Polish death camp controversy

:"This is an article about a misnomer. You may be looking for the German camps in occupied Poland during World War II.""Polish death camps" and "Polish concentration camps" are descriptive terms that have appeared in non-Polish media and print publications in reference to German concentration camps built and used in the Holocaust by Nazi Germany in the General Government and other parts of occupied Poland during World War II. These terms are potentially confusing, as they imply that the camps—located in Nazi-occupied Poland—might have been a responsibility of the Poles (when in fact they were designed, constructed and run by the Nazi Germany, with no collaboration from Poland or Poles, and were used to exterminate millions of Poles alongside the Jews). The non-Polish media also make similar references to the German-run extermination program in Poland such as the Polish Ghetto, Polish Holocaust, Nazi Poland, etc.

The best example of an active controversy is provided by "Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum" with regard to claims made by Robert Hurst of CTV television. [http://www.auschwitz.org.pl/html/eng/aktualnosci/news_big.php?id=669 "The Polish embassy in Ottawa has asked the Canadian government to counteract the slandering of Poland by the Canadian media."] At first, Hurst refused to issue the correction thus adding fuel to an ongoing controversy. However. [http://www.mfa.gov.pl/Canadian,CTV,Television,censured,,for,inaccurate,and,unfair,reporting,in,referring,to,%E2%80%9EPolish,ghetto%E2%80%9D,and,,%E2%80%9EPolish,camp,of,Treblinka%E2%80%9D,2075.html "Correction was broadcast on May 18 and 21 during prime time"] following a decission against CTV issued on May 16, 2005, by the CBSC National Specialty Services Panel – "upholding the complaint submitted by the Polish Embassy."

Poland was occupied by the Nazis from 1939 to 1945 and no Polish collaboration government was formed during that period. The legal Polish government-in-exile had no administration or political influence over the occupied territories during World War II apart from a limited underground judicial system. There were no Polish guards at any of the camps.Robert Cherry, Annamaria Orla-Bukowska, [http://books.google.com/books?id=vkLTSB7NHwgC&dq=%22There+were+no+Polish+guards+at+any+of+the+camps%22&lr=&as_brr=3&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0 Rethinking Poles and Jews: Troubled Past, Brighter Future] , Rowman & Littlefield 2007, ISBN 0742546667] The Polish police didn't take part in the forced-work press gangs.Irving Howe, Eliezer Greenberg, [http://books.google.com/books?id=seeAAAAAIAAJ&q=%22The+Polish+police+didn%27t+take+part+in+the+forced-work+press+gangs%22&dq=%22The+Polish+police+didn%27t+take+part+in+the+forced-work+press+gangs%22&ei=fwaISL6GJ4OEswOej7yXBg Voices from the Yiddish: Essays, Memoirs, Diaries] 1975, Page 252] Scholars are debating to what extent the Polish police (Blue Police) were involved in the rounding up of Jews. [Raul Hilberg. [http://books.google.com/books?id=vUyKlrY98dwC&pg=PA505&dq=jews+%22polish+police%22+auschwitz&ei=pnB_SOfCMY_-jgHYp5C9CA&sig=ACfU3U2WPmAOcYXjR64-3rNwO-5syPwjnA The Destruction of the European Jews: Third Edition] Yale University Press, 2003. No preview available online without special access.] Warsaw Ghetto historian Emmanuel Ringelblum described Polish policemen carrying out extortion and beatings in the Ghetto, and noted that Polish underground papers published badge numbers of those policemen. [Itamar Levin, Rachel Neiman [http://books.google.com/books?id=j1GfKmW0hqUC&pg=PA89&dq=jews+%22polish+police%22+auschwitz&lr=&ei=inJ_SKLQBqaojgGom4HBCA&sig=ACfU3U2UvC_y0wxw1qljx6SXm9ovybh_Jw Walls Around: The Plunder of Warsaw Jewry During World War II and Its Aftermath] . Greenwood PublishingGroup, 2003.]

The Jews were deported from the ghettos to the death camps, not by Poles, but by German gendarmes, reinforced by Ukrainian and Baltic auxiliaries, and with the enforced co-operation of the ghetto police. Neither the Polish police nor any group of Polish civilians was involved in the deportations to any significant degree, nor did they staff the death camps. Nor did the fate of the Jews who were taken to their deaths depend to any significant degree on the attitudes and actions of a people from whom they were isolated by brick walls and barbed wire. — "Gunnar S. Paulsson" Gunnar S. Paulsson, [http://www.savingjews.org/docs/clergy_rescue.pdf “The Rescue of Jews by Non-Jews in Nazi-Occupied Poland,”] published in "The Journal of Holocaust Education", volume 7, nos. 1 & 2 (summer/autumn 1998): pp.19–44. Reprinted in “Collective Rescue Efforts of the Poles,” p. 256]

