I just saw the weirdest ad on YouTube. I thought it was for a new WWII video game, but it didn’t seem to be selling anything – it looked like some kind of weird pro-Poland propaganda and just said “Poland did a lot to save the Jews” and then ended with a hashtag about Germany.
What… what did I just watch, and why was it on a YouTube video about sea slugs in America?
as far as I can tell, poland has made it illegal (!) to accuse them of being complicit in any nazi activity which occurred on polish soil, most sensible people objected to this, and the polish government are now putting weird propaganda ads on american youtube for unclear reasons
Hey… Poland? What the fuck?
Yeah they’re basically pulling all the propaganda out that they can saying that they weren’t AT ALL complicit in the murder of Jews and Roma along with the Nazis.
This is a part of Poland’s massive push to erase their own complicity in the Holocaust, and in post-Holocaust antisemitic violence. It is part of Poland’s rising antisemitism. It’s not just American youtube, however. It’s also Israeli youtube. So essentially, Poland is targeting the two countries in the world which have the largest Jewish populations today with this propaganda campaign.
There are multiple advertisements doing this.
I have yet to see one, but I will report any if they show up while I’m watching youtube.
Basically, here is a quick timeline of current related events which make this propaganda campaign terrifying:
60,000 far-right nationalists march on Poland’s independence day, Novermber 2017. chanting “Pure Poland! White Poland!” [Whoops, guess they forgot Nazi Germany saw them as Slavs and therefore lesser? Oh right, re-writing national myth is a part of fascism.] Demonstrators were highly antisemitic, one claimed he was marching against “Jewry.” Despite this, or perhaps because of it, the Polish government seemed to praise the event: “It was a beautiful sight,” the interior minister, Mariusz Błaszczak, said. “We are proud that so many Poles have decided to take part in a celebration connected to the Independence Day holiday.”
“Whoever publicly and contrary to the facts attributes to the Polish Nation or to the Polish State responsibility or co-responsibility for the Nazi crimes committed by the German Third Reich… or for any other offenses constituting crimes against peace, humanity or war crimes, or otherwise grossly diminishes the responsibility of the actual perpetrators of these crimes, shall be liable to a fine or deprivation of liberty for up to three years.”
Discussion of ANY Polish complicity in the Holocaust is therefore also part of the proposed ban. Punishment can be jail time, fine, or “restriction of liberty.” Supporters of Polish President Andrzej Duda urge him to sign the bill regardless of strong objections from both the United States, Israel, and the academic community/Holocaust scholars. The measure passed through Parliament on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, Jan 27th 2018. This causes Israel to postpone diplomatic meetings with Polish representatives, and both Israel and the USA voice objections to the measure.
February 6th, 2018: an article which asks an important question – Poland wants to outlaw blaming Poles for Nazi atrocities. But what about the Jedwabne massacre?To cut to the chase, in an occupied town of Poland in 1941, the Polish residents rounded up the town’s Jewish population, and then willingly (and freely) slaughtered an estimated 400-1,400 of their Jewish neighbors [numbers are estimates as the site was not fully excavated, but rather exhumed in a controlled section], as German forces looked on. The Germans had even refused to let them use firearms, and so the gentile Polish residents of Jedwabne used farm tools as their method of execution.
Then, as of this Shabbat (Saturday, Feb. 10th 2018), jumblr users begin to post warnings about Americans seeing these Pro-revisionism Polish videos on youtube. Others confirm Israelis have been inundated with these videos as well. Although I don’t know if it began earlier, I have noticed that people started first seeing these ads introduced on the Jewish weekly holy day/day of rest, and I do wonder if slipping them in when many Jewish people wouldn’t have noticed was intentional, which feels especially sinister.