Polish regulator probes TV network where academic argued Poles ‘failed’ Jews in WWII

Poland’s broadcasting regulator has said it has opened a probe into the country’s biggest private television network, TVN, after a prominent Holocaust scholar told it last week that Poles “failed” to become Jews’ allies during the Nazi atrocities in the country during World War II.

Warsaw has been widely accused of whitewashing the widely documented participation of some Poles in atrocities — though many others defended and protected Jews — and of cracking down on academic voices deviating from the government’s stance.

“Jews were unbelievably disappointed with Poles during the war,” said Barbara Engelking, director of the Polish Center for Holocaust Research, in her interview, according to a translation by the Notes from Poland website. “They knew what to expect from the Germans, [who were] the enemy… but the relationship with Poles was much more complex.

“Poles had the potential to become allies of the Jews and one would hope that they would behave differently, that they would be neutral, kind, that they would not take advantage of the situation to such an extent and that there would not be widespread blackmailing. It seems to me that this disappointment plays a role, that Poles simply failed,” she added.

Engelking also accused Poles today of often “falsifying history” by exaggerating the level of aid given by Poles to Jews during the Holocaust.

A Polish government regulator is investigating Poland's largest privately-owned TV network, after leading Polish sociologist Barbara Engelking said on air that most Poles did not aid Jews during the Shoah: https://t.co/dWzRPNqUFP

— Joel S. (@jh_swanson) April 22, 2023

The interview drew outraged remarks, including from Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who claimed it included “scandalous words that have nothing to do with reliable historical knowledge,” and which are part of an “anti-Polish narrative in some media.”

In a statement Friday, the head of the National Broadcasting Council regulator, Maciej Świrski, announced the proceedings against TVN.

“In Poland, everyone can, using freedom of speech, say any nonsense and lies,” he said. “[But] the job of journalists is to react to lies because the press law requires them to provide reliable information. If the guest on a program is lying, the journalist must tell viewers that it is a lie.

“And finally, if Poles did not help Jews, the Germans would not have introduced the death penalty for helping [Jews],” added Świrski, even though Engelking didn’t deny that there were Poles who helped Jews during the Holocaust.