May 30, 2012, - 12:59 pm

Poles Were Complicit in Holocaust: Outrage Over Obama “Gaffe” is Fraudulent, Ignorant

By Debbie Schlussel

Barack Obama has done enough legitimately bad things that we don’t need to manufacture phony outrage over things he does that really aren’t so bad. Such is the case with the feigned shock and fake moralizing over his comments, yesterday, about German Nazi death camps in Poland being a Polish death camp. Here’s a tip for Poland and ignoramuses in the lumpenconservatariat who now engage in revisionist history: Poles murdered millions of Jews, they maintained several death camps, and they wiped out almost all of both sides of my family, as well as those in hundreds of thousands of other Jewish families. This wasn’t just the Nazis. It was tens of thousands of eager Poles and more. Obama made no gaffe here. Poland’s willing executioners took their significant place among Hitler’s willing executioners.


Poland’s Warsaw Ghetto Existed Because of Polish Complicity

swastika.jpg

Two Things That Weren’t Exactly Mutually Exclusive

There is a reason why Poland was so easily occupied by the Germans. Yeah, I know–they were “just taking orders.” Just taking orders when they helped round up Jews and helped man gas chambers. As if Nazis from Germany did this alone! Polish police all too happily worked with the SS to round up Jews. Polish police all too easily took their place in helping run and operate the death camps. Facts are stubborn things. But, sadly, not as stubborn as morons and blind partisans.

I had to laugh when I read this:

Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Wednesday Obama’s words had hurt all Poles and he expected more from Washington than just “regret”.

Are you kidding? Someone needs to remind Mr. Tusk that his people were the ones doing the hurting and the turning over to the Nazis and the mass murder of at least half of the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust, some of them from my family. You are “hurt” by calling Nazi death camps, “Polish”???? Um, where were they? Who helped operate them and round up and turn in the camps’ Jewish occupants, soon to be turned into ash and fumes?


There is a reason that President Obama, yesterday, awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously to Jan Karski, the former Polish underground officer who provided early eyewitness accounts of Nazi Germany’s genocide of European Jews. And that’s because Karski was unlike most of his fellow Poles, who hated Jews just as the Nazis did and proudly turned them over to the Nazis and/or participated in the mass murderous Judenrein. Even in the Polish underground, hatred of Jews was legion. My great-uncle was in the Polish underground, until they slit his throat while he was sleeping because, one day, the head of the Polish underground demanded a cleansing of its Jews, too.

My paternal grandmother had eleven brothers and sisters. Only one brother survived the Holocaust after the Poles murdered the rest along with her parents, after Poles seized their farm. (Grandma Marilyn was brought to the U.S. before the Holocaust began.) My maternal grandmother had only one surviving sister and brother, out of ten siblings. All the rest–and her parents–were murdered by the Poles. My maternal grandfather’s entire family was wiped out by the Poles. Grandpa Isaac’s father was mayor of the town and owned a hardware store. He hid in the haystacks of a Pole who owed him money and had bought tools on credit, but my grandfather escaped and was ultimately rounded up to the camps, after he heard the Pole tell neighbors he was going to trade my grandfather to the Nazis for a bottle of whisky.

My family and the millions of Jews wiped out in Poland never identified as Polish because the Poles never treated them that way. They were subject to centuries of pogroms and extreme anti-Semitism by the country in which they lived, before they were ultimately rounded up to the camps and mass-murdered with Polish cooperation. They were treated as subhuman all along the way, never as fellow “Polish.” So it’s beyond hilarious now to hear that the Poles are “hurt” by Obama’s description of a German Nazi death camp as “Polish.” As if there weren’t any Polish ones or as if the Poles had zero part in the Holocaust they all too eagerly participated in. Read the 93 pages of “Bystanders, Blackmailers, and Perpetrators: Polish Complicity During the Holocaust” for just a taste of what the Poles wrought on the Jews.

