After Polish Government Complaint, Netflix To Amend Concentration Camp Maps
Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau point at a map showing where Jews were killed during the Holocaust at the opening of the Permanent Exhibition SHOAH at former Nazi death camp in the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. Image by Getty/JANEK SKARZYNSKI/Staff
By PJ Grisar November 15, 2019
Following public complaints from the Polish government, Netflix will add explanatory notes to World War II-era maps showing the location of concentration camps used in its documentary series “The Devil Next Door.”
The move by the streaming giant, reported by The New York Times, follows a letter of complaint from Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Marawiecki to Netflix CEO Reed Hastings. Marawiecki took issue with maps from the series that showed the location of concentration camps in modern-day Poland, claiming the graphics did not do enough to clarify that the concentration camps were devised and operated by the Nazis during the German occupation of Poland.
Mariewiecki said of one map used that it was “not only incorrect, but it deceives viewers into believing that Poland was responsible for establishing and maintaining these camps, and for committing the crimes therein.”
A spokeswoman for Netflix told The Times on Thursday that the maps will be amended with text explaining the Nazi control of the camps. She said that the decision was a response to complaints from subscribers, and not Morawiecki’s letter.
The spokeswoman added that the added context will “not leave any room for misunderstanding.”
Netflix said it hoped to have the text added in two days, during which time the series will stay on the platform.
PJ Grisar is the Forward’s culture fellow. He can be reached at [email protected]
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Dive In
-
Culture In Germany, a Jewish family is reunited with a treasured family object — but also a sense of exile
-
Music Even the Holocaust could not silence the music of these composers
-
Culture Einstein or Edison? Jordan or LeBron? A rabbi explains why Jews debate who is greatest
-
Film & TV In ‘Andor’ season 2, a Wannsee Conference reference, and a new sort of space Jew
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
- 2
Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
- 3
Culture Did this Jewish literary titan have the right idea about Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling after all?
- 4
Opinion I first met Netanyahu in 1988. Here’s how he became the most destructive leader in Israel’s history.
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Trump administration restores student visas, but impact on pro-Palestinian protesters is unclear
-
Fast Forward Deborah Lipstadt says Trump’s campus antisemitism crackdown has ‘gone way too far’
-
Fast Forward 5 Jewish senators accuse Trump of using antisemitism as ‘guise’ to attack universities
-
Fast Forward Jewish Democratic Rep. Jan Schakowsky reportedly to retire after 26 years in office
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.