The New York Times

Letter to the Editor

RE. Obituary for Polish Statesmen Mr. Bronislaw Geremek

Dear Sir/Madam:

In the obituary by Nicholas Kulish, NYT July 14.2008, commemorating the tragic death of Polish statesmen Mr. Bronislaw Geremek a serious omission took place. The article states that Mr. Geremek, a Jew, escaped from the Warsaw ghetto during the Holocaust at the age of 11 and remained in hiding until the end of the war. The obvious question I had, reading this article, was how an 11 year boy, of my age at the same time in Poland, could survive without any help? Obviously he must have had help from some Catholic family which endangered its own life by hiding the Jewish boy. To be objective and righteous you should also mention that in occupied Poland any support for the Jew was punishable by death and still tens of thousands of Jewish children were hiding in Catholic families and in Catholic orphanages run by nuns.

In contrast, in the Financial Times July 15, 2008, Word News Section, by Staefan Wagstyl, gives a more truthful and complete description of Mr. Geremek,s survival. The Financial Times article mentions that aapparently "he survived after he was smuggled out of the Warsaw Ghetto in 1943 and raised in a Catholic family". By not mentioning this compassionate act (saving his life) by other non-Jews does a disservice to all people who help others in times of great tragedy.

Sincerely yours,

Jan Czekajewski, Ph, D.

Columbus, Ohio

Member of Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences in NY

janczek@aol.com .

Do PdP wstawiono 17 lipca 2008 r.

Na zdjęciu archiwalnym z 04.06.2008 r. europoseł Bronisław Geremek. W niedzielę 13.07.2008 r. prof. Geremek zginął w wypadku samochodowym. (PAP/Fot. Maciej Chmiel)