On the 86th anniversary of Hans Frank's announcement of the obligation for Jews to wear armbands with the Star of David, Yad Vashem published a post that omitted the context of the German occupation of Poland. Representatives of the Polish authorities and memorial institutions reacted to the false information provided by the Israeli museum.
False entry
Yad Vashem posted the following entry on platform X: “Poland was the first country where Jews were forced to wear identification marks to isolate them from the surrounding population.” It then recalled that on November 23, 1939, “Governor General Hans Frank issued a decree ordering all Jews over the age of 10 to wear a 10 cm wide white armband with a blue Star of David,” according to the Israeli institution's post.
Reaction of the Auschwitz Museum and the Pilecki Institute
In response to this statement, Polish authorities, museums, and memorial institutions pointed out that the lack of information about the German occupation was a significant distortion of the facts. The Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum responded firmly. “It seems that if anyone should know the historical facts, it is Yad Vashem. They should be fully aware that Poland was occupied by Germany at the time and that it was Germany that introduced and enforced this anti-Semitic law,” reads the Museum's post on platform X.
It was also recalled that Yad Vashem is planning to open a branch in Germany. “However, we sincerely hope that this false and distorted message has nothing to do with it,” adds the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum.
Meanwhile, the Berlin branch of the Pilecki Institute emphasized the importance of precision in the discourse on the Holocaust. “In times of widespread distortion of the history of World War II, Nazi Germany, and the Holocaust, precise language and accurate facts are essential,” , the statement said. It explained that Hans Frank's decree was in force in the General Government, i.e., “the part of occupied Poland taken over by Nazi Germany and subjected to separate German administration” — an area that from the outset was “subjected to extreme terror, violence, and racial segregation.”
The voice of the Polish authorities
The Polish authorities responded to Yad Vashem's post. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski asked for the information to be corrected. “Please clarify that it was German-occupied Poland,” wrote the foreign minister. Agnieszka Jędrzak, a minister in the President's Office, joined in the criticism of Yad Vashem's post. “It was the German occupation authorities who forced Jews to wear badges. Why are you omitting this? When you remove the Germans from the equation, the whole thing ceases to make sense. Stop distorting history,” she appealed.
Yad Vashem statement
After a wave of criticism swept across the internet and Polish media, Yad Vashem published another post. “As many users have pointed out and as clearly indicated in the linked article, this was done on the orders of the German authorities,” Yad Vashem wrote on the X platform.
Hans Frank's decree
The regulations on the compulsory marking of the Jewish population came into force on December 1, 1939. According to the regulation, every Jew over the age of 10 was required to wear an armband with the Star of David on their right arm. The Governor-General's regulations were not respected and implemented on time everywhere. For example, in Lublin, November 27 was designated as the day of introduction of the yellow Star of David, which Jews were initially required to wear on their right chest and back. After a few days, the requirement was limited to sewing the star onto the right side of the chest.
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Heschel Center News