PASI EDU Letter to Senator Durbin of Illinois explains why the comic book MAUS is unsuitable and unacceptable for classroom use

PASI EDU’s reply to Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois who calls critics of the so-called graphic novel MAUS “extremistsâ€

PASI EDU’s letter to the Senator points out why Art Spiegelman’s comic book MAUS is clearly unsuitable and unacceptable as instructional material in American public-school curricula. Our letter to the Senator is provided below. To date, no reply from Senator Durbin has been received.

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Honorable Dick Durbin 25 September 2023

United States Senate

711 Hart Senate Building

Washington, D.C. 20510

Subject: Senate Hearing, “Book Bans: Examining How Censorship Limits Liberty and Literatureâ€

Dear Senator Durbin,

We are writing in response to your opening remarks made at the 12 September Senate Hearing titled “Book Bans: Examining How Censorship Limits Liberty and Literatureâ€. In your remarks, you claim that “extremists continue to fight popular graphic novels like MAUSâ€. Please allow us to point out why MAUS is unsuitable and unacceptable for classroom use. As you will see, the reasons presented are legitimate, furthest from Holocaust denial, and in no way can be construed as “extremistâ€.

First, the book is not ethically suitable for educational instruction. Ethical writing requires accurate and unbiased accounts; however, MAUS is a historically inaccurate expression of the author’s prejudice against Poles as a people. While this attitude may be understood in terms of generational trauma, and studied as such at a university level, it nonetheless constitutes a gravely historically inaccurate and hurtful account of Poles during the German Nazi occupation. In The Norton Anthology of American Literature, editors Jerome Klinkowitz and Patricia B. Wallace describe Spiegelman’s representation of Poles as pigs as “a calculated insult” against Poles. Pigs in popular culture are viewed as filthy animals, while in Jewish culture, pigs and pork are unclean in a way that other animals are not. MAUS employs the same imagery of Poles found in Nazi German propaganda, where they were routinely referred to as “Polish pigs.” This depiction of Poles, with all the derisive and racist connotations, forms a mental image that cannot be easily erased from the impressionable minds of young students whose knowledge of World War II history and the genocide perpetrated against Poles by the German and Soviet occupiers is minimal at best.

Second, the book is not suitable as an historical account because it falsifies the facts through distortions and material omissions. Poles are portrayed as Nazi German sympathizers, which was never the case. Civil resistance among Poles was universal and the underground Home Army fought the Germans at every turn. Unlike other German-occupied and Axis-allied countries, Poles never formed a collaborationist government, never formed a militia to round up or execute Jews, and never formed SS units. Spiegelman portrays all Auschwitz kapos as Poles, which is complete fiction as there are various testimonies by Auschwitz Jews who detail the cruelties inflicted on them by Jewish kapos. He also omits the fact that, in contrast to other German-occupied countries, Poles who aided Jews were executed together with immediate family. Instead, Poles helping Jews are depicted as greedy and deceitful. Spiegelman also omits the fact that the Germans often relied on Jewish Gestapo agents to hunt down Jewish ghetto escapees. This role is assigned exclusively to Poles, which is egregiously false. The notion that teachers at elementary and high school levels can and will expose the author’s biases and misrepresentations is highly doubtful. 

Third, the book is not suitable from an educational perspective because it lacks historical context. Few readers, especially elementary and high school students, have enough historical knowledge to recognize Spielman’s falsified depiction of Poles. To have educational value, the treatment of historical context must strive for accuracy and objectivity. Hitler’s attempted destruction of Europe’s Jews is undeniably an important historical topic. However, it is essential that other national groups who were subjected to Hitler’s genocidal policies are presented fairly. As Poland’s Institute of National Remembrance points out in Totalitarian and 20th Century Studies, Volume 1, Hitler’s policy for European Jews was comprehensive genocide; however, his policy for Poles was also comprehensive genocide but over a longer time period. As historian Richard C. Lukas describes in his book Forgotten Holocaust, the secret protocol in the 1939 German-Soviet nonaggression pact prescribed the destruction of the Polish people and the annihilation of the Polish state. Polish deaths during World War II were proportionately by far the greatest of any nation participating in the war. For Poland, the deaths of Poles and Polish Jews was a double genocide.

Fourth, the author’s gratuitous depiction of all Poles violates Title VI, 42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq., which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, and national origin in programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance. The use of MAUS as educational material discriminates against Polish American students by forcing them not only to study biased educational materials but also by imposing on them a bigoted stereotype of Poles as brutish, primitive, and dishonest. In addition, the psychological impact can adversely affect their self-confidence and academic performance. 

Fifth, school children of Polish background who are required to study this book justifiably feel that their identity and cultural heritage have been diminished and are understandably humiliated. Students of Polish heritage reported incidents of inappropriate remarks and taunts directed at them by other students as a direct result of the portrayal of Poles in MAUS. One should be aware that grandparents of these children may have been inmates of German concentration and death camps. Their family members may have been tortured, executed, forced to work as slave laborers, or subjected to bizarre medical experiments. Portraying Poles as a nation of pigs constitutes willful harm to the memory of millions of Poles who died at the hands of the Germans. It is historical fact that Hilter committed genocide against Jews, Poles, and Romany. Choosing a book that addresses Hitler’s genocidal policies and respects the memory of all who perished is necessary for advancing students’ knowledge and understanding of this important historical subject. The purpose of education is not to distort the facts and cause distress and division among students. Since there is a choice of educational materials that may be used to teach a factual history of World War II, it is imperative to choose books that are historically accurate by addressing Hitler’s genocide of Jews, