While a rather bad Pole is hogging all the headlines, I want to take a moment to draw attention to a good man of Poland who is much more worthy of some media attention.Marek Edelman, 23 years old at the time, was the last surviving leader of the ill-fated 1943 uprising in the Warsaw ghetto against the Nazis. It would be the first civilian armed resistance against the Nazis and while they were ultimately defeated, the resistance fighters were able to inflict heavy losses on Hitler’s army. Most of the leaders of the revolt were rounded up and committed suicide rather than wait for whatever the soldiers had in store for them.
Edelman with a small group of other fighters managed to use the sewer system to get to the other side of the city and then organized resistance units while hiding from the Germans. He spent the war years being quite the thorn in Hitler’s side.Edelman became a cardiologist after the war and his wife became a pediatrician. She took their son and immigrated to France following the communist backed anti-Semitic purges of 1968. But Edelman himself refused to leave his homeland preferring to stay and continue the fight for freedom for Poland.
Edelman spent his life fighting for human dignity and freedom and against communism and I’m glad he lived long enough to see Poland regain its sovereignty. He died Friday at his home from natural causes; he was 90 years old.
“Man is evil, by nature man is a beast," he said. Therefore people "have to be educated from childhood, from kindergarten, that there should be no hatred."
Can you imagine this statement coming from a man who had suffered so much? He understood that sometimes you have to fight, but the goal should always peace.
Dobranoc, Pan Edelman, may you live in memory forever. A true Mensch.
Rocky, thank you, thank you! When there is so much negative stuff dominating the news and preoccupying our thoughts, we can always count on you to bring us an important reminder ...
ReplyDeleteWhile I mourn Marek Edelman’s passing, especially the passing of our last eyewitness, we need to be reminded of a courageous and heroic life well lived.
Again, thank you!
You're welcome 8pus and we should also remember that unlike many of his Nazi tormentors, Marek Edelman went on to live a long and productive life and then died an old man in his bed. Sweet revenge.
ReplyDeleteSweet revenge, indeed. One of the surprising aspects of Edelman's story is that he chose to remain in Poland after the war, when so many others survivors emigrated to the Americas or Israel. Also to his credit, in my opinion. Sometimes, regardless of ethnicity or supposed origin, we ARE where we live.
ReplyDeleteLast year, a distant cousin, born in Russia and now living in Germany, came to America to visit me for the first time. Photo here.
When I look at the children and grandchildren of survivors, this too I find heartwarming.
Yes, thank you, Rocky. What a welcome, though sad, in a way, break from the other Poland-related news.
ReplyDeletewe ARE where we live
What do you mean, Octo? (I think I know, but I'm not sure.)
BTW, Rocky, do you speak Polish?!
ReplyDeleteElizabeth, I speak some Czech which is very similar as you know, but I thought it more appropriate to say good night using the Polish spelling. In Czech it would have been dobrou noc. Or I could have said nashledanou but I don't know what the Polish equivelant of that is.
ReplyDeleteAnd maybe not so sad - he lived a long, rich life and died in his bed at the age of 90. Who could ask for anything more?
What a nice post, Rocky. Inspiring and thoughtful. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteWhat an impressive bio for a peacemaker.
ReplyDeleteThe Jewish and Polish resistance was more than a "thorn in Hitler's side" -- it tied down critical German divisions in Poland when they might have been in Russia.
Many wonder if history might have been different with Germany just fighting Russia instead of wasting time and resources on a "final solution;" but it is in the nature of paranoid, sociopathic dictators that they do not calculate this way.
Elizabeth: “we ARE where we live -- What do you mean, Octo? (I think I know, but I'm not sure.)”
ReplyDeleteMy apologies for the less than artful phrasing (late at night, a cephalopod brain glides to a halt).
What I meant from a psychological viewpoint, oppression starts with creating a sense of “separateness” … to see others as fundamentally different from us. As creatures of language, we use linguistic devices to cast oppressed groups into a different category; or as Carol Adams writes, “oppression involves a three-part cycle of objectification, fragmentation, and consumption …”
To use the analogy of an abattoir, first, we turn persons into non-living entities (people become objects) or animals (people become cattle); then we fragment them as a butcher turns cows into cuts of beef; then we consume them as if devouring chops and steaks.
Applying this analysis to historical events, the Nazis objectified European Jews by convincing others that Jews did not deserve legal protection because they were reduced linguistically to sub-human status. Then, the Nazis used fragmentation to isolate Jews physically and psychologically from the rest of the population, i.e. the Warsaw Ghetto. Then Jews were ‘consumed’ in concentration camps.
Linguistic abuse also supports hate crimes, acts of rape, child abuse, and murder. I could go on and on ...
Today, I would rephrase my previous remark to say: “Here before us stands a person, not an outsider, not an object, but one who lives among us equal to ourselves.”
I should add parenthetically another reason for remembrance:
ReplyDeleteNot just to honor the dead, we also need to keep in our minds the language of oppression. When I read hateful words in the blogosphere, for instance, it always sets off my alarm bells … especially the worrisome shrillness of political talk these days.
Mensch indeed. I was moved to read of his life, both during the war and after. Truly an example of a person who lived his beliefs. Surely he impacted many lives in he way he chose to live his life. A fighter for what is right.
ReplyDeleteLaura - yes, Edelman was an extraordinary human being who didn't do what was easy but what was right. He is someone who whould be held up to people everywhere as a shining example of what it means to be a decent human being.
ReplyDeleteRocky, it seems na shledanou translates into Polish "do widzenia" ("see you later," but slightly more formal), I think. Although this on-line dictionary has a different opinion.
ReplyDeleteOcto, this not how I understood your comment, so thanks for the elaboration.
BTW, there is a lot of good stuff written about Edelman in the Polish press. A remarkable man.
Excellent post, Rocky.
ReplyDeleteI thought you had stopped blogging so I took you off my blogroll.
ReplyDeleteI'm adding you back immediately.
Have a good night,
Christopher
Thank you, Christopher.
ReplyDelete