Post by jimpres on Apr 7, 2008 13:20:59 GMT -7
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 7, 2008
A CATHOLIC AUSCHWITZ SURVIVOR’S
THOUSAND POINTS OF LIGHT
Americans first heard about a “thousand points of light” from
George Bush Sr. when he was campaigning for the presidency
of the United States in 1988. Now, a Polish Catholic survivor
of Auschwitz is starting a different kind of campaign to promote
his own “thousand points of light.”
Michael Preisler feels “thousand points of truth” would be a more
precise description. What are these thousand points? They are a
thousand copies of Andrew Hempel’s book about a six-year period
Preisler lived through and its title is simply “Poland in World War II.”
It will be distributed by the Holocaust Documentation Committee
of the Polish American Congress where Preisler is co-chair.
“Nowhere else is Holocaust history as distorted and as misrepresented
as it is about Poland.” Whenever Preisler says this he speaks from his
own bitter experience which began when Germany invaded Poland in
1939 to start World War II. He fought against the Germans as a
member of the Polish underground resistance before being arrested by
the Gestapo and ending up as an Auschwitz prisoner for more than
three years.
Today, Preisler frequently visits schools to give students an honest
and balanced account of what the Christians and Jews of Poland were
forced to suffer under German occupation. He tells them of his own
experiences and the inhuman conditions German terror and brutality
created for the Polish people. Now he plans to leave behind one of
his “points of light” books whenever he lectures again.
Giving Americans accurate information about the Holocaust became
a driving force for Preisler some twenty-five years ago. That was
when he first noticed how the entertainment industry and other
media began to fictionalize and falsify history with an evident
anti-Polish prejudice.
For many years he had tried to erase all his painful wartime memories.
Now, this kind of manipulation of the historical record suddenly became
a grim reminder of the anti-Polish propaganda the Germans used to
demoralize and confuse the Polish people. The constant lying they
so cunningly devised created an ever-present sense of fear and suspicion
in occupied Poland.
Preisler would like to believe the media mislead the American public
simply because of ignorance or their carelessness in researching the
facts. But he suspects there is more to it than that.
“They try to blame the Polish people for atrocities the Germans committed.
They try to blame us for atrocities the Communists committed. They
prefer to call concentration camps like Auschwitz where I almost died
“Polish” concentration camps instead of German camps. The bad guys
are made to look like good guys,” he said.
Preisler noted it was Poland’s grave misfortune not only to have the
Nazis of Germany as an enemy in WW II. but also the Communists
of the Soviet Union (now Russia).
“I only wish the American government had been as careful with
investigating the background of ex-Communists who came to
the United States after the war as they were with the Germans,”
he said.
Knowing Preisler was an Auschwitz survivor, the U.S. Justice
Department’s Office of Special Investigations at one time came to
him and asked him to help them identify photos of former German
SS-men who might have sneaked into the United States.
Preisler says he was glad to help the OSI since he had a personal
score to settle with the SS and some other Germans besides.
“But the OSI never checked out the Communists like they did the
Nazis. They should have. The propaganda of these liars was just
as deceiving as the Germans’. They’re experts at it . I can’t help
wondering if one of them is behind it whenever I see the truth about
Poland get twisted today,” he said.
It’s feelings like these that keep driving Preisler to fight just the
way they did that day in 1939 when Hitler’s army crossed the border
and started killing the Polish people.
He is determined to see each one of his “thousand points of
light” enlighten the American public with the truth about Poland.
Contact: Frank Milewski
(718) 263-2700 ext 105
A CATHOLIC AUSCHWITZ SURVIVOR’S
THOUSAND POINTS OF LIGHT
Americans first heard about a “thousand points of light” from
George Bush Sr. when he was campaigning for the presidency
of the United States in 1988. Now, a Polish Catholic survivor
of Auschwitz is starting a different kind of campaign to promote
his own “thousand points of light.”
Michael Preisler feels “thousand points of truth” would be a more
precise description. What are these thousand points? They are a
thousand copies of Andrew Hempel’s book about a six-year period
Preisler lived through and its title is simply “Poland in World War II.”
It will be distributed by the Holocaust Documentation Committee
of the Polish American Congress where Preisler is co-chair.
“Nowhere else is Holocaust history as distorted and as misrepresented
as it is about Poland.” Whenever Preisler says this he speaks from his
own bitter experience which began when Germany invaded Poland in
1939 to start World War II. He fought against the Germans as a
member of the Polish underground resistance before being arrested by
the Gestapo and ending up as an Auschwitz prisoner for more than
three years.
Today, Preisler frequently visits schools to give students an honest
and balanced account of what the Christians and Jews of Poland were
forced to suffer under German occupation. He tells them of his own
experiences and the inhuman conditions German terror and brutality
created for the Polish people. Now he plans to leave behind one of
his “points of light” books whenever he lectures again.
Giving Americans accurate information about the Holocaust became
a driving force for Preisler some twenty-five years ago. That was
when he first noticed how the entertainment industry and other
media began to fictionalize and falsify history with an evident
anti-Polish prejudice.
For many years he had tried to erase all his painful wartime memories.
Now, this kind of manipulation of the historical record suddenly became
a grim reminder of the anti-Polish propaganda the Germans used to
demoralize and confuse the Polish people. The constant lying they
so cunningly devised created an ever-present sense of fear and suspicion
in occupied Poland.
Preisler would like to believe the media mislead the American public
simply because of ignorance or their carelessness in researching the
facts. But he suspects there is more to it than that.
“They try to blame the Polish people for atrocities the Germans committed.
They try to blame us for atrocities the Communists committed. They
prefer to call concentration camps like Auschwitz where I almost died
“Polish” concentration camps instead of German camps. The bad guys
are made to look like good guys,” he said.
Preisler noted it was Poland’s grave misfortune not only to have the
Nazis of Germany as an enemy in WW II. but also the Communists
of the Soviet Union (now Russia).
“I only wish the American government had been as careful with
investigating the background of ex-Communists who came to
the United States after the war as they were with the Germans,”
he said.
Knowing Preisler was an Auschwitz survivor, the U.S. Justice
Department’s Office of Special Investigations at one time came to
him and asked him to help them identify photos of former German
SS-men who might have sneaked into the United States.
Preisler says he was glad to help the OSI since he had a personal
score to settle with the SS and some other Germans besides.
“But the OSI never checked out the Communists like they did the
Nazis. They should have. The propaganda of these liars was just
as deceiving as the Germans’. They’re experts at it . I can’t help
wondering if one of them is behind it whenever I see the truth about
Poland get twisted today,” he said.
It’s feelings like these that keep driving Preisler to fight just the
way they did that day in 1939 when Hitler’s army crossed the border
and started killing the Polish people.
He is determined to see each one of his “thousand points of
light” enlighten the American public with the truth about Poland.
Contact: Frank Milewski
(718) 263-2700 ext 105