'Wikipedia’s Intentional Distortion of the History of the Holocaust'
'Wikipedia’s Intentional Distortion of the History of the Holocaust'
Dedicated group of Wikipedia editors working to minimize Polish antisemitism
Important new research by Jan Grabowski and Shira Klein:
This essay uncovers the systematic, intentional distortion of Holocaust history on the English-language Wikipedia, the world’s largest encyclopedia. In the last decade, a group of committed Wikipedia editors have been promoting a skewed version of history on Wikipedia, one touted by right-wing Polish nationalists, which whitewashes the role of Polish society in the Holocaust and bolsters stereotypes about Jews. Due to this group’s zealous handiwork, Wikipedia’s articles on the Holocaust in Poland minimize Polish antisemitism, exaggerate the Poles’ role in saving Jews, insinuate that most Jews supported Communism and conspired with Communists to betray Poles (Żydokomuna or Judeo–Bolshevism), blame Jews for their own persecution, and inflate Jewish collaboration with the Nazis.
Dr. Grabowski is a professor at the University of Ottawa and a prolific author who has produced over 14 monographs and more than 60 articles in various languages. His most recent book, Hunt for the Jews: Betrayal and Murder in German-Occupied Poland (2014), was the Yad Vashem International Book Prize winner for the same year. In 2018, Grabowski sued a Polish group that accused him of publishing lies about Polish history, and in 2021 was ordered by a Polish court to apologize for his research before an appeals court ultimately overturned the order.
Dr. Klein is an associate professor at Chapman University in Orange, California. She focuses on Italian Jewry, Jewish migration, and the Holocaust.
The full PDF is available here.
See also, Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle