Kate Maltby’s piece (William and Kate have been duped into endorsing Poland’s ugly nationalism, 21 July) seeks to lay blame for the atrocities that happened in Poland squarely with the Poles, rather than the Nazis. This ignores the vast number of Polish people who risked and lost their lives trying to save Jews. It’s worth recognising that Poland was the only country in occupied Europe where there was death by decree for assisting Jews. Let me remind her that Poles have the highest number of people of all nations to be recognised as Righteous Among the Nations by Israel. My own grand-uncle, Jan Kawczynski, was brutally murdered along with his wife and young daughter by the Nazis for harbouring Jewish families on his farm. The only reason the uprising was “doomed to fail from the start” was because of Stalin’s unwillingness to assist, and his desire for it to fail. Let me assure Kate Maltby, the spirit and courage of the soldiers who fought in 1944 to free Warsaw is the pride and joy of all Varsovians, Poles as well as all other people of goodwill.
Daniel Kawczynski MP
Conservative, Shrewsbury and Atcham
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