Yes, it is laughable that the Poles, Rush Limbaugh, self-hating Jew Matt Drudge, and a gazillion Republicans and incredibly obtuse and ignorant members of the lumpenconservatariat–most of them no different from the Obamabots in their lack of intelligence, knowledge, and common sense and decency–are incensed over this “gaffe” that really ain’t a gaffe at all. It’s intellectual dishonesty to insist that these death camps on Polish soil were not at all Polish and merely “German Nazi.” Here’s a list of the Polish ones–did they not exist? Did they exist in Poland only because the Germans did this and the Polish had no part? Only a liar or a moron would make these claims. The White House should have made no apology to Poland. These major death camps existed in Poland for a reason: Polish complicity in the Holocaust and willing cooperation with the Nazis.

* Auschwitz

* Belzec

* Chelmno

* Gross-Rosen

* Majdanek

* Plaszow

* Sobibor

* Stutthof

* Treblinka

Keep these names in your mind when you read this quote:

Poland’s government keenly watches the global media for descriptions of former Nazi German death camps as “Polish” because it says the term — even if used simply as a geographical indicator — can give the impression that Poland bore responsibility for Nazi Germany’s World War II genocide.

Although located in Poland, Auschwitz for example was set up and run entirely by German dictator Adolf Hitler’s occupying forces from 1940 to 1945.

Huh? The Poles were not just forced into this by the Nazis. They were active participants, many of them gleeful and eager to murder Jews. To call these camps Polish is no “gaffe.” Poland DOES bear responsibility for the Nazi genocide of Jews.

It’s just fact. And it’s denial and fraud for Poland and others to argue otherwise.

Yes, there were a few righteous gentile Poles who saved Jews. A very tiny few. The majority were all too happy for the Judenrein, especially in the way it took place.

That was the real Poland during World War II. Anyone who says otherwise is a fraud.

And if you wonder why so many Jews are liberal and won’t vote Republican, BS, like the absurd denial that Nazi Death Camps were Polish, certainly doesn’t help in endearing Jews to the GOP.




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2,053 Responses

One family history (btw not proven since all subjects were killed, according to Debbie – so how they spoke about it?) vs thousands of stories CONFIRMED by people who survived the GENOCIDE! We are not arguing over some shooting in El Paso, but the annihilation of a whole nation. I don`t deny, some of the Poles were collaborating during the war, as it happened in history of all human conflicts (Jane Fonda and her involvement in Vietnam war, is it ringing a bell?), one of the Al Qaeda terrorists is a US citizen.

Concluding your point of view, Americans attacked WTC! American passengers allowed terrorists to take over the planes, they just sited tight. Though they were collaborating!

I know that history in USA is taught in majority about US. World history is just a droplet in a sea. This is where ignorance is born.

And finally, if you call yourself a commentator and moreover an attorney, you should know that in order to rise such thesis you should have a solid proof, at least one. You have none.

And think what you have done with your native Indians. It was not occupying Germans who killed them and put rest of the whole nations to the reservations. Those responsible did not have a gun against their head to obey.

Debbie, please think, before you start to think.

Wojciech on June 5, 2012 at 9:16 am

You are FUCKING STUPID.
I really like it when people talk about things they now NOTHING about.

wwwwweqwqe on June 5, 2012 at 9:20 am

    Polish people were only who risk their lifes to save judes, where was USA when GERMAN NAZIST were killing Judes and Poles? Polish extermination camp only because they were located in our country? So terrorist attack on WTC made Americans because it was on USA territory? Plese, read something about our history, read anything about basic history of the world, and then write some article….

    M from Poland on June 5, 2012 at 9:43 am

LRN2 HISTORY YOU FAT FUCK!

Anon on June 5, 2012 at 9:20 am

You’re pathetic. You’re lying so hard, I don’t know what to say.
And to think that yours ancestors were Jewish. Pathetic bitch.

tomska on June 5, 2012 at 9:24 am

Poland was always country of many cultures and many religions. Every people lives in Poland in peace, something like religious war was newer happens in Poland. If you want know something about Poland listen prof. Norman Davis English historian about history of Poland:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16mDR5XILUk&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PL24322361BDCF601F

chajr on June 5, 2012 at 9:24 am

There’s one thing, that You, I suppose, forgot to mention about just at the beggining of this article. Namely, that this is going to be a fantasy story.

