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Solidary Poland, a junior member of the Polish government, has demanded that the country’s National Radio and TV Council take action against private broadcaster TVN for airing an incendiary interview, in which a guest controversially questioned the attitude of Poles towards Jews during World War II.
On Wednesday, popular anchor-woman Monika Olejnik hosted an interview with Barbara Engelking, head of the Holocaust research centre at the Polish Academy of Sciences. In it, Engelking revealed the “truth” that some Poles took advantage of the situation of Jews in the Holocaust, rather than helping them.
“The Jews were well aware of the danger the Germans posed, and their enemy status was unmistakable. But their relationship with the Poles was far more complex,”
she said.
“Hope shone that the Poles and Jews could form an alliance and remain neutral and amicable towards one another, rather than exploiting the situation for personal gain. Unfortunately, the extortion that occurred threatened to destroy the potential of the two sides to unite,”
she added.
Jacek Ozdoba, the spokesperson for the party, fiercely defended their position against an interview they deemed as an “attack on Polishness and truth”. His response was an emphatic rejection of the allegations.
“We cannot let this pass (…) We cannot allow history to be lied about,”
he said.
Friday saw the National Radio and TV Council launch an investigation into a recent interview. This was announced by the head of the council.
Poland is facing a deep divide between two opposite forces in society – social conservatives, backed by the government, and liberals who support the TVN network. The call for TVN to be punished reveals the severity of this rift and the implications it has for Polish culture and politics.