Polish History Column by* Stef Komar

Witold J. Ławrynowicz, Małgorzata Ławrynowicz
“Polish Concentration Camps”- History versus Reality

IIn recent years, American and Western European media outlets have commonly employed the phrase "Polish Concentration Camps" when referring to death camps run by Nazi Germany during the Holocaust. Every expression of this nature is offensive to the Polish nation, since it suggests collaboration on the part of Poland with its German occupier. Furthermore, the use of this phrase helps to perpetuate a lie, and degrades the country that was the first to stand up against Nazism and wage war against it to the final day. Unfortunately, "Polish Concentration Camp" has become an oft-used expression, despite numerous protests on the part of Polish communities worldwide, and since 1991, a democratically elected Polish Government..

The recent well publicized January 2005 anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp was again used as an opportunity to downgrade Poland. A January issue of the New York Times stated: "The commemoration means different things to each nation... for Poland and other Central European countries it is a gradual recognition of their complicity in the killing...", falsely suggesting Poland took an active role in Holocaust killings.

The use of the phrase "Polish Concentration Camps" by the Canadian television station CTV is just one reminder of the constant problem of repetitious application of this term. CTV's CEO, Robert Hurst, made the situation worse by not only not acknowledging protests by the Polish Embassy in Canada, but also delaying his response to them by 22 days. It was thus that he displayed his contempt for representatives of the Republic of Poland. In his letter dated May 6, 2004, Polish Ambassador Pawel Dobrowolski wrote "To call the concentration camp in Treblinka "the Polish camp of Treblinka" is an insult to millions of Poles who sacrificed their lives in the fight against Nazi Germany on all possible fronts of WWII." He also added that a similar situation took place in November of 2003. One can conclude that this is not the first time that Robert Hurst and CTV have used such a phrase in their programming. Hurst's response emphasized that the expression is only meant to indicate the location of the camp, and: "While we understand your concern and believe in the use of precise language, we believe the term [Polish concentration camp] was again used in an appropriate fashion." Hurst defended himself by citing the large number of North American and European publications where the phrase is frequently employed; unfortunately, he is right.

The CTV case is not unique, and denotes the complete impunity on the part of the media, even if they have deliberately made false or misleading statements. On August 19 of 2004, Hurst finally agreed with the Polish position in a letter to the Embassy in Ottawa, and the issue seemed resolved. However, a few thousand Poles interested in the event knew about this letter, while millions of Canadians watched the original broadcast. The damage done by CTV and Robert Hurst is permanent, as is often the case when the Polish Embassy intervenes, and the media revoke a public statement in a private letter. A similar event took place in Australia in May of 2002. The usage of this term has been cause for protest numerous times, and any explanation of this practice as accidental cannot be defended. The phrase "Polish Concentration Camps" is often employed by the mass media, which has caused its usage to spread to other realms, becoming virtually synonymous with the term "Nazi Concentration Camp."

The Present Situation
The phrase "Polish Concentration Camps" is often used by the mass media to describe death camps run by the German Nazi party. This permits the dissemination of the belief that the Poles were in some way responsible for carrying out the Holocaust. Even if some portion of readers is aware that this is untrue, a large number of citizens of the Western world have little knowledge of historical fact, and may come to wrongful conclusions. A good example of the poor level of historical knowledge among American students was documented by Edmund Lewandowski in the San Francisco Bay Area Polish American Community Newsletter in Santa Clara County, California. Lewandowski interviewed a group of high school students in 1998, showing them a picture of a concentration camp guard and asking "Who were the Nazis?" The response was shocking. The students overwhelmingly claimed that the Nazis were Poles.

Polish diplomatic outposts and Polonia organizations have protested on many occasions. We are currently in possession of countless Letters to the Editor that object to such usage of this term. These initiatives seem to lead nowhere, as soon after the publication of such letters, the phrase is used once again by those same newspapers. In most cases, this will happen repeatedly. To make matters worse, the media often invokes their First Amendment right to free speech, and refuses to publish any form of correction. We have had such personal experiences in our dealings with the Rochester, New York Democrat and Chronicle newspaper in May of 2001.

Publication Statistics
Our statistical information was obtained with the help of Lexis-Nexis, a database covering a majority of the most widely read newspapers throughout the United States and the Western world. Newspaper articles appear in the database the day of their publication. This resource can be found at university and public libraries, and can also be personally ordered online.

Since our focus was on Western countries, and the United States in particular, we concentrated our searches on the following: The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Miami Herald, Chicago Sun-Times, Baltimore Sun, Christian Science Monitor, Houston Chronicle, The Spectator, The Times (London), The Guardian, The Economist, Toronto Star, and many others. From September 24, 1972 the expression "Polish Concentration Camp" has appeared 182 times in press sources covered by this resource.

