Atrocities Jewish Complicity Koniuchy Massacre Kowalski

A Secret Press in Nazi Europe, by Isaac Kowalski. 1978

Heavy Jewish Complicity in the Murders of Polish Civilians at Koniuchy: Proferred Exculpations Fall Apart

This work is centered on the presence of Jewish bands in the area of Vilna (Wilno, Vilnius), and discussion of the press is decidedly subordinate. The Warsaw Ghetto fighters are honored, and described as consisting of 200 ZOB (Z.O.B) and (the oft-ignored) 400 ZZW (Z.Z.W)(p. 209). A helpful table is provided of the Jewish soldiers found in all the Allied armies. (p. 334). Poles and Lithuanians who aided the local fugitive Jews are also featured in some detail. ((pp. 157-166).

INTERNALLY-INCONSISTENT POLONOPHOBIC INNUENDO

The author repeats reflexive (not to mention scurrilous) accusations of the Polish Underground AK (A.K., or ARMIA KRAJOWA) of being “rabidly anti-Semitic” and out to kill Jews. (p. 291). But then he turns around, and points out that the AK condemned anti-Semitism and punished it. (p. 293). All along, however, he is silent about the openly Jewish members in the AK (including its top echelons), the need for the AK to protect Polish peasants from widespread Jewish banditry, and the massive collaboration of Jewish partisans with Soviet ones in their war to destroy the AK in the Vilna region.

JEWISH COMPLICITY IN THE KONIUCHY MASSACRE

Author Kowalski describes the 1943 Jewish-Soviet partisan attack on Koniuchy as follows: “Our detachment got the order to destroy everything that was moving and burn the village down to its roots. At the exact hour and minute all partisans from all four corners of the village started pouring rifle and machine-gun fire, with incendiary bullets, into the village. This caused the straw roofs of the houses to catch fire. The villagers and the German garrison answered back with heavy fire, but after two hours the village with the fortified shelter was completely destroyed. Our only casualties were two men who were lightly wounded. When, later, we had to go through Koniuchy, we did not encounter any sniper shots, because it was like crossing through a cemetery.” (p. 279).

VARIOUS EXCULPATIONS DISINTEGRATE IN THE FACE OF THE FACTS

Actually, there was no German garrison at Koniuchy. In fact, Kowalski’s testimony itself is self-refuting. Had there been one, and had it moreover enjoyed a “fortified shelter”, and moreover had it been capable of directing “heavy fire”, how likely is it that the attackers would have merely suffered “two men who were lightly wounded”? (Otherwise, the Koniuchy Poles may have requested and obtained a small number of weapons from the Germans, and may well have sometimes denounced and killed Jews, but all this was in self-defense from bandits, including Jewish bandits.).

As would later (1948) be alleged about Deir Yassin, the civilians killed in Koniuchy are implied to be collateral combat deaths. The high civilian death toll, in both instances, unmasks this falsehood. Guerrilla village combat itself, especially when using mainly portable firearms and mortars, usually isn’t lethal enough to cause a considerable number of civilian deaths (certainly not “like crossing through a cemetery.”). The low attacker casualty rate (“2 wounded”) and brevity of the combat (“two hours”), if accurate, only strengthen this fact. As a matter of fact, more than 20 civilian deaths in a moderate-sized village is a red flag, as is a low attacker casualty rate. [For details, see the Peczkis review of The saga of Deir Yassin: Massacre, revisionism, and reality]. Clearly, the Polish civilians of Koniuchy, like the Arab civilians of Deir Yassin, didn’t mainly fall in combat. They were deliberately murdered by the Jewish attackers.

Finally, remember the complaint about the (ostensible) Polish retaliatory act at Jedwabne killing Jews, including Jewish children, that were innocent of any wrongdoing to Poles? Well, rest assured that there is no such concern about the (ostensible) retaliatory Jewish killing of Poles, including Polish children, that were innocent of any wrongdoing to Jews.

THE ONCE-PRAISED BOOK IS NOW POOH-POOHED BECAUSE OF ITS INCRIMINATING FACTS

Ironic to the belittling of this book (e. g., “unknown author”), in recent years, no doubt because of its now-unwelcome mention of Koniuchy, it originally enjoyed the endorsement of prominent Jewish papers (posted on the inside cover). These included the:
Hadassah Magazine, Jerusalem Post, Jewish Daily Forward, Jewish Digest, Jewish Spectator,
and the
National Jewish Monthly
.

For the full story on the Koniuchy massacre and the Jewish complicity in it, see my review of INTERMARIUM, by historian Marek Jan Chodakiewicz.