"Jews in Madagascar!" How Poland got rid of Jews
Poland - only for Poles
As you know, in 1918 a new revived state of Poland appeared on the map of Europe, in which the national interests of the indigenous Polish population were put at the forefront. At the same time, the others were a priori in a secondary position, which, in particular, resulted in a series of Jewish pogroms, the bloodiest of which occurred in Pinsk and Lviv. These were large-scale stocks. In 1919, the American Jewish Congress at the Paris Peace Conference tried to call on the world community to influence the Polish leadership in connection with outbreaks of ardent anti-Semitism. This did not produce any effect, but only strengthened the Poles' faith in the world Zionist conspiracy. In fairness, it is worth noting that the discontent of the Polish population was caused, among other things, by the excessive demands of the Jews. They tried to obtain special rights in Poland: exemption from military service, payment of taxes, creation of special Jewish courts and schools. As a result, the spontaneous wave of anti-Semitism of 1919-1920 was able to curb the Polish leadership, while at the same time receiving an excellent tool to influence the creation of Poles. It turned out that intolerance towards Jews and nationalism resonated in the hearts of the radical population of Poland.
There have always been many Jews in Poland. From 1921 to 1931, the number of Jews from 2,85 million increased to 3,31 million. On average, the share of this people in the country's population was 10%, which was one of the largest indicators in the world. Until 1930, it was relatively safe for Polish Jews to be in the country, despite the fact that representatives of the nation were not allowed to enter the civil service, as well as to the positions of teachers and university professors. In all Jewish schools that receive state funding, teaching was exclusively in Polish. In the 20s and 30s, Polish officials gradually instigated public hysteria regarding the significance of the Jews. It is important to understand one thing: since that time, the Polish leadership has begun the systematic accusation of Jews in almost all the troubles of the country and people. They were charged with corruption, clogging of the Polish native culture and education, as well as subversive activities against the country and the people, cooperation with enemy Germany and the USSR. The Poles began to reach the highest temperatures of anti-Semitic hysteria since 1935, when the country was covered by an economic crisis. It was very convenient for the Jews to declare the culprits of all troubles. In 1936, Prime Minister Felitsian Slava-Skladkovsky very clearly formulated the goals of the government regarding the Jewish population:
Obviously, he was afraid of the reaction of the United States to possible pogroms.
Besides his anti-Semitism, Felician entered history countries as an ardent advocate of sanitary control. The latrines during his reign were painted white, which is why they were called "glories". The official government line regarding Jews was held by the Catholic Church, as well as the vast majority of political associations with the exception of the Polish Socialist Party. And when Hitler came to power in Germany, the Polish Germans, obsessed with the idea of revenge and revenge for defeat in the world war, added fuel to the fire of anti-Semitism.
"Black Bloody Palm Sunday"
So the foreign policy department of the National Socialist German Workers' Party evaluated the causes of the German-Jewish confrontation that took place in Lodz on April 9, 1933. Allegedly, the Polish-Jewish Committee called on:
This was an example of one of the first and last anti-fascist actions of the Jewish population of Poland against the Germans, sympathizing with the Third Reich. On April 9, 1933, anti-German actions took place in Lodz and several cities in Central Poland, which resulted in inciting even greater hatred of the Jewish population of the country. The most important on that day were a demonstrative abuse of Nazi symbols right at the German Consulate in Lodz, the assault on a German gymnasium, a publishing house and several newspaper editorial offices. It is still unknown about losses on both sides, but the epithet "bloody" that Palm Sunday was not accidental. The leader of the Lodz German People’s Party, August Utts, blamed this on the head of the Rosenblatt Zionist organization, although representatives of the Polish radical organization of the Western Frontier Defense (Związek Obrony Kresów Zachodnich) were among the main instigators. The result of this confrontation was one: the Germans even more hated the Jews living in the neighborhood in Poland and subsequently found more and more support in this among the radical Poles. So, a German from Lodz Bernard, reporting on a trip to his hometown in January 1934, emphasized:
The German consulate in Lodz writes in one of the reports after Bloody Sunday:
And in November 1938, the Nazi ambassador in Warsaw reflects on the Jewish pogroms in his homeland:
Madagascar Plan
The first plans to oust Jews from Poland date back to 1926, when the country's leadership seriously thought about moving all the objectionable to Madagascar. Then it was a French colony, and the Polish ambassador in Paris, Count Khlopovsky, even asked the political leaders of France to transport a thousand peasants to an African island. In the conversation, the French made it clear that the living conditions in Madagascar are very difficult and, in order to avoid the genocide of the Jews, the Poles will have to spend money on keeping such a mass of people away from home. At that moment, the solution of the "Jewish question" in Poland was postponed - the French actually refused their Eastern European friends.
The rebirth idea of the resettlement of more than three million Jewish population in Africa found in 1937. Warsaw then received permission from Paris to work on the island of a special commission whose goal was to prepare the territory for emigration. It is noteworthy that the Jews in Poland were already so bad and so afraid of Nazism that was gaining strength that the commission included representatives of Zionist organizations - lawyer Leon Alter and agricultural engineer Solomon Duc. From the Polish government, the commission included Mieczysław Lepiecki, former adjutant of Jozef Pilsudski. Then the slogan “Jews to Madagascar!” (“Żydzi na Madagaskar”) was popular in a nationalist country - anti-Semitic Poles were eager to send the first 50-60 thousand Jews to a semi-wild African island as soon as possible.
Naturally, according to the results of the expedition, Lepetskiy was most positively inclined - he even suggested moving the first Jews (about 25-35 thousand) to Ankaizan region in the north of the island. Against the Ankaizan region was Solomon Duc, whom he proposed to transport to the central part of Madagascar no more than 100 people. Lawyer Leon Alter did not like the island either - he allowed no more than 2 thousand Jews to emigrate to it. However, by and large, this whole operation seems to be nothing more than a demonstration farce, since the Polish government, in principle, did not have the financial ability to carry out such a massive relocation. Perhaps one of the adherents of the Madagascar Plan, Polish Foreign Minister Jozef, hoped to “chip in” all anti-Semitic Europe to emigrate Jews?
Be that as it may, the Nazis enjoyed watching this theater with pleasure. Hitler told Ambassador Jozef Lipsky that together they would be able to resettle the Jews in Madagascar or some other remote colony. It remains only to persuade England and France. Actually, for the implementation of the "Madagascar Plan" by the hands of the Nazis, Lipsky promised to erect a monument to Hitler during his life in Warsaw.
The very idea of the resettlement of the Jewish population of Europe in Madagascar came to the Germans for the first time at the end of the 1940th century, but the results of the First World War, which were disappointing for Germany, prevented it from being realized. Already during World War II in 1942, the Germans planned to resettle one million Jews to the island annually. Here they were already prevented by the employment of the Navy in the confrontation with Britain, and in XNUMX the Allies occupied Madagascar. Many historians, incidentally, suggest that the failure of the German “Madagascar Plan” pushed the Nazis to the Holocaust.
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