It’s a common phrase you might hear sometimes, “Polish death camps.” But for Katarzyna Szaran and countless Poles, those three words are like a fresh stab wound to a festering historical trauma. They’re not just inaccurate; they’re deeply offensive, twisting a painful past into a narrative that blames the victim. Imagine your home being invaded, occupied, and then your invaders building horrific prisons on your land. Now imagine years later, someone refers to those prisons as yours – as if your people were the perpetrators, not the agonizing witnesses and equally brutalized victims. That’s the core of the fight that Szaran, as the head of Poland’s foreign ministry department for countering disinformation, is waging. It’s a battle for historical accuracy, an effort to ensure that the monstrous deeds of Nazi Germany are not, even inadvertently, attributed to the Poles who suffered under their iron fist.
The phrase “Polish concentration camps” or “Polish death camps” suggests that Poland, as a nation or its people, was responsible for or complicit in the atrocities of the Holocaust and other Nazi crimes. But the truth, as etched in the memories of survivors and historical records, is starkly different. These camps – Auschwitz-Birkenau, Treblinka, Majdanek, Sobibor, Chełmno, and others – were built and operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland. Germany invaded Poland in 1939, plunging the country into a brutal occupation that saw millions of Poles, both Jewish and non-Jewish, systematically murdered, enslaved, and terrorized. To call these German-built and German-run extermination sites “Polish” is to erase the historical context of occupation, the suffering of the Polish people, and the monstrous responsibility of the Nazi regime. It’s akin to calling a prison built by an invading army on conquered land a “native prison” – a profound distortion that muddies the waters of culpability and victimhood.
This isn’t just about semantics for Szaran and her team; it’s about safeguarding historical truth and preventing its weaponization. When such misleading language pops up in news articles, social media posts, or official communications, Polish diplomats swing into action. Imagine a global network of vigilant guardians, constantly scanning the media landscape for these historical inaccuracies. From embassy press spokespeople to ambassadors themselves, they immediately respond, correcting the record and explaining why such language is so hurtful. It’s an uphill battle, a constant vigilance, but Szaran says that these years of persistent effort are finally paying off. Editors in newsrooms around the world, understanding the gravity of the issue and the deep offense it causes, are starting to implement safeguards. They’re putting procedures in place to ensure that their journalists use precise and accurate language when referring to these dark chapters of history, demonstrating that even small changes in wording can have a profound impact on historical narratives and collective memory.
Szaran’s passionate advocacy extends beyond just correcting historical misnomers; it’s part of a broader fight against disinformation, which Poland now views as a serious national security threat. Think of the modern geopolitical landscape as a volatile sea, and disinformation as the treacherous currents and hidden reefs that can capsize even the strongest ships. Since at least 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea, the threat of malicious narratives circulating online has become increasingly evident. Foreign powers, particularly Russia, are actively employing sophisticated tactics to sow discord, incite anger, and undermine democratic institutions. Szaran paints a vivid picture of this digital warfare: “troll farms” – factories of fake accounts and human propagandists – churning out venomous rhetoric; “software bots” and “automated networks” spreading these messages at lightning speed; and the targets being everything from Ukraine’s sovereignty to the very foundations of NATO and the European Union.
The insidious goal of this digital assault, Szaran explains, is not necessarily to convince people of a specific lie, but rather to “polarize societies and provoke outrage.” It’s about triggering intense emotional reactions, pushing people to fury in front of their screens. Imagine a finely tuned psychological operation designed to exploit our primal fears and angers, rendering rational discourse impossible. This deliberate manipulation of emotions, Szaran says, is the very aim. It’s about creating chaos, fostering distrust, and weakening societies from within. The consequences are far-reaching, impacting not just international relations but also domestic stability, as disinformation erodes public trust in institutions, media, and even their fellow citizens. It’s a battle for the hearts and minds of populations, fought not with tanks and planes, but with bytes and algorithms, making it all the more challenging to detect and counter.
Against this backdrop of sophisticated digital warfare, Szaran insists that democratic countries like Poland must respond with integrity and truth. “We differ from Russia in that, fortunately, we are a democratic country, and we certainly use tools and methods that are legal,” she states, drawing a clear line between the ethical approaches of democracies and the underhanded tactics of autocratic regimes. While Russia employs illegal activities – paying networks of trolls and bots to spread falsehoods – Poland’s strategy, however challenging, is to simply tell the truth. This commitment to honesty requires “enormous effort,” as Szaran admits. It’s not a passive approach; it involves continuous monitoring by Polish diplomatic missions of how the country and its vital interests are portrayed in foreign media and on social media platforms. It’s about being proactive, constantly engaging, and providing accurate information. The belief is that truth, when presented clearly and consistently, will ultimately prevail. While the allure of quick fixes or tit-for-tat responses might be tempting, Szaran’s message is clear: maintaining democratic values and upholding the truth, even in the messy arena of information warfare, is not just a moral imperative but also the most effective long-term strategy for countering the corrosive effects of disinformation.