WARSAW, Poland (JTA) – Poland’s Jewish community does not want a planned monument to righteous gentiles to be erected near the Museum of the History of Polish Jews.
The museum, which is due to open this month, is located on the site of the Warsaw Ghetto.
"The community of Polish Jews will never forget the heroism of people who, despite the threat of denunciation and death, were ready to bring aid to victims of the Holocaust," wrote representatives of the Jewish community in a statement released Thursday. "We believe that this monument should not stand on the remains of those who were not rescued."
Placing the monument to the Righteous Among the Nations on the site of the former ghetto near the museum would narrow Polish-Jewish history to the Holocaust, the Jewish leaders believe.
The statement was signed by Elzbieta Magenheim, president of the Second Generation Association-Descendants of Holocaust Survivors; Jan Spiewak, president of the Polish Jewish Youth Organization; Piotr Wislicki, president of the Jewish Historical Institute Association; and Piotr Kadlcik, president of the Warsaw Jewish community.
The decision to build the monument is set to be announced on April 19, on the 70th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. The decision on where to build the monument resides with the Warsaw City Council.
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