You don’t realise, what You are writing about. If Poles were involved in extermination of Jews, and they where the ones, who maintained the death camps, then why milions of Poles died in such death camps?

Try to draw conlusions, because at this moment I consider You a liar.

And as I suppose, the donations for Your “work support” are also used to cover the costs of Your tratment. We all know what kind of treatment I’m talking about.

Wrong. on June 5, 2012 at 9:25 am

Learn the history of World War II

matrix on June 5, 2012 at 9:25 am

fuck off and choce on black dick

Billy bob redneck on June 5, 2012 at 9:27 am

Is that what you were taught at school? Get your highschool books and read about history one more time! No wonder people all over the world find Americans stupid and uneducated nation, it’s simply because of people like you.

darek on June 5, 2012 at 9:27 am

Morda suko gówno wiesz i sie znasz a WOrd Trade Center zniszczyli amerykanie ca?e szczescie ze juz jest zmierzch USA Swiat wykonczy was oty?e obiboki ekonomicznie

piotrek on June 5, 2012 at 9:28 am

I suppose this text contains more words than you have ever read about history of WWII and Poland. Please, obtain some knowledge before writing an article like this.

The voluntary cooperation of Polish people with Nazis did take place, but was RARE! In most cases people were forced to cooperate, and if they didn’t, all members of their families would be MURDERED AT ONCE.

Forgive me being so direct, but my advice is read more books…

Paul on June 5, 2012 at 9:30 am

You’re fucking liar !!! Nothing more to say.
You Americans are thinking that you are better than the other nations of the world, but isn’t.

May to tell me, what are you doing now in the Middle East.

I’m Pole, and i’m proud of it !!! Go to MC’ and it some shit !

Lican on June 5, 2012 at 9:30 am

sry my eng. Most Poles are communist/socialist. We kill everybody not jews only

r4d213ck1 [pl- 50v13t] on June 5, 2012 at 9:33 am

Debbie, please think, before you start to think.

John on June 5, 2012 at 9:33 am

If you wanna write something, earlier look to the books! History books. I cannot read this!
Is it Polish people fault that the death camps extisted in them country? No! That was THE WAR! The German came in and Polish people had no choice. Not only Jews died in that camps, but also thousands of Polish people! German catched them on the streets!!!
There were so many POLISH people who helped Jews, they hide them behind the walls, gave false surname and found a job.

You cannot write so horrible things and make citizens of your country to believe in it!

olokma on June 5, 2012 at 9:34 am

Nale?y si? szacunek ?ydom, gdy? wielu z nich zosta?o wymordowanych przez niemieckich okupantów. Trzeba jednak zwróci? uwag?, ?e co najmniej tyle samo, je?li nie wi?cej, Polaków zosta?o zabitych podczas Drugiej Wojny ?wiatowej przez niemieckich i ruskich bandytów z pod znaku czerwonych sztandarów. Pisanie takich krety?stw jak powy?ej, ?wiadczy o bardzo niskim poziomie moralnym autorki i braku podstawowej wiedzy z zakresu historii powszechnej.

Kazimierz Pu?awski on June 5, 2012 at 9:34 am

go to school, please… or just delete this article and don’t write anything more

., on June 5, 2012 at 9:35 am

wypierdalaj dziwko

Tomasz on June 5, 2012 at 9:35 am

You call other people ignorants, but you are also one of them. Not even complaining with historical “facts” you give, but why should we keep in mind names Gross-Rosen or Stuthoff? These were not even in Poland before (and of course during) WW2.

Stutthoff was located in former territory of Frei Stadt Danizg. According to different research, only about 3 – 5% of population in Frei Stadt Danzig were Polish. More precisely, Stuthoff was located in eastern part of region, dominated by Germans, with less then 1% of Poles.
Gross – Rosen was located in German pre-war territory. It was placed under Polish administration after war and then Poles from territories annexed by USSR in former Eastern Poland started settling there. Before war it was populated almost exclusively by Germans.

So, why do you say we should “keep these names in mind” when speaking of “polish death camps”?

