Bishop Tadeusz Pieronek's remarks, during an interview with the Pontifex.Roma website, were published only hours before Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Poland to take part in commemorations to mark the 65th anniversary of the iberation of the Auschwitz death camp.

While stressing that the majority of people who died in Nazi Germany's death camps had been Jewish, Bishop Pieronek, 75, a well-known figure in his homeland, criticised Jews for apparently claiming ownership of the slaughter at the exclusion of other ethnic groups and nationalities who perished.

"Undoubtedly, most of those who died in the camps were Jews but also on the list were Poles, Gypsies, Italians and Catholics.

"It should not be that one group steals this tragedy and uses it for propaganda purposes," the bishop was quoted as saying.

He then added that the Holocaust had been used as a "propaganda weapon" by Jews to achieve "often unjustified advantages".

In comments that could infuriate Israel still further, Bishop Pieronek went on to suggest that Jewish manipulation of the Holocaust had helped to silence international criticism of Israel's treatment of the Palestinians.

He said: "When we see pictures of the wall (in the West Bank], we can see the colossal injustices committed against the Palestinians, who are treated like animals and have their rights violated, but, in the international lobbies, little is said. Let us establish an international memorial day for them.

"But they, the Jews, have a good press, because of their powerful financial resources – extremely powerful through the unconditional support of the United States.

"And this promotes a kind of arrogance, which I consider to be unbearable."

Coming as the world prepares to mark International Holocaust Memorial Day tomorrow, the bishop's comments could well unsettle Polish-Jewish relations.

Mr Netanyahu, speaking yesterday at a ceremony at Israel's national Holocaust memorial where the blueprints of the Auschwitz death camp were unveiled for public viewing, said the lesson of the Holocaust was to "stop bad things when they are small".

"There is new Jew-hatred in our midst. There are new calls for the extermination of the Jewish state," the Israeli PM said, in comments that were believed to be directed at Iran.

Although Jerusalem and Warsaw enjoy good relations at a state level, some Jews accuse Poles of having had a role in the Holocaust, and still suspect the country of harbouring antisemitic sentiment.

But many Poles find such accusations insulting. They say people who make them are ignorant of the tremendous suffering Nazi forces inflicted on Poland during the war and that thousands of Poles died helping Jews. They also point to the fact their country now has a flourishing, if small, Jewish community.

Bishop Pieronek later denied making the more damning claim that the Holocaust was a "Jewish invention", claiming it was added by the journalist who conducted the interview. Speaking to the Polish press, he said he had been referring to the use of the Hebrew word Shoah. "In this sense, the Jews invented the name of the Holocaust," he said. "In contrast, genocide, the intention to destroy the Jewish nation, is the copyright of Nazi Germany."

Jan. 26, 2010

thescotsman.scotsman.com/romancatholicchurch/Jews-use-Holocaust-as-.6012511.jp