Complaint
The programme was broadcast from Auschwitz on the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the camp. A viewer complained that the reporter’s comments gave a misleading impression of the extent to which Poles had collaborated with the Nazi persecution of Jews and had fallen short of impartiality in failing to provide historical context.
Outcome
The comments in question were “But the memory, the legacy of that time, is a hugely sensitive topic here in Poland because there have been several high-profile pieces of historical research which have shown that many Polish people actually assisted the Nazis in their persecution, in their hunting down of Jewish people. There were some high level instances of ordinary Polish people helping Jews, either hiding them, or obtaining false documents for them, but there also was a relatively high level of collaboration between Polish people and the Nazis”. In the ECU’s judgement this was an accurate reflection of the findings of recent scholarship in relation to the extent of collaboration with the Nazis in occupied Poland, and appropriate context was provided by the reference to instances in which Poles had sought to protect Jews.
Not upheld