement of blacks in the U.S. is part of his historical identity, does that claim steal the identity of some other victim of slavery somewhere else or at some other time?

and disrespect for anyone to attempt to cash in on their suffering.

Just as I predicted. See above. Know-nothings like you are more comfortable under communism since you have zero idea of what freedom means, especially economic freedom in the market. If Spielberg makes a movie about the Holocaust and millions of people pay lots of money to see that movie, the "cashing in" you're complaining about is the fault of the people who pay to see the movie...it's not the fault of Spielberg. No one forces anyone to consume Spielberg's movie; they are free NOT to buy a ticket (this is all probably news to you). Apparently, you're OK with victims making movies and publishing books about their victimization as long as such ventures are commercial failures (in which case they are not "cashing in").

Like all crypto-anti-Semites, you have a problem with Jewish commercial success...in this case, their success with telling the story of their suffering in the Holocaust.

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