To make matters worse, these errors are repeated constantly, despite the fact that the newspapers themselves publish letters to the editor that object to such usage of this term. It is safe to assume that many more letters like this were written than published. One example is a letter written by the Press Attaché at the Polish Embassy in Washington, Jaroslaw Kurek. This letter was published by the New York Times on February 2, 1995. From that time, "Polish Concentration Camps" appeared in the New York Times another four times, "Polish Holocaust" another six times, "Polish Camps" another seven times, and "Polish Death Camps" another three. A similar letter was published by the Washington Post on September 18, 1999. Since then, the newspaper published "Polish Concentration Camps" six additional times and "Polish Holocaust" twice more. Although published letters to the editor on the subject have increased in number in recent years, these expressions appear so often that one cannot conclude that the situation has ameliorated in any noticeable way. If one just goes on the Internet and types "Polish Concentration Camp" or "Polish Holocaust" into a search engine, the results will speak for themselves.

The problem does not end there. Between the years 1988 and 2004, the phrase "Polish Holocaust" was used 171 times (while the historically accurate term "German Holocaust" was employed only 356 times, about twice as much); the expression "Polish Anti-Semitism" appeared 257 times (1979-2004), and the phrase "Polish Concentration" was used 196 times (1978-2004) in newspapers covered by Lexis-Nexis. There was even an occurrence of the term "Polish Gestapo", when relating to German political police in occupied Poland.

To be fair, we examined whether the names of other European countries are used in such a manner as well. As it turns out, Poland is not the only country to be associated with concentration camps. Second to Poland is France; the New York Times alone published the phrase "French Concentration Camps" 15 times. Instances of "Italian Concentration Camps" or "Dutch Concentration Camps" can also be found. Just as Auschwitz was not a "Polish Concentration Camp," Westerbork was not a Dutch one. Every occurrence of such usage of the term is incorrect, but Poland's name has been employed in this context many more times than the names of all the other countries combined.

Why the Term "Polish Concentration Camp" is Linguistically Inaccurate
One must remember that the structure of the English language is such that many expressions have multiple meanings, and their Polish translation is not always apparent. An excellent example is the phrase "Polish Concentration Camp victim." Does this phrase imply a Polish individual who was imprisoned in a concentration camp, or the prisoner of a "Polish" concentration camp? The misleading wording of the phrase often leads to its wrongful interpretation.

Editorial boards inundated with letters of protest on the subject often defend themselves by stating that "Polish Concentration Camps" refers only to the geographical location of the camps. From a linguistic perspective, the term "Polish Concentration Camp" implies that the aggressor is Poland. The case is similar with the phrase "Japanese car," which indicates that the car is Japanese, even if it was assembled in Texas. The factory owners are still the Japanese, as are the construction plans and assembly methods. No one considers Toyota to be an American car, just as no one views Guantanamo as a Cuban camp.

Another significant and often overlooked aspect is the division of lands at the time when the camps were operated. The largest camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau, was located in an area that belonged to the Third Reich after 1939. Another of the larger camps, Stutthoff, was built on land belonging to Easter Prussia - land that belonged to the Reich even before 1939, and its connections with Poland began only after the war and the dismantling of the camp. Many other camps were located on lands of the Generalna Gubernia (General Gouvernement), and were not brought into the newly forming Republic of Poland until after the war. The camps were run by the Third Reich, and not by Poland. To describe these camps as "Polish" is, at the very least, inaccurate.

Finally, there is the issue of nomenclature. The camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau is called by the Western media "Auschwitz-Birkenau," and not the Polish name for the camp, "Oswiecim-Brzezinka." It is the German name for the camp which was recorded in history books, indicating undoubtedly who was responsible for the administration of the camp. The name alone excludes any Polish responsibility for the camp's operation.

The Scope of the Problem
The term "Polish Concentration Camp" has unfortunately found its way to other, often unexpected, locations and circumstances. The vast array and sheer number of sources which employ the term "Polish Concentration Camp" indicate how widespread the problem has become. We have found the phrase used in legislation authored by Congressman Leonard Boswell; the speech of a Hungarian diplomat and a Human Rights judge; it has been employed in Sunday homilies in churches of various Christian denominations; in books, memoirs, scholarly studies (e.g. Polish Studies Center, American Institute for Contemporary German Studies); in summer reading lists for American elementary school children, student periodicals, genealogical materials, and various American public school educational tools; in museum and tourist materials, CD titles, and movie reviews. This is only the tip of the iceberg.

From the moment we began researching this work, available material has increased several times over. Based on the research we have amassed, we can hypothesize that within two or three generations, the Western world will believe that it was Poland that was responsible for the Holocaust, operating concentration camps, and supporting Adolf Hitler in persecuting other nations. Some members of elected bodies in the United States have already accepted the notion that Poland was responsible for the Holocaust, and demand reparations from Poland for victims of Nazi Germany. Countering this trend is difficult, and requires significant time and effort, especially since these beliefs have taken root in our society. We should start by explaining to younger generations that term "Polish concentration camps" is erroneous. We must convince the governments of Western democracies that the problem will be treated with the utmost seriousness by every Polish administration, regardless of its political affiliation. The media must be pressured to publish retractions, as private letters with apologies are not sufficient. Only widespread, coordinated, and long-term action on the part of the Polish government, Polonia, and many Polish organizations may reverse this trend. We must do this as the situation has become more than a little disturbing.



* Contributions to this column are submitted by Stefan Komar - this is not to imply that articles are authored by him.