Piers Morgan interviews Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš
Posted by Joseph Roth on November 26, 2023, 5:09 am
CNN Thursday 4 June 1942 News: Reinhard Heydrich has died of his wounds earlier today...
PIERS MORGAN: ...And once again, Reichsführer, please accept our deepest condolences for the loss of your very great comrade.
Schutzstaffel Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler: Danke schön, Herr Morgan. Sie und Ihre Kollegen sind geschätzte Unterstützer unseres Kampfes.
PIERS MORGAN:[suddenly grim] All right, my next guests are the terrorists---that's what they're being called, and I think it's the right term for them---Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš, who eight days ago murdered, in cold blood, the Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia, Reinhard Heydrich. By so doing, they have unleashed a torrent of anger and reprisals---long overdue, some might say --on the Jewish people whom they claim to represent. They are holed up in a secret location somewhere in Bohemia. Guten Abend.
Jozef Gabčík: Guten abend.
Jan Kubiš: Guten abend.
PIERS MORGAN: Well, let's see if we can get you to answer this very serious question: Are you proud of yourselves? Because a lot of people are saying that you two need to be strung up on piano wire, tortured by having your fingernails removed one by one, and slowly executed.
Jozef Gabčík: Of course we are proud of what we did!
PIERS MORGAN: A man has died of his injuries today, because of what you two did!
Jan Kubiš: Long live the Jewish people, and down with the Nazi genocidaires!
PIERS MORGAN:[looking troubled] I have a problem with the way you and a lot of other Jews and their well meaning supporters here in New York like to bandy about words like "genocide." I really do. And so do a lot of other people here at CNN.
Jozef Gabčík: Piers, can I ask you a question?
PIERS MORGAN: Please do. I'm totally open to questions on this topic. I strive at all times to be unbiased and fair to all sides.
Jan Kubiš: So how do you explain the fact that in the last two hours, all of your other guests have been Nazis, and the guest immediately after Jozef and me is Dr. Goebbels himself?
PIERS MORGAN: I reject that comment. If you look at my record, I have been scrupulously fair to the Jews.
Jan Kubiš: Yeah, you're a real champion of impartial journalism, right up there with William Joyce and those champions at the Daily Mail.
PIERS MORGAN:[glaring with stygian malice] I resent that remark, and I condemn it, just as I ask every Jew I know to condemn what you and Jozef did on May 27th. Jozef, what was the question you wanted to ask?
Jozef Gabčík: Why do you keep saying that all of this started eight days ago? Why do you resolutely keep ignoring the context? Why do you not mention that the Nazis are occupying this country in the most brutal, bloody manner imaginable?
PIERS MORGAN: I'm not even going to dignify that with a response. Except to remind our viewers that Bohemia and Moravia were at peace until your violent and senseless act on May 27th. Listen, I have a history of supporting the Jews. Do I think that at times the Germans have gone a bit too far in the way they react to Jewish insults, and Jewish provocation, and Jewish violence? Yes I do. But you don't see the Germans behaving like this, do you? You don't see German students walking up to Jewish vehicles and firing a Sten machine gun at them like you did, Jan.
Jozef Gabčík: No, Piers, you've got your facts wrong again. It was me that fired the sub-machine gun. Jan threw the bomb.
PIERS MORGAN:[nonplussed] What?
Jan Kubiš: Then we high-tailed it out of there!
...[Long, long pause]...
PIERS MORGAN:[gravely] You seem to think this is a matter for levity.
Jozef Gabčík: Actually, we don't think it's funny. As we speak, the Germans are moving in to our home town of Lidice, and they say they are going to kill every single inhabitant. It's disgusting.
Jan Kubiš: It's genocide is what it is.
PIERS MORGAN: Well what did you think they were going to do? Don't you think the Germans have the right to defend themselves? Oh, they seem to have disappeared. Maybe they've "high tailed it" again! ...[pause]... Listening to all that was the Reich Minister of Propaganda, Dr. Joseph Goebbels. Minister, can I take a moment to convey to you our deep sorrow for your terrible loss....
Posted by Ian M on November 26, 2023, 12:03 pm, in reply to "Re: Brilliant."
I don't think either were Jewish or actually from Lidice - that was a town the nazis chose for liquidation because a few skimpy lines of intelligence pointed to members of the resistance having stayed or operated from there. Callum Macdonald's book, 'The assassination of Reinhard Heydrich' is a good read on the subject including critical commentary on the role of exiled Czech leadership in London, suggesting that president Benes pushed for the assassination - which was largely organised by British intelligence - in part to ensure his position in Czechoslovakia after the war. There are always forces behind the scenes manoeuvring to take advantage of apparently simple heroic acts. And innocent people always suffer as a consequence (not that they wouldn't have suffered otherwise, just in different ways).
Anyway, I'm just nitpicking really. Enjoyed the piece, which is a decent exposure of Morgan's rhetorical tactics.
It seems Morgan has adopted a style (in contrast to some in the mainstream) that recognizes a changed demographic (a) in the UK, (b) among youth and (c) on the internet: Morgan adopts a somewhat “alt” style, allowing a range of voice to speak. He does it, apparently, without incurring the wrath of the usual suspects.
The overall effect seems to do Israel a favor, and Piers Morgan a favor while providing a minimally sized safety valve to the oppressed side.