From: bzfstoer@ZIB-Berlin.DE (Mechthild Stoer)
Subject: Re: common Polish-German action (was: Nazi Cam
Reply-To: bzfstoer@ZIB-Berlin.DE
Organization: Konrad Zuse-Zentrum fuer Informationstechnik Berlin
Date: Sun, 23 Aug 1992 15:28:07 GMT

In case that somebody wondered what Ian Feldman's posting <a6bc453c@random.se>
was about,
I extracted Maria Swietorzecki's article from soc.culture.polish.
The issue is that the newspaper "Toronto Star" in several articles used the wording
"death camps in Poland," which sounds as if the Poles had erected these camps.
At the end of her article, Maria included a letter of complaint
to be written to the Ontario Press Council.

This matter is not restricted to the Toronto Star or Canada alone.
Matthew Zalbiciewski noticed the same formulations in Australian TV
(see soc.culture.polish).

If anybody cares, he could write a letter to the Ontario Press Council
or, hm, other addresses (some embassy?).
(What if Ian Feldman would make some suggestion,
since he had the idea of a common Polish-German action?)
In my view, it is only right if these camps are called what they were:
Nazi camps or German Nazi camps.
The Poles have nothing to do with the erection of the camps,
nor did Poland exist as a state at that time,
so the Nazi camps should not be named after that country.

Please crosspost followups also to soc.culture.polish.
I did not include that group into the Newsgroups line,
since they have already seen Maria's article.

Mechthild Stoer


Maria Swietorzecki's posting included:


From maria@dnbf01.cdx.mot.com (Maria Swietorzeck)
Subject: Nazi Camps
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 1992 15:36:12 GMT

 
There is a lot still to learn about the concentration camps. Here is one side
of this picture that should be understood. 

Please support the Canadian Polish Congress efforts in the preservation of 
historicals facts.

-------------------------------------------------- Maria Swietorzecki------
                                                   swietor@ecf.toronto.edu
                                                   swietor@infopol.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

       NAZI CAMPS BUILT BY THE GERMANS IN GERMAN-OCCUPIED POLAND

The North American media has often referred to Nazi German concentration and 
death camps in German occupied Poland as "Polish camps". After numerous 
letters of protest from Polish organizations and members of the Polish 
community, many newspapers, magazines and radio and television broadcasters - 
such as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and most recently Time Magazine 
issued clear directives that such wording is improper. At the intervention of 
the Canadian Polish Congress, the Ontario Press Council upheld a complaint 
against the Ottawa Citizen on that basis a few years ago. 

We have noted in recent years a trend in the media instead to refer to these 
camps as simply being camps of unspecified origin located "in Poland".  This 
trend has become alarmingly frequent in the Toronto Star over the past few 
months. 

On February 3, 1992 an article referred to "the torture and death of 
thousands of concentration camp inmates in Poland". On May 1, 1992, the 
Toronto Star ran a photograph with the caption: "a survivor of the World War 
II Auschwitz death camp in Poland". On May 25, 1992, an article in the 
Toronto Star again referred to wartime atrocities perpetrated against Jews 
"in Poland".

On each of these occasion, after interventions by the Canadian Polish 
Congress, a correction was issued or the text was changed to make it clear 
that these were Nazi camps and that these events occurred in German-occupied 
Poland. 

On June 3, 1992, the Toronto Star carried another reference to "the Sobibor 
death camp in Poland", but nowhere in the long article was it made explicit 
that this was in German-occupied Poland. On June 11, 1992, the Toronto Star 
featured a New York Times editorial, to which it had made a number of 
stylistic changes, referring again to the execution of "thousands of Jews in 
Poland during World War II". 

On these last two occasions, however, the Toronto Star refused to issue any 
corrections or make any changes to the text despite our immediate protests. 
The Canadian Polish Congress decided to refer the matter to the Ontario Press 
Council, pointing out that these descriptions are first of all factually 
INACCURATE. The camps were built and operated by the Germans in German-
occupied Poland. During the war there were no vestiges of Polish statehood 
tolerated by the Germans. Even the very name of Poland was erased from the 
map of Europe. Unlike the situation in every other country, there was no 
regime of Polish collaborators. Nor were there any Polish forces fighting 
alongside the Germans. 

Secondly, these references are potentially MISLEADING. They leave the origin 
of these camps open or ambiguous. Furthermore, now that half a century has 
elapsed since the outbreak of the Second World War, many readers, especially 
the younger ones and those of a non European background, cannot be assumed to 
be well informed about those historical events. 
Finally, these descriptions are OFFENSIVE. Many of the camps such as 
Auschwitz, Majdanek and Treblinka - were built originally for Poles. It was 
Christian Poles who were primarily interned there until the end of 1941. A 
significant number of Polish-Canadians had relatives who perished there. In 
total, some more three million Christian Poles perished at the hands of the 
German invaders. Thus it is particularly offensive for Polish-Canadians to be 
told that these were simply camps located "in Poland". THEY WERE NAZI CAMPS 
BUILT BY THE GERMANS IN GERMAN-OCCUPIED POLAND.
The Toronto Star's reply to out complaint was as follows:

The reference was factually correct. We did not agree to your request for a 
correction because there was no error involved. 

I see references to death camps "in Poland" as being substantially different 
from references to "Polish death camps". The latter suggest that Poles 
conceived, built and operated the camps... There is no such suggestion in the 
former. 

Despite numerous efforts on our part over the years to convey the arguments 
we have outlined, the Toronto Star's reply indicates an obvious failure to 
appreciate that these references are FACTUALLY INCORRECT, POTENTIALLY 
MISLEADING, AND DEEPLY OFFENSIVE. We are not being taken seriously.

Polish-Canadians and their friends have every right to expect the Canadian 
media to be accurate and clear in their description of Nazi camps in German-
occupied Poland. This has been amply recognized by responsible members of the 
media, such as The Canadian Press.
The Canadian Polish Congress has decided to pursue the complaint against the 
Toronto Star to a full adjudication before the Ontario Press Council. In this 
regard a show of support from Polish-Canadian organizations and members of 
the Polish community is essential. 
We urge you to do so by writing to the Press Council, and copying the editor 
of the Toronto Star and the Congress.

Secretary General, Canadian Polish Congress, 288 Roncesvalles Ave., 
Toronto,Ont. M6R 2M4 


DATE:	__________________


Mr. Mel Sufrin
Executive Secretary, Ontario Press Council
80 Gould Street, Suite 208
Toronto, Ontario M5B 2M7


Dear Mr. Sufrin:

I am aware of the complaint by the Canadian Polish Congress concerning the 
Toronto Star's use of inappropriate wording to describe Nazi German 
concentration camps in German-occupied Poland.
I fully support that complaint. 
References to camps of unspecified origin and simply said to be located in 
Poland are factually inaccurate, potentially misleading and deeply offensive.
I believe that news stories should be clear on this point.

Yours truly,



________________________________
SIGNATURE: 

________________________________
NAME IN FULL:

______________________________________________________________________________
ADDRESS:     street             city           Province         Postal Code

cc.: Mr. John Honderich, Editor
     The Toronto Star, One Yonge St., Toronto, Ont. M5E IE6
	 Secretary General, Canadian Polish Congress, 288 Roncesvalles Ave.,  
     Toronto,Ont. M6R 2M4