In Poland, an inescapable guilty conscience and an antisemitism that has never been combated prevent recognition of the Polish realities of the Shoah. This denial of responsibility, and the affabulations that accompany it, are perpetuated at state level and in the institutions in charge of remembrance policy. This week we publish “Denialism Polish style” by Elżbieta Janicka, a specialist in antisemitism and the Shoah, introduced by Jean-Charles Szurek. We discover the exemplary case of the Treblinka site, which, 80 years on, continues to make its money on the backs of the Jews. From the concealment of the sinister trade that took place at the station, to the invention of a false Righteous Man, the Catholicization of the victims and the attribution to the Germans of massacres of Jews committed by Poles, a whole series of narrative special effects are used to transform a shameful history into a source of national pride.
To feel ashamed implies to be exposed to public scrutiny: this is what Polish Holocaust deniers have understood, and they seek to avoid this painful experience by hiding their horrors under the carpet. But does this mean that pointing an accusing finger at others is enough to shame them? This is the strategy employed today by those who claim “Zionists, you should be ashamed”. But is there really anything to be ashamed of, when you know what Zionism means? This week, we publish a reflection by Ariel Colonomos on the way in which anti-Zionist activists seek to shame their opponents, and the deleterious effects of this strategy on university debates. It discusses the paradoxes of approaching a political conflict through the prism of morality, and the deficit of reflexivity that arises when shaming is substituted for criticism.
We are also resharing the interview of Julia Christ with Israeli academics on how they react to the call for a boycott of their universities. The responses of the rector of the Hebrew University Tamir Sheafer have been added for this week’s publication.
