An eminent Canadian historian whose writings on the Holocaust in Poland have attracted death threats said Tuesday that fierce criticism of his research is an unjustified attack on academic freedom.
In an interview, University of Ottawa Prof. Jan Grabowski, 55, said he would not allow the “campaign of hate” to distract him from delving into what he called an ugly, but little-told, piece of history.
“I feel personally attacked but this is for me a much more dangerous and general problem that has to be dealt with,” Grabowski told The Canadian Press from Ottawa. “It’s a pure and simple attack on basic academic freedoms, which we take for granted here in Canada. I’m dismayed.”
The history professor, who has spent years studying the Holocaust in Poland, maintains many Poles who killed Jews were not simply forced to collaborate with the Nazis, who occupied the country during the Second World War.
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By: Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press
Source: CBC