A third New York City church has cancelled an event scheduled with Ewa Kurek, a Holocaust historian who teaches that Polish Jews were complicit with the Nazis during occupation.
The pastor of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in East Harlem, Rev. Marian Wierzchowski, confirmed the cancellation to TPM Tuesday.
“We were able to speak with the pastor of the parish today, and he has agreed to our request to cancel her talk,” New York Archdiocese spokesperson Joe Zwilling added.
Activists, led by Polish-American Greenpoint resident Victoria Cambranes, became recently aware of a group called Polonia United that had been leading protests against a Senate bill that would provide reparations for Holocaust survivors. The same group put up flyers advertising Kurek’s upcoming appearances.
Along with Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in East Harlem, she was scheduled to appear at St. Stanislaus Kostka Church in Greenpoint and St. Francis de Chantal in Borough Park, both of which have been cancelled.
Kurek appears to still be planning to speak at the Church of St. Theresa of the Child Jesus in Linden, New Jersey. Maria Margiotta, communications director for the Archdiocese of Newark, told TPM that her appearance at the church was “brought to their attention yesterday” and that they are “looking into it.”
Cambranes said that Polonia United is looking to reschedule Kurek’s cancelled appearances. TPM’s multiple inquiries to the group have gone unanswered.
