I read the article from the New York Times this morning and was moved by the story of this man. However, when talking with my husband about him he mentioned that Edelman was known for his anti-zionism. I was surprised that in the NYT article there was no word about the issue. Edelman was a long time member and militant in the general Jewish Labour Union 'Bund' known for their anti-zionism. Edelman himself was anti-zionist and that put him at odds with some of his ghetto anti-Nazi militants who later immigrated to Israel.
In Haaretz for example, most of the story was about Edelman's disconnection from Zionism.
However, zionism and anti-zionism aside, this was a courageous man with a clear cut moral stamina that forces our admiration.
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Since March 29th 2006
9 comments:
I also was moved by his story. I didn't realize any of the Warsaw Ghetto Fighters was still alive. It's too bad the Times didn't mention more about what Edelman was all about but I do think some readers could infer from the fact he never moved to Israel and neither did his family.
the Jewish people lived in Poland longer than they ever lived in USA or Canada. But Poland and its neighbors turned on the Jews. Do you need further proof that existence of Israel is justified?
Now if you could just convince the Arabs....
Elizabeth,
You agree with me that to be able to do such an inference one has to read critically newspapers. I think most people don't.
99% of the few Polish Jews who survived the Holocaust chose to move to Israel, the USA, Australia, South American and any where else. They left Poland to go anywhere but stay under a communist dictatorship in a country that had shown its anti-semitic tendencies.
But Sophia and Elizabeth would rather focus on the 1% of the Jews who stayed in Poland, usually because they were married to a non-Jewish spouse.
What about all the other ghetto survivors who moved to Israel and fought for its independence? Do you admire them too?
Hi Sophia,
If you read the letter which Edelman wrote to the Palestinians in 2002 a you'll see that while he criticised tactics such suicide bombs he affirmed solidarity with them and compared their struggle to that of the Jews in the Warsaw ghetto.
His account of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising can be found here
Intellient readers already know that almost every surviving Jew in Poland left after WWII because of ongoing anti-semitism and a communist dictatorship. The people chose to live in democratic Israel, their own homeland.
The only Jews who remained did so because their non-jewish spouses did not want to leave Poland. Even these people keep their judaism SECRET and most Jews in Poland do not even know their ancestry.
Dear Mark
Thanks for the links. The man is very uncompromising and I like him for this very reason. This shows the strength of his moral character. Great resistant fighters all possess this feature because it is a matter of survival to make the right decision when faced with difficult moral decisions. The survival I am talking about is not only that of the individual but mainly the survival of the cause he is fighting for.
is it possible that the media did not report on Marek's feelings about zionism or Israel because they are IRRELEVANT to what made him famous?
the media was strangely silent about his views on gun control, abortion, illegal immigration, and other hot topics. sounds like a mega conspiracy.
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