The Polish Prime Minister Demands Netflix Change the Treblinka Death Camp Map in "Devil Next Door"
Throughout the Netflix docu-series The Devil Next Door, a map is shown of the Nazi German death camp Treblinka. The location is marked with a small skull and crossbones just inside the border of Poland. The series tracks the investigation to find Ivan the Terrible, a sadistic guard who worked at Treblinka and Sobibor. Now, the Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has issued a statement demanding Netflix change their map, objecting to the fact that it “places several German Nazi concentration camps within modern-day Poland’s borders.”
“There is no comment or any explanation whatsoever that these sites were German-operated. Not only is the map incorrect, but it deceives viewers into believing that Poland was responsible for establishing and maintaining these camps, and for committing the crimes therein,” Mateusz Morawiecki wrote in a letter of complaint addressed to Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and posted on Facebook in Polish and English.
The point of contention is that the map is that it shows the current borders of Poland—not the borders which were in place during the time Treblinka was being operated following the German annexation of Poland in 1939. As this map from the Holocaust Memorial Museum indicates more clearly, the death camp, which was operated by Nazi Germans, was located in occupied Poland.
“The current regime in Poland is very sensitive to any reference to the Holocaust that appears to attribute responsibility to anything involving it—the nation or the Polish state,” explains Hugh L. Agnew, a professor of history and international affairs at George Washington University. “I believe the reason why he chose to make this point—and this has been a political tactic of the governing party for awhile now—is to say, 'This appears to say that it’s Polish and it was created by the Nazis while Poland was occupied by the Nazis, run by the Nazis, and the Poles had nothing to do with it.' "
Just last year, Poland introduced a law making it illegal to accuse the Polish nation of complicity in the Holocaust, including use of the phrase “Polish death camps,” according to The New York Times. The crime would have been punishable by three years in jail. The U.S. and Israel condemned the law as a threat to free speech and five months later it was amended to make it a civil and not a criminal offense.
"The history of the Holocaust is painful and complex. We understand that phrases such as 'Polish death camps' are inaccurate, misleading, and hurtful," U.S. State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said in a statement last year. "We are concerned, however, that if enacted this draft legislation could undermine free speech and academic discourse. We all must be careful not to inhibit discussion and commentary on the Holocaust. We believe open debate, scholarship, and education are the best means of countering inaccurate and hurtful speech."
As of Monday, the original map was still shown in the streaming series, which premiered last week. A Netflix spokesperson said in a statement to Esquire, "We are aware of the concerns regarding The Devil Next Door and are urgently looking into the matter.”
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