Disinfo: It is historically unfair that Russia was presented at the Auschwitz ceremony only at the ambassador's level

Summary

The position of Warsaw is illogical as it did not invite President Putin to the celebrations of the anniversary of Auschwitz liberation and WWII outbreak anniversary. After Putin’s statements about the anti-Semitic attitudes of the pre-war Polish ambassador to Berlin, the issue of Putin’s visit to the Auschwitz ceremony automatically disappeared. Russia was represented at this event by Ambassador Andreyev. In the historical context, it looked very strange; for example, the Dutch delegation at the Auschwitz ceremony was represented by three high-level officials (Prime Minister, King and the Queen). Meanwhile, unlike the USSR, the Netherlands did not play any major role in the fight against Nazism.

Disproof

This message is part of the ongoing Russian information attack against Poland, promoting false historical narratives such as the alleged responsibility of Poland for WWII and the Holocaust.

According to the statement of Krzysztof Szczerski, Chief of the Cabinet of the Polish President, the invitations for the Auschwitz commemoration events were issued by the Auschwitz Museum, not by the Polish authorities. The governments of each invited country (including Russia) decide on what political level they will be represented during the event.

At the ceremony Russian delegation was chaired by Russian Ambassador to Poland Sergey Andreyev. This means that it was a decision by President Putin not to come to the Auschwitz liberation anniversary – Russia had a change to send to the Auschwitz ceremony any high-ranking officials.

See other disinformation messages regarding Poland and the Holocaust such as Poland tries to impose its vision of the Holocaust on the West and Poland created a fertile ground for Holocaust because of its pre-war anti-Semitism.

As for the commemoration of the anniversary of the World War II outbreak in September 2019, President Putin was indeed not invited. According to the Polish authorities, the reason for not inviting Russian president had to do with Russian aggression on Ukraine. For more information, see here and here.

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pl.rubaltic.ru (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 183
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 04/02/2020
  • Outlet language(s) Polish
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Poland, The Netherlands, Russia
  • Keywords: Holocaust, Diplomacy with Russia, Jews, Historical revisionism, USSR, WWII, Nazi/Fascist
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