> NEWS from THE POLISH AMERICAN CONGRESS HOLOCAUST DOCUMENTATION COMMITTEE > > EYEWITNESS TO GERMAN WW II CRIME IN JEDWABNE DEAD IN NEW YORK > > > The eyewitness who got close enough to get a good look at German > soldiers burning down a barn full of Jewish men, women and children > during World War II died July 3rd in a New York City medical facility > after remaining in a coma nearly a year. The atrocity he observed took > place in the town of Jedwabne, Poland on July 10, 1941. > > Boleslaw (Apolinary) Domitrz was 75 at the time of his death. He came > to the U.S. from Communist-controlled Poland and resided in Greenpoint, > Brooklyn (N.Y.) for over 20 years. With the Communist system in Poland > collapsing in 1989, he intended to return back home and spend the rest > of his retirement years in the place he was born. > > In June last year, he met with the Polish American Congress to say > goodbye to the organization's leadership. Just days before his > departure, he suffered complications from an existing heart condition. > A subsequent stroke left him immobilized until the day he died. > > Domitrz gained prominence in February, 2002 when he confronted NYU Prof. > Jan T. Gross at a lecture sponsored by the City University of New York. > Gross, a Jewish immigrant also from Poland, was there promoting his new > book, "Neighbors," a slanted account about the same barn-burning > atrocity Domitrz personally witnessed when he was just 12 years old. > Gross sensationalized that incident by trying to claim the Catholic half > of Jedwabne's population were the ones who incinerated the Jewish half > of the town and not the Germans who invaded there. > > Despite his weakened physical condition at the time, Domitrz felt a > moral obligation to attend Gross' lecture and make sure the audience > there would hear the truth. Gross was accusing Polish Catholics of > something exactly opposite from what Domitrz clearly saw that terrible > day in 1941. > > Before he ever came to America, Domitrz learned how it was to live under > Communist and Nazi brutality and repression. He knew how maliciously > anti-Polish much of their propaganda had been. And what could be more > malicious, Domitrz felt, than to whitewash the German atrocity at > Jedwabne and try to shift the blame for it to Hitler's Catholic victims > in Poland. > > Putting people into buildings and burning them was a common technique > the Nazis used in various countries they occupied. One such barbaric > extermination of human beings took place in Michniow , Poland on July > 12-13, 1943 where the Germans herded Poles into barns and houses and > burned them alive for helping a Jewish partisan unit. Over 200 people > died, including 70 children. > > Gross appeared stunned when Domitrz stood up in the packed auditorium > during the question and answer period and started speaking in Polish and > telling him he was wrong for blaming the Catholics of Jedwabne for what > the Germans did. > > There are other eye-witnesses to the barn burning still living in Poland > who also dispute the accusations Gross makes. But it had to be a shock > to Gross and everyone else in the audience to see someone like Domitrz - > right in the very heart of New York City - get up and start challenging > the integrity of his book. > > Domitrz described how he and two boyhood friends were in a field near > the town and saw smoke rising from the burning barn. Out of curiosity, > they ran toward the fire until they were in a perfect position to > observe the entire scene. One thing was sure. There were no Poles > around. Everyone seemed to have disappeared indoors as if from some > dreadful and ominous fear. The only persons the boys saw around the > burning barn were Germans in uniform, holding machine guns and with > their dogs. Nobody else. > > "When we realized we were the only Poles out there", Domitrz said, "we > were so scared the Germans might see us and throw us into the fire that > we turned around and ran right back as fast as we could." > > Although Domitrz never recovered from his stroke, some of his testimony > has fortunately been preserved for the historical record.. Before his > health deteriorated so abruptly, the Polish American Congress was > instrumental in taping an interview with Domitrz in which he gave an > account of his experience regarding the burning of the barn. > > Titled, "Jedwabne: What is Truth?", Domitrz and other eyewitnesses to > German murders of Jews elsewhere in Poland recall what they saw. > Commentary from Dr. Jan Moor-Jankowski and Prof. Iwo Pogonowski is > included and provides a scientific and forensic prospective to the > Jedwabne incident. At this time, only a Polish-language version of the > video or DVD is available from the Polish American Congress. > > What Boleslaw Domitrz fervently believed was his moral obligation to > speak out and tell the truth about Jedwabne is now documented and > preserved as part of the permanent record. > > Contact: Frank Milewski - (718) 263-2700 >
