In a recent program on Telewizja Republika, Jacek Kurski expressed strong criticism of Lech Parel’s remarks made during the 80th-anniversary commemoration of the Battle of Monte Cassino. Parel, head of the Office for War Veterans and Victims of Oppression, sparked controversy with his comments about Polish soldiers conscripted into the German army during World War II.
Kurski condemned Parel’s speech, accusing him of diminishing Poland’s historical narrative. “Such statements show utter disregard and manipulate history to create a false equivalence concerning responsibility for World War II,” Kurski asserted.
The controversy stems from Parel’s reference to soldiers from regions like Greater Poland, Silesia, and Kashubia who were conscripted into the Wehrmacht and later joined the Polish Armed Forces. A publication by Parel’s office included a version of his speech claiming that there were 90,000 such soldiers, more than those escaping the Soviet Union, a statement he did not actually make in his speech.
Kurski argued that these comments reflect a broader issue among those who disdain Poland, equating Polishness with abnormality. He linked Parel’s remarks to past controversies involving Donald Tusk, suggesting a historical falsification to mitigate Tusk’s grandfather’s involvement with the Wehrmacht.
“This attempt to whitewash history is deeply troubling,” Kurski concluded. “It’s not about the grandfather, but about the lies that continue to spread.”