Dominik on June 5, 2012 at 9:35 am

You are spreading ignorant and false information. Of course there were Polse who out of fera for their own lives or form simple hate for the Jews colaborated with the German occupant. But there are countles others whos saved thousands and thousands of strangers. Please come and visit Auchwitz Birkenau camp and see what happened.

Kamil on June 5, 2012 at 9:38 am

Great example of American’s stupidity….

whatever on June 5, 2012 at 9:39 am

My family (the Poles) were in camp on Polish territory, created the camp, Germany, and Germany only watched him, worked and supervised. The claim that the Poles murderers is a lie.

Adam on June 5, 2012 at 9:40 am

*********DO POLACZKÓW!***********

PO CHUJ SI? PRZEJMUJECIE TYM CO O NAS MY?L? ZA GRANIC?? LICZY SI? PRZECIE? TU I TERAZ!

polaczek on June 5, 2012 at 9:42 am

You dumb fucking retard, Americans should never write anything about European history… you are too stupid to be able to understand it.

Now go and fucking die, how dare you claim that the poles helped the nazis just because a few of them were forced to help. About the non-agression treaty it was the right thing to do with the information they had. Germany had lost rightful german soil after WW2, they have the right to Western Poland, Austria, Sudetenland and Lothringen, the fact that Hitler would go insane was not something they could have known you stupid bitch.

Jakob on June 5, 2012 at 9:44 am

Mr. Tusk is Jewish too. So my apologize to the jewish dumbness.

Paul on June 5, 2012 at 9:45 am

stupid women!!!
Learn history and don`t lie

maciek on June 5, 2012 at 9:45 am

OMG

so its true what they say – blondes ARE stupid

keep on telling your jewish fairytales stupid whore, maybe some believe it

PS. whisky in Polish countryside? – hahahahahahahahaha

try better next time, stupid

fiddler on June 5, 2012 at 9:46 am

PETITION ON GERMAN CONCENTRATION CAMPS

https://webfactory.fcny.org/kf/events/news/petition/?sistart=301080&count=2&sistart=195480

Signed by:

Rabbi Michael Schudrich, Chief Rabbi of Poland

Rabbi Moshe Birnbaum, Flushing, NY

Dr. Laurence Weinbaum, Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs

Sigmund Rolat, Holocaust survivor, Chairman, North American Council, Museum of the History of Polish Jews

Leon Kopelman, Veteran Warsaw Ghetto & 1944 Uprising

Stanislaw Aronson, Veteran of 1944 Warsaw Uprising, Israeli War of Independence, Yom Kippur War & 1982 Lebanon War

Dr. Leo Weintraub, PhD, Auschwitz survivor
Stockholm, Sweden

Irving Engelson, Ph.D., Holocaust survivor, saved by Polish family
New Jersey

and many more…

Lechoslaw Knapik on June 5, 2012 at 9:48 am

stereotype of stupid ignorant american who doesnt have a knowlodge of history.. again confirmed 🙂

ma?y szary cz?owiek on June 5, 2012 at 9:48 am

Following your line of thought:
-Why Amercians kill Americans in 9/11?

-Why the Vietnamese killing Vietnamese during the Vietnam War?

Taking your hypothesis, all killed people in the world committed suicide, and there’s no killers in our world, right?

I really want you to leran more abot WWII, and then write articles

Bixa on June 5, 2012 at 9:49 am

Debbie, If stupidity were wings, you fly like a dove. No comment.

GrzegorzW on June 5, 2012 at 9:49 am

you really should start reading more, then watching tv. you don’t know shit, yet you write about it. well keep up the good work, i bet your life is a lie just like this article.

Matthew on June 5, 2012 at 9:49 am

Poles saved Jews and died for them in the German death camps!

Piotr on June 5, 2012 at 9:50 am

Shut the fuck up, you retardet bitch. You don’t know a thing about history. You should go back to school, but I don’t think it would help because even monkey is smarter than you. Shut up, visit O?wi?cim, and then die alone by staraviotn. I really wish it would happen.

