On the last Friday, another session of the District Court in Warsaw took place regarding Prof. Jan Grabowski’s lawsuit against the Polish League Against Defamation.
Let’s recall that Prof. Jan Grabowski filed a lawsuit against the Polish League Against Defamation at the beginning of 2019 concerning the published „Position” of the Redoubt regarding Jan Grabowski’s research methods, supported by 135 Polish scientists. It’s worth noting that Jan Grabowski sued the Polish League Against Defamation only a year and a half after the publication of our „Position,” which raised concerns about the information presented in his work. When the book „Dalej jest noc” („Night Without End”), edited by Prof. Jan Grabowski, was released, we decided to routinely verify the credibility of the content presented in this publication, which resulted in an official position supported by scientists, the subject of the ongoing legal proceedings.
During the session of the Court, which took place on May 10, 2024, witnesses were summoned, including Professor Wojciech Musiał, a historian and researcher, who testified, as well as Professor Wojciech Roszkowski, a historian and parliamentarian. However, Professor Roszkowski’s testimony as a witness could not be heard due to the time constraints of the court proceedings.
Witness Bogdan Musiał, who testified during the session, pointed out how he approaches the criticism of Prof. Grabowski’s research methods and confirmed the thesis that Grabowski conducts research in an unreliable manner and makes false accusations against Poland. In response to the presiding judge’s question, the witness leaned towards the mass criticism of Grabowski’s publication „Judenjagd,” to which he repeatedly referred during the trial, and which is particularly close to him as it narrates the extermination of Jews in the regions where he originates. Musiał has specialized in Holocaust studies for over 25 years, dedicating his doctoral thesis and several other scientific publications to the topic. Additionally, he comes from a family of historians deeply involved in Holocaust studies.
Musiał admitted that he awaited the publication of a book that seemed to be a compendium of knowledge about Nazi actions that occurred in his native areas. He wanted to know the perspective of another historian dealing with this topic because he believes that such condensed knowledge is needed. The witness himself possesses extensive knowledge of historical events in this region due to his profession and residence, but primarily because he worked in local archives, which provided him with additional insights into local events. However, after reading the work, he was very confused by what and how the author described, as, in the witness’s opinion, it is nothing but a distorted historical context, embellished with numerous errors and distortions of facts. The witness also stated that he is convinced that these distortions do not result from superficial analysis, as he initially thought, but rather from the author’s own overinterpretation or even distortion.
He also emphasized that the Germans almost always documented their actions when murdering the population, always in two languages - German and Polish, and also conducted legal proceedings, so most of the facts can be verified, as they are confirmed and archived, unfortunately contradicting the narrative presented by Grabowski.
Initially, Musiał assumed that the distortion of facts might result from a lack of knowledge of the German language or incorrect translations carried out independently. However, at a later stage, he realized that Grabowski manipulates by omitting, for example, a very important aspect from a historical perspective, namely that the cooperation of Poles with Germans was not voluntary but forced. Cooperation carried the death penalty, regardless of the context of assistance provided to Jews, which Grabowski does not mention in his work.
The author of „Judenjagd” omits facts, distorts, and falsifies, for example, labeling common actions related to the massacre of Jewish civilians and using egregious phrases such as „Poles were under German guardianship,” which is a deliberate overinterpretation that he continues throughout his work. One of the examples that made a big impression on the witness was the description of the Action in Szczurow, during which members of the OSP allegedly volunteered to join the organizing German gendarmes and helped in the execution of Jewish civilians. Additionally, he pointed out that Grabowski ignores the context that during the war, OSP was only the same name as before the armed conflict, but the character of this organization changed completely. It was not voluntary but compulsory, under the penalty of death. Interestingly, Grabowski cites as the source of this voluntary work of Poles the publications of Bogdan Musiał’s uncle, Adam Musiał, who previously described it in a completely different, correct way, specifying the entire context of the situation and the changes that occurred.
This is one of the obvious examples, as indicated by the witness, that Grabowski distorts the historical context in his works. He also points out that in his entire activity, Grabowski assumes that the testimonies of Germans or Jews as Holocaust witnesses must be accepted as true and are not subject to verification, while when it comes to Polish testimonies, they are preemptively discredited by Grabowski and strongly questioned each time.
