Warsaw does not like the fact that in Russia the Polish “Tuchol” is considered a concentration camp, and “Auschwitz” is called “Auschwitz”
Much noise was caused by an article by the Moscow historian Dmitry Ofitserov-Belsky in the pages "Tapes.Ru". The article was titled “Indifferently and Patiently,” which discussed the difficult story Russian-Polish relations, as well as the fate of the prisoners of the Auschwitz death camp. As the author of the article, Officer Belsky, has already stated in another material, representatives of the Polish diplomatic mission in Russia turned to the editorial office of Lety.ru with criticism that the death camp Auschwitz is called Auschwitz, and not Auschwitz (Auschwitz-Birkenau). In the opinion of Polish diplomats, in Russia the “rules” of the name of the Nazi camp should be followed exactly in German manner, since the name “Auschwitz” (after the name of the Polish town, in the immediate vicinity of which the Nazis launched the death line) allegedly casts some shadow on Polish history.
However, the claim of the Polish side to the well-established name Auschwitz in Russia was not the only one. The deputy Polish ambassador to the Russian Federation, Yaroslav Ksenzek, said that the Russian historian illegally uses the term “Polish concentration camps” in relation to the camps in whose territories the Red Army prisoners were held at the beginning of the 20 of the last century.
From a letter from the representatives of the Polish Embassy to the editors of the resource mentioned above:
Is that so? "Does not correspond to the historical truth", and in the period from 1918 to 1939 "such camps did not exist"? An interesting statement of the Polish Embassy in Russia. But if “they did not exist,” how then, gentlemen, Polish diplomats, would you call the “institution” operating in the independent Polish Republic from 1934 in the town of Bereza-Kartuzskaya (now the Brest Region of Belarus), which in documents of such a person as Jozef Kamal -Kurgan (one of the commandants) was held only as a concentration-isolation camp? Those who are called political prisoners (in particular, Mr. Pilsudski’s opponents, including Polish communists), representatives of the Ukrainian and Belarusian resistance, Jewish political activists, as well as German prisoners of war (in the first days of World War II). One of the prisoners of the concentration camp in Berezze-Kartuzskaya was, for example, Roman Shukhevych - the one Ukraine is praying for today, and for worship of which Ukrainian neo-Nazis and Kiev authorities ironically shut their eyes in Warsaw.
From materials “MOPR in Western Belarus (1923-1939)”, by T.A.Lugacheva, Grodno, 2001,:
The camp had wire fences with machine-gun towers around the perimeter. Prisoners wore linen clothes with a round linen cap, on their feet - wooden shoes. 40 people were stuffed into small chambers with cement floor. So that the prisoners did not sit down, the floor was constantly watered. They were forbidden to talk. The lot of the prisoners was exhausting work and a hungry ration. Ill-treatment by the camp administration was the norm.
According to historians, at least 10 thousands of people passed through the concentration camp in Berezze-Kartuzskaya - the figure is quite conditional, since in September 1939, the camp administration destroyed almost all the camp documents.
If in the period from 1918 to 1939 years, according to the Polish side, there were no concentration camps in Poland, then what, according to Warsaw, was a camp in the town of Tuchol, where thousands of 22 (according to other estimates) - over 60 thousand) captured fighters of the Red Army. Polish historians report that "only" 2 thousands of Red Army soldiers were killed in Tuchola. And what - the concept of "concentration camp" is connected solely with how many people died in it? Or did the death of 2 thousands of Red Army men in this camp somehow justify Warsaw and the fact that Poland at one time refused to sign even such a document as obligations under the Red Cross in relation to prisoners of war? The hands of Polish guards in Tuchola were untied, and therefore thousands of soldiers of the Red Army actually had no chance.
Dmitry Ofitserov-Belsky cites a fragment from the notes of a Tuchol prisoner by the name of Kalikin (State Archive of the Russian Federation):
If Tuchol is not a concentration camp, then what?
From the historical definition of a concentration camp:
a term denoting a specially equipped center for mass forced detention and maintenance of the following categories of citizens of different countries:
prisoners of war and internees during the war;
political prisoners under certain dictatorial regimes, out of court;
persons deprived of their liberty on a national or other basis;
hostages, usually during civil wars or occupation;
destined for liquidation in the extermination camps in the Nazi states.
