Almost completely unknown Irene Gut

If it were not for an accident, probably for a long time I would not know anything about Irene Gut. Precisiely if Dan Gordon did not write a play, if Michael Parva did not direct it and Tovah Feldshuh did not play a heroine and if accidentally I did not watch TV at proper moment I would not hear about Irene Gut – Polish woman who saved twevle Polish Jews.

During the World War II Irene Gut was forced to work as a housekeeper for a prominent German officer. For almost two years she had a courage to protect and give shelter fo twelve Jews. She hid them in a villa of her “employer” – mentioned above German. When he got to know her “mystery” gave her a dramatic choice – she could stay his mistress and save twelve Jewish lives or cause that her “charges” would be given away for sure death. For Irene Gut there was only one possible choice. She decided to sacrifice her dignity and purity to save people’s lives. For an ardent catholic woman it was a really dramatic decision, but she did not have doubts that her duty as a human being and catholic was to act on behalf of her neighbours.

It is a strongly impressive story, but In Poland only few heard about Irene Gut. Myself, tohugh I am Pole interested in contemporary and past relations between Poles and national minorities and ethnic groups, in Polish history, have not heard about courageous Irene Gut. I confess it is a shame. But I blame not only myself, there is a great negligence of Polish magazines, Polish press, Polish media at all, Polish schools, educational system, Polish Univeristies, etc. I have been always interested in searching and finding such stories like that about Irene Gut and have not come across even mention of her anywhere.

It is difficult to understand. Now in Poland we are witnesses of a wonderful rerbirth of interest in Jewish history and culture. Many exhibitions, many concerts, many books, articles, documentary films dovoted to Polish Jews, to Polish Righteous among the nations and almost complete ignorance with regard to Irene Gut.

I am a little bit ashamed.

Anneliese Michel

Yesterday on Polish public TV I watched documentary dedicated to Anneliese Michel – a German girl who lived in Bavaria, and who – and here is a real problem – who was possessed or mentally ill?

I must confess that I am a rather moderate rationalist and everything try to explain and understand. When I was a student of Law Faculty in Uniersity in Bialystok I had forensic psychiatry’s lectures. Once we – it means me and my two friends – went to psychiatric hospital in Choroszcz to see how it works in practice. We met our lecturer who became our guide in hospital. We had many conversations, and one of them concerned possession. Our lecturer informed us that psychiatric hospital cooperate with priest – exorcist. I could not understand it, I was convinced that possession does not exist, that it is only unrecognized psychic disorder, psychic illness. I knew that region where I lived was one of the most religious regions in Poland, and its tradition, catholic and orthodox church upbringing which people here obtained influenced also doctors, psychiatrists, they were born here, raised, mainly in catholic or orthodox church families, and thier background must impact them. I did not believe in possession and our lecturer was not able to convince me and my friends.

Yet before forensic psychiatry’s lectures once I attended a meeting with priest – exorcist from Kleosin near Bialystok. He told us a stroy about a girl who was led to him by her parents. She should have been possessed. When she entered a chapel she started screaming, speaking foreign languages which she had never leraned and even languages which had not existed, and her voice was cruelly inhuman, manly and terryfing. Of course I considered it was a psychic disorder which medicine, psychiatry does not know, and has difficulty in disocvering its roots and causes.

But after yesterday’s documentary I started thinking if it is possible that a fragile, delicate, sensitive girl – even if sha was ill – is able to produce such horryfing sounds, voices? Is a human being organism able to create such inhuman sounds, especially a womanly one?

Anneliese was a very religous person, religion was her almost whole life, she probably read a lot of religious books, and maybe all konwledge, all information that she gathered coded itself in her subconscious and during the explosions of her illness some of those things which lived in her subcnoscious let out in the form of frigthening voices, delusions and kind of epilepsy. Maybe, but why none of doctors was not able to treat , to help her?

I think there is a Mystery where a man should give a bow to It.

Pro-western candidate wins in Serbia, and what about Kosovo…?

Beyond reasaonable doubts pro – western candidate – Boris Tadic wins in presidential elections in Serbia. It is undoubtedly a good news. It means that Serbians support Serbia’s membership in European Union. But is it also a sign that it is going to be proclaimed independence of Kosovo?

European Union and United States should have sense of gulit with regard to Serbia. During all Balkan wars Serbia was presented as the villain, the only one guilty all the evil which took place in Balkans. In fact reality as always is more complicated, not schematic, not black and white. Serbia like other Balkan countries was also executioner and at the same time – victim of war propaganda and other countries involved in wars.

We cannot forget that Kosovo is very important place for Serbians from the historical, cultural and also political point of view. It is a cradle of Serbian state. There are still many Orthodox Christian convents – now surrounded with barbed wires, warned by KFOR forces and somtimes shelled with missiles by “unknown culprits”. Convents which are witnesses of former Serbian greatness. Serbians resisted islamization of their country and nation for many years, they just deserve Serbian Kosovo – their native land. Demography cannnot be an argument in favour of sovereignty. The most important factor should be cultural and historical roots of given land.

But there is great possibility that Kosovo will proclaim its independence soon. Its independence is going to be recognized by UE members and USA. Russia – natural Serbia’s ally – is not able to resist this situation at the moment, and probably is going to use it as a precedent with regard to South Ossetia and Abkhazia, where is politically engaged. If Kosovo has a right to proclaim its independence which is to be recognized by international society, why shouldn’t it be so with Abkhazia or South Ossetia? Moreover other national minorities in other countries could also call its precedent.

And is it a good idea to have a next islamic country in Europe? Country which no one knows how it could be used in the future by other islamic countries. I highly respect Albanians, but think that there is no need to create the second Albanian state.