Jewish Tribune corrects 'Polish death camps' gaffe

Polish ambassador to Canada, Zenon Kosiniak-Kamysz sent a letter of protest to the publishers of the Jewish Tribune after the magazine published, in print and online, an article about the Nazi German WW II death camp in occupied Poland, Auschwitz-Birkenau, calling it a “Polish death camp”.

"Poland was the first country attacked by Nazi Germany and the Poles were the first inmates of concentration camps. So the use of the term 'Polish camp' is offensive to Poles and Canadians of Polish origin,” wrote the Ambassador in the protest letter.

The article by Dave Gordon was published following the 67th anniversary of the liberation of the death camp last week.

After the Polish Embassy in Ottawa, alongside the Polish-Jewish Heritage Foundation, launched a campaign via Twitter and Facebook, the editor of the Jewish Tribune apologised for the use of the term and changed it in the online version.

A correction and apology will also be published in this week's print edition.

The campaign against the use of the term “Polish camps” when referring to Nazi German camps situated inside Poland during WW II has been led by the Kosciuszko Foundation in New York and the Foreign Ministry, and has led to editors working for major publishers in the US changing their style sheet to illiminate the use of the term. (pg)