Dear Officer

On behalf of the Polish Committee in Australia Against Defamation, I write to lodge a formal complaint about the fact that during 6pm Chanel 9 News on 03/07/2016, regarding the death of Elie Wiesel, the following hugely incorrect and offensive statement was communicated to the Australian public,  i.e. “…Wiesel and the entire Jewish population of his town were forcibly sent to the Polish concentration camp in 1944….”  

It is very disappointing that your producer and newsreader are not aware that none of the World War II concentration camps in Poland were Polish concentration camps and cannot be described as such.  All World War II concentration camps were set up and run by Nazis.  Poland was under German occupation for the entire World War II years 1939-1945. 

To refer to these camps as Polish is very upsetting to the entire Polish community in Australia, and in particular to our elders who were concentration camps prisoners, experienced unimaginable torture and trauma, all surviving Polish ex-servicemen  and all Polish Solidarity activists who live in Australia. 

I demand a formal apology to be communicated to viewers during Chanel 9 News, as a matter of urgency. 

I hope that this complaint will assist in Nine Network P/L Management and Board informing all of its relevant staff that there is no such thing as Polish concentration camps. 

Monika Wiench

On behalf of the Polish Committee in Australia Against Defamation