The determination of the Polish people of all faiths to halt the Nazi massacres of Jews in Poland was emphasized here today by Premier Gen. Sikorski, addressing the Overseas Press Club. “On the day of victory the walls of the ghetto in Poland will fall. They will be destroyed by the Polish nation,” he declared.
“To realize the extent of the monstrous massacre of Jews,” the Polish Premier continued, “you must imagine the whole of Manhattan closed in by ghetto walls behind which all the Jews of the Western Hemisphere have been imprisoned and gradually and methodically exterminated in groups of several thousands daily by machine guns,. or in lethal gas chambers, or by electrocution.”
To illustrate the unity which has been brought to Poland by the Nazi oppression and atrocities, and in an indirect answer to charges that anti-Semitism persists in the country and in its exiled government, Gen. Sikorski quoted the following proclamation which has been circulated secretly in Poznan, Warsaw, Wilno and Lwow:
“The total number of Jews killed has reached one million, this number being increased daily. All perish: the rich and the poor, the aged and women, men, youth and infants. Their only crime was that they were born into the Jewish people, who are condemned to extermination by Hitler. Therefore we, Cannot actively counteract the German crimes, cannot help anything nor save anybody, but we protest from the bottom of our hearts, filled which compassion, indignation and horror.”
Help ensure Jewish news remains accessible to all. Your donation to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency powers the trusted journalism that has connected Jewish communities worldwide for more than 100 years. With your help, JTA can continue to deliver vital news and insights. Donate today.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
