An appeal court ruled on Thursday that German public television network ZDF must apologize on its website to a Polish survivor of Auschwitz for using the term “Polish death camps” in relation to Auschwitz and Majdanek.

The ruling by the court in Kraków, southern Poland, overturned part of a verdict by a lower court.

In April, a Kraków district court found that ZDF had damaged the plaintiff's dignity and national identity.

But it dismissed his complaint, ruling that ZDF had apologized to the plaintiff in a personal letter.

Former death camp prisoner Karold Tendera launched the case over the promotion of a documentary by ZDF about the liberation of Majdanek and Auschwitz, WWII German Nazi death camps on the territory of occupied Poland.

In the promotional material on the zdf.de website, the channel used the expression “Polish death camps.” The description was changed after the Polish authorities protested.

The Polish government has been engaged in a long-running campaign to stamp out references to “Polish death camps” in the international press.

(pk)

Source: PAP