Dear Maura,

 

Thank you again for your response.  The phrase is inherently inaccurate as they were not Polish camps.   They were Nazi camps located in occupied Poland.   It's like calling Guantanamo Bay a Cuban detention centre.  Clearly inherently incorrect as the centre is American and simply in Cuban soil.   The implication to someone not familiar with the history of Guantanamo reading about it sixty years later is that it was set up and run by Cubans.

 

What may seem factually correct to you, is clearly not correct to everyone else.  

 

Regards,

 

Anna

 

 

 

 

Obviously you feel strongly that they were Polish camps otherwise you would reconsider your decision. 

 

In a message dated 03/03/2008 19:03:43 GMT Standard Time, mlerner@... writes:

Dear Anna,

Well, I believe there is a difference between a phrase that may upset some individuals, and a phrase that is inherently inaccurate. We publish corrections all the time, in the latter case. We would be hard pressed to write a newspaper story that upsets no one.

I believe the phrase was not inaccurate. It did, however, touch off alarm bells among certain readers. No one disputes the location of Auschwitz. What bothers people is the phrasing. But it is commonplace in newspapers to use location as an adjective: the Minnesota stadium; the Florida university.

Again, I believe the context of the story made it clear that this was a Nazi concentration camp.

So thanks again for taking the time to write. Sorry if our response didn't satisfy you, but I just wanted to explain the reason for our position.

Best wishes,

Maura Lerner

 

 

 

Maura Lerner
Medical Reporter
Star Tribune
Ph: 612-673-7384


>>> <Redkat111@...> 3/3/2008 12:33 PM >>>

Dear Maura,

 

Thank you for your response.  I am writing from London, England.

 

I am sorry to hear that you do not feel such a small correction cannot be made, particularly as you refer to the Polish communities' strength of opinion on the subject.  I'm sure the correction one one word would be easier than responding to numerous emails complaining of the error.  

 

The context of the story does not stop the reader from coming away with a subliminal message that the camps were something to do with Poland and Poles, which is clearly not the case.   The fact that you do not wish to change this leads me to believe that you deliberately want to send out such a subliminal message to the reader.   Otherwise why else not make such a small change?

 

Kind regards,

 

Anna

 

In a message dated 03/03/2008 16:18:37 GMT Standard Time, mlerner@... writes:

Dear Anna,

Thanks for your note. I've certainly learned in the last few days the level of sensitivity in the Polish community on this subject.
As a writer, I was merely trying to save a few keystrokes in identifying the location of the Auschwitz concentration camp. The context of the story made it clear that it was a Nazi German facility; I do not believe any reader would conclude otherwise. The sentence was accurate, just as I might describe a clinic in Paris as "the Paris clinic."
I understand the concerns raised. But after discussing them with my editor, we do not believe a correction is warranted.
However, you are welcome to send a letter to the editor for possible publication on our editorial page. To do so, send the letter to opinion@....
Sincerely,
Maura Lerner

 

Maura Lerner
Medical Reporter
Star Tribune
Ph: 612-673-7384


>>> <Redkat111@...> 3/1/2008 7:39 PM >>>

To the Editor,

 

Dear Sir or Madam,

http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/health/15948397.html

I write in respect of Maura Lerner's above article on Eugenics dated 25th February. 

 

There are a couple of factual inaccuracies in the article, which may appear trivial to some, but which are nonetheless revisionist in their nature.

 

The two quotes that jump out are as follows :

 

"The Germans, she later learned, were searching for ways to sterilize mass numbers of people. Somehow, she knew she would survive. Her husband did not. "

 

Fact : the correct terminology here should be referring to Nazis and not to Germans.  Not all Germans were Nazis and not all Nazis were German.  The atrocities were committed by a political group rather than a particular nationality.  It would be the same as saying that the Russians sent many to the gulag, whereas in fact the Soviets were responsible and most Russians were just as much victims of Soviet repression as any of the other victims. 

 

 

"De Wilde, 21, was arrested with her first husband, Lodewyk Meyer, and
his family while trying to escape to Switzerland. By the summer of
1943, she was on a cattle car to Auschwitz.

Arriving at the notorious Polish concentration camp, she heard
someone call for young married women to step forward. She did."

 

Fact : Auschwitz concentration camp was not Polish.  It was a Nazi camp in Nazi-occupied Poland.  Poland did not technically exist when the atrocities there took place.  Your article needlessly states it is Polish which adds nothing to the content other than to subliminally link Poland to the atrocities there in the mind of the reader.  If that is not your intention then I suggest you revise it to reflect fact - that fact being that it should read "arriving at the notorious nazi concentration camp".  

 

 

Regards,

 

Anna