The appellate court in Cracow upheld the court’s verdict that the German State television ZDF must apologize for the content shown in the film “Our Mothers, our Fathers.” The apology will be published in Polish on Channel 1 of Polish Television and in German on ZDF channels.
“This is what we cared about the most,” stated Monika Brzozowska-Pasieka, attorney for plaintiffs Captain Zbigniew Radłowski and the World Association of Home Army Soldiers, as reported by the tvp.info portal.
This judgment that concludes the seven-year-long battle led by the senior Home Army veteran, 96-year-old Capt. Zbigniew Radłowski. The Warsaw Uprising veteran and prisoner of the German death camp in Auschwitz accused the State television ZDF and the film producer UFA Fiction of violating the right to identity, national dignity and pride, and the right to freedom from hate speech.
The appellate court recognized similar rights, but only in the case of an organization such as the World Union of Home Army Soldiers.
“According to the court, an individual cannot claim respect or dignity in the sense of national pride. We disagree with this [position]; therefore, we are considering submitting a cassation appeal in this case. However, first, we must have a written court opinion,” said Jerzy Pasieka, one of the attorneys for the Polish veterans.
This verdict is a huge success.
Despite the dismissal of his standing in the case, Capt. Radłowski achieved real success. Thanks to his responsible attitude and his attorneys’ efforts, the German media giant must apologize for the content included in its film.
The apology shall be released in prime time both on Polish Television and on the air of the State broadcaster from Germany – ZDF, and on both TV stations’ websites. The apology is to be published in a font size at least equal to the opening credits of the series. The title of the apology should be in bold and read: “ZDF and UFA Fiction apologize to the World Union of Home Army Soldiers in Warsaw.”
The content of the apology shall be as follows: “As ordered by the court, the producers of the movie Our Mothers, our Fathers, i.e., ZDF Television and the UFA Fiction Company apologize to the World Union of Home Army Soldiers in Warsaw for having violated its personal rights by identifying a Polish partisan unit in the above mentioned film as a unit of the Home Army, which gives rise to the unwarranted suggestion that this Polish military organization was anti-Semitic.”
https://www.tvp.info/52925842/wyrok-sadu-zdf-ma-przeprosic-za-film-nasze-matki-nasi-ojcowie
