Auschwitz was not ‘in Poland’

Dear Editor, In an article on the visit of the relics of St Maximilian Kolbe to Ireland (IC 15/09/2016) you state that “the relic of the saint who was martyred to save the life of another prisoner at Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland will be in Ireland for the first time in October”.

I would like to point out that Auschwitz concentration was not in Poland; it was in German-occupied Poland. In fact, during the war, Auschwitz used to be in Germany since that area had been annexed into the German Third Reich to provide lebensraum for the German people.

Auschwitz was a German camp that Germany built after the German invasion and brutal German occupation of Poland. Direct and misleading links between the German camps and Poland must be avoided since this is confusing the perpetrators with the victims. There is no context in the article as to which nation was solely responsible for Auschwitz. Clue: the first prisoners in this camp were Poles.

In the future, please add “German-occupied” before Poland.

Yours etc.,

Chris Jezewski,

Stroud, UK