Jablonna

JABLONNA, Polish military detention camp set up in the summer of 1920 during the Red Army counteroffensive on Warsaw. The facts that Jewish officers were serving in the Red Army and Jews were prominent in the Soviet leadership created an atmosphere of suspicion toward every Jew, particularly within the army, though civil authorities urged the Jews to make every sacrifice to save Poland. Young Jews, including former officers of the Austrian army, had joined up wishing to contribute their military experience to help in the defense. However, the military authorities, with the knowledge of the war minister K. Sosnkowski, gave instructions that all Jewish volunteers, and "in particular officers," be detained in a closed camp, which had been set up in a remote village north of Lodz, on the pretext that the detainees were not yet ready for active service, although the real reason was distrust and unwillingness to appoint Jewish officers in positions commensurate with their rank and experience. Three thousand Jewish soldiers and officers, among them many with a university education, were removed from their units and subjected to physical and mental hardship in the Jablonna camp. After protests were voiced through the Jewish press and by Jewish leaders, as well as by Polish intellectuals, the authorities yielded, and on the initiative of the Socialist vice premier, J. Daszyński, the notorious camp was liquidated in September.

Sources: Encyclopaedia Judaica. © 2007 The Gale Group. All Rights Reserved.