Entry to the German Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz
The American CNN television station has apologized for using the term "Polish death camps" on the air.
In their Tuesday coverage of the March of the Living - an annual commemoration of the German Nazi Holocaust held in Poland, CNN displayed the words "Polish death camps" on the breaking news scroll.
As a result of the quick intervention of the Polish embassy in Washington, CNN promised the Polish Foreign Ministry to issue a statement apologizing for the offensive mistake. In the past, the term "Polish concentration camp" was mistakenly used by ABC News, CBS News and the New York Times, as well as by Die Welt and The Guardian.
Łukasz Kamiński, historian of the Institute of National Remembrance says that repeating such untrue and harmful statements can build a false image that it was Poles and not Germans, who were responsible for mass murders in World War Two concentration camps: 'Time passes and the level of public knowledge of World War Two decreases. The more we hear about "Polish death camps" the less we will think about what it really means - if it means they were built in Poland, or by Poles. We must defend the historic truth on this matter with determination.'
In Poland, using the term "Polish concentration camps" is a breech of law about Holocaust denial.
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