Comments on: The Bauman Affair: A Clear and Present Danger to Democracy and Academic Freedom in Poland

By: Shatzimakakis

Shatzimakakis — Wed, 11 Sep 2013 05:23:00 +0000

And what does “violently chanted” mean? This is newspeak. I mean if words are violence the. Clearly you can start locking people up for speaking out, right? That the idea?

By: Shatzimakakis

Shatzimakakis — Wed, 11 Sep 2013 04:33:00 +0000

Barbarians? Yes, that’s the way to start a thoughtful discussion. The only barbarian there was the unrepentant Mr. Bauman. The real shame is that it took so-called far rightists to draw attention to the mockery of good taste that was the invitation given to this arrogant criminal. The Left should have been the FIRST to condemn this individual – its embrace of it has shown its utter moral failure. Public intellectuals with Jewish ancestry have nothing to fear in Poland – vide Bronislaw Wildstein who is the darling of the conservatives. Your accusations of anti-semitism seem simply a reflection of your deeply ingrained anti-polonism. To even suggest that PiS is a close to fascist party shows either utter, willful ignorance of the situation or ill will.

“or approved of it or glossed over it” – while one can extrapolate from the rest of Mr. dietrich what he meant, i am at a loss what you, a native English speaker were trying to convey here.

And what “crimes present” are you talking about? Is disrupting a university lecture now considered a crime? Would you make it a felony or do you think it’s maybe just a misdemeanor?

“What is to be done with this margin of the population” What arrogance…. Who are you sitting in NYC to be even pondering such a question? Perhaps they should be eliminated? You know, something like what Mr. Bauman was doing after World War II with Polish patriots of the AK or NSZ? Or perhaps you would like to emulate the murdere of over 100,000 Poles in 1937 Soviet Union? You know that one where they were murdered because they were Poles? Did i mention they were murdered by the Soviets? Oh, probably their lives are not that important – just some antisemitic white trash sprinkled with reactionaries and saboteurs, right?

Is that what you and a few lefties contemplated at dinner in Poland? Institute for Diversity? I love that – no thank you we love our Poland as it is. If you are so concerned with diversity perhaps you can start closer to home by examining the American profesoriate – or for that matter the people you list as your colleagues on this site. Looking at their names, it deeply concerns me that perhaps they do not represent as diverse a cross section of American society as one might hope for and some remediation efforts might be welcome.

And quite frankly, being familiar with Bauman’s writings, i have to say that they belong in the asheap of history.

By: Jeffrey C. Goldfarb

Jeffrey C. Goldfarb — Tue, 13 Aug 2013 15:14:00 +0000

Although I don’t approve of Heidegger’s association with the Nazi regime, I would have never disrupted a lecture by this great philosopher or approved of it or gloss over it. Although I am dismayed by the anti-Semitism of TS Eliot, I would have never silenced a reading by the great poet. The issue for me is the attempt by barbarians to silence a significant social thinker. Your rush to judgment overlooks the compromise of the ideals to which you say you are committed. Perhaps it is a coincidence that in recent months public intellectuals with Jewish ancestry have been subjected to such disruptions.

By: Leslaw Dietrich

Leslaw Dietrich — Tue, 13 Aug 2013 14:31:00 +0000

Even considering my bad English you cannot assume from my opinion that every person associated with PRL is a criminal. Mr Bauman had a rank of major, served in communist police (KBW) and never really repudiated his past.

I really appreciate the ideals of free inquiry and discussion but you wouldn’t discuss with former SS Sturmbannführer, would you? The real problem with Western people is that they never accept that both Nazism and communism should be treated the same way.

Last but not least, I really don’t care if Mr Bauman is Jew, Muslim or Afro-American. Your comments about the protesters’ antisemitic motivations are completely unfounded.

By: Jeffrey C. Goldfarb

Jeffrey C. Goldfarb — Tue, 13 Aug 2013 13:38:00 +0000

This comment reveals the nature of the problem. Obviously Pan Dietrich means to say that Bauman should be prosecuted, not persecuted, and just as obviously he wants to persecute. Following his logic any person associated with the PRL is a criminal. But that said, note what is wrong here: he focuses on alleged crimes past, as he approves of crimes present, and doesn’t seem to care about the ideals of free inquiry and discussion.

By: Leslaw Dietrich

Leslaw Dietrich — Tue, 13 Aug 2013 06:48:00 +0000

Former communist criminal Bauman should be persecuted just like Nazi criminals are persecuted by Wisenthal Center. Bauman was a member of communist police and participated in polish patriots murder.