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Holocaust Remembrance group supports Polish efforts against distorting history

PR dla Zagranicy
Paweł Kononczuk 30.06.2017 12:29
The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance has voiced support for the Polish government's efforts to stop phrases such as "Polish camps" and "Polish death camps" being used in the media and public debate in reference to World War II.
The entrance to the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp. Photo: Wikimedia Commons/C.Puisney/CC BY-SA 3.0The entrance to the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp. Photo: Wikimedia Commons/C.Puisney/CC BY-SA 3.0

At a plenary meeting in Geneva, the Alliance on Thursday called for an end to the use of such terms in relation to sites where Jews were persecuted and murdered by the Nazi Germans on occupied Polish territory during the war.

The Polish foreign ministry welcomed the Alliance’s move as an initiative “against the distortion of the truth about the Holocaust and blurring responsibility for the terrible crime” committed by Nazi Germany, according to Poland's IAR news agency.

The foreign ministry said that the position adopted by the Alliance was the result of efforts by Polish diplomats, in particular the Polish delegation to the IHRA, and of engagement in dialogue with the international community to promote “the full truth” about the Holocaust, the IAR agency reported.

The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) describes itself as an intergovernmental body whose purpose is to place political and social leaders’ support behind the need for Holocaust education, remembrance and research both nationally and internationally.

The IHRA has 31 member countries, 11 observer countries and seven permanent international partners. Poland has been a member of IHRA since 1999.

The use of the term “Polish concentration camp” by international media outlets has sparked numerous complaints from Poland in recent years, prompting some news agencies to change their style guidelines.

A group of Polish and German historians and geographers last month appealed to German publishers to remove “unacceptable” references to “Polish death camps” from school textbooks.

(pk)

Source: IAR

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