Israeli ambassador praises President's speech at Jedwabne memorial service

President Aleksander Kwasniewski yesterday apologized for the massacre of hundreds of Jews in the small town of Jedwabne 60 years ago. "I beg pardon in my own name and the name of those Poles whose conscience is shattered by that crime," said the President to mark the 60th anniversary of the tragedy. Szewach Weiss, the Israeli ambassador in Warsaw said, "I am very impressed by the President's speech. I admire his braveness and I may say: I am proud of him." However, the Polish Catholic Church did not take part in the ceremony. "I don't understand why Poles are constantly vilified," Cardinal Jozef Glemp said recently. "Jews always express their aversion towards Poles." Many Poles are still very reluctant to accept the new historical evidence blaming Jedwabne's local population for the massacre, instead of the Nazis. (Reuters, Gazeta Wyborcza p. 3) A.K.