There are facts and extrajudicial order, and a large number of prisoners of war, and imprisonment on a national basis (as in the same Birch-Kartuzskaya). The Polish side can repeat as much as it can that these are not concentration camps, trying to hide the obvious behind the tricks with a recapitulation of history, but all these attempts to hide the real facts are revealed in Polish diplomats of the current generation of historical vandals. We should not forget that with constant statements about the "reprisals of the Soviet special services over tens of thousands of Polish officers in Katyn" the Polish side does not even want to hear about the erection of a monument to the Red Army, ruined in the same Tuchola. The “cemetery” of the soldiers of the Red Army that perished in this camp today is not similar to the cemetery - a piece of land somewhere in the area of a cement plant and a drain for sewage ... This is taking into account the fact that Russia has not only opened the Katyn memorial, but also its maintenance and care. The Polish side does not want to hear about Tuchol.
Another excerpt from the letter of the Polish Embassy:
Well, that's, sorry, complete nonsense. In the end, this is the personal affair of each of the Russians, what to associate with what. If the head of Polish diplomacy, Shetyna, believes that Ukrainians opened the doors of this camp, since the front was Ukrainian, and the Polish Foreign Ministry actively supports this position, then claims regarding how the death camp at Auschwitz should be called in Russia should be kept by Warsaw’s official . For seventy years, the camp was called Auschwitz, and at the same time no one even thought to consider this camp "Polish", and then suddenly - receive a "directive" from the Polish ambassador about "Auschwitz" - sign it! Do you want to teach the history and questions of the terminology of your “historian” Shetyn, or tell us what the Polish mercenaries are doing in the Ukrainian punitive battalions in the Donbass! ..
However, the claim of the Polish side to the well-established name Auschwitz in Russia was not the only one. The deputy Polish ambassador to the Russian Federation, Yaroslav Ksenzek, said that the Russian historian illegally uses the term “Polish concentration camps” in relation to the camps in whose territories the Red Army prisoners were held at the beginning of the 20 of the last century.
From a letter from the representatives of the Polish Embassy to the editors of the resource mentioned above:
We categorically object to the use of this definition (“Polish concentration camps” - author’s comment), because it in no way corresponds to the historical truth. In Poland, the period between the world wars (1918 - 1939) such camps did not exist. (...)
Is that so? "Does not correspond to the historical truth", and in the period from 1918 to 1939 "such camps did not exist"? An interesting statement of the Polish Embassy in Russia. But if “they did not exist,” how then, gentlemen, Polish diplomats, would you call the “institution” operating in the independent Polish Republic from 1934 in the town of Bereza-Kartuzskaya (now the Brest Region of Belarus), which in documents of such a person as Jozef Kamal -Kurgan (one of the commandants) was held only as a concentration-isolation camp? Those who are called political prisoners (in particular, Mr. Pilsudski’s opponents, including Polish communists), representatives of the Ukrainian and Belarusian resistance, Jewish political activists, as well as German prisoners of war (in the first days of World War II). One of the prisoners of the concentration camp in Berezze-Kartuzskaya was, for example, Roman Shukhevych - the one Ukraine is praying for today, and for worship of which Ukrainian neo-Nazis and Kiev authorities ironically shut their eyes in Warsaw.
From materials “MOPR in Western Belarus (1923-1939)”, by T.A.Lugacheva, Grodno, 2001,:
The camp had wire fences with machine-gun towers around the perimeter. Prisoners wore linen clothes with a round linen cap, on their feet - wooden shoes. 40 people were stuffed into small chambers with cement floor. So that the prisoners did not sit down, the floor was constantly watered. They were forbidden to talk. The lot of the prisoners was exhausting work and a hungry ration. Ill-treatment by the camp administration was the norm.
According to historians, at least 10 thousands of people passed through the concentration camp in Berezze-Kartuzskaya - the figure is quite conditional, since in September 1939, the camp administration destroyed almost all the camp documents.
