By Adrian Baron
As President of the Polonia Business Association, I have been asked to respond to the recent controversy surrounding the cancelled talk of a self described historian in New Britain. For those that are not aware of this kerfuffle, a gentleman named Edward Reid was scheduled to give a talk at a New Britain catering hall. As requested, I am providing some background information on the incident along with the reasoning why so many Polish organizations and community leaders objected to his visit. I am providing this clarification to hopefully paint a clearer picture to what occurred. I was concerned that many of the individuals who objected to the visit have been unfairly harassed. Mr. Reid also claims harassment.
The talk in question was scheduled at the Haller Post, a social club and catering hall located in New Briain’s Little Poland neighborhood. It was incorrectly reported that the Haller Post organization had officially sponsored this event. Akin to a VFW hall, the Post was simply renting out space to an outside organization. Nothing appeared to suggest Mr. Reid was anything but a run of the mill historian sharing his research on events from World War II.
Two days before the scheduled event, an email was sent to various community leaders in New Britain stating that Mr. Reid was not a real historian and had a history of making claims and comments that were anti-Semitic in nature. Attached were screenshots of various tweets and social media comments attributed to Mr. Reid. Naturally, the information caused concern for the local community. Several people began calling the Haller Post to voice their displeasure. Others began organizing a protest. Reporters began calling the veterans that ran the club. Business owners became concerned that they would be unfairly tied to the event. People who spoke out publicly included the Lt. Governor of Connecticut, state representatives, former Mayor Lucian Pawlak, the Polonia Business Association, the Polish American Foundation and several members of city council. I was part of that large group that thought his visit was a bad idea.
After word came out about the Reid appearance, concern grew from the local business community. When a somewhat similar event took place at a restaurant in Brooklyn, protests hastened the shutdown of the business. Mr. Reid’s talks at the Warsaw Club in Brooklyn and St. Stanislaus Church in Ozone Park were also cancelled because of community outcry. Promoters threatened to pull shows. In Connecticut, a similar response began to form. Various news outlets began asking questions. Fair or not, the topic was basically “why is Little Poland hosting hate speech?” People asked if the planned talk was a part of the annual Dozynki festival since it was scheduled for the same weekend. It was not. The Dozynki Festival is actually part of the Polish Foundation which objected to the talk. Articles appeared in the CT Post, Hartford Courant and New Britain Herald. Social media was full of comments chastising New Britain for giving a platform to a speaker with an alleged history of anti-Semitic comments and views. The planned small talk had become a big problem.
Considering I have spent over a decade working with my fellow business owners on promoting and developing Little Poland, I was not welcome to the idea of this event smearing the good name of the city and the Polish community. Our Little Poland neighborhood had overwhelming positive coverage in prestigious publications like the NY Times, the Boston Globe, Harvard Magazine and the Connecticut Law Tribune. The Travel Channel featured us. The governor boasted that Little Poland had produced one of the best festivals in the United States. People were learning about Polish culture and supported the Polish community. Suddenly, the 100 businesses in the area were put at risk by being unfairly portrayed as a community who supports hate speech. People began asking “who is this Reid guy and why are so many people opposed to his visit?” No local New Britain organization had sponsored the event. It was not on any of the local event calendars. It was not promoted on Little Poland’s popular social media pages. Most residents had no inkling who this guy was. Did you?
To be fair to Edward Reid, I made the effort to learn more about him. The first red flag was that he was apparently banned from Youtube. The second red flag was that he had no published works or scholarly journals to his credit. In other words, he was a self described historian and not an accredited academic historian. Nevertheless, I found one of his videos and watched it from beginning to end. I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. The video told the story of St. Maximilian Kolbe, a courageous Polish priest who had given his life in exchange for a fellow prisoner in a Nazi death camp. Who would object to this? You could probably show it in a classroom. Why did they protest his appearance in New York? I decided to dig a little deeper thinking it might be a huge misunderstanding.
From what I gather, Mr. Reid is an American from Georgia. His popularity in certain circles seems to stem from several self-made videos which he posts on social media. In some of these videos you find him standing in front of a Polish flag discussing Polish sacrifices during the war. Naturally people wondered “why are people harassing this poor man who wants to just tell the truth about Poland? What’s wrong with that? Let him speak.” After posting his videos, he uses the opportunity to asks for money to be sent to his Paypal or Gofundme accounts.
Make no mistake. I firmly believe people should be educated about the many Poles who risked their lives to save their fellow Poles of the Jewish faith. I believe Poles have a valid argument to make on whether or not the Polish people should pay reparations. Poland was invaded in 1939. German Nazis controlled every aspect of life in Poland and terrorized the population I don’t know anyone who doesn’t think Father Kolbe was a hero. He was undoubtedly a hero. He gave his life for a stranger. I think many Poles were heroes in the war. Even with the threat of death, the citizens of Poland have the world’s highest count of individuals who have been honored by Yad Vashem for their sacrifice and bravery. For these videos, I applaud Mr. Reid albeit just momentarily. With an asterisk.
The problem with Mr. Reid wasn’t the handful of his videos where he celebrated Poles and their heroic sacrifices. The problem wasn’t his view on whether Poland should pay reparations. I know plenty of people with both views and it warrants academic debate. The problem wasn’t that there were people objecting to him because they “hate Poland” as Reid brazenly claimed in his followup video. Of course we don’t hate Poland. It’s a ridiculous claim. These unfounded claims just cloud the real reason the event was cancelled. It’s not complicated. There is no conspiracy. There is no secret nefarious cabal out to get him or whatever other nonsense that has been suggested. This uproar was due to Mr. Reid’s problematic history of alleged anti-Semitic comments and false claims about the Holocaust. As a result, he shot his credibility in the proverbial foot.
