Polish Community Council of Australia Inc.
Rada Naczelna Polonii Australijskiej 

Complaints Office                                                                                                                                                    20^th July 2016
Nine Network P/L
PO Box 27 Willoughby NSW 2068

To whom it may concern,

The Polish Community Council of Australia would like to draw your attention to a number of written and published protests addressed to the NINE Network by various representatives of the Polish-Australian Community regarding the comments made on the 6pm Channel 9 News on 03/07/2016.

The comments were made when reflecting on Elie Wiesel’s death and were as follows:

“…Wiesel and the entire Jewish population of his town were forcibly sent to the Polish concentration camp in 1944…”

The Polish Community Council of Australia would like to draw your attention to the fact that all known concentration camps (or death camps) in German-occupied Poland (1939-1945), were established and maintained by Nazi Germany. As such, the term ‘Polish Concentration Camp’ is misinformed and incorrect, and the term ‘Nazi-German concentration camps in German-occupied Poland’, should be used instead. Given the sensitivity to the topic, referring to these camps as ‘Polish’ is upsetting not only to the Polish community in Australia but also worldwide, as such statements shift the responsibility of the construction and operation of the death camps from Nazi Germany to the Polish people.  This feeling has been plainly expressed to you from various representatives of the Polish-Australian community, in the form of a number of written and already published protests seeking out a public apology and correction. To the best of our knowledge, however, your office has not shown the courtesy to reply or respond to these requests.

As such, the Polish Community Council of Australia would like to remind the NINE Network of its duty and responsibility to the Australian public – to provide the Australian people with correct and verified information. We therefore insist on a formal apology be made to the Australian people for providing misleading and incorrect information. We also request that going forward you present competent, historically accurate information regarding the Nazi-German concentration camps in German-occupied Poland during World War II.

Thank you for your time, and we look forward to your prompt and clear reply.

Kind Regards,
The Board of the Polish Community Council of Australia (PCCA)