If in the period from 1918 to 1939 years, according to the Polish side, there were no concentration camps in Poland, then what, according to Warsaw, was a camp in the town of Tuchol, where thousands of 22 (according to other estimates) - over 60 thousand) captured fighters of the Red Army. Polish historians report that "only" 2 thousands of Red Army soldiers were killed in Tuchola. And what - the concept of "concentration camp" is connected solely with how many people died in it? Or did the death of 2 thousands of Red Army men in this camp somehow justify Warsaw and the fact that Poland at one time refused to sign even such a document as obligations under the Red Cross in relation to prisoners of war? The hands of Polish guards in Tuchola were untied, and therefore thousands of soldiers of the Red Army actually had no chance.
Dmitry Ofitserov-Belsky cites a fragment from the notes of a Tuchol prisoner by the name of Kalikin (State Archive of the Russian Federation):
Even in Thorn about Tuchol told all sorts of horrors, but reality surpassed all expectations. Imagine a sandy plain not far from the river, enclosed by two rows of barbed wire, within which half-destroyed dugouts are arranged in regular rows. Nowhere, neither trees, nor blades of grass, one sand. Not far from the main gate - the barracks of corrugated iron. When you walk past them at night, you hear a strange, pinching sound, like someone crying softly. During the day, it was unbearably hot in the barracks from the sun, it was cold at night ... When our army was interned, the Polish minister was asked what would happen to the Polish minister. “They will act with it in the manner demanded by the honor and dignity of Poland,” he replied proudly.
Did Tuchol really need for this "honor"? So, we came to Tuchol and settled in the iron barracks. The cold came, and the stoves were not heated for lack of firewood. One year later, 50 percent of women who were here and 40 percent of men became ill, mainly with tuberculosis. Many have died. Most of my friends died, there were hanged.
Did Tuchol really need for this "honor"? So, we came to Tuchol and settled in the iron barracks. The cold came, and the stoves were not heated for lack of firewood. One year later, 50 percent of women who were here and 40 percent of men became ill, mainly with tuberculosis. Many have died. Most of my friends died, there were hanged.
If Tuchol is not a concentration camp, then what?
From the historical definition of a concentration camp:
a term denoting a specially equipped center for mass forced detention and maintenance of the following categories of citizens of different countries:
prisoners of war and internees during the war;
political prisoners under certain dictatorial regimes, out of court;
persons deprived of their liberty on a national or other basis;
hostages, usually during civil wars or occupation;
destined for liquidation in the extermination camps in the Nazi states.
There are facts and extrajudicial order, and a large number of prisoners of war, and imprisonment on a national basis (as in the same Birch-Kartuzskaya). The Polish side can repeat as much as it can that these are not concentration camps, trying to hide the obvious behind the tricks with a recapitulation of history, but all these attempts to hide the real facts are revealed in Polish diplomats of the current generation of historical vandals. We should not forget that with constant statements about the "reprisals of the Soviet special services over tens of thousands of Polish officers in Katyn" the Polish side does not even want to hear about the erection of a monument to the Red Army, ruined in the same Tuchola. The “cemetery” of the soldiers of the Red Army that perished in this camp today is not similar to the cemetery - a piece of land somewhere in the area of a cement plant and a drain for sewage ... This is taking into account the fact that Russia has not only opened the Katyn memorial, but also its maintenance and care. The Polish side does not want to hear about Tuchol.
Another excerpt from the letter of the Polish Embassy:
It should also be noted that the full name of the liberated camp in January 1945 of the camp sounds: “German Nazi concentration camp and Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp” - and it should not be associated with the Polish city of Auschwitz.
Well, that's, sorry, complete nonsense. In the end, this is the personal affair of each of the Russians, what to associate with what. If the head of Polish diplomacy, Shetyna, believes that Ukrainians opened the doors of this camp, since the front was Ukrainian, and the Polish Foreign Ministry actively supports this position, then claims regarding how the death camp at Auschwitz should be called in Russia should be kept by Warsaw’s official . For seventy years, the camp was called Auschwitz, and at the same time no one even thought to consider this camp "Polish", and then suddenly - receive a "directive" from the Polish ambassador about "Auschwitz" - sign it! Do you want to teach the history and questions of the terminology of your “historian” Shetyn, or tell us what the Polish mercenaries are doing in the Ukrainian punitive battalions in the Donbass! ..
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