English Section

Poland's WWII Home Army played greater role in helping Jews than thought: historian

15.04.2021 15:00
Poland’s World War II-era Home Army played a greater role in helping Jews than was previously thought in the English-speaking world, a Holocaust historian has said.
A monument in Warsaw honours Polands World War II-era underground Home Army (AK).
A monument in Warsaw honours Poland's World War II-era underground Home Army (AK).Photo: PAP/Tomasz Gzell

Prof. Joshua Zimmerman, a US-based historian, told an online seminar this week that Polish soldiers fought on the side of the Allies during the war and contributed to the defeat of Nazi Germany.

He added that many Poles were surprised to hear that some American Jews viewed their nation as anti-Semitic, and to hear that some claimed the Polish underground army during World War II was hostile to Jews.

He said many were shocked to hear such opinions because they risked their lives saving Jews during the war.

“Thousands of Poles helped Jews" at the time, Zimmerman told the international seminar on Wednesday.

He added that in his book The Polish Underground and the Jews, 1939-1945, he tried to show that “groups of the Polish underground Home Army played a greater role in helping Jews than was previously known in the English-speaking world," Poland’s PAP news agency reported.

Zimmerman, who is a professor at Yeshiva University in New York, was speaking during an online seminar held on Wednesday by the Berlin branch of Poland’s Pilecki Institute, the Polish state news agency reported.

Berliński oddział Instytutu Pileckiego prowadzi seminaria dla niemieckich nauczycieli i uczniów o mniej znanych...

Posted by Instytut Pileckiego on Monday, April 12, 2021

The Polish Underground and the Jews, 1939-1945 was originally published in 2015 by Cambridge University Press.

(gs/pk)

Source: dzieje.pl, PAP