Phrases such as the "Polish death camp" may leave a false impression that it was the Poles themselves who were responsible for the Nazi Germany genocide. While in some cases the intention of the writers is the mere geographical use of the term "Polish" and no attribution of responsibility is actually intended, at least one Polish diplomat has suggested that there are instances of "bad will. Under the pretext that “it’s only a geographic reference”, attempts are made to distort history and conceal the truth."Piotr Zychowicz, [http://www.msz.gov.pl/gallery/serwis/rot_rzecz_1251.html Interview with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland, Prof. Adam Daniel Rotfeld] Rzeczpospolita daily, 25th January 2005.] Note that also the Dachau concentration camp has been described as "Polish" or located in Poland, even though the town is located in Bavaria, a German province that has never been part of the Polish territory. In any case, the potential for any confusion is offensive to Poles given that the Poles themselves suffered greatly under the Nazi occupation.

Concerns about the use of the term "Polish death camp" led the Polish government to request that UNESCO change the official name of Auschwitz from "Auschwitz Concentration Camp" to "former Nazi German concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau" [Tran, Mark. (2007-06-27). [http://www.guardian.co.uk/secondworldwar/story/0,,2112948,00.html "Poles claim victory in battle to rename Auschwitz." "Guardian Unlimited".] ] [http://www.jewishjournal.com/world/article/auschwitz_might_get_name_change_20060428/ Auschwitz Might Get Name Change] The Jewish Journal, 27th April 2006.] [http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?c=JPArticle&cid=1145961328121&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull Yad Vashem for renaming Auschwitz] The Jerusalem Post, 12th May 2006.] [http://www.eux.tv/article.aspx?articleId=10560 UNESCO approves Poland's request to rename Auschwitz] The Europe Channel , 27th June 2007.] [http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,21984315-912,00.html UN to rename Auschwitz death camp] Adelaide Now, 28th June 2007.] in order to make clearer that the concentration camp was built and operated by Germans, not Poles. On 28 June 2007 at its meeting in Christchurch, New Zealand, the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO changed the name of the camp to "Auschwitz Birkenau. German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp (1940-1945)."UNESCO World Heritage Committee. (2007-06-28). [http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/363 World Heritage Committee approves Auschwitz name change".] Press release. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.] [Lilley, Ray. (2007-06-28). [http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6742058,00.html "UNESCO committee renames Auschwitz."] Associated Press. "Guardian Unlimited".] Previously, some media, including "Der Spiegel" in Germany, had called the camp "Polish". [BBC News. (2006-03-31). [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4863026.stm "Poland seeks Auschwitz renaming."] ]

The use of these terms has been monitored and discouraged by the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Polonia organizations around the world as well as by all Polish governments since 1989. The American Jewish Committee has also rejected the usage, stating that :"Auschwitz-Birkenau and the other death camps, including Belzec, Chelmno, Majdanek, Sobibor and Treblinka, were conceived, built and operated by Nazi Germany and its allies. The camps were located in German-occupied Poland, the European country with by far the largest Jewish population, but they were most emphatically not "Polish camps". This is not a mere semantic matter. Historical integrity and accuracy hang in the balance."en iconAmerican Jewish Committee. (2005-01-30). [http://www.ajc.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=ijITI2PHKoG&b=1531911&ct=873437 "Statement on Poland and the Auschwitz Commemoration."] Press release.]

See also

* Holocaust in Nazi-occupied Poland

References

External links

* [http://www.msz.gov.pl/Wystapienie,Ministra,w,jezyku,angielskim,1162.html Polish minister's speeches on the phenomenon]
* [http://www.rzeczpospolita.pl/akcja/0,0.html Appeal against "Polish death camps"] by Rzeczpospolita daily
*en icon [http://www.msz.gov.pl/AGAINST,„POLISH,CAMPS”,2076.html Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Against "Polish Camps"]
* [http://www.msz.gov.pl/editor/files/obozy/raport_dsi_1.html Report of the Polish ministry on foreign usage of "Polish death camp" argument]
* [http://www.economist.com/obituary/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11402658 Article on Irena Sendler but discusses issue of calling German camps as Polish]
* [http://www.buzzle.com/articles/worth-of-visiting.html Article on history of Auschwitz Concentration Camp in Poland but discusses issue of calling German camps as Polish]
* [http://supportpoland.org/PMI/PMI.html Details of the PMI (a group of Polonia who discuss and action such matters as incorrect Polish Concentration camps references in the media)]
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20061129213721/http://topaz.org.uk/published_articles/linguistic_imprecision.htm Linguistic imprecision? (anti-Polish bias in the English-language media)]
* [http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/4554 Article which discusses irresponsible accusation against Poland including reference to German death camps as "Polish" death camps.]
* [http://www.polskieradio.pl/thenews/foreign-affairs/?id=91802 Punishment for “slandering Polish nation” unconstitutional]