Word From The Ghetto

The Jewish leaders made several demands. Try to reach the most powerful leaders. Let the Western leaders make a public declaration that stopping the destruction of the Jews is a part of the Allied war strategy. Let them flood Germany with millions of leaflets specifying the names, dates and method of this destruction.

The first leader said he wanted to organize a visit to the Warsaw ghetto for me so I could offer testimony about what I saw. And I saw terrible things. I saw naked old men lying dead on the street. I saw a woman walking with her baby at her breast which was no breast–it was just a piece of skin. Some Hitler Youth entered the ghetto, and everyone ran. A shot shattered the window in the apartment where I was. A woman who was there put her hand on my arm and said: “You came here to see what is happening to us. Now go, go.”

They also organized a more dangerous expedition for me to what I now think was a transit camp. A civilian told me to follow him and not to say anything. We entered a gate, and the guard obviously knew him. The Germans were shooting into the air and pushing people onto a train. There was shouting, chaos, confusion. The cattle cars were filling up with Jews. A soldier tore a child from a mother’s arms and threw the child, just like a sack, over the heads of the people into the wagon. It was horrible. I’d never seen anything like this. I must have had a sudden nervous breakdown, and I don’t know what I did then. I only know that my guide was shouting “Follow me!” and he was angry. He got me out.

I arrived in London in late November 1942, where I met Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden and other officials. Lord Selborne [who was in charge of covert operations to help anti-Nazi movements] liked me. But when I described what I had seen in Poland, he very matter-of-factly said he wanted to tell me a story. “During the first world war, rumors spread all over Europe that German soldiers in Belgium liked to catch Belgian babies and crush their skulls against the wall. We knew those rumors weren’t true, but we didn’t do anything to stop them. They were good for the morale of our people. You are doing a great service. Try to reach newspaper editors, public opinion.” He didn’t believe me. Those people honestly didn’t believe me. They thought I was exaggerating out of hatred of the Germans. That this was just propaganda.

I arrived in Washington in June 1943. [Supreme Court Justice Felix] Frankfurter came to the Polish Embassy. He asked me if I knew he was Jewish. Then he asked: “What is happening with the Jews in your country?” I told him what I knew and saw. He interrupted me to ask a few technical questions like: how high is the wall in the Warsaw ghetto and how did I get in? But mostly he listened in silence until I had nothing else to say. He got up and started to pace back and forth. Then he took his seat and I remember every word he said: “Mr. Karski, a man like me talking to a man like you must be totally frank. So I must say that I’m unable to believe what you told me.” [Polish Ambassador Jan] Ciechanowski begged him: “Felix, you don’t mean it. You cannot tell him that he’s lying. The authority of my government is behind him.” Frankfurter replied: “I didn’t say this young man is lying. I said I am unable to believe what he told me.”

Roosevelt summoned me to the White House on July 28. I made a short statement and then I answered questions. At a certain point, I was able to squeeze in: “Mr. President, a distinction has to be made. The Germans persecute my people; they deny us education, send us to concentration camps, they want to make us a nation of slaves. With the Jews, it is different. They want to exterminate them.”

title: “Word From The Ghetto” ShowToc: true date: “2023-01-01” author: “Brandy Rodman”

The Jewish leaders made several demands. Try to reach the most powerful leaders. Let the Western leaders make a public declaration that stopping the destruction of the Jews is a part of the Allied war strategy. Let them flood Germany with millions of leaflets specifying the names, dates and method of this destruction.

The first leader said he wanted to organize a visit to the Warsaw ghetto for me so I could offer testimony about what I saw. And I saw terrible things. I saw naked old men lying dead on the street. I saw a woman walking with her baby at her breast which was no breast–it was just a piece of skin. Some Hitler Youth entered the ghetto, and everyone ran. A shot shattered the window in the apartment where I was. A woman who was there put her hand on my arm and said: “You came here to see what is happening to us. Now go, go.”

They also organized a more dangerous expedition for me to what I now think was a transit camp. A civilian told me to follow him and not to say anything. We entered a gate, and the guard obviously knew him. The Germans were shooting into the air and pushing people onto a train. There was shouting, chaos, confusion. The cattle cars were filling up with Jews. A soldier tore a child from a mother’s arms and threw the child, just like a sack, over the heads of the people into the wagon. It was horrible. I’d never seen anything like this. I must have had a sudden nervous breakdown, and I don’t know what I did then. I only know that my guide was shouting “Follow me!” and he was angry. He got me out.

I arrived in London in late November 1942, where I met Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden and other officials. Lord Selborne [who was in charge of covert operations to help anti-Nazi movements] liked me. But when I described what I had seen in Poland, he very matter-of-factly said he wanted to tell me a story. “During the first world war, rumors spread all over Europe that German soldiers in Belgium liked to catch Belgian babies and crush their skulls against the wall. We knew those rumors weren’t true, but we didn’t do anything to stop them. They were good for the morale of our people. You are doing a great service. Try to reach newspaper editors, public opinion.” He didn’t believe me. Those people honestly didn’t believe me. They thought I was exaggerating out of hatred of the Germans. That this was just propaganda.

I arrived in Washington in June 1943. [Supreme Court Justice Felix] Frankfurter came to the Polish Embassy. He asked me if I knew he was Jewish. Then he asked: “What is happening with the Jews in your country?” I told him what I knew and saw. He interrupted me to ask a few technical questions like: how high is the wall in the Warsaw ghetto and how did I get in? But mostly he listened in silence until I had nothing else to say. He got up and started to pace back and forth. Then he took his seat and I remember every word he said: “Mr. Karski, a man like me talking to a man like you must be totally frank. So I must say that I’m unable to believe what you told me.” [Polish Ambassador Jan] Ciechanowski begged him: “Felix, you don’t mean it. You cannot tell him that he’s lying. The authority of my government is behind him.” Frankfurter replied: “I didn’t say this young man is lying. I said I am unable to believe what he told me.”

Roosevelt summoned me to the White House on July 28. I made a short statement and then I answered questions. At a certain point, I was able to squeeze in: “Mr. President, a distinction has to be made. The Germans persecute my people; they deny us education, send us to concentration camps, they want to make us a nation of slaves. With the Jews, it is different. They want to exterminate them.”