60 years ago, Poles murdered Holocaust survivors in a vicious pogrom. Ha'aretz reports:
… The police and army were able to push back the mob for a short while, and to take the dead and wounded to the municipal hospital. Despite the impression that the situation had calmed down, crowds in other parts of the city continued to beat and kill Jews, and the outbursts of hatred worsened. At around 12:30 P.M., when there was a lunch break at the Ludwikow steel mill not far from the Jewish house, about 500 workers broke through the factory gate and headed for Planty Street. The workers, who were armed with knives, wooden sticks and iron bars, were easily able to make their way through the crowds and enter the Jewish house. The pogrom, which had started dying down, was set aflame again and another 20 Jews lost their lives. That same day, attackers beat Jews on a train. The engineer slowed the train intentionally, and all the Jews were pulled out of the coaches and beaten to death. The attackers left with the victims' watches, clothes, shoes and money.
That afternoon, army units from Warsaw arrived in Kielce and dispersed the mobs. The Jewish dead and wounded were taken to St. Alexandra Hospital and the survivors were sent to the local sports stadium and the offices of the security forces. That day, at least 50 Jews, including women and children, lost their lives in Kielce, and more than 50 others were injured.…
The report is incorrect. One Jew on that train, my friend Avrum Aybish Mastbaum, miraculously survived. The mob was beating Jews and then throwing them off the train to the ground where they were beaten to death. The leader of the mob stopped Mastbaum and asked if there were any more Jews on the train. Mastbaum said no. The thug thanked Mastbaum and then left, believing Mastbaum was a Pole.
Mastbaum is the most "Jewish-looking" person I know. For Polish thugs not to recognize this man as a Jew can only be described as miraculous.