Jewish groups in Poland have condemned plans to locate a memorial to Polish “righteous” gentiles in the heart of what once was the Warsaw ghetto saying it would infringe upon the memory of murdered Jews.

Current plans put the memorial to the Righteous Among Nations next to the center of Jewish resistance during the uprising, and a new museum on Judaism in Poland. But Poland’s Jewish community, while not disputing the justification behind the monument, have asked for it to be placed on the edges of the old ghetto.

Poland is a large country so there is plenty of capacity for a monument to the Righteous, but let the Warsaw Ghetto remain an inviolate area dedicated to the memory of murdered Jews.

The problem over the memorial touches on the sensitive history surrounding the uprising.

On April 19, 1943, having witnessed the daily deportation of thousands of Jews to death camps, Jewish insurgents launched a defiant act of resistance against Nazi rule in the full knowledge they faced defeat and death. They held out for almost a month, and their bravery became an inspiration for Jews around the world.

But for some in Poland the concentration of attention on the Jewishness of the battle has side-lined the efforts of Christian Poles who risked their lives to smuggle weapons into the ghetto and people out. They feel these efforts deserve greater recognition.

The dispute over where to honour Christian Poles who tried to save Jews from the clutches of the Holocaust comes just days before Poland prepares to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)