Sprostowanie redakcji Lansing State Journal dotyczące tzw. \"Polish war camp\"

Autorka artykułu Rachel Greco określiła w nim niemiecki nazistowski obóz w okupowanej Polsce mianem "polskiego obozu". Błędne wyrażenie zostało wkrótce poprawione.

Konsulat Generalny RP w Chicago przypomniał jednocześnie redaktorowi naczelnemu Lansing State Journal Panu Mickey Hirten o prawidłowym nazewnictwie dotyczącym niemieckich nazistowskich obozów, w tym koncentracyjnych i zagłady, na terenie okupowanej Polski i zaapelował do niego o podjęcie działań celem wdrożenia stosownych korekt w księdze stylów redakcji, wzorem np. agencji Associated Press, tak aby podobne niefortunne wyrażenia nie pojawiały się w przyszłości.

Poniżej zamieszczamy treść listu Konsulatu Generalnego Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej w Chicago do redakcji Lansing State Journal:

Chicago, February 19, 2013

Mickey Hirten,
Editor
Lansing State Journal

Dear Mr. Hirten,

Please allow me to start by thanking you for your immediate correction of an obvious mistake which appeared in your story "Charlotte man, 94, honored for WWII service" of February 18th, 2013.

The original edition of the article by Rachel Greco about the WW2 survivor Harry Bell read: "In September 1944, Bell’s B-17 bomber was shot down during World War II. The entire crew ejected and Bell was taken prisoner by the Nazis. He was held for eight months in a Polish war camp." The unfortunate and erroneous phrase "Polish war camp" was hugely misleading to readers without a thorough historical knowledge of World War II who might have concluded that the war camp was run by the Poles. What is more, not once did the word ‘German’ appear in the article.

I trust it was only thanks to your clear-headed and prompt reaction that the erroneous phrase was immediately corrected into "Nazi war camp in Poland". For the sake of clarity, please allow me to explain—lest this was not obvious to either you or the author of the piece Rachel Greco—that WW2 camps on Polish soil—war and concentration alike—were built, run and administered by the German Nazis in German-occupied Poland. Polish cities, towns and villages were forcibly incorporated into the German Third Reich after the German invasion in September 1939. Occupied Poland was never an ally of Nazi Germany and never had a collaborative regime. Poland never capitulated as a state to the German Third Reich. What is more, six million Polish citizens were killed during World War II, half of whom were Polish-Jews.

For your information, the Associated Press updated its widely-used media stylebook, urging journalists to use proper terminology when referring to German Nazi WW2 camps in German-occupied Poland.

I am positive that not only Michigan’s large population of Poles and Americans of Polish origin would appreciate it if also Lansing State Journal adhered to the widely recognized correct terminology and made suitable improvements to its stylebook as it relates to this issue in question.

Please be advised that this letter is shared with our readers on the website of the Polish Consulate General in Chicago: www.chicago.mfa.gov.pl and on our official accounts on the social media.

Sincerely,
Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Chicago