The Germans, in their first advance on Warsaw, in September–October,
1914, occupied these villages for a few days. When the Russian troops
recaptured the towns the Poles at once denounced the Jews as having
welcomed the German troops and having aided them in every possible
way—whereas the Poles, according to their own account, had accepted
the German rule passively, doing only whatever they were forced to do
by the military authorities. They pointed out seven persons, five Jews
and two Germans, who had demonstrated such devotion to the invaders as
to merit trial for treason and the death penalty. One Jew, Goldberg,
it was charged, had revealed to the Germans the hiding place of ten
Russian soldiers, resulting in their capture; another Jew had shown
them where they might requisition horses and food, and had acted as
guide.
The case was brought to trial before the military guard, and there,
under strict examination, it assumed an entirely different aspect. A
priest, Zemberzhusky, testified that Jews and Poles had acted precisely
alike toward the Germans; that their reception of the Germans expressed
no joy, that all alike had complained of the invaders’ requisition
and pillage, and that it was only due to the tactful conduct of the
citizens that the town of Nove-Miasto was not entirely demolished. It
was shown that not a single Russian soldier had been captured by the
Germans and that the Goldberg charge was entirely false. All the other
charges were similarly disproved. It developed that they were based on
two facts. In the preliminary investigation the trial officers, being
ignorant of Polish, were compelled to employ interpreters. One of these
interpreted the statement of a Polish witness to the effect that he had
seen a certain Zilberberg walk the streets arm in arm with a German
officer. The fact brought out in the new trial was that =the witness
had actually seen the German officer seize Zilberberg by the neck!= In
the second place, the story had been started in sheer malice by two
notorious gangsters, whose evidence was unworthy of any consideration.
All of the accused were therefore acquitted.[24]
The significance of this episode lies in the fact that the Colonel
in command in this particular case happened to be a kindly man, who,
being unwilling to see injustice done, went to the trouble to have the
case carefully investigated. Hundreds of other cases based on equally
groundless accusations came to court without the possibility of such a
fair investigation.
Another case of this sort is reported from Suvalki. It was charged
by the Poles that the Jews of Suvalki had met the Germans with bread
and salt (the national Russian custom in welcoming guests). The facts
were that practically the entire population of Suvalki had fled at
the approach of the Germans. The Germans, however, had, with their
usual thoroughness, made out in advance a list of the leading citizens
of Suvalki who were to be appointed to the deputation that was “to
welcome” the Germans. Only one Jew was on this list.
Not all the Poles were bitterly hostile to the Jews, as may be seen
from the following story, reprinted from the Polish paper, “Novo
Gazeta,” in “Rasviet,” February 8 (21), 1915, p. 36:
“An army officer, a Pole, reports this: Where our detachment was
stationed, I found a group of soldiers surrounding a muzhik, who was
telling them that the Jews had cut the telegraph wires. The soldiers
were furious and ready to take revenge on the miserable Jews. I
approached the group and said to the muzhik: ‘I am glad to see that
your patriotic impulses urge you to expose these Jew traitors. You
must take me to them at once. You say you know the guilty ones. Show
us how we can capture them and dispose of them.’
“The muzhik became confused at once. He stammered: ‘I didn’t—say
anything about them. I didn’t see them myself. I didn’t see anything
myself. People say so. Everybody says so.’
“I assumed a severe attitude and said to him: ‘You know these people
perfectly well, but you don’t want to expose them. You are trying to
shelter these traitors. You must take me to them at once!’ After more
evasions, the muzhik broke down completely. Thereupon the soldiers
turned upon him, and wanted to beat him, but I took him under my
protection. He confessed completely to me and I sent him off and told
him to beg his priest to preach on the following Sunday on the text
‘Love thy neighbor as thyself.’
“Another instance was this. In a Warsaw street car filled with
passengers, I saw a Polish woman physician looking out at a Jewish
automobile ambulance. ‘Look here,’ she cried, ‘These Jews also have
motor ambulances. I think they must be stolen.’ I took it upon myself
to ask her for an explanation of this. She was decent enough to admit
that she knew nothing at all about it and that she had said these
words without thinking.
“In these two cases it happened that I came out as a Pole defending
the honor of Poland, because I believe that Poland does not require
such outrageous falsifications and slanders for its regeneration. If
they were not so painful to relate, I could give you a whole series of
such incidents.”
Even the Polish clergy, usually anti-Semitic, felt compelled to protest
against the excesses of their followers. Thus in January, 1915, the
priests of Plotsk, headed by Archbishop Kovalsky, interceded on behalf
of the Jews with the Russian authorities who had made numerous arrests
upon the denunciations of Polish agitators.
So outrageous was the attitude of the Poles that at a Conference of
Progressive Deputies of the Duma held at Petrograd in January, 1915,
resolutions were passed to extend no help whatever to the Polish
Deputies in any of their nationalist projects in the Duma because of
their attitude toward the Jews.
The Polish weekly, “Glos Polsky,” published in Petrograd, contains an
interview with Professor Milyukov on the Polish question:
“Our point of view is that along the River Vistula live not only
Poles, but that there also lives another people, the Jewish people,
which has a right to be recognized....
“When the Polish question will be taken up in the legislative
chambers, we shall demand that the fundamental act should guarantee
the rights of the Jewish minority as well....”[25]
At several conferences of Russian, Polish and Jewish communal workers
which took place in Petrograd and Moscow in January, 1915, =the
majority of the Russians expressed their solidarity with the Jews in
this matter.=[26]
Even the most reactionary Russians foresaw danger to Russia in the
Polish campaign of vilification against the Jews. Thus the “True
Russian” (anti-Semitic) leader, Orloff, after a visit to Poland,
declared: “I have seen nothing bad on the part of the Jews, although
the Poles made up all sorts of accusations against them. But in these
Polish reports you feel prejudice, vindictiveness, hatred, nothing
else.... =The Jews are loyal and brave, and it is most inadvisable
to pursue a policy which might convert six million subjects into
enemies.”=[27]