Poles told to denounce 'anti-Polish' compatriots
February 15, 2018
Poles living abroad have been urged by Polish Senate speaker Stanislaw Karczewski to notify authorities of any "harmful" comments by compatriots outside of Poland, according to report by German public broadcaster NDR.
According to NDR, a letter has been sent to embassies and consulates worldwide asking Poles to "document all anti-Polish comments and opinions that could hurt us."
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The letter orders Poles to "inform embassies, consulates of any defamation that could harm the good reputation of Poland." NDR says the letter has already been distributed by the general consulate in Munich and that Hamburg's consulate would follow suit.
The Polish ambassador to Germany, Andrzej Przylebski, told NDR that the move was part of "the usual tasks of a diplomatic or consular representation."
Holocaust law behind letter
The move comes after Poland passed a controversial Holocaust law that makes it an offense to state that Poles or Poland had any part in Nazi-era atrocities.
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The law was immediately condemned by the US and Israel. German Chancellor Angela Merkel as well as Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel avoided wading into the diplomatic spat, stressing that Germany alone was responsible for the Holocaust."
According to senate leader Karczewski, who penned the letter, Poles have been exposed to the painful, unjust and, most of all, factually wrong expression 'Polish death camps' as well as claims that Poles were involved in the Holocaust," stressing that both were an "insult to our national dignity and pride."