The policy of portraying Poles as a nation of perpetrators of World War II atrocities is flourishing. First came the exhibition “Our Boys”, and now an article in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung directly accuses Poles of participating in the Holocaust.
On Friday, July 11, the Museum of Gdańsk held the opening of an exhibition entitled “Our Boys. Inhabitants of Gdańsk Pomerania in the Army of the Third Reich.” The exhibition presents the fates of tens of thousands of residents of the Pomerania region who served in the German Nazi army.
The exhibition faced criticism from many politicians and public figures, including President Andrzej Duda, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, and former Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak.
“A number of institutions, even ones we created (such as the Pilecki Institute, the Museum of Polish History), or co-created (like the Museum of the Second World War), are now pursuing a form of historical policy that serves the German point of view or even implements German historical policy,” said Piotr Gliński, former Minister of Culture, in an interview with niezalezna.pl.
It is worth noting that there has been a remarkable surge in such events lately, and the adoption of the German historical narrative, along with the portrayal of Poles as a nation of perpetrators of World War II atrocities, is thriving.
The Germans now speak openly
Therefore, it is perhaps not surprising that the German Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung has written.
In a piece devoted to the anniversary of the Jedwabne massacre, Stefan Locke attempted to accuse conservative circles in Poland of somewhat relativising matters related to that event.
But further in the article, Locke wrote plainly:
“The fact that Poles shared responsibility in the Holocaust perpetrated by the Germans is a difficult subject, especially for the national-conservative opposition party PiS [Law and Justice].”
Moreover, the German author criticised Karol Nawrocki, the president-elect, referring to the time when he served as head of the Museum of the Second World War in Gdańsk.
“In this context, Locke recalls the changes made during the PiS government to the exhibition at the Museum of the Second World War in Gdańsk. As reported, the original version clearly named German responsibility for the persecution of Jews but did not remain silent about Polish co-involvement. After the changes, the latter aspect lost significance,” reported the portal dw.com, summarising the FAZ article.
“They protect Germany’s good name and disgrace their own country”
The article by Locke and the recent actions of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs prompted a response from, among others, MEP Arkadiusz Mularczyk.
“The government of Donald Tusk, with Radosław Sikorski at the helm, behaves like a branch of the German Foreign Ministry. When Polish bishops quote Potocki, they issue a démarche to the Vatican. When the German press accuses Poles of complicity in the Holocaust, they remain silent. They protect Germany’s good name and disgrace their own country…” said Mularczyk.