A cross-national group of MEPs at the European Parliament has appealed to media outlets to desist from referring to “Polish concentration camps.”

The appeal is the latest chapter in a long-running saga aimed at curbing the spread of disinformation about the death camps set up in occupied Poland by Hitler's Nazi regime.

Many in Poland are highly sensitive about the matter. As the joint statement highlighted, Polish citizens, both Catholic and Jewish, were amongst the chief victims of the camp system.

Likewise, there was no so-called 'Quisling' collaborative government in Nazi-occupied Poland.

Campaigners have already succeeded in changing the editorial guidelines for several leading publications, including the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.

Not all editors have acceded to the proposals, however, with some claiming that the word Polish was used in a geographical sense regarding the camps.

This week's appeal was put together by the Reconciliation of European Histories Group, a cross party enterprise that was founded in May 2010.

Similar efforts were made in America by the Kosciuszko Foundation, whose chairman, Alex Storozynski, argues that the sloppy editing is “Orwellian doublespeak” that “distorts history.” (nh/pg)

related articles