Polska wersja
Hebrew version

To our Jewish Brothers!

We the undersigned leaders and members of the Christian churches and congregations would like to publicly take a stand and address an issue which has been the subject of much discussion this year. We would like to address the dark part of our national history pertaining to anti-Semitism exhibited by Poles after World War II. We are convinced that God wants to stir up the conscience of Poles and draw our attention to that which has yet to be restored in Polish – Jewish relations.

At the time of the Jewish pogroms following World War II, Christians showed indifference and, apart from the few honorable exceptions, they remained silent.  Our Jewish neighbors may have interpreted such an attitude as passive approval of the evil deeds done against them. This stance was a consequence of substitution theology, which was propagated for many years and states that God has chosen the Christian church to replace the rejected Jewish nation. W

We believe that God desires to set this land free from the curse brought by the shedding of innocent blood. However, this will not happen as long as “…the voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground.” (see Bereshit, Genesis 4:10)

Right after World War II, we as Christians did not pass the test. Today, God is granting us another chance. The time has come for us to acknowledge our sin that we committed against God and people. We believe that God desires to rebuild the relationship between the Polish and the Jewish nations. Acknowledging our faults and uttering the words: “we are sorry” is key in making our hearts meet again. We are grateful for Pope John Paul II and other church leaders who condemned all forms of anti-Semitism. We appreciate the acts of contrition and plea for forgiveness expressed by fifteen residents of Kielce and members of the Kielce Association “Remembering, Dialogue and Reconciliation” in an open letter written on June 23, 1996 and addressed to Jewish people in Poland and around the world. We are thankful for the words, “WE ARE SORRY” expressed by the Chair of the Ministers’ Council, Prime Minister Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz in Kielce in 1996 at the event commemorating the 50 year anniversary of the Jewish pogroms in Kielce. We also appreciate the words of President Aleksander Kwaśniewski in Jedwabne in 2001.

These gestures were the first important steps in opening the door to complete econciliation in our relationships with Jewish people. We remember the promises of God given to Abraham, which contain both blessing and curse for all nations of the earth for their treatment of Israel. (see the Book of Bereshit, Genesis 12:13: “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”)  As Christians, we would like to become friends of our Jewish Brothers. May this plea be the first step on the path leading to full reconciliation and brotherhood.

As God says in the Torah, He will visit the iniquities of the fathers upon their children to the third and fourth generations (compare Shemot, Exodus 20:5 and 34:7). Based on this word, we acknowledge the sin our fathers committed against our Jewish brothers. We are ashamed of the harm and crimes inflicted by us both during and after the war. We grieve over the fact that many of these acts of violence occurred right after Shoah – the Holocaust, which resulted in the death of more than three million Jews in Poland.

This is why we are turning to the Merciful God saying:

LORD, GOD OF ISRAEL! FORGIVE US AND FORGIVE OUR FATHERS FOR WE HAVE SINNED AGAINST YOU AND YOUR NATION ISRAEL!

We turn to all Jewish people and their families who suffered harm in Polish land; to you we say: WE HAVE WRONGED YOU! WE ARE SORRY and WE ASK FOR YOUR FORGIVENESS!

We are sorry for any attempts to justify our crimes and wickedness done to you over the centuries. We are ashamed that we believed the lies about you and your religion. We are especially sorry for having believed the rumor regarding the ritual murder. We apologize for our foolishness and ignorance!
As Christians, we are sorry for our silence during those days. We are ashamed of our indifference, which in reality meant passive approval of the evil deeds done against you.

We are ashamed of the organized anti-Jewish campaign of 1968, inspired by the government leaders of that time.

We regret that many of you were forced to leave Poland. For hundreds of years we were neighbors. We shared our home called “Poland.” But during the time of your greatest hardships and needs, we did not stand by your side.

But today, our hearts are yearning for you. Today, we are opening our hearts to you! Even though we once failed you, we long for all that stands between us to be taken away so that we can once again become your brothers, your friends and kind neighbors.