Ryszard Legutko, speaking for the Law and Justice delegation in the European Parliament, submitted an interpellation to the European Commission in response to a recording published on the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust website.
The recording, according to PiS, suggested that Polish participation in genocide was alleged while German involvement was omitted.
On January 27, the site displayed captions with birth dates and the dates and places of death for the victims, but the recording repeatedly carried the misleading phrase Auschwitz camp, Poland, implying a Polish role in the concentration camps.
Legutko asked the EC why it appears to deliberately mislead public opinion and attempt to assign responsibility for genocide away from the actual perpetrators, the Germans. He also questioned what actions the Commission plans to take to prevent such misrepresentations in the future and whether the Commission President intends to officially apologize to Poland.
Scandalous European Commission recording
On Saturday, the European Commission website published a recording about International Holocaust Remembrance Day, observed on January 27. In the recording, individual commissioners recall the names of selected Holocaust victims from across Europe, including the victims’ names and places of death. The list included those murdered at Auschwitz-Birkenau, a camp established by the occupying German authorities in Oswięcim, Lesser Poland.
The places of death were shown with the city and the current country, so subtitles could read Auschwitz Camp, Poland. Other camps were presented in the same format, for example Camp Mauthausen, Austria, or Camp Jasenovac, Croatia.
The inaccurate phrasing Auschwitz, Poland drew criticism on social media. In his English submission, Siewiera urged European Commission President von der Leyen to acknowledge that during World War II German concentration camps were established in several European countries under German occupation.
As anti Semitism rises globally, the call is to remember the victims and the roots of evil to prevent such crimes in the future.
Legutko added that the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs should continue its work to educate about the Second World War, noting that false stories persisted during commemorations such as International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
To be clear, none of the concentration camps were Polish; all were built in German-occupied territories; the Nazis were German and should be described as German Nazis; Auschwitz was founded in German-occupied Poland; the aim is to remember all victims who suffered at German hands, Legutko stated.
The head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also commented on the controversy sparked by signatures on the recording on the website of Radosław Sikorski. When referencing the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz, it was noted that it was built under German occupation. The European Commission’s social media content would be clarified, but the Polish EU Commissioner did not present the Polish position in advance, he said.
The assertion that Auschwitz was a German death camp is a factual point, not a matter of opinion. The reaction from Sikorski’s camp was met with a response from Szymon Szynkowski, a PiS MP and former head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, highlighting that Polish concerns should guide future messaging.
Improvement of the Commission material
A corrected version of the recording appeared on the EC head’s profile on Sunday, clarifying that Auschwitz was a German Nazi death camp. The Germans established the Auschwitz camp in 1940 to imprison Poles, and Auschwitz II-Birkenau was founded two years later as a site of extermination. The camp complex included a network of subcamps. In Auschwitz, the Germans murdered at least 1.1 million people, primarily Jews, but also Poles, Roma, Soviet prisoners of war, and others.
On January 27, 1945, Red Army soldiers opened the gates of the camp, warmly welcomed by nearly 7,000 exhausted prisoners, including about 500 children. January 27 is observed worldwide as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Ceremonies honoring Holocaust victims were held at the Auschwitz-Birkenau museum that Saturday.
Media coverage and headlines about the incident continued to circulate, with several outlets emphasizing the need for accurate historical representation. The conversation underscored the ongoing responsibility of public institutions to preserve factual memory and to avoid mischaracterizations that could distort the past.
Acknowledgments of error and subsequent corrections were noted as essential steps in maintaining a truthful record of events and honoring all victims who suffered under Nazi tyranny. The discussion also highlighted the broader stakes involved in how history is presented in official channels and on social media.
In summary, the episode reinforced the importance of precise language when describing the events of World War II. The focus remains on recognizing the German origin and orchestration of the camps, while remembering all victims who endured catastrophe under Nazi rule.
According to coverage from wPolityce, the incident prompted continued dialogue about Poland’s historical narrative and the responsibilities of European institutions in presenting a clear and accurate account of World War II events.