Look at history before judging Poland

Mr. Cohen, reading your "Going home was a perilous option for the Jews," I also had an a-ha moment.

Unlike the Jews you mentioned, my Polish Catholic family could not even attempt to "go home" to Poland after the War, only Soviet sympathizers did. The Free Sovereign Poland ceased to exist, "sold" to Stalin by Churchill and Roosevelt into 50 years of Communist slavery behind the Iron Curtain.

Your column reveals your poor understanding of communism. Your story of Poles killing Jews who tried to reclaim their businesses or homes after the war, proves it's total absurdity. Under communism there was no private ownership - no homes, no stores, no businesses, no churches. It all belonged to the Soviet regime; you owned nothing, not even your own life. It was a regime of terror so everyone feared for their lives.

In those times a gathering of even five people was illegal and would have been immediately dispersed, its participants most likely arrested. Therefore an assault by regular Poles on a Jewish home in Kielce would have been not only impossible, but insane, especially since this was not a private residence but the headquarters of the Jewish Socialist Collective Community, a left wing of the Labor Zionist movement.

Your insinuations that Jews were in constant fear for their lives from other Poles are very painful Israel's own Yad Vashem, The Righteous Among Nations proves you wrong. Of the 21,000 entitled, the majority are Poles - thousands more did not seek recognition - even though in Poland, unlike any other country Germans executed not only the rescuers, but their entire families.

Mr. Cohen, if not for justice than for historical accuracy, please research Poland's unbiased Jewish history, before, during and after World War II.

Barbara Wroblewski

Wheeling