Fuck this bitch on June 5, 2012 at 9:50 am

albo chasbara pozwala sobie na takie wrzuty, albo ta sk?din?d fajna laska jest tak pusta jak karton po ruskim telewizorze

abraham on June 5, 2012 at 9:51 am

Debbie nie pierdol, nie by?o Ci? tam.

Ktos on June 5, 2012 at 9:51 am

JON PAUL THE SECOND RAPED LITTLE CHILDREN

JON PAUL THE SECOND RAPED LITTLE CHILDREN

JON PAUL THE SECOND RAPED LITTLE CHILDREN

WYKOP.PL
WHITE POWER
NAZI POWER
POLISH POWER
FUCK JEWS

michal bialek on June 5, 2012 at 9:51 am

What a bullshit… 😀

:D on June 5, 2012 at 9:51 am

fackin b**ch. how dare you ?

mike on June 5, 2012 at 9:52 am

Please learn history! American idiot !

History on June 5, 2012 at 9:53 am

It sounds much more like an acid-trip or a kind of bolshevik propaganda than a real argument. I don’t think that any discussion will change the minds of history-blind American citizens (how can you call yourselves Americans, btw., after you have killed so many Native Americans – numbers go in milions). How do you dare to imply that Polish were responsible for Holocaust? How do you dare to forget about other victims of German genocide – Russians, Gypsies, poeple of Belarus, Poles – and even Italians in the last months of war? Do you know anything about history of the Eastern Europe with Waad Arba Aracot and special privileges for Jews in the Kingdom of Poland, starting from XII century? Do you even know that there was a history back then, in the XII century? It was before the American Civil War, but who would have thought there were people somewhere then, right? It is really hopeless to post comments here and I know nobody will care for what I have written here, you try to use some pseudo-sociologic aor anthropologic arguments, which are really dumb and out of date, but who cares if many people say the same, however stupid and far from truth it could be. Just – be ashamed, you antislavonic american narrow minded false-ideas reproductor. Read something worth of reading.

Waldek on June 5, 2012 at 9:53 am

dont feeed fakin troll. That b**ch should be hanged for these words.

sss on June 5, 2012 at 9:53 am

Fits to this article
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cey35bBWXls&feature=related

Pablo on June 5, 2012 at 9:53 am

Fits to this article:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cey35bBWXls&feature=related

Pablo on June 5, 2012 at 9:54 am

It’s hard to believe that in 21st century, in educated country, somebody has no idea about latest history. I’ve heard in USA everything is big. Now I see BIG PACK OF LIES! Back to school you little ignorant…

Binek on June 5, 2012 at 9:54 am

Dear Debbie, this is for you, read this, and don’t write stupid things.

“This article is about the controversy over the use of the term. For actual camps, see German camps in occupied Poland during World War II.
Auschwitz camp badge with the letter “P”, required wear for Polish inmates.
Durning WWII the nazi concentration camps were located in many European countries: Poland, Germany, Austria, Bohemia, Slovakia, Belarus, France, Denmark, Belgium, Holland, Italia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Norway, Hungary, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Bulgaria and Macedonia
Auschwitz, Nazi German death camp built in a part of pre-war Poland that was annexed by Nazi Germany.
“The Mass Extermination of Jews in German Occupied Poland”, note of Republic of Poland addressed to United Nations, 1942

Polish death camp and Polish concentration camp are incorrect terms that occasionally appear in international media in reference to Nazi German concentration camps built and run by Nazi Germany during the Holocaust in the General Government and other parts of occupied Poland. Usage of the term has been condemned as insulting by the Polish foreign minister Adam Daniel Rotfeld in 2005, who also alleged that it—intentionally or unintentionally—shifted the responsibility for the construction or operation of the camps from the German to the Polish people.

