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the White House expressing regret for President Obama’s description of the Nazi death camps in Poland as “Polish camps” in honoring Jan Karski with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The posthumous medal was received on Tuesday by Adam Daniel Rotfeld (L), former Polish Foreign Minister, in the East Room at the White House in Washington.
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NEW YORK (EJP)---The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on Wednesday welcomed a statement from the White House expressing regret for President Obama’s description of the Nazi death camps in Poland as “Polish camps” in honoring Jan Karski with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
“We commend the White House for appropriately recognizing their error in describing the Nazi death camps in Poland as “Polish camps” and immediately expressing regret for the mistake,“ said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director and a Holocaust survivor from Poland, in a statement:
“This is a perennial problem, and the president’s unwitting mistake only highlights the need for ongoing education about the history of World War II and the Holocaust.”
The misnomer “Polish camps” unjustly implies that the death camps in Poland were built in the name of the Polish people rather than by the Nazi regime.
The ADL said that while the White House acknowledged that the President misspoke, the Administration “should turn this mistake into a teachable moment for American public and explain more fully why the expression “Polish death camps” offends our strong ally, Poland, and distorts the history of the Holocaust.”
“By doing so, the White House will do more than rectify a mistake; it will strengthen the relationship of trust with Poland and promote Holocaust education,” the Jewish organization added.
“As an agency that prioritizes remembrance of the Holocaust, ADL has frequently spoken out on this topic and has expressed fully support for the efforts of the government of Poland to ensure that the official names of the death camps in Poland emphasize that the camps were built and operated by Nazi Germany.”
In 2006, ADL wrote to UNESCO to ensure that the official name of the Auschwitz, as recorded on UNESCO’s world heritage site registry, emphasizes that the camp was built and operated by Nazi Germany.