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On 21-22 February 2019 a conference titled '''The New Polish School of Holocaust Scholarship''' ({{lang-fr|Nouvelle école polonaise d’histoire de la Shoah}}) devoted to the work of the [[Polish Center for Holocaust Research]] took place at the [[School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences]] (EHESS) Paris.<ref name="Tablet">[https://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/283216/polish-nationalism-and-holocaust-history The war between polish nationalism and holocaust history], [[Jonathan Brent]], Tablet, 12 April 2019</ref><ref name="BehrIPN">{{Cite web|url=https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-02177454/document|title=Behr, Valentin. "Entre histoire et propagande. Les contributions de l’Institut polonais de la mémoire nationale à la mise en récit de la Seconde Guerre mondiale." Allemagne d'aujourd'hui 2 (2019): 82-92.}}</ref> The conference was disrupted by Polish nationalists based in France.<ref name="lemonde20190304"/><ref name="Tablet"/>
On 21-22 February 2019 a conference titled '''The New Polish School of Holocaust Scholarship''' ({{lang-fr|Nouvelle école polonaise d’histoire de la Shoah}}) devoted to the work of the [[Polish Center for Holocaust Research]] took place at the [[School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences]] (EHESS) Paris.<ref name="Tablet">[https://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/283216/polish-nationalism-and-holocaust-history The war between polish nationalism and holocaust history], [[Jonathan Brent]], Tablet, 12 April 2019</ref><ref name="BehrIPN">{{Cite web|url=https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-02177454/document|title=Behr, Valentin. "Entre histoire et propagande. Les contributions de l’Institut polonais de la mémoire nationale à la mise en récit de la Seconde Guerre mondiale." Allemagne d'aujourd'hui 2 (2019): 82-92.}}</ref> The conference was disrupted by Polish nationalists based in France.<ref name="lemonde20190304"/><ref name="Tablet"/>


Revision as of 06:29, 13 August 2019

On 21-22 February 2019 a conference titled The New Polish School of Holocaust Scholarship (French: Nouvelle école polonaise d’histoire de la Shoah) devoted to the work of the Polish Center for Holocaust Research took place at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS) Paris.[1][2] The conference was disrupted by Polish nationalists based in France.[3][1]

Background

The Polish Center for Holocaust Research has published a two-volume study titled Dalej jest noc which covered the role played by Poles in killing Jews as well as turning them over to German authorities. The nationalist regime governing Poland has pushed back against such research. While not denying the Holocaust, Polish authorities prefer to put a spot light on German actions.[4] The 2018 Polish Holocaust law, which threatens those who "undermine the image of Poland" and whose criminal provisions were vacated following international protest (leaving civil law provisions), was prompted in part by by the publications of the new school.[5]

The conference titled The New Polish School of Holocaust Scholarship (French: Nouvelle école polonaise d’histoire de la Shoah) devoted to the work of the Polish Center for Holocaust Research was scheduled for 21-22 February 2019 at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS) in Paris.[1][2] The conference was organized by the Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Shoah, EHESS, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, Polish Center for Holocaust Research, Polish Academy of Sciences (Paris branch), Strasbourg University, and the L'Histoire journal.[6]

According to Izabela Wagner, Polish scholars face two dangers: first the possibility of injury by groups present at their public appearances, and second being accused of "damaging the good name of Poland". These dangers are present in fields such as Marxism and gender studies, however Holocaust scholars face the highest risks. According to Wagner, protesters at Holocaust conferences take note of statements by Polish Holocaust researches with the aim of initiating judicial proceedings for harming the "the good name of Poland".[7] According to Wagner, the best organized Polish emigre group is Roman Catholics who enjoy institutional support from the Church that reinforces Polish national identity. Wagner states that the Catholicism practiced in Poland and diaspora often differentiates between "us" and "them", with antisemitism being a feature of cultural identity in recent years.[8]

Intimidation prior to the conference

Polish Right-wing groups, including the Coalition of Polish Americans, the World Union of Polish Patriots, Polish Media Issues, and the Polonia Institute demanded the cancellation of the conference. In a joint protest letter they wrote: "As descendants of Poles who fought and died en masse in the fight against Nazi Germany on all fronts ... we cannot accept the fact that the prestigious EHESS lends its scientific authority to anti-Polish, unreliable characters from the world of science" and further described the speakers as bearing "a clear xenophobic and anti-Polish character".[9] These groups are opposed to research finding by historians which show some Polish participation in the murder of Jews in the Holocaust.[10]

