99% of Poland’s pre-war Jewish population, the largest in Europe, perished during the Holocaust. Polish native and Canadian historian Jan Grabowski argues this death toll is inconceivable without the collusion of the general Polish population. Yet for decades Polish authorities have denied all responsibility. Instead, they have used the considerable resources of the state to posit that Poles suffered equally or even more than the nation’s Jewish community. In what Grabowski labels as Holocaust distortion, the memory of the past has been fundamentally divorced from reality, even at the most prominent Holocaust memorial sites. A conversation with University of Ottawa historian Jan Grabowski about his book, Whitewash: Poland and the Jews, in this episode of Realms of Memory.

Deeply flawed accounts of the Holocaust persist throughout Central and Eastern Europe. University of Ottawa historian Jan Grabowski argues that nowhere are the distortions of the Holocaust more glaring than in Poland. The almost complete eradication of the Jewish population in Poland, the second largest in the world, was simply not possible without the active and willing participation of Polish gentiles. Yet the Polish state continues to use its considerable resources to present Poles as either saviors of the Jews or the war’s greatest victims. A conversation with Jan Grabowski about his book, Whitewash: Poland and the Jews, and the story of Holocaust distortion in Poland. Next on the March 3rd episode of the Realms of Memory podcast.

Fifty years after Francisco Franco’s death Spain remains deeply divided over the past. For over twenty years British native and renowned history tour guide Nick Lloyd has made his living explaining the complexity of this past through his Spanish Civil War tours in Barcelona. Author of Forgotten Place: Barcelona and the Spanish Civil War and most recently, Travels Through the Spanish Civil War, Nick’s has developed a deep understanding of this multifaceted conflict and the ways it lives on in the present. I had the opportunity to take his tour in June 2025 and to interview him in August 2025 about the challenges of explaining this past and his perspective why it remains unresolved in the present.