Barbara Engelking, a world-renowned scholar of the Holocaust in Poland and the Director of the Polish Centre for Holocaust Research, recently stated on television that Jews received limited support from other Poles during the Holocaust. In retaliation for contradicting the viewpoints of their leaders, the Polish government revoked funding to the unit of the Polish Academy of Sciences of which she is a part.
July 5, 2023
Andrzej Duda
President of the Republic of Poland
Wiejska 10 Street
00-489 Warsaw, Republic of Poland
Phone: +48 22 695 29 00
Dear President Duda:
The Committee of Concerned Scientists is an independent organization of scientists, physicians, engineers, and scholars devoted to the protection and advancement of human rights and scientific freedom for colleagues all over the world.
We are writing in regard to Dr. Barbara Engelking and the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Dr. Barbara Engelking is a world-renowned scholar of the Holocaust in Poland and is the Director of the Polish Centre for Holocaust Research. Earlier in April, Dr. Engelking appeared in an interview with the independent TVN channel, in which she discussed Polish-Jewish relations during the Holocaust, the Warsaw uprising, and the relatively weak level of support that Jews received from the Polish population. In response to these remarks, Education and Science Minister Przemysław Czarnek and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki accused her of somehow slandering Poles. The Polish government has withdrawn €180,000 in funding from the Institute of which Dr. Engelking is a part.
The CCS is especially concerned that such attacks on historians and others in Poland, whose findings are politically inconvenient, will lead to a silencing of historical analysis and debate and threaten academic freedom. Dr. Engelking and other scholars in Poland must be allowed to study history critically and publish their findings whether or not they agree with the narratives preferred by political leaders. Punishing historians and their academic institutions by withdrawing funding is unacceptable and must be reversed.
Thank you for your attention to this serious matter. We will be closely following developments in this case.
Sincerely,
Joel L. Lebowitz, Paul H. Plotz, Walter Reich, Eugene M. Chudnovsky, Alexander Greer
Co-Chairs, Committee of Concerned Scientists
Cc:
Mark Brzezinski
Ambassador to the Republic of Poland
U.S. Embassy Warsaw
Aleje Ujazdowskie 29/31
00-540 Warsaw Poland
Phone: +48 22 504 2000
Antony J. Blinken
Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20520 USA
Phone: (202) 647-4000
Twitter: @ABlinken
Ambassador to the United States of America.
Embassy of the Republic of Poland
2640 16th Street NW
Washington, DC 20009
Phone: +1 202 499 1700
Zbigniew Rau
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Jana Chrystiana Szucha 23
00-580 Warsaw, Republic of Poland
Phone: +48 22 523 90 00