The Polish Institute of National Remembrance criticized the conference on social media prior to its opening. The messages were repeated on twitter by the Embassy of Poland, Paris[11] and by the Polish ambassador to Switzerland Jakub Kumoch.[12] Polish state TV, Telewizja Polska, labelled the conference as "a festival of anti-Polish lies".[12]

Prior to the conference beginning, agitators attempted to intimidate the organizers with e-mails demanding cancellation.[4] According to EHESS, they received numerous e-mails and phone calls demanding the cancellation of the conference. These messages often included extensive quotations of an essay by IPN house historian Tomasz Domanski titled "Correction of the (historical) image" which the IPN addressed at EHESS and co-organizers via twitter.[12] Historian Claire Zalc, who presided over a session, said she was intimidated by an insult laced telephone call to her home as well as several e-mails.[6]

Disruption at conference

The conference was disrupted by Polish nationalists based in France,[3][1] as well as some who came from London and Poland to Paris,[13] who repeatedly disrupted the conference by vocal interjections.[12] According to French education minister Frédérique Vidal and EHESS director of studies Judith Lyon-Caen, the group of some 30 nationalists were associated with the right-wing Gazeta Polska weekly, and supported by Polish state representatives.[11][14] Agitators stalked conference speakers in Paris, shouting insults such as "dirty Jew" that hark back to interwar antisemitism.[4]

Historian Jacek Leociak received death threats in online messages and was insulted as he left the conference. Leociak's speech at the conference was disrupted with shouting. According to Leociak during the conference a large Polish group, "under the spiritual protection of a Catholic priest", was present.[15]

A groups of Polish nationalists shouted "shame on you, you dirty Jew!" at historian Jan Grabowski as he left EHESS.[15][12] According to Grabowski in the past such disruption would've been unthinkable, however due to "the support of the Polish state, they are ready to show their faces and to confront scholars on their own ground".[15]

According to EHESS director of studies Judith Lyon-Caen, pirated recordings of the event were made by the YouTube channel suwerenny.pl. The YouTube channel cut out of context fragments of statements made by researchers and distributed them online.[14]

According to Audrey Kichelewski, a member of the organizing committee, the first day was particularly violent with protesters regularly booing and shouting interjections. Kichelewski notes the distribution of a French language leaflet describing the position of the Polish protesters, which while not being incorrect on historical facts was notable in what it chose to omit.[6] According to Valentin Behr, his colleagues recognized some of the Polish protesters from a previous event with Jan Gross in 2016. Per Behr, the protesters would heckle each time the Catholic church or antisemitism was mentioned in the conference.[6] A 5 page leaflet on "The Lies of Jan Gross" was also distributed by the Polish protesters.[6]

Clippings from the conference were posted online, accompanied by antisemitic comments. A far-right television station interviewed Polish individuals outside of the EHESS conference. More mainstream Polish media also covered the events, with Polish state TV broadcasting pictures of four Polish participants on their 23 February newscast.[5] According to Izabela Wagner, Polish state TV labelled the conference as a "Sabbath of Witches".[8]

According to literary historian Elżbieta Janicka the protesters inside the conference itself were mostly women who gathered around a Polish Catholic Mission priest. Janicka stated that they made interjections such as "Learn Polish before giving lessons to Poles", "Liars", and antisemitic remarks on the Talmud. According to Janicka conference attendants were surrounded, harassed, and questioned outside the conference in a pogrom like atmosphere. Inside the conference the protesters distributed, per Janicka, antisemitisc propaganda as well as a pseudo-scientific booklet by the IPN. According to Janicka, as she made her own presentation at the conference one of the protesting women made a gesture of cutting her throat in a manner similar to that in the Shoah documentary film by Claude Lanzmann.[1]

Historian Antoine Marès observed multiple women using a thumb's down signal as if they were spectators in gladiatorial games indicating the death of the orators as well as a woman repeatedly gesturing across her neck indicating decapitation or slaughter.[6] Izabela Wagner notes that after hoots and howls by protesters led to a request for silence, protesters turned to non-verbal gestures: the repeated use of the thumb's down signal as well as protesters dragging their thumb across their throats in a threatening gesture.[7]

