Opposing concepts of history

Reports have circulated in the British press that the German Nazi regime made a point of building concentration camps in Poland during World War II because of the anti-Semitism prevalent there. After the Polish ambassador in London criticised this view, historian Andrzej Przewoźnik dismisses the accusation in an interview with the daily Polska. "It is commonplace that you have to remind people that in Poland helping Jews was punishable by death. I hear such infantile questions and statements about the Poles at meetings in the US or Western Europe . ... People ask for example why the Poles did not protest against the construction of camps. I always answer by saying: 'Why didn't the French protest?' ... Europe is uniting in economic terms, and in business terms. But the old continent is still divided when it comes to historical experience and the resulting sensibilities. The worst thing is that the West often does not even try to understand our point of view."

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