The use of terms explicitly mentioning “Poland” or “Polish” 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. Jewish organizations such as the American Jewish Committee have also criticized the use of such terminology.
Contents

1 Historical context
2 Use and reactions
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

Historical context
Main articles: List of Nazi concentration camps, German camps in occupied Poland during World War II, The Holocaust in Poland, and Occupation of Poland (1939–1945)

Poland was occupied and divided between Germany and the USSR in 1939

Occupied Poland, 1939-1941

Occupied Poland, 1944

After the German Invasion of Poland, unlike in most European countries occupied by Nazi Germany — where the Germans sought and found true collaborators among the locals — in occupied Poland there was no official collaboration either at the political or at the economic level.[1][2] Poland never officially surrendered to the Germans.[3] Polish government, administration and army were able to partially evacuate to France and United Kingdom to continue struggle against Nazi Germany abroad, with a new Polish Army quickly rebuilt.[4] The Polish government in exile was represented on the occupied territories through the extensive structure of the Polish Underground State,[5] and its military arm, Armia Krajowa, formed the major part of the Polish resistance movement in World War II, which was actively engaged in fighting the German occupiers and was the largest resistance movement in all of occupied Europe.[6]

Part of former territory of the Second Polish Republic was annexed by the Third Reich and on the second part was used to create General Government with complete German administration lead by General-Governor Hans Frank. The General Government had no international recognition. The territories it administered were never either in whole or part intended as any future Polish state within a German-dominated Europe. According to the Nazi government the Polish state had effectively ceased to exist, in spite of the existence of a Polish government-in-exile.[7] Its character could be compared to a type of colonial state, combined with many characteristics of a police state. It cannot be seen as a Polish puppet government, as there were no Polish representatives on any administration level.[citation needed]

The most popular explanation[citation needed] for the use of the phrase “Polish death camp” is that German Nazi concentration camps were built in Poland; however, only few of them were actually located in Polish territory. Most German Nazi concentration camps were located in the territory of Nazi Germany. A complete list, drawn up in 1967 by the German Ministry of Justice, names about 1,200 camps and subcamps in countries occupied by Nazi Germany.[8] During WWII, Nazi concentration camps were also located in many European countries such Germany, Austria, Poland, Bohemia, Slovakia, Belarus, France, Denmark, Belgium, Holland, Italia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Norway, Hungary, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Bulgaria and Macedonia. Unlike with “Polish death camps”, the media did not attach geographical context in reference to camps located in other countries (for example “French concentration camps” or “Norwegian concentration camps”).[citation needed]
Use and reactions

Non-Polish media and notable figures have been known to make references to the German-run extermination program in Nazi-occupied Poland such as the “Polish death/concentration/extermination camp”, “Polish Ghetto”, “Polish Holocaust”, “Nazi Poland”, and so on.[9]

Opponents of these terms argue that they are inaccurate, as they may imply that the camps—located in Nazi-occupied Poland—might have been a responsibility of the Poles (i.e. Polish), when in fact they were designed, constructed and run by Nazi Germany with no collaboration from Poland or Poles; and, used to exterminate millions of Poles alongside Polish Jews, including Jews transported by the Nazis from across Europe.[10][11]

The use of terms explicitly mentioning “Poland” or “Polish” 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 Ministry catalogs the use of the term and is involved in the actions asking for correction and apology.[12] Polish Foreign Minister Adam Daniel Rotfeld in 2005 suggested that there are instances of “bad will, saying that under the pretext that “it’s only a geographic reference”, attempts are made to distort history and conceal the truth.”[13][14] Adding adjective “Polish” when referring to concentration camps or ghetto`s located in occupied Poland, or to the world Holocaust in general, can suggest, often unintentionally and always counter factually, that the atrocities in question were perpetrated by Poles, or that Poles were active helpers of the Nazi rule in Poland during World War II.[13][14]

In 2008, due to the continued usage of the term term Polish in regards to atrocities committed and camps built and operated by the German state under Nazi leadership, the chairman of the Polish Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) issued a letter to local administrations with a call to add German before Nazi in all monuments and tables that commemorate the victims of Nazi Germany.[15] As stated by the IPN official, while in Poland ‘Nazi’ is definitely connected to ‘German’ this is not the case everywhere in the world, and the change will help avoid any misinterpretation that the responsibility for the crimes against humanity committed in war-torn Poland wasn’t specifically German.[15] At the time several places of martyrology underwent renovations, and the new plaques were to clearly indicate the nationality of the people responsible for atrocities. Additionally, IPN requested to better document and commemorate the crimes perpertated by the Soviet Union as well.[15]

