Netflix Says It Will Amend a Documentary On WWII After Complaints From Poland
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'Devil Next Door' Under Scrutiny
Netflix says it will amend its original series "The Devil Next Door," "to avoid any misunderstanding," it says, after receiving complaints from the Polish government as well as Polish viewers of the show.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki says the documentary displayed a "hugely inaccurate" map that negatively portrayed Poland.
Morawiecki wrote a letter to Reed Hastings, the CEO of Netflix, saying the service was "obfuscating historical facts." He says the series showed maps of death camps that are within the modern-day borders of the country.
Morawiecki wrote:
"It has come to my attention that a recently released documentary series 'The Devil Next Door' involves a map that falsely places several German concentration camps within modern-day Poland's borders. There is no comment or any explanation whatsoever that these sites were German-operated."
As The BBC writes, Germans built Nazi concentration camps in occupied Poland. The site adds that the largest camp was in Auschwitz-Birkenau. There, about 1.1 million people were murdered. Germany invaded Poland in 1939.
Ministry Of Foreign Affairs Sounded the Alarm
On Nov. 10, Poland's Ministry of Foreign Affairs put out a tweet explaining the discrepancy between Netflix' series and actual historical events, writing:
" .@Netflix, stay true to historical facts!
During the time which the “The Devil Next Door” series describes, Poland’s territory was occupied, and it was Nazi Germany who was responsible for the camps. The map shown in the series does not reflect the actual borders at that time."
Netflix Complied
Netflix also put out a statement on Thursday, saying that Season 1 of "The Devil Next Door" will be amended to reflect Poland's role in history.
Netflix' statement did not quell anger and concerns from some viewers for what they called "gross history distortion":
"No apology by @NetlifxPL on behalf of @netflix for gross history distortion, false memory code 'extermination camps in Poland' repeated another time (and thus reinforced), and lack of co-operation in establishing death camps not highlighted," wrote @Ojdadana on Twitter.
"Where is the apology, Netflix? You know you did a bad thing, and cannot say simple 'sorry'? Interesting commercial choice," wrote @_Stanczyk.
Here's Netflix' statement:
“We are hugely proud of ‘The Devil Next Door’ and stand by its filmmakers, their research and their work.
In order to provide more information to our members about the important issues raised in this documentary and to avoid any misunderstanding, in the coming days we will be adding text to some of the maps featured in the series.
This will make it clearer that the extermination and concentration camps in Poland were built and operated by the German Nazi regime, who invaded the country and occupied it from 1939-1945."
Things Have Calmed Down Some
There doesn't seem to be any ill will after the incident, as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs took to Facebook to thank Netflix for its efforts.
"Mistakes are not always made of bad will, so it is worth talking constructively about correcting them," said the ministry.
