Institute of National Remembrance - text version
Manslaughter of Jewish Inhabitants of Jedwabne - wersja graficzna tekstu
Manslaughter of Jewish Inhabitants of Jedwabne
In 1941, Jedwabne was a small north-eastern Polish town of about 2400 inhabitants. On July 10th, 1941, the town's Jewish population was murdered. Jews had been herded into a barn at the outskirts of the community, which was later set on
fire.
After the war, the Polish authorities conducted an investigation of the manslaughter in Jedwabne. It resulted in sentencing 12 Poles in 1949 and 1953. They were all imprisoned. The longest sentence was a 15-year imprisonment of one person involved. In spite of the investigation, not all circumstances of the crime were clarified. That is why in 1967, the Polish authorities reopened the investigation, while being helped by German authorities. The aim was to explain the complicity of German perpetrators in the slaughter. The German authorities were given names of ten Germans. One of them had been questioned. However, the case had been closed because of insufficient evidence on his complicity in the
crime.
Recently, shortly after the publication of the book Neighbours by Jan Gross, which contained a statement saying that allegedly Jedwabne slaughter was committed by Polish inhabitants of the town without any co-operation of the German SS squads, police and gendarmes, the investigation was reopened for the third time. Depositions currently being made by witnesses to the crime confirm complicity of both Polish inhabitants of the town and Germans. Some of the witnesses were ten to fourteen years of age at the time of the event, and they had not been questioned earlier.
Current inhabitants of Jedwabne and surrounding areas have appealed for witnesses to come forward. Other witnesses and sources which could contribute towards a determination of the course of events, are also being sought. Particularly through the mediation of the Rabbi of Warsaw, Mr. Michael Schudrich, efforts have been made to collect the testimonies of surviving relatives of the victims involved and to inform them about their rights as injured
parties.
The first person who presently resides in the United States has already come forward providing a list of 26 names of victims in Jedwabne. This piece of information has been entered into the computerised data base of the victims in Jedwabne that is currently being created. Similar computerised data bases of perpetrators and course of events will be created as well.
A publication containing all witness accounts of the slaughter in Jedwabne will be published upon the closing of the
investigation.
Warsaw, February 8th, 2001
18 November 2003
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