On September 1st 2023, the anniversary of the German attack on Poland, another court hearing took place in connection with Prof. J. Grabowski’s lawsuit against the Polish League Against Defamation. This hearing is of particular significance in the context of the anniversary of Germany’s aggression against Poland, recalling the importance of defending historical truth and national identity. The Polish League Against Defamation, in an effort to maintain a reliable and historically correct narrative about Poland, is undertaking a legal battle against Professor Grabowski, whose views and publications have raised controversy regarding the presented interpretation of historical events.
On Friday (1st of September), the Regional Court in Warsaw held the third hearing in the case brought against the Polish League Against Defamation by Prof. Jan Grabowski. The court session began with Prof. Grabowski, the plaintiff’s attorney, submitting an objection to the protocol, which concerned an infringement related to the admission of evidence – the testimony of a witness – Dr. Piotr Gontarczyk. Despite the objection, Dr Piotr Gontarczyk testified in the case.
In his explanations, Dr. Gontarczyk pointed out that in the case of Prof. Grabowski’s scientific works, „we are not talking about any debate or difference of opinion, but about crude falsification of documents – cutting out parts of the text with scissors, or changing individual words.” and also „about falsification of witness testimony, or the use of bibliographic descriptions that make it difficult to find source information.” The witness testified that for many years he has been involved in the verification of J. Grabowski’s publications, and added that he is the author of scientific and journalistic articles in which he not only discusses Prof. Grabowski’s work, but also publishes, scans of documents where scans of information presented by Jan Grabowski are included alongside the original source documents. In this way, he presents violations or falsifications of facts committed by the plaintiff.
Dr. Gontarczyk, when asked what, issues he had concerns about Prof. Grabowski’s scientific activities, indicated that the plaintiff’s activities were not scientific activities because „he follows methods that are totally unacceptable in science.” The witness stated that Prof Grabowski „repeatedly and on a large scale falsifies documents” by, inter alia, „changing words in quotations, writing things that are not there, giving false facts or names of documents.”
Dr. Gontarczyk also referred to the thesis propounded by J. Grabowski that „Poles contributed to the deaths of 200,000 Jews”, the witness indicated that he remembered such cases in which the plaintiff gave different figures and added that these figures have „absolutely no real scientific basis, none”. The witness also pointed out that J. Grabowski’s publications have a wide range of reception (especially in the USA, Canada) and the information contained in them is disseminated, reprinted and popularised and is mainly assimilated by recipients who do not have sufficient knowledge and is used by circles which treat Prof. Grabowski’s works as confirmation of schemes concerning Jews and the Holocaust, as well as anti-Polish schemes. According to the witness, the publications unfortunately find fertile ground and reverberate, being inconsistent with historical facts.
Dr. Gontarczyk gave extensive testimony, pointing out many examples concerning – in his opinion – falsifications committed by Prof. Grabowski in his publications or studies of which he was the scientific editor. He cited the example of the book „Next is Night” (the plaintiff was the scientific editor of the study) and referred to the question of the location of the Treblinka camp, which in reality lay in the Sokolow district, while in the book the location of the camp was transferred to the Węgrów district.
Dr Gontarczyk confirmed that prior to 2017, he was aware of publications in which other academics had commented on Grabowski’s activities.
Reminder:
The second hearing of the case from Prof. J. Garbowski’s lawsuit against the Polish League Against Defamation took place on February 7th 2023, and during the hearing, Prof. Tomasz Panfil, MD, PhD, of the Catholic University of Lublin, testified, indicating that Jan Grabowski had manipulated the actual quotes, presented to the court his motivation for signing the post, and outlined the broader context of the entire case as a case for conducting reliable historical research. The second witness summoned, Dr Piotr Gontarczyk, did not have time to be questioned as Prof Panfil’s extensive questioning continued until the end of the trial, Dr Gontarczyk will testify on September 1st 2023.
The first court hearing in this case took place on September 2nd 2022. During the hearing, witnesses Prof. Grzegorz Berendt and Prof. Artur Przelaskowski testified.
Prof. Berendt pointed out how he and other historians who criticise Prof. Grabowski’s research methods are treated by him. He mentioned, among other things, the deprecation of those who disagree with Prof. Grabowski (which he himself experienced) and the use of non-substantive argumentation.
Professor Przelaskowski, on the other hand, indicated to the court why he signed the 'Position’ published by RDI and what his motivation was. Professor Przelaskowski testified that he also signed the position today and explained why such a position was justified and needed in the public area.
The lawsuit filed by Prof. J. Grabowski against the Polish League Against Defamation relates to the „Position Statement” published by us, supported by 135 Polish scientists who expressed their opposition to Prof. Jan Grabowski’s activities and called on him to maintain his scientific integrity. The letter was published by the Polish League Against Defamation in 2017 and Prof. Jan Grabowski, a year and a half later, decided to sue us at the Foundation. We are fully aware that it is inevitable to be involved in a lengthy legal process. The Polish League Against Defamation is, as always, solidly prepared for the legal process and is constantly collecting and analysing material in order to be able to clearly present its position on Prof. J Grabowski’s scientific activities. All this is done in order to obtain a fair and fact-based resolution of the case.
Highlighting the importance of this procedure is crucial, as two important elements need to be addressed. Firstly, there is the possibility that by citing expert testimony, Professor Grabowski’s workshop errors can be demonstrated. It seems that the professor treats historical sources selectively, choosing those that support his theses, or commits manipulation or falsification of historical facts. The testimonies of witnesses who have repeatedly analysed Professor Grabowski’s publications confirm the need for in-depth analyses, fact-checking and correctness of the sources that are presented by Jan Grabowski.
This proceeding is important from the point of view of the dissemination of historical truth and education in the broadest sense, especially in the case of foreign audiences, who often do not have the opportunity to verify the information presented or access sources that would allow them to learn historical facts. Therefore, it becomes important to take action to reduce the risk that false or incomplete information will be accepted by recipients as historical facts, which could shape a distorted knowledge of Polish history.
This case is also of further importance because the information disseminated by Professor Grabowski is being used by anti-Polish circles to create an untrue image of Poland and to attribute co-responsibility for the Holocaust to the Poles, which may diminish the guilt of one perpetrator of this crime – the Germans. Through this case we also want to respond to such absurd accusations or suggestions.
It should be clearly emphasised that Professor Grabowski’s studies reach a diverse foreign audience, including politicians who influence good international relations and determine world security. In this context, the restoration and dissemination of the truth about Polish and Polish history is of great importance, which the Foundation has been emphasising for more than ten years.