Aftermath

EHESS management condemned the disruption during the conference.[12] EHSSS president Christophe Prochasson said he could not recall such a violent disturbance at any scientific conference.[16] EHESS submitted a report to the Paris public prosecutor regarding antisemitic discourse during the conference.[16]

The Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Shoah issued a statement on 25 February 2019 indicating its supports for conference participants.[6] Human rights ambassador, François Croquette, also indicated his support for academic freedom.[6] The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance also released a statement condemning the disruption.[17]

The Polish Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) which had made social media postings during the conference and sent a delegate,[2] was criticized by French education minister Frédérique Vidal,[2][3] who said the disturbances were "highly regrettable" and "anti-Semitic". Vidal further stated the disturbances organized by Gazeta Polska activists, appeared to have been condoned by the IPN whose representative did not condemn the disruption and which criticized the conference on social media that were further re-tweeted by the Embassy of Poland, Paris.[18] In response, Polish minister Jarosław Gowin expressed regret at the disturbance but requested proof of antisemitism.[12]

The nationally distributed right-wing Polish newspaper Only Poland (Polish: Tylko Polska) printed alongside a headline tilted "Attack on Poland at a conference in Paris" (with a picture of Jan T. Gross, who is frequently the target of attacks by Polish nationalists) an article titled "How to spot a Jew". The article described "disinformation activities" as well as "names, anthropological features, expressions, appearances, character traits, methods of operation" which according to Only Poland could be used to discern Jewish individuals. Following distribution of the newspaper in the Sejm, Polish politicians complained that texts of such nature were present in the Sejm.[19][20][21]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e The war between polish nationalism and holocaust history, Jonathan Brent, Tablet, 12 April 2019
  2. ^ a b c d "Behr, Valentin. "Entre histoire et propagande. Les contributions de l'Institut polonais de la mémoire nationale à la mise en récit de la Seconde Guerre mondiale." Allemagne d'aujourd'hui 2 (2019): 82-92".
  3. ^ a b c La Pologne minimise les incidents lors d’un colloque sur la Shoah à Paris, Le Monde, 4 March 2019
  4. ^ a b c From New Technology to Resurgent Nationalism: The Future of Holocaust Studies, Haaretz, David B. Green, 2 May 2019
  5. ^ a b Polish far right disrupts Holocaust conference, Libération, Jean-Charles Szurek, 4 March 2019
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Un colloque international à Paris sur la Shoah perturbé par des militants polonais, Political, 26 February
  7. ^ a b The Subtext of a Recent International Scandal, Public Seminar, Izabela Wagner, 17 April 2019
  8. ^ a b How Media, Political and Religious Elites Shape Plebian Resistance, Izabela Wagner, 24 April 2019
  9. ^ Right-wing groups in Poland say Holocaust conference anti-Polish, Times of Israel, 18 February 2019
  10. ^ Polish Holocaust researchers verbally attacked at Paris Shoah research conference, JTA, 24 February 2019
  11. ^ a b Colloquium on the Shoah disturbed in Paris: France challenges Poland, AFP (Radio France Internationale reprint), 1 March 2019, English translation at lzb.lt
  12. ^ a b c d e f g We do not tolerate such a picture of history - a Polish campaign against Holocaust research, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Joseph Croitoru, 28 March 2019
  13. ^ Holocaust historians suffer antisemitic abuse at conference, Times Higher Education, 5 March 2019, David Matthews
  14. ^ a b Historians deal with Polish revisionism, La vie des idees, Judith Lyon-Caen, 5 April 2019
  15. ^ a b c Polish Holocaust researchers attacked at Paris Shoah research conference, JPost, 25 February 2019
  16. ^ a b A colloquium on the history of the Holocaust disturbed by Polish nationalists, Le Monde, 1 March 2019
  17. ^ Statement on Disruption of International Symposium on Polish Research on the Holocaust, IHRA, 7 March 2019
  18. ^ Colloquium on the Shoah in Paris: France protests with Poland, Le Figaro, 1 March 2019
  19. ^ Front Page of Polish Paper Runs Piece on 'How to Spot a Jew', Haaretz, 14 March 2019
  20. ^ Polish newspaper runs front page list on ‘how to spot a Jew’, Independent, 14 March 2019
  21. ^ Front page in Polish paper: 'How to spot a Jew', The Washington Post, 14 March 2019

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=New_Polish_School_of_Holocaust_Scholarship&oldid=910603812"