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Details of the Jedwabne pogrom, publicized in a February book, Neighbors, by US-Polish historian Jan Tomasz Gross, have spurred a national debate in Poland, most of whose citizens have traditionally seen themselves as victims rather than perpetrators of major injustice.

Krajewski said he believed the discussions had "changed the situation" in the country, where Catholic priests had frequently been accused of making anti-Semitic statements.

However, he added that he also regretted that the bishops at the Warsaw service had not paid tribute to several Jedwabne inhabitants who rescued Jews from the massacre, and who now found themselves "increasingly marginalized" within their community.

Krajewski said,"we still have no guarantee that enough collective will exists to implement the church's teaching."

At the service, a group of Polish protesters handed out leaflets saying the debate over the Jedwabne massacre had become "a pretext to boost the pretensions of chauvinist Jewish groups against Poland." The protesters urged the bishops not to "yield to pressure from enemies of our faith and fatherland."

Most Jewish leaders declined invitations to the service which coincided with a Jewish festival. They also mentioned the anti-Semitic books on sale at the church bookshop.

Copyright © 2001 ENI.

An extensive ideography of the Jedwabne debate follows public discourse on the issue.

The Sunday Age of Melbourne, Australia sums up the Jedwabne debate.

Adam Michnik writes in the New York Times that details of the Jedwabne massacre has set off a debate in a country whose people think of themselves as wartime victims, not villains.

The Washington Post also reported on how the truth uncovered in Neighbors knifed through Poland's cherished image of itself as heroic victim of the Nazis.

The Polish-language Gazeta Wyborcza is online.

The Jewish Star Times reports on attempts by Poles to deal with events of the past.

Christians and Jews meet to come to terms with a troubled past in a land that was once a "paradise for Jews."

Amazon.com offers Neighbors: The Destruction of the Jewish Community in Jedwabne, Poland.

In a New Yorker Q&A, the author of Neighbors, Jan T. Gross, talks abut the Jewish-Polish entanglement.

Recent related Christianity Today articles include:

Chicago's Cardinal Issues Warning to Visiting Polish Priest | But measures against anti-Semitic remarks called "stupidity" and "garbage" by priest's spokesman. (May 9, 2000)

At Jerusalem's Holocaust Memorial, Pope Regrets Persecution of Jews | Catholic Church 'deeply saddened by anti-Semitism directed against the Jews by Christians.' (March 20, 2000)

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June (Web-only) 2001, Vol. 45