In recent days, a delegation of the European Parliament visited Poland "alarmed" by the reaction of the Polish authorities to Barbara Engelking's statement about World War II.
Some Polish media presented the point of view of delegates convinced of the "threat to freedom of speech" in Poland and the "brutality" of the Polish Minister of Education and Science.
The minister invited the delegation to visit the former headquarters of the Gestapo in Warsaw.
Minister Czarnek told the delegation about the Germans' attempt to introduce the 'rule of law' there between 1939 and 1945. The delegation was "shocked by the sincerity" of the minister.
Members of the Committee on Culture and Education of the European Parliament "wanted to see with their own eyes what the freedom of the media, cultural and artistic institutions, and education looks like in Poland." According to some media, the impulse for a visit was supposed to be the issue of Barbara Engelking's statement, dealing with, among others, the prevalence of blackmailing among Poles during the Second World War. Engelking's words evoked strong opposition and reactions from, among others, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Minister of Education and Science Przemysław Czarnek.
