In 1939, Poland was home to more Jews than any other nation in Europe. Partitioned by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union that year, Poland lost a fifth of its population in World War II; 90% of Polish Jews were killed in the Holocaust. Israel was established as a Jewish homeland in 1948, out of the ashes of that global conflagration.Poland and Israel have enjoyed full diplomatic relations since the fall of communism in 1990. But the two countries are diverging when it comes to marking the 75th anniversary of the Soviet liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the most notorious of the Nazi death camps, where nearly 1 million Jews were murdered. Politics — particularly of the nationalist kind — may be to blame.The presidents of Lithuania and Poland, which both suffered Soviet occupation and then decades of Soviet domination during the Cold War, have withdrawn from the commemoration in Israel because of the prominent role to be played by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Advertisement In a keynote address, Putin is expected to offer his revisionist take on the war’s history that de-emphasizes the 1939 nonaggression pact signed by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union and emphasizes the complicity of some Poles in the… Read full this story
- Huddersfield formed its very own council 150 years ago this week
- Hospital Players celebrating 75 years with classic theatre comedy
- Fight for civil rights 50 years ago changed the North forever
- Activist Maajid Nawaz finds hero who saved his life in racist attack 25 years ago
- All you need to know about how to get to outdoor theatre show on women getting vote 100 years ago
- I hope our partnership that started 100 years ago will further strengthen – Trump congratulates Pashinyan
- A year since the least celebrated Barcelona win
- Fifty years ago there was little sense of Northern Ireland being on the brink
- Jo Swinson, Richard Reed or even Hugh Grant- who could be the next Liberal Democrat leader?
- Politics of misguided anti-imperialism
Auschwitz was liberated 75 years ago. But politics are complicating the celebration have 310 words, post on www.latimes.com at January 22, 2020. This is cached page on Bach Thien. If you want remove this page, please contact us.