The witness discussed Grabowski’s descriptions of „facts” that are inconsistent and antagonistic to historical facts. As a key argument, he cited that Grabowski invariably insults and discredits other historians by saying that they are wrong and do not know history. He threatens them with court and intimidates them with his lawyer if someone has a different opinion and agrees with the records of historical literature, which also gives food for thought.
During the trial, the topic previously discussed in recent years emerged, namely Grabowski’s claim that „200 thousand Jews were murdered by Poles.” Musiał confirmed that this phrase exists in the environment and has entered scientific circulation as an example of a lack of historical knowledge and denial of facts. However, Grabowski repeats these false statements both in interviews and in the press, and even promotes them. According to Musiał, this is a very dangerous practice because despite the falsity of the phrase, it has entered circulation as a heavily debated, repeated, and quoted one, yet it remains in the public consciousness, not always with an explanation of its origin. Based on this, among other things, Musiał emphasized that Grabowski’s writings do a great injustice to our history. It is also known that propaganda readily picks up and uses such theses, which is also extremely dangerous, especially since they are not supported by any facts but still remain in the public domain. The witness admitted that Grabowski’s work mobilized him to write a book on German legislation regarding Polish-Jewish relations to create another substantive source from which true historical knowledge can be drawn. Foreign recipients are particularly important here, as they often do not have the opportunity to verify the information presented or access the sources that would allow them to recognize which are correct. Therefore, actions aimed at reducing the risk that untrue or incomplete information will be accepted by recipients as historical facts are crucial, as this could contribute to the perpetuation of distorted knowledge about Polish history.
The witness also mentioned that Szymon Datner, an employee of the Jewish Historical Institute, mentioned such a number in the 1980s in his deliberations, but with a full explanation of where and under what circumstances he estimates such values. However, Mr. Grabowski quoted only a fraction of these considerations as providing the exact number of Holocaust victims, which is another example of a selective, unreliable approach to published content.
Unfortunately, these are not the only examples, as Grabowski’s publications often include numbers of victims without specifying their nationality, tailored to a particular theme. Additionally, their nationality is often changed. An example is the crime of burning the school in Szczurow, where Polish soldiers were murdered. Unfortunately, Grabowski denies this in his work, relying on the testimonies of a supposed Holocaust witness who claimed that Jews were burned there. He ignores historical research, which proves that Polish soldiers were burned, confirmed in German documentation conducted in both Polish and German languages, thus creating a new reality.
In summary, according to Musiał, there are many such examples of unreliability, as Grabowski not only conducts superficial analysis and demonstrates a lack of detailed knowledge in his work but above all, as Musiał noticed only after a thorough analysis of the works, Grabowski’s theses are deliberately formulated with the intention of distorting historical facts. We now know that this is how propaganda works, used beyond our eastern, Soviet border. In such rhetoric, presenting knowledge does not require research of scientific sources but is based on simplifications and one’s own interpretation. However, scientific work cannot be based on assumptions but requires reliable knowledge confirmed in historical literature, wartime documents, and archives.
Mr. Grabowski does not do this, nor does he check the sources indicated in the footnotes, but literally uses fragmentary information, describing them as historical facts, which is unacceptable.
It should be noted that today’s witness, Professor Musiał, is an expert in the field of the Holocaust (including a doctorate) and continues to analyze this topic, looking for new sources and facts, which he will present in his just-completed monograph on the Holocaust in Auschwitz, which will be published in September. His works are published in both Polish and German, providing the opportunity for a more comprehensive analysis of factual literature.
Unfortunately, the length and detail of the testimony prevented the hearing of another Witness summoned to the trial, Mr. Wojciech Roszkowski. Another hearing has been scheduled for February 25, 2025, at 12:00, during which Professor Wojciech Roszkowski and Marek Chodakiewicz will testify, and on March 21, 2025, at 9:00, Mr. Kumoch and Mr. John Radziejowski will testify.
We will keep you informed about the course of subsequent hearings.
