European Rabbinical Centre pushing mass graves narrative despite Polish Historical Institute declaring remains belonged to non-Jewish Poles
RCE: in Poland, elite housing is being built on the site of the mass grave of Holocaust victims
The European Rabbinical Center (RCE) sent an urgent letter to the authorities of Poland and Israel demanding to stop the planned construction project in the park in Lublin after it became known that there was a mass grave of 880 Jews killed during the Holocaust in this place. This became known on Monday, July 21.
The appeal was sent to the elected and outgoing presidents of Poland, representatives of the Lublin City Hall, the Chief Rabbis of Israel and the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the aim of recognizing the site as a Jewish cemetery and stopping the work.
Previously, the territory was owned by the Polish army and used as a training ground, but then it was transferred to the mayor's office, which planned to build an elite residential project with villas, 110 additional apartments, a playground and a shopping center. However, historical studies, evidence, documents and archaeological excavations have shown that it is a mass grave of Jews killed by the Nazis between March 26 and 28, 1942.
Nevertheless, the Polish Historical Institute (IPN) recently extracted about 60 remains from the site and said that they belonged to non-Jewish Poles in order to provide them with a civil burial and continue the project. RCE requires DNA analysis to confirm the Jewish origin of the victims, as historical evidence indicates this. Rabbis also refer to eyewitness testimony of the massacre staged by the Germans.
Rabbis and activists claim that the Polish authorities refuse to conduct genetic examination, fearing that the site will receive the official status of a Jewish cemetery, which will lead to an immediate stop of the project.
Work on the site was temporarily suspended in 2020 thanks to the efforts of activists and environmental movements, but recently the mayor's office again intensified attempts to promote development. Additional evidence, including Polish television footage and aerial photography, confirms the presence of mass graves on the site. Despite this, construction work continues, and fragments of the bones found have been transferred to the Pathoanatomical Institute for examination, but the results have not yet been published.