Why do some americans believe that Poland is responsible for the Holocaust?

[Pokurcz]

I have been listening to the Howard Stearn Show for 4 years now and once in a while it becomes aboundantly obvious that Howard believes that the Poles were responsible for a large part of the Holocaust. He has repeatedly claimed on air that the poles built and ran Aushwitz, that they manufactured the ovens, that they killed of all the jews in Poland.

Howard Stern frequently admits that he does not read books and that he is not very interested in the World outside of the USA, except for maybe ridding the world of terrorists, and often demonstrates very poor knowledge and understanding of foreign countries and cultures.

So I am not surprised.

But other people on the show are interested and seemingly enjoy books. For example Robin Quivers, who often travels abroad and even visited Poland and the Aushwitz museum some four years ago, and still she does not protest when Howard spreads his BS and even backs him up by saying things like "Why else would the extermination camps have been placed in Poland?"

How is ignorance and misunderstanding possible on this level?

I can hardly believe my ears every time the matter is brought up on the show.

 

[NedimNapoleon]

My brain hurts, close this thread, as soon as you said "he is not very interested in the World outside of the USA, except for maybe ridding the world of terrorists, and often demonstrates very poor knowledge and understanding of foreign countries and cultures." I knew that this thread has no reason to exist. Ignorance, that's all.

 

[History_Buff]

Your mistake is listening to Howard Stern. The man is a marketable idiot, just ignore him.

 

[Cutlass]

I've never heard of anyone who believes this. If Stern does, well keep in mind that Stern is a low-brow entertainer. Not someone people take all that seriously.

 

[peter grimes]

And don't ever forget that any person on a show is a performer - it's never clear where the line between person and persona lies.

 

[GoodGame]

IDK, except Howard Stern is primarily an entertainer and not a serious journalist, even if he sometimes tries to act serious (edit: like Cutlass said). I'd say we (in the USA) know that Poland housed some holocaust sites, but we also know Germany really did take over the country of Poland with violent military force, and Poland really did try to defend itself without much pity from the rest of the world. And Hitler really was a looney toon with a plan. The rest was history.

 

[CELTICEMPIRE]

O yes, we all know how the Poles loved Hitler and were supportive of his policies.

 

[Cutlass]

We also know the Germans used a lot of forced local labor. So maybe the fact that some Poles were compelled to do some of the work confused an idiot like Sterns.

 

[GoodGame]

According to Wikipedia, despite a history of anti-semitism, the Poles as an nationality were the most likely to risk their lives to actively or passively refuse to aid the holocaust.

Examples of Polish gentile attitudes to German atrocities varied widely, from actively risking death in order to save Jewish lives,[17] and passive refusal to inform on them; to indifference, blackmail,[18] and in extreme cases, participation in pogroms such as the Jedwabne massacre. Grouped by nationality, Poles represent the largest number of people who rescued Jews during the Holocaust.[19][20]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Poland

If this counter-factual, then edit it.

 

[Crezth]

According to Wikipedia, despite a history of anti-semitism, the Poles as an nationality were the most likely to risk their lives to actively or passively refuse to aid the holocaust.

Yes, Poles were also one of the most populous formerly autonomous regions occupied by the Nazis and targeted for the Holocaust. So "most likely" on a by-nationality basis is disingenuous because what the article actually says is that "Poles represent the largest number of people who rescued Jews during the Holocaust." Nothing about proportions with respect to the total population.

On that note, taking into consideration no alum given to proportions, I've heard it parlayed about that Poles were also largely complicit in the Holocaust. Far moreso than, say, Denmark.

 

[Patroklos]

We also know the Germans used a lot of forced local labor. So maybe the fact that some Poles were compelled to do some of the work confused an idiot like Sterns.

Not all Poles performing labor (and more nefarious things) for the Nazis were forced, but definitely not the norm. The same can be said for Ukrainians and others. That does give a seed to certain conspiracy sorts to run with unfortunately.

 

[TheLastOne36]

Some people are simply simple minded. They see that the camp was in Polish territory and then assume Poles are responsible.

 

[Borachio]

Let us not forget that the Polish population suffered ~17% of the '39 population as deaths in WW2, exceeded only by Belarus ~25%. These are significant figures.

Poland: ~5.5 million of which (only!) 2 to 3 million were Jewish.

source

 

[NickyJ]

I've never heard of anyone who believes this. If Stern does, well keep in mind that Stern is a low-brow entertainer. Not someone people take all that seriously.

+1

I've never heard anyone suggest such an idiotic theory. And hopefully, I never will.

 

[Maimonides]

Pokurcz, Stern is what we call a shock jock. His success is based upon being outrageous. Drawing any conclusions on what Americans think based on the outbursts of a shock jock is a mistake.

We do not think Poland as a nation was responsible for the Holocaust.

 

[Winner]

I think that BBC and other large media corporation sometimes use phrases like "Polish death camps" when referring to Nazi concentration/extermination camps in the territory of occupied Poland. I guess this can confuse people otherwise entirely ignorant of history (there are plenty of those in the US, Britain, and elsewhere). I can imagine why it is so insulting to Poles who suffered terrible losses during WW2.

Sadly, PCness and over-sensitive speech don't seem to apply to "eastern" Europeans.

 

[Ajidica]

Q:Why do some americans believe that Poland is responsible for the Holocaust?
A: Because some Americans are stupid.

/thread

 

[TheLastOne36]

I think that BBC and other large media corporation sometimes use phrases like "Polish death camps" when referring to Nazi concentration/extermination camps in the territory of occupied Poland. I guess this can confuse people otherwise entirely ignorant of history (there are plenty of those in the US, Britain, and elsewhere). I can imagine why it is so insulting to Poles who suffered terrible losses during WW2.

Sadly, PCness and over-sensitive speech don't seem to apply to "eastern" Europeans.

Obama said Polish Death Camps recently in a speech as well. It caused quite a stir.

 

[Pokurcz]

Aside from Sterns blue collar humor the show contains a lot of very good interviews with famous people that can run for as much as two hours some times without a pause. Further more he is quite astute when it comes to internal american politics and social matters.

THe thing is that millions of Americans listen to him every day, and on june 27th he interviewed Joe Eszterhas, the screenplay writer, and they where both on the same page as to the Poles wiping out the Jews in Poland.

So it apears as if those views are not confined to the Stern Show.

Crezth ""Poles represent the largest number of people who rescued Jews during the Holocaust." Nothing about proportions with respect to the total population."

In western Europe those that helped Jews were not punished with death, where in Poland even giving a jewish person a piece of bread could lead to execution.
If jews were hidden in a house in the country side not only was the family that hid them shot but not seldom the whole village and in the cities if a jew was found in an apartment often everyone in the whole building was executed.

"On that note, taking into consideration no alum given to proportions, I've heard it parlayed about that Poles were also largely complicit in the Holocaust. Far moreso than, say, Denmark. "

THere never was a Nazi party in Poland during that time, the Polish government never cooperated with the nazies, no Poles served in the SS nor the Vermacht, whilst two divisions of Danes, Norwegians and Swedes joined the nazie SS. Not to mention the Austrians, French, Ukrainians and so on.

Only in Auswitz 150,000 christian Poles were killed for being subhuman slavs amongst other things, where non jewish western europeans also seen as subhuman?

 

[History_Buff]

I think that BBC and other large media corporation sometimes use phrases like "Polish death camps" when referring to Nazi concentration/extermination camps in the territory of occupied Poland.

I don't really mind Polish Death Camps as a phrase. Nazi Death Camp would be a much more appropriate descriptor, but they were, and are, in Poland.