FBI director: “I regret linking Germany and Poland in my speech”

Comey’s tenure as FBI Director spanned from 2013 to 2017. In April 2015, in honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Comey visited the Holocaust Museum and delivered a speech that was later published by The Washington Post.

In his deeply personal address, James Comey, who is of Irish Catholic descent, described the Holocaust as “the most significant event in human history.”

“I was born into an Irish Catholic family in this great, wonderful and safe country, but the Holocaust has always haunted me, and it has long stood as a stumbling block to faith,” he stated. “The Holocaust was, as I said, the most horrific display in world history of inhumanity. But it was also the most horrific display in world history of our humanity, of our capacity for evil and for moral surrender. And that second significance is the reason I require every new FBI special agent and intelligence analyst to go to the Holocaust Museum. Naturally, I want them to learn about abuse of authority on a breathtaking scale. But I want them to confront something more painful and more dangerous: I want them to see humanity and what we are capable of.” He further elaborated: “I want them to see that, although this slaughter was led by sick and evil people, those sick and evil leaders were joined by, and followed by, people who loved their families, took soup to a sick neighbor, went to church and gave to charity.”

“Good people helped murder millions. And that’s the most frightening lesson of all — that our very humanity made us capable of, even susceptible to, surrendering our individual moral authority to the group, where it can be hijacked by evil. Of being so cowed by those in power. Of convincing ourselves of nearly anything,” Comey emphasized.

However, it was the following statement that ignited the controversy in Poland:

“In their minds, the murderers and accomplices of Germany, and Poland, and Hungary, and so many, many other places didn’t do something evil. They convinced themselves it was the right thing to do, the thing they had to do. That’s what people do. And that should truly frighten us,” said the FBI Director. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-scariest-lesson-of-the-holocaust/2015/04/16/ffa8e23c-e468-11e4-905f-cc896d379a32_story.html).

These remarks sparked considerable backlash in Poland, as they were perceived as an attempt to implicate Poles in the atrocities committed against Jews during World War II.

Polish politicians, including then-President Bronisław Komorowski, voiced strong objections, while Stephen Mull, the U.S. Ambassador to Poland, was summoned to the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“He was handed a diplomatic note expressing not only our obvious outrage but also our concern about the limited historical knowledge of high-ranking American officials. Referring to years of close cooperation between Polish and American governmental and non-governmental institutions in preserving the memory of the tragic events of World War II, we requested a proper correction of the FBI Director’s statement,” stated undersecretary of state at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland, Henryka Mościcka-Dendys, in the Polish parliament. (https://www.sejm.gov.pl/sejm7.nsf/InterpelacjaTresc.xsp?key=6CA618D0).

The most resounding response, however, came from the directors of several Polish educational and museum institutions.

“We are deeply concerned about the words you have said in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. For the sake of better understanding of Polish, Jewish and world history of the zoth century, we would like to invite you to pay a visit to Poland. As the heads of our country’s most important museums and educational institutions dealing with the history of the period, we would like to offer you a study visit which will allow you not only to get to know, but also to understand in a more complete way the twists and turns of history of the occupied Europe. This, in the future, could prevent you from making mistakes leading to negative repercussions in the friendly relations between our countries and peoples. We believe that a high official of the US administration as yourself, will show concern about these issues,” wrote, among others, the directors of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum and the Museum of the History of Polish Jews (https://www.1944.pl/artykul/list-do-dyrektora-fbi-jamesa-comeya.,4253.html).

The entire letter in English: https://eng.ipn.gov.pl/en/news/778,Letter-to-the-FBI-director-James-Comey-Warsaw-April-21-2015.html?search=9743051063071.

David Harris, Executive Director of the American Jewish Committee, also criticised James Comey for suggesting that Poland was responsible for the Holocaust, and called on him to issue a correction and apology.

Harris characterised Comey’s statements as “wrong and unfortunate.” In an interview with Polish Radio, he expressed his hope that the FBI Director would promptly issue an apology and a clarification. “I have no idea whether his comment was intentional or unintentional. I hope it was unintentional, stemming from a lack of knowledge. However, regardless, it needs to be corrected,” Harris stated (https://polskieradio24.pl/artykul/1426288,komitet-zydow-amerykanskich-krytykuje-szefa-fbi).

Ultimately, James Comey met with Ryszard Schnepf, the then-Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to Washington, D.C., and presented him with a letter expressing his regret for the situation. In the letter, Comey clarified that Poland was not responsible for the crimes of the Nazis.

“Thank you for our meeting today. I value our friendship with Poland. As I told you, I regret linking Germany and Poland in my speech because Poland was invaded and occupied by Germany. The Polish state bears no responsibility for the horrors imposed by the Nazis. I wish I had not used any otter country names because my point was a universal one about human nature,” wrote the FBI Director. (https://dzieje.pl/aktualnosci/szef-fbi-zaluje-ze-powiazalem-polske-z-niemcami).

President of Poland Bronisław Komorowski, when asked by reporters about the FBI Director’s letter, stated: “This evolution is a step in the right direction, but in my opinion, it also indicates the need for further, dedicated efforts to rebuild the American public’s knowledge of the history of Poland during the Second World War, and the role of Poles in resisting the crime of the Holocaust. We can effectively achieve this through cooperation with Poland’s allies in the United States and friends committed to truth.” (https://www.prezydent.pl/kancelaria/archiwum/archiwum-bronislawa-komorowskiego/aktualnosci/wydarzenia/list-dyrektora-fbi-wskazuje-na-gleboka-osobista-refleksje,15665).

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