This is how Jane Wheatley describes the plot of the novel: “Set in Eastern Europe during World War II, the slim, brutal novel tells the story of two Ukrainian brothers (…) recruited by the German SS to round up and exterminate Jews at the Polish killing fields of Babi Yar and Treblinka”.

Why on earth is Jane calling Babi Yar a “Polish killing field”? If you have a look at Wikipedia, you will see that there is no connection with Poland. I quote:

Babi Yar (Ukrainian: Бабин яр, Babyn yar; Russian: Бабий яр, Babiy yar) is a ravine in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. In the course of two days, September 29—30, 1941, a special team of German Nazi SS supported by other German units and Ukrainian police murdered 33,771 Jewish civilians. The Babi Yar massacre is considered to be "the largest single massacre in the history of the Holocaust".

Wikipedia on Babi Yar

We, Australian Poles, deserve an explanation why J. Wheatley writes about “Polish killing fields” and what exactly she means by that. In a very lengthy article, there is no other word about Poles or Poland, which makes the phrase even more bizarre. We also deserve an explanation why an editor overlooked such a horrendous slander.

The Polish community in Australia seek an apology. Such ugly expressions have the effect of stereotyping Poles as the World War II culprits. It is not an isolated case. It seems there is a media trend to cease referring to crimes committed by Nazi Germany, replaced by increasingly prevalent references which lead readers to think all those crimes were committed by Poles. The most notorious of them is “Polish death camps”. Australian journalists and editors seem to “forget” to clarify or explain that death camps were built and operated by Nazi Germans on Polish lands occupied by the Nazis.

As a journalist at SBS Radio, I was put through considerable training courses on how to avoid negative stereotyping, and how to balance things with the positive stereotyping. I think it is high time that The Sydney Morning Herald (and other mainstream media) started to present the true picture of Poles.

The Polish community in Australia has played an important role in building a harmonious multicultural society, and has even organised a Polish-Australian Heritage-sharing Festival in Cooma and Jindabyne for two consecutive years (Mound and Mt Kosciuszko Festival). Perhaps SMH would find this newsworthy?

I would like to request that the mainstream media takes a greater interest in the positive stories associated with the Polish community, such as our contribution to this country, how well we have integrated, and how strongly we share the same values of Freedom and Democracy as Australians. Hope you can publish my letter.

Ernestyna Skurjat-Kozek
Editor in Chief, Puls Polonii

www.pulspolonii.com