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Correct Naming of the Auschwitz Camp

Statement by “Reduta Dobrego Imienia”
– Polish League Against Defamation –

in connection with the 79th Anniversary of the taking over of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Camp.

Warsaw – January 25, 2024

In connection with the forthcoming anniversary of the Red Army’s entering Auschwitz, the Polish League Against Defamation informs and warns as follows:

In previous years, the terms “Polish death camp in Auschwitz” and “Polish concentration camp in Auschwitz” were used in a number of articles concerning the above-mentioned anniversary.

The Auschwitz extermination camp was established in 1940 by the Germans in Third Reich-occupied Poland after the invasion of September 1939. Initially, the camp was used to exterminate the Polish intelligentsia. Once the Auschwitz II camp was established, it became a site for the mass extermination of Jews.

From September 1939, the Polish government was in exile, first in France and then in the United Kingdom, and had no jurisdiction over the German-occupied territories. According to the Hague Convention, the party responsible for events in occupied territories is the occupier – in this case, the German Third Reich.

The genocide of Poles, Jews, the Roma people and other nations by the Germans between 1939 and 1945 in concentration and death camps set up by the Third Reich authorities in German-occupied Poland took place while the Allies remained indifferent. On several occasions, the Polish government-in-exile alerted the free world to the genocide being perpetrated by the Germans.

Poland had the largest resistance movement, both civilian and military, in all of German-occupied Europe. The Polish underground authorities issued and carried out death sentences against anyone who tried to join the German campaign to persecute the Jews.

In occupied Poland, the Germans introduced the death penalty for aiding Jews, whether by hiding them or providing any kind of assistance. This penalty was imposed on entire families, both adults and children. Despite this, Poles helped their Jewish compatriots. Thousands of Poles were killed by the Germans for helping Jews.

The German concentration and extermination camps in Poland, including Auschwitz, were German institutions, run by German state personnel, carrying out German economic and political objectives.

Therefore, in connection with the upcoming anniversary of the Red Army’s entry into Auschwitz, the Polish League Against Defamation informs that the correct name of the camp is “German Nazi death camp in Auschwitz”. The term “German Nazi concentration/death camp” applies to all the camps set up by the Germans in occupied Europe and in their own country.

There were no “Polish concentration camps”. Like the Jews, Poles were victims of genocide perpetrated by the Germans. As a result of the war started by the Germans, Poland lost almost 20% of its population.

The phrase “Polish concentration camps” is a form of Holocaust denial that is punishable by law in a number of countries, including the Federal Republic of Germany.

The phrase “Polish concentration camp in Auschwitz” and similar phrases are intended to vilify Poland and the Poles in the eyes of the societies and politicians of NATO members, so that Poland will be abandoned by its allies if it would need military assistance. Whoever uses the phrase “Polish concentration camp in Auschwitz” is an accomplice of Russia and Vladimir Putin in their aggression against the free world.

The Polish League Against Defamation
Reduta Dobrego Imienia
Grzybowska 4 / 197
Warsaw 00-131
Poland