Protest against BBC plans to show 'anti-Polish' series

Our Mothers, Our Fathers: Blue Ray

The protests at the weekend were prompted by BBC TV’s plans to broadcast the German ZDF channel's series Unsere Mutter, unsere vater (Our mothers, our fathers), in which Poland’s Home Army (AK), the biggest resistance movement in occupied Europe, is presented as a band of anti-Semites.

The protesters in front of the BBC headquarters in London’s Portland Place held a banner reading ‘Stop Nazi Propaganda’ and said that the TV series "presents anti-Polish slurs and insults the memory of Poles fighting against German occupiers".

The main organizer of the protest, Polish Media Issues, monitors the coverage of Poland in the British media and has published a brochure "A Challenge to the BBC" which contains an in-depth analysis of the station’s coverage of Poland.

Henryk Cioszek, one of the participants in the protest and an activist of Polish organizations in the United States, told the Polish Press Agency that, "at a time when Polish patriots, including the heroes of the Home Army, are being presented in a false light, attempts are being made to belittle the scope of Nazi crimes".

Poland's Ambassador to Berlin Jerzy Marganski made an official complaint to the ZDF channel after the mini-series was shown on German TV earlier this year.

“Not under any circumstances was it our aim to diminish historical facts, nor still German responsibility [for war crimes],” the ZDF public broadcaster said in a statement.

The series is to be shown on BBC Two under the title ‘Generation War’. (mk/pg)