DALLAS, Feb. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Dallas
Holocaust and Human Rights Museum is deeply concerned over a recent
ruling by a Polish court that may compromise the future of
Holocaust scholarship in Poland.
Poland has long struggled to
come to grips with its role in the Holocaust, as both victim and
perpetrator. Its 2018 law banning statements that accuse the
Polish state and nation of complicity in Nazi crimes deliberately
obscures the participation of Polish collaborators in the murder of
Jews.
As part of this struggle, in 1998 Poland created a state-run
Institute for National Remembrance (IPN) to research and document
losses suffered by the Polish nation under the Nazis and
Communists. IPN has a history of ignoring or explaining away
Polish complicity with the Nazis. IPN has appointed Dr.
Tomasz Greniuch, head of a major city branch. Greniuch, a
far-right historian, founded a chapter of the National Radical Camp
(ONR) group, a successor to a pre-war antisemitic far-right
organization. As the leader of an ONR chapter, Greniuch advocated
neo-Nazi, antisemitic, and white supremacist ideology, far-right
rhetoric and participated in neo-fascist rallies and marches.
Dr. Jan Grabowski, a
distinguished Holocaust historian, has been an outspoken critic of
Poland's distortion of history,
facing harassment and death threats over his scholarly
research. This month, a Polish court ordered Grabowski and
fellow historian Dr. Barbara
Engelking to apologize for writing that a Polish village
mayor collaborated with the Nazis during World War II in their
recent scholarly work, Night Without End. They are
appealing the decision.
Holocaust historians working in Poland must be free of politically-motivated
criticism from politicians, courts, and organizations like
IPN. Rulings such as this one have a chilling effect on
Holocaust scholarship. Historians and other scholars work
painstakingly to uncover the truth about the murder of 3 million
Jews in Poland between 1939 and
1945. They must be allowed to do their scholarly work without
fear of political repercussion.
The court's ruling also opens the door to Holocaust distortion,
which can lead to Holocaust denial, antisemitism, the spread of
anti-Jewish conspiracy myths, and violence against Jews.
We support the earnest efforts by many in Poland who work to promote unfettered academic
scholarship and public discourse on the Holocaust's unique history
and role in the country.
The mission of the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum is
to teach the history of the Holocaust and advance human rights to
combat prejudice, hatred, and indifference.
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SOURCE Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum