While the US celebrated its day of Independence, a sad occasion was being memorialized in Poland. July 4th was the 60th anniversary of the Kielce massacre in which 43 Jews were killed after hearing a false report that Jews had kidnapped a Christian boy.
During the unveiling of a new monument to the victims of the massacre, President Lech Kaczynski said in a statement:
“As the president of Poland, I want to say it loud and clear: what happened in Kielce 60 years ago was a crime. This is a great shame and tragedy for the Poles and the Jews, so few of whom survived Hitler’s Holocaust.”
The massacre was known as Europe’s last pogrom and took place a year after the end of the war.