Statement by Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek concerning Jedwabne
Warsaw, March 6, 2001

The massacre on Jedwabne's Jews, our fellow citizens, is frightening in its cruelty. It is our duty to pay due homage to the victims and uncover the whole truth. The investigation, currently underway at the Institute of National Remembrance, should bring the true circumstances of the crime to light and point out its perpet-rators. As a nation, we can only live in truth and the inevitable truth is that Poles were involved in the crime in Jedwabne; no serious minded historian denies it. The murder in Jedwabne was not carried out on behalf of the Polish nation or state. Poland was at the time an occupied country. However, if we as a nation have the right to be proud of these Poles who, at the risk or even cost of their lives, saved Jews, we must recognize as well the guilt of those who took part in their killing. We are ready to face even the darkest facts of our history, in the spirit of truth, without searching for seeming justifications. Nevertheless, we cannot allow the case of Jedwabne to serve the purpose of spreading false theses about Poland's coresponsibility for the Holocaust as well as about the inborn Polish anti-Semitism.

I would also like to say that the crime perpetrated 60 years ago in Jedwabne cannot be blamed on all present day residents of this town. I believe that we will find in them allies on the way to the truth and reconciliation.      u