| (Posted on May 16th.) It was with great disappointment and sadness that I heard the expression: “Polish concentration camp” used in the 8 a.m. Today Show news on Channel 9 on Friday 13th May, in the context of Ivan Demianiuk’s trial. Any reference to “Polish concentration camps” is entirely inaccurate, deeply unjust and heavily offensive to the Polish Nation and State, as well as to the members of the Polish community in Australia among whom there are many World War II veterans who fought for the cause of freedom and democracy alongside the Australian troops at Tobruk and in other places. This slanderous expression can also be dangerous when used for the purpose of re-writing history.
It is common knowledge that during World War II Poland ceased to exist, both as a state and as the subject of international law. As a result of the Nazi invasion of 1st September 1939, followed by the Soviet aggression of 17th September 1939, Poland was erased from the map of Europe. The Polish territories under the Nazi occupation were, in part, incorporated directly into the Third Reich (including the Polish town of Oświęcim – German Auschwitz), and, in part, became a special Germany-controlled zone called General Government. Poland was the first victim of the Nazi aggression. Millions of Polish citizens: Poles, Jews and other nationalities of the pre-war Poland, among them the fighters of the Underground State, the best organised anti-Nazi resistance in Europe, paid the highest price and perished in places like Auschwitz and Birkenau. We owe them tribute and respect and we owe them the truth, so that no one mistakes the victim for the slaughterer.
Concentration camps in the occupied Polish territories were contrived, organised and governed entirely by the German Nazis. Polish citizens were the first forced labourers and prisoners of the camps and in no way took voluntary part in setting them up. The use of the adjective “Polish”, however, implies that the Polish people or the Polish state were involved in the organisation and administration of the camps, which for reasons stated above is entirely false and misleading.
As the use of the term “Polish concentration camp(s)” is a recurring problem in the Australian media, a joint letter by the Polish and Israeli Ambassadors to Canberra was sent to the main Australian media outlets a year ago. It stressed that attaching the descriptor “Polish” to Auschwitz or any concentration camp in Nazi-occupied Poland incorrectly attributes the actions of the Nazi regime to the Polish government and called for rectifying this mistake. In response, the Australian Press Council issued Guideline No. 289 on “Describing World War Two concentration camps.” In it, the APC reiterated its conclusion from 1999, which stated that the use of the term “Polish concentration camp” “would have been harmfully misleading to younger readers and others whose knowledge of the Second World War is hazy or non-existent” and that “a more accurate and appropriate description for the camps would be »Nazi concentration camps«, adding their location as being »in occupied Poland« where necessary.” I attach a copy of these documents for your perusal.
The use of the term “Polish concentration camp” in the morning news on Chanel 9 last Friday has not gone unnoticed. In the course of the last days I have received many phone calls and e-mails from members of the Polish community in Australia who felt deeply offended by the incident.
In view of all of the above, I believe that a clear and decisive rectification on the part of Today Show is in order, for the sake of the multitude of viewers who heard the slanderous term used on Friday morning and may have been either insulted or misled by it.
I look forward to your adequate reaction to this situation.
Sincerely yours
Daniel Gromann
Consul General
SO FAR - NO RESPONSE
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