| Letter to the editors of “The Daily Telegraph”, Chris Dore and Martin Newman, Jan 27th 2018. This is with regard to the opinion piece ”Holocaust Survivors Deliver Lesson On Humanity” by Martin Newman published in your paper on the 27th January 2018 and Mr Newman’s comment on “the way in which the populations of countries under the Nazi yoke were manipulated to turn on the Jews” during the Second World War. And in one stroke of a pen, Mr Newman mentions Germany, Czechoslovakia and Poland.
For those Australian readers who may be less versed in the history of the WW II, I would like to remind you that Germany was the country that started the WW II, and it was the German Nazi yoke that transformed the entire populations of the invaded countries into slaves that were terrorised, sent to German-built concentration camps or executed at street mass executions in multiple campaigns of terror.
Putting the three countries together is an attempt at denying the sole responsibility of Nazi Germany for the crimes committed by this country during the WW II, and shifting this responsibility to the invaded countries.
What do we call it? Falsification or rewriting of history. A few true historical facts: before the WW II the majority of European Jewry lived in Poland. More Poles have been honoured by Yad Vashem in Israel for saving Jewish lives during the Holocaust than any other nationality, in spite of the fact that only in Poland for trying not only to hide a Jew, but even for offering any other form of assistance, e.g., food, clothing, the entire Polish family was killed. In addition, the Polish underground government was the only government in the country occupied by Germany that did not cooperate with the Nazi Germany.
I, as a Polish Australian, feel deeply hurt and insulted by the insinuation that Poland turned against its own Jews.
While it may be construed that your journalist’s astounding mistruth is more likely to be the result of poor education rather than malicious intent towards the Polish nation, it is inexcusable that you as the editors would allow such an insult to be published in your paper. The World War II is well documented, and it is incredible to believe that people such as yourselves would have so distorted a historical knowledge.
Bozena Szymanska
Baulkham Hills
MARTIN NEWMAN: IT seems very wrong that the survivors of the Holocaust are generally seen as just victims, and all that that implies. Helplessness, weakness. Because they are far from it.The survivors of one of the world’s worst ever acts of genocide have a strength that is difficult to put into words.
They have eclipsed the toxic legacy of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis, to teach tolerance and acceptance, and act as a warning to all.
And today their role in educating us about the environment that gave rise to the Holocaust and how governments can manipulate people against one another, is as important as ever.
Their input in teaching critical thinking is a rare boon, but one that has a finite window.
Now, aged from their late 70s to 90s, when you meet these remarkable men and women you can’t help notice the twinkle in their eyes.
To hear their accounts of survival under Hitler’s regime is much more powerful than to read it in a history book. We all know the horrendous statistics. The six million Jews murdered in WWII, as well as the gypsies, Serbs and other persecuted minorities.
But for many Australians the reality of this seems very distant, an event that occurred, now, a long time ago, far away in Europe.
We would all like to think that we would not have stood by and let what was done to the Jews happen. It’s unfathomable to us how so many could have turned a blind eye, while others were active in the persecution and many more showed little to no compassion for their countrymen.
Historians often cite British prime minister Neville Chamberlain’s disastrous appeasement of Adolf Hitler, but he was not alone. Appeasers, cowed into silence, in fear of conflict, were everywhere, at all levels.
And yet, Germany, Czechoslovakia and Poland were educated, cultured places.
The way in which the populations of countries under the Nazi yoke were manipulated to turn on the Jews is an important and valuable historical lesson.
If it happened then, it could happen now. We are not that different from our forebears of the 1930s.
Speaking up, speaking out, both for ourselves and others, is not always easy.
Here on the streets of Sydney would you say something if you heard someone yell abuse at a woman in a headscarf or a gay man?
Remind yourself of the cost of silence and, too, that one voice can inspire others.
The Jews that survived the Holocaust, men and women like Jack Meister, Yvonne Engelman, Olga Horak and Paul Drexler, have a white-knuckle story to tell but also a powerful lesson on humanity and how quickly it can unravel.
If you have a list of things you want to do, put going down to the Sydney Jewish Museum in Darlinghurst on it and speak to a survivor.
Listen to Olga explain how her sister was taken from the family home and hear her say “We never saw her again, they sent her to Auschwitz” — and it will make your blood run cold.
Her account of her life under the Nazis should be compulsory reading for all Australian school students. From her time at Bergen-Belsen (where Anne Frank died) and a meeting with ‘Angel of Death’ Dr Mengele to witnessing the devastation of the British bombing of Dresden, Olga’s story is a rich microcosm of some of the key events of WWII.
And though that conflict recedes in time we should not waste the opportunity to learn from these incredible Australians in our midst.
They are people who lost almost everything, but rebuilt their lives here and continue to take a lead in the community.
Martin Newman, Holocaust Survivours deliver lesson on humanity, The Daily Telegraph, 27th January 2018
Martin Newman is the editor of Saturday Extra in the Daily Telegraph.
Originally published as Would you stand by and watch evil happen?
www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/central-sydney/holocaust-survivor-olga-horek-shares-story-of-liberation-as-jewish-museum-celebrates-25-years/news-story/61a9cf16d86a4cec72ba71bdb3530694 | 
