The Polish government has announced that it
will make referring to Nazi concentration camps that were situated in occupied
Poland as “Polish concentration camps” punishable. Where will the offenders be
sent?
The Poles have for a long time, rightly
objected to the fallacious referral to the Nazi camps as Polish. However, we should
not forget that many Poles were virulent and sometimes even murderous
anti-Semites. Indeed pogroms took place after the war had ended, in which Poles
killed Jews who were trying to return to their homes in Poland.
Moreover, considering the exceptionally high
level of anti-Semitism still to be found in Poland: 45% in Poland compared to
16% in Germany and 11% in the UK, the Polish government should perhaps
concentrate its resources on fighting anti-Semitism and educating its own
population against racist xenophobia.
Worryingly, the current administration, as
well as public and media sentiment is going wildly nationalistic. Is there a
way of sending Poland out of the EU until they start behaving again? Countries
such as Poland should be shown a yellow card. Perhaps even a red one.
