Regarding attacks on »Night Without End« and the Center's academic credibility

12.03.2019 12:21:09

In response to the attacks in the media against Night Without an End. Fate of Jews in Selected Counties of Occupied Poland and its authors and also to the attempt to undermine the scholarly credibility of the Polish Center for Holocaust Research.

During the last few days the Polish Center for Holocaust Research started to publish - on it’s web-site - responses of the authors of the studies included in the volumes of Dalej jest noc. Losy Żydów w wybranych powiatach okupowanej Polski (Night Without an End. The fate of Jews in selected counties of occupied Poland) to various critical comments made by the employees of the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) and later published on the web-site of the IPN. Our replies are based on historical evidence although we see that attempts are being made in the media to put to question our research and to slander our credibility on the basis of unacceptable generalizations, producing out-of-context citations and on outright slander. We strongly protest against such methods.

We will publish, in sequence, our responses which will also take into account the new critical comments. We have to stress, at the same time, that we are not an institution with any significant resources which would enable us to react immediately and without delay to any and all articles and statements directed against us in the electronic media.

“Night Without End” is a two-volume publication about the fate of the Jews in the selected counties of occupied Poland, a result of a research project which lasted for several years. The discussion concerning our research should be conducted with the respect of the rules accepted in the academia - and we are ready to take part in such a debate. But calling our research “falsification”, “a lie about Poland and about Poles”, trying to raise doubts as to the integrity of our research and, finally, suggesting that the goal of our book was to “assign to Poles a greater responsibility for the Holocaust” has nothing to do with our work, with the academic discourse, or with the journalistic standards. It is a brutal attack against the authors of the book, on their research and on the academic freedoms.

Signed:
Members of the Polish Center for Holocaust Research and the authors of studies included in the volumes of “Night Without End”.