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.[16]

The government of Israel has also deprecated the usage of this phrase.[17]

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” in order to make clearer that the concentration camp was built and operated by Nazi Germany. [18][19][20][21][22] 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).”[23][24] Previously, some media, including Der Spiegel in Germany, had called the camp “Polish”.[25] The New York Times regularly refers to Auschwitz as Polish rather than German.[26]

An example of the controversy occurred when an April 30, 2004 CTV News report made reference to “the Polish camp in Treblinka”. The Polish embassy in Canada lodged a complaint with CTV. Robert Hurst of CTV, however, argued that the term “Polish” was used throughout North America in a geographical sense, and declined to issue a correction.[27] The Polish Ambassador to Ottawa then complained to the National Specialty Services Panel of the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council. The Council did not accept Hurst’s argument and ruled that the word “‘Polish’—similarly to such adjectives as ‘English’, ‘French’ and ‘German’—had connotations that clearly extended beyond geographic context. Its use with reference to Nazi extermination camps was misleading and improper”.[28]

Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita has criticized international media outlets, including Haaretz from Israel, as “holocaust deniers” over usage of the term. However, all foreign media articles so criticized by Rzeczpospolita (as of November 2008) make clear that the perpetrators were German, and none claim Poles built the camps.[29]

The incorrect phrase Polish concentration camps is used in school textbooks outside Poland to refer to the Nazi German concentration camps on occupied Polish territory.[30]

On December 23, 2009, writing in The Guardian, Timothy Garton Ash said:

Watching a German television news report on the trial of John Demjanjuk a few weeks ago, I was amazed to hear the announcer describe him as a guard in “the Polish extermination camp Sobibor”. What times are these, when one of the main German TV channels thinks it can describe Nazi camps as “Polish”? In my experience, the automatic equation of Poland with Catholicism, nationalism and antisemitism – and thence a slide to guilt by association with the Holocaust – is still widespread. This collective stereotyping does no justice to the historical record.[31]

In 2009 Zbigniew Osewski, grandson of a Stutthof prisoner, announced he was suing Axel Springer AG for calling Majdanek a ‘former Polish concentration camp’ in article from November 2008 published in German press “Die Welt”.[32] In 2010, The Polish-American Kosciuszko Foundation launched a petition demanding that four major U.S. news organizations endorse the use of the term “German concentration camps in Nazi-occupied Poland”.[33][34]

“Globe and Mail” informed on September 23, 2011 about “Polish concentration camps”. Canadian MP Ted Opitz and Minister of Citizenship Jason Kenney supported Polish protests.[35]

In May 2012, U.S. president Barack Obama referred to “a Polish death camp” while posthumously awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Jan Karski. After complaints from Poles, including Polish Foreign Minister Rados?aw Sikorski and Alex Storozynski, president of the Kosciuszko Foundation, a representative of the Obama administration said the president “misspoke. He was referring to Nazi death camps in Poland.”[36]

from:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%22Polish_death_camp%22_controversy

Max on June 5, 2012 at 9:56 am

Dear Debbie, my father was born in Poland, near Brest. When war started he was 36. If not Polish people, he would not be able to leave Warsaw after German Nazi invasion started. From what I can tell from his stories, I only can respect Polish. You are very misguided by beliving in what you have written. Please, do not ashame us, Jews.

Benny Begin on June 5, 2012 at 9:57 am

Frau Schlussel you are typical American Nazi,german surname,hahahah,your grandpa was in Gestapo!!??,well
my 3 uncles were killed by Germans in Auschwitz!! Polish prosecutors need to take action for the promotion by you nazi lies!

Sidewinder82 on June 5, 2012 at 9:57 am

It’s some kind of joke? It must be.. I don’t believe what I am reading! Are you really so stupid or you just looking a fame? I don’t want to insult American people, but.. some of your “famous” peaople should back do primary school.

Rafael on June 5, 2012 at 9:59 am

According to your understanding of things, Titanic drowned in Atlantic sea, so fucking whales are responsible for that. Dumb bitch.

Andre on June 5, 2012 at 9:59 am

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