Poland’s About To Sign A Holocaust Bill That For Some Reason Is Controversial

Poland’s About To Sign A Holocaust Bill That For Some Reason Is Controversial | World War Wings Videos

Konrad Kurzacz (original) / World War Wings (composite)

Uhm, Why?

Poland got hit with blunt force during World War II, Germany unexpectedly crossing the border with strategic intent and a mobilized military as Polish citizens were going about their regular Fridays.

We all know what happened afterward so I won’t give anyone a history lesson here. After all was said and done, the Nazis set up six concentration camps in Poland and German-occupied Polish territories to reach their “Final Solution.” It was Nazi Germany’s plan and although some Poles did work at these camps it was because they had a gun pointed at them. Literally.

Now fast forward to today and these camps are typically referred to as “Polish Concentration Camps.” It’s splitting hairs here, sure, but that has a different connotation to it than “concentration camps in Poland.” This is what Poland’s President, Andrzej Duda, is tackling with his new bill.

The basic gist of the bill, which is yet to be sent to the constitutional tribunal to be reviewed and passed, spells out that the term “Polish Concentration Camps” cannot be used and will be met with a fine or even jail time. Freedom of speech comes in here as well which is another matter, but the bill, in essence, is not misdirected. It just wasn’t to remove the connotation that Poland is to blame for these camps.

This is a very sensitive topic as you can imagine, both sides making passionate and valid points. But here’s the thing, and this is coming from someone who was born in Poland but grew up here in the States. This isn’t a denial of facts as Israel is saying. It’s not rewriting history. We all know what happened. This is simply getting rid of a term that for new generations of people may cause confusion.

Let me quickly demonstrate the point there. It’s also controversial and I don’t want to get into the details but try looking at it from a far away perspective.

Guantanamo Bay.

Whether or not you feel like it’s a necessary evil or denounces the idea completely, would you ever call that a Cuban Detention Center? Probably not. We built it to interrogate people of interest and since there is so much heat focused on it, I bet Cubans wouldn’t like to be associated with it even though it’s located in their country. Sure, this is a night and day comparison in terms of what’s going on in there, but the point here is to demonstrate terminology. That’s it.

Feel free to discuss the topic on our Facebook page but please refrain from any name calling or racial or religious slurs. Keep it civil and discuss what you think about his bill.

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