Based on his claim that comments attributed to him were fake news, I made the effort to check it out for myself. I did not want someone maligned unfairly. The harshest claim was that Reid made the horrific comment that “traitorous coward Jews” walked “right into the gas without a peep.” After a quick search on the internet, I actually did manage to find his original comment. It was in the commentary section of a news website. A digital footprint left in the internet mud. In order for anyone to be able to post a comment on this particular website, readers must log in with their Facebook accounts. When I clicked on the profile picture of Mr. Reid attached to the comment, I was connected to his current Facebook account. Other statements allegedly attributed to him included claims that Jews welcomed the Nazis with parties and parades, that of the millions of Polish Jews not even one helped a Christian Pole (obviously disputable considering it is well known both Christian and Jewish Poles fought in the Warsaw Uprising. Another example that comes to mind is Jan Korczak, a Polish Jewish orphanage director who refused sanctuary and decided to stay with his orphans as they went to Treblinka for extermination.)
Reid also pushed the conspiracy theory that Elie Wiesel, a Nobel Prize winning holocaust survivor faked his concentration camp tattoos. The claim stemmed from an allegation brought by a fellow concentration camp survivor of Mr. Wiesel. As a source of proof, Mr. Reid referred to a blog run by a white supremacist named Carolyn Yeager. Ms. Yeager’s hits include describing Auschwitz as “luxurious” with flush porcelain toilets, flowers in front of prisoner barracks, a swimming pool where water polo was played and a beautiful theater for music and drama. Somehow Steven Spielberg forgot to cover the fun water polo matches in Schindler’s List. Yeager is also the creator of the White Network and a blog talk channel show called “Hitler’s Table Talk” where participants discuss Hitler’s after supper talks with friends. I wish I was making this up.
I also found his promotional poster objectionable. It features him seemingly wearing a triangle with a P on it. The symbol is the badge worn by Polish prisoners in Nazi death camps like Auschwitz. This man is not Polish and was never a prisoner in a camp. Personally, I just found this very disrespectful to Poles and other victims of the Nazis. Of course, that is just my opinion.
I surely don’t hate Poland. I’m proud to be Polish. I speak Polish. I was a Polish boyscout. My wife is Polish. I went to lawschool in Poland. Heck, I’m the guy that pushed New Britain to designate Broad Street as Little Poland. I organized Polish nights with professional baseball, hockey and soccer teams. I’ve been to the White House, the US Embassy in Poland and the Polish Embassy in Washington D.C, advocating for Poles. I was part of the team that created one of the largest Polish cultural festivals in New England. I am also a practicing Catholic that attends mass every week. Where is my supposed bias?
I provide this information as a response to Mr. Reid’s accusations. Following the outcry, he posted a video claiming the reason he decided to cancel was because his life was threatened, that there were threats of extortion and antifa was involved. While I cannot speak to his experience in NY, I am not aware of anyone threatening him in any of these ways in CT. I could not find any police report filed to substantiate this claim. I can only assume this was done to save face after every speaking venue cancelled on him. But if someone is threatened it should be taken seriously.
Another reason the Haller Post cancelled is simple. Had the venue hosted the event, the parking lot would have been filled with protesters, negative Yelp reviews and news crews asking why the Polish community is hosting an anti-Semitic speaker. That’s a lot to expect from a business to endure just for a rental fee. Would you want your baby shower or wedding there after such an outcry?
Many believed, the event would have created an unfair imposition and attack on the reputations of every single restaurant and business on Broad Street. I know for certain as I was fielding calls all day from press and angry residents looking for answers. I was called because of my role as the President of the Polonia Business Association. I can also assure you that the members of the Haller Post are not antifa. They are proud Polish veterans. Their ranks include men who fought Nazis. They deserve respect. Any suggestion that antifa cancelled the event is quite frankly stupid.
To the organizers, I believe you had good intentions in hosting this speaker. Poland’s role in World War II and the sacrifice of its citizenry warrants academic discussion. I believe that more Americans should be made aware of the heroic contributions Poles made while under Nazi oppression. My personal view is that any attempts at academic debate are hurt by using an uncredited historian with a problematic history of alleged anti-Semitism. In addition to CCSU’s tremendous Polish department, there are plenty of accredited historians and published authors that would fit the bill. You will reach a wider audience and will give more credibility to your efforts.
As to Mr. Reid, I will say that he absolutely has every right to say and believe what he wants. He has the freedom of speech. We all do. The cancellation is not a freedom of speech issue. Mr. Reid had his event cancelled at a private club. That is perfectly legal and within the constitution. You have the freedom of speech. It doesn’t mean people have to listen to you. The freedom of speech works both ways. His detractors had every right to protest his speech He was not arrested. He can still say and think what he wants. And you or anyone else are free to host him at your expense. We live in a free country. So decide on your own. I posted a sampling of his alleged tweets so you can form your own opinion. Can you see why people had a problem with his plan to speak in the Hardware City?
Adrian Baron is President of the Polonia Business Association and is a prominent leader in New Britain’s Little Poland neighborhood.
Editor’s note: This commentary was originally published by Baron on Facebook.
Editor’s note (8/31/2019): The commentary was revised with edits from the author.
