Letter to the Editor of
NEWSWEEK

What's going on with George F. Will? This conservative stalwart appears to be dramatically changing his political perspective with his July 9th review of the book, "Neighbors."

The villains in it are long-suffering anti-Communist and anti-Nazi Polish Catholics who were alternately subjected to the terror of these two evil occupiers of their country during World War II. Author Jan T. Gross accuses the Poles of atrocities against their Jewish neighbors at the very moment the Red Army was ending a two-year occupation of their village. In previous writings which he now carefully avoids repeating in "Neighbors," Gross admitted Polish Jews had tormented their Catholic neighbors by collaborating with the enemy wherever the Communists were in charge of the territory.

Mr. Will accepts all of Gross' allegations as gospel truth despite the fact they were based largely on the statements of one such collaborator, Szmul Wasersztajn, identified with connections to the terror apparatus directed by the NKVD, the predecessor of the KGB. And, true to the way Communists usually told their stories, Wasersztajn claimed to be an eyewitness to the alleged atrocities even though he never was.

In gratitude for providing Gross with the kind of material that was able to influence even someone like George Will, the author paid special tribute to Comrade Wasersztajn by dedicating "Neighbors" to him.

What will George Will next be giving us as recommended reading? Karl Marx?

Michael Preisler
Auschwitz Prisoner No. 22213
Co-Chair Holocaust Documentation Committee
Polish American Congress
177 Kent St., Brooklyn, N.Y. 11222
(718) 384-2584

Michael Preisler, , 0000-00-00

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