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Template:Totally-disputed "Polish death camps" and "Polish concentration camps" are descriptive terms that have appeared in non-Polish media and print publications in reference to German concentration camps built and used in the Holocaust by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland during World War II, including on territories later joined with Poland. These terms are potentially confusing, as they imply that the camps—located in Nazi-occupied Poland—might have been a responsibility of the Poles (when in fact they were designed, constructed and run by the Germans, and were used to exterminate millions of Poles alongside the Jews). The non-Polish media also make similar references to the German-run extermination program in Poland such as the Polish Ghetto, Polish Holocaust, Nazi Poland, etc.

Poland was occupied by the Nazis from 1939 to 1945 and no Polish collaboration government was formed during that period. The legal Polish government-in-exile had no administration or political influence over the occupied territories during World War II apart from a limited underground judicial system. There were no Polish guards at any of the camps. The Polish police didn't take part in the forced-work press gangs, even though the Jewish Auxiliary Police (the Judische Ordnungsdienst) engaged in it at least as much as in the so-called Jewish resetttlement with their victims all driven to the slaughter. Scholars are debating to what extent the Polish police (Blue Police) were involved in the rounding up of Jews. Warsaw Ghetto historian Emmanuel Ringelblum described Polish policemen carrying out extortion and beatings in the Ghetto, and noted that Polish underground papers published badge numbers of those policemen. Similarly, extortion by the Polish police was allegedy witnessed by an anonymous informer—the most likely head of the Group 13, an "infamous Gestapo agency operated by Jews."

The Jews were deported from the ghettos to the death camps, not by Poles, but by German gendarmes, reinforced by Ukrainian and Baltic auxiliaries, and with the enforced co-operation of the ghetto police. Neither the Polish police nor any group of Polish civilians was involved in the deportations to any significant degree, nor did they staff the death camps. Nor did the fate of the Jews who were taken to their deaths depend to any significant degree on the attitudes and actions of a people from whom they were isolated by brick walls and barbed wire. — Gunnar S. Paulsson

Phrases such as the "Polish death camp" may leave a false impression that it was the Poles themselves who were responsible for the Nazi Germany genocide. While in some cases the intention of the writers is the mere geographical use of the term "Polish" and no attribution of responsibility is actually intended, at least one Polish diplomat has suggested that there are instances of "bad will. Under the pretext that “it’s only a geographic reference”, attempts are made to distort history and conceal the truth." Note that also the Dachau concentration camp has been described as Polish or located in Poland, even though the town is located in Bavaria, a German province that has never been part of the Polish territory. In any case, the potential for any confusion is offensive to Poles given that the Poles themselves suffered greatly under the Nazi occupation.

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 Germans, not Poles. 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)." Previously, some media, including Der Spiegel in Germany, had called the camp "Polish".

The use of these terms 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 American Jewish Committee has also rejected the usage, stating that

"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."

See also

• Holocaust in Poland

References

1. ^ Robert Cherry, Annamaria Orla-Bukowska, Rethinking Poles and Jews: Troubled Past, Brighter Future, Rowman & Littlefield 2007, ISBN 0742546667
2. Irving Howe, Eliezer Greenberg, Voices from the Yiddish: Essays, Memoirs, Diaries 1975, Page 252
3. Irving Howe, Eliezer Greenberg, Voices from the Yiddish: Essays, Memoirs, Diaries 1975, Page 252
4. Raul Hilberg. The Destruction of the European Jews: Third Edition Yale University Press, 2003. No preview available online without special access.
5. Itamar Levin, Rachel Neiman Walls Around: The Plunder of Warsaw Jewry During World War II and Its Aftermath. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2003.
6. Gunnar S. Paulsson, “The Rescue of Jews by Non-Jews in Nazi-Occupied Poland,” published in The Journal of Holocaust Education, volume 7, nos. 1 & 2 (summer/autumn 1998): pp.19–44. Reprinted in “Collective Rescue Efforts of the Poles,” p. 256
7. Piotr Zychowicz, Interview with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland, Prof. Adam Daniel Rotfeld Rzeczpospolita daily, 25th January 2005.
8. Tran, Mark. (2007-06-27). "Poles claim victory in battle to rename Auschwitz." Guardian Unlimited.
9. Auschwitz Might Get Name Change The Jewish Journal, 27th April 2006.
10. Yad Vashem for renaming Auschwitz The Jerusalem Post, 12th May 2006.
11. UNESCO approves Poland's request to rename Auschwitz The Europe Channel , 27th June 2007.
12. UN to rename Auschwitz death camp Adelaide Now, 28th June 2007.
13. UNESCO World Heritage Committee. (2007-06-28). World Heritage Committee approves Auschwitz name change". Press release. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
14. Lilley, Ray. (2007-06-28). "UNESCO committee renames Auschwitz." Associated Press. Guardian Unlimited.
15. BBC News. (2006-03-31). "Poland seeks Auschwitz renaming."
16. Template:En iconAmerican Jewish Committee. (2005-01-30). "Statement on Poland and the Auschwitz Commemoration." Press release.

External links

• Template:En icon Polish minister's speeches on the phenomenon
• Template:En icon Appeal against "Polish death camps" by Rzeczpospolita daily
• Template:En icon Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Against "Polish Camps"
• Template:Pl icon Report of the Polish ministry on foreign usage of "Polish death camp" argument
• Template:En icon Article on Irena Sendler but discusses issue of calling German camps as Polish
• Template:En icon Article on history of Auschwitz Concentration Camp in Poland but discusses issue of calling German camps as Polish
• Template:En icon Details of the PMI (a group of Polonia who discuss and action such matters as incorrect Polish Concentration camps references in the media)

• The Holocaust