Stephanie
Diamond Member
- Jul 11, 2004
- 70,230
- 10,864
- 2,040
man oh man
SNIP:
Poles and Polish-Americans expressed outrage today at President Obamas reference earlier to a Polish death camp as opposed to a Nazi death camp in German-occupied Poland.
The White House will apologize for this outrageous error, Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski tweeted. Sikorski said that Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk will make a statement in the morning. Its a pity that this important ceremony was upstaged by ignorance and incompetence.
The president had been trying to honor a famous Pole, awarding a Presidential Medal of Freedom to Jan Karski, a resistance fighter who sneaked behind enemy lines to bear witness to the atrocities being committed against Jews. President Obama referred to him being smuggled into the Warsaw ghetto and a Polish death camp to see for himself.
Sikorski also tonight tweeted a link to an Economist story noting that few things annoy Poles more than being blamed for the crimes committed by the Nazi occupiers of their homeland. For many years, Polish media, diplomats and politicians have tried to persuade outsiders to stop using the phrase Polish death camps as a shorthand description of Auschwitz and other exemplars of Nazi brutality and mass murder. Unfortunately this seems to have escaped BaracK Obamas staff seem not to have noticed this.
National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said in a statement, The President was referring to Nazi death camps operated in Poland. The President has demonstrated in word and deed his rock-solid commitment to our close alliance with Poland.
read it all here
President Obama Causes Outrage with Reference to ‘Polish Death Camp’ - ABC News
SNIP:
Poles and Polish-Americans expressed outrage today at President Obamas reference earlier to a Polish death camp as opposed to a Nazi death camp in German-occupied Poland.
The White House will apologize for this outrageous error, Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski tweeted. Sikorski said that Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk will make a statement in the morning. Its a pity that this important ceremony was upstaged by ignorance and incompetence.
The president had been trying to honor a famous Pole, awarding a Presidential Medal of Freedom to Jan Karski, a resistance fighter who sneaked behind enemy lines to bear witness to the atrocities being committed against Jews. President Obama referred to him being smuggled into the Warsaw ghetto and a Polish death camp to see for himself.
Sikorski also tonight tweeted a link to an Economist story noting that few things annoy Poles more than being blamed for the crimes committed by the Nazi occupiers of their homeland. For many years, Polish media, diplomats and politicians have tried to persuade outsiders to stop using the phrase Polish death camps as a shorthand description of Auschwitz and other exemplars of Nazi brutality and mass murder. Unfortunately this seems to have escaped BaracK Obamas staff seem not to have noticed this.
National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said in a statement, The President was referring to Nazi death camps operated in Poland. The President has demonstrated in word and deed his rock-solid commitment to our close alliance with Poland.
read it all here
President Obama Causes Outrage with Reference to ‘Polish Death Camp’ - ABC News