Who is bothered by the remembrance of Poles rescuing Jews?

The railwayman Jan Maletka, murdered by the Germans on August 20, 1942 for serving water to Jews who were being transported to the Treblinka II death camp, has been commemorated as part of the Pilecki Institute’s „Called by Their Names” program. The case provoked an outcry from the Jewish lodge B’nai B’rith, which published an aggressive letter in „Gazeta Wyborcza” stating that „Polish historical policy has reached the limits of the atrociousness”. Local government officials reacted strongly to these actions.

Commemorating a railwayman shot for helping Jews

The Pilecki Institute (IP) last Thursday commemorated Jan Maletka, a railway worker murdered by the Germans on August 20, 1942 for passing water to Jews who were being transported to the Treblinka II extermination camp. The ceremony, which was co-organized by the PKP Group Foundation and the PKP Group, the Treblinka Museum and the local governments of the Ostrów Mazowiecka poviat and the Małkinia Górna municipality, was attended by the representatives of the family of the commemorated Jan Maletka as well as the Deputy Minister of Culture and National Heritage Magdalena Gawin, the deputy director of the Pilecki Institute Anna Gutkowska, the director of the Treblinka Museum Dr. Edward Kopówka and the representatives of the PKP Group Foundation and the local authorities.

It is known that just before his death, Jan Maletka was preparing for his wedding. He wanted to open a new chapter in his life. Together with his brother and a friend, he had seen Jews suffocating in cattle wagons many times. They helped them on many occasions. This time a German officer pointed a gun at Jan

— said Magdalena Gawin, Deputy Minister of Culture and National Heritage at the ceremony.

She stressed that this is the first time Jan Maletka has been mentioned - until now, no one has heard about him, and his name was „destined to fade into oblivion”.

The perpetrators wish that we would not remember. But we must do our utmost to remember. So that good will prevail, and the perpetrators of these cruel crimes will never feel satisfaction

— she pointed out.

Jan Maletka (21 years of age), his brother Stanisław (22) and his friend Remigiusz Pawłowicz (20), who were originally from Mińsk Mazowiecki, were sent by the German occupation authorities to Małkinia and employed there as railway workers. They lived in worker wagons at the Treblinka gravel pit. When necessary, they had to work, among other things, „on the tracks” and operate the depots taking aggregate out of the gravel pit. After work, they spent their free time together. Jan and Remigiusz found their brides in Małkinia. Jan had already set a date for the wedding.

The B’nai B’rith attacks in „Gazeta Wyborcza”

The commemoration of a railwayman shot for helping Jews did not please the Jewish lodge B’nai B’rith, which published an aggressive letter in „Gazeta Wyborcza”. It argued that „Polish historical policy has reached the limits of the atrociousness” and that Poland „must remember about the Jews murdered with the help of Poles”.

Polish historical policy has reached the limits of the atrociousness. This time by the Deputy Minister for Culture, Magdalena Gawin, who unveiled in Treblinka - attention, Treblinka! - a monument to Poles rescuing Jews. We would like to remind Magdalena Gawin, and her boss Piotr Gliński, and the chief of both, that in the Treblinka death camp some 900,000 of us were exterminated, and that Polish participation on the ramp mainly consisted of selling water for dollars, gold and diamonds. Before Poland starts erecting monuments to Poles in Jewish cemeteries, it must remember the Jews murdered with the help of Poles [original version - ed.]

— stated the letter.

Certainly, there were Poles, righteous among nations, who paid with their lives for helping the Jews. They deserve eternal memory and recognition for their courage and beautiful deed - but not on that ramp! What a lowly position the Polish authorities have fallen in in their miserable attempt to satisfy the appetites of voters eager to believe in this heroic fantasy. Some of our friends and relatives survived Auschwitz. No one survived Treblinka

— wrote Andrzej Friedman and Sergiusz Kowalski, members of the B’nai B’rith lodge.

Strong response from local authorities

The local authorities responded to the aggressive note. Bożena Kordek, the Mayor of Małkinia Górna, the Secretary of the Municipality and the President of the Municipal Council stressed that it is not true that „Treblinka forgot about the Jews” and that the letter of the B’nai B’rith Lodge contains misleading and unfair conclusions.

The fact that we unveiled together a ‘monument to Poles rescuing Jews’ is not true. We commemorated one person - Jan Maletka, a railway worker who was shot by the Germans while trying to serve water to Jews crowded into railway wagons, at the place of his death. It is not true that the memorial was erected on the site of the former German Nazi extermination camp Treblinka II or on the ‘Jewish cemetery’. It was unveiled in the village of Treblinka, which belongs to our Municipality and is approximately 4 km away from the death camp, located in the Kosów Lacki municipality

— as indicated in the letter.

It is not true that the commemoration is located on a railway or camp ramp because such a ramp no longer exists. Nor is it true that the village of Treblinka has forgotten the Jews, the victims of the Holocaust. The only monument erected in the village of Treblinka on the site of the former railway station commemorates precisely the murdered Jews. In 2016, more than 500 residents of our municipality signed an appeal to commemorate the station in this way and addressed it to the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw, Polskie Koleje Państwowe S.A., PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe S.A., Mazowiecki Zarząd Dróg Wojewódzkich, Regional Museum in Siedlce, Diocesan Curia in Drohiczyn, City and Municipality Office in Kosów Lackie, Malkinia Górna Municipality Office and Museum of Struggle and Martyrdom in Treblinka

— emphasized the local government officials in their letter.

Tłum. K.J.