| Niniejszym publikujemy list protestacyjny Konsula Generalnego RP Daniela Gromanna do redaktora naczelnego SMH oraz zeskanowany fragment programu telewizyjnego z "Sydney Morning Herald" (dodatek do gazety w dniu 23.11), w którym użyto sformułowania "the notorious Polish death camp Auschwitz" . Zachęcamy do wysyłania indywidualnych protestów na następujący adres: readerlink@smh.com.au.
Czy komuś z czytelników udało się obejrzeć (lub nagrać) program ("Inside Hana's Suitcase", ABC2, godz. 20.30 w dniu 25.11)?
Czy nie było w nim żadnych elementów czy sformułowań antypolskich?
Prosimy o kontakt z Konsulem D. Gromannem.
consul.general@poland.org.au
Do wszystkich czytelników zwracamy się z prośbą o czujność i o sygnalizowanie podobnych incydentów w przyszłości.
(ESK)
A oto pełny tekst listu Konsula Generalnego Daniela Gromanna do Redaktora SMH McLeana.
It was with great disappointment and sadness that I noticed the expression: ”the notorious Polish death camp Auschwitz” used in the description of the Nov. 25th 2009 programme “Inside Hana’s Suitcase” (ABC2, 8.30 pm) in Michael Idato’s TV Previews section in the Sydney Morning Herald weekly TV guide (page 10). This expression 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 expression can also be dangerous when used for the purpose of muddling 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 brave 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.
The Auschwitz concentration camp, referred to in the Sydney Morning Herald TV Guide as “the notorious Polish death camp”, was contrived, organised and governed entirely by the German Nazis. Polish citizens were the first forced labourers and prisoners of this camp and in no way took voluntary part in setting it up. The use of the adjective “Polish”, however, implies that the Polish people or the Polish state were inherently involved in the organisation and administration of this camp, which for reasons stated above is entirely false and misleading.
In 2007 the UNESCO World Heritage Committee approved a change in the entry for the remains of the Auschwitz concentration camp. The previous name, “Auschwitz Concentration Camp,” has been changed to “Auschwitz-Birkenau. The Nazi German Concentration and Extermination Camp (1940-1945).” The change intended to convey the historical truth about the real nature of the camp and to associate the place precisely with the German Nazi regime. In its decision the Committee also adopted a “statement of significance” which reads as follows:
Auschwitz-Birkenau was the principal and most notorious of the six concentration and extermination camps established by Nazi Germany to implement its Final Solution policy which had as its aim the mass murder of the Jewish people in Europe. Built in Poland under Nazi German occupation initially as a concentration camp for Poles and later for Soviet prisoners of war, it soon became a prison for a number of other nationalities. Between the years 1942-1944 it became the main mass extermination camp where Jews were tortured and killed for their so-called racial origins. In addition to the mass murder of well over a million Jewish men, women and children, and tens of thousands of Polish victims, Auschwitz also served as a camp for the racial murder of thousands of Roma and Sinti and prisoners of several European nationalities.
Let me also quote the words taken from a Statement issued on 30th January 2005, on the occasion of 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, by the American Jewish Committee Executive Director David A. Harris:
We would also like to remind those who are either unaware of the facts or careless in their choice of words, as has been the case with some media outlets, 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.
I sincerely hope that the use of the phrase “the notorious Polish death camp Auschwitz” in the Sydney Morning Herald TV Guide was unintentional and resulting from negligence or lack of in-depth reflection on the meaning of the used words. However, given the popularity of the Guide and the high number of readers it enjoys, I believe it will be most appropriate for the Sydney Morning Herald to publish, in one of the next editions of the Guide, at least a short note rectifying the error.
Sincerely yours,
Daniel Gromann
Consul General
c/c Greg Hassall – Editor, SMH TV Guide
c/c Michael Idato – SMH TV Guide
| 
