The report is said to have caused “huge distress” to the Polish community in Ireland.
RTÉ News has been called on to apologise over “false information” in a report referencing the Stutthof concentration camp.
On 30 September, Stutthof was referred to as the “Polish concentration camp” on the Six One News.
In response, the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to Ireland Anna Sochańska has sent a letter to RTÉ News and Current Affairs Managing Director Jon Williams in which she seeks an “urgent correction”.
“In the report about the former Nazi camp secretary Irmgard Furchner charged with complicity in the murders of more than 10,000 people at the Stutthof concentration camp, RTÉ has repeatedly referred to Stutthof as the ‘Polish concentration camp’ or ‘concentration camp in Poland,'” she wrote.
“The is absolutely false information, as the death camps were Nazi German concentration camps in occupied Poland. Poland was occupied by Germany at the time when several German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camps were run on its territory.”
She said the mistake has caused “huge distress” to the Polish community in Ireland, as well as people in Poland.
“My country was ravaged by World War II and almost everyone had lost a loved one in the war fighting on the side of the Allies. Indeed many of them perished in Nazi German death camps,” she said.
“I was relieved to see the report was changed by the evening news, however I strongly feel that the damage was been done.
“Therefore I am asking you to immediately include a correction on today’s RTÉ news programs and ensure that misused terminology doesn’t misinform your viewers.”
She said she would gladly meet with Williams and his colleagues to discuss the legacy of World War II and its implications on Poland and that she hoped that in the future “such serious mistakes by the national Irish broadcaster will not be made.”
In reaction to the false information on @rtenews yesterday 30.09 where Stutthof Nazi German concentration camp in occupied Poland was wrongly called “Polish concentration camp”, Ambassador of Poland to Ireland @sochanska issued this letter requesting correction. pic.twitter.com/8TFcSxGdTH
— Polish Embassy IRL (@PLinIreland) October 1, 2021
Meanwhile, Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín called on RTÉ News to issue an apology over the Six One News report.
“This was an incredible mistake for RTÉ to make and has caused huge distress to Polish people living in Ireland and in Poland,” he said in a statement.
“On behalf of my political party Aontú, I wish to join with the Polish ambassador and with Ireland’s Polish population in seeking an immediate redaction and apology for the offensive remarks from RTÉ News.
“The diplomatic insensitivity here is very troubling, and cannot simply be brushed beneath the carpet.”
JOE has reached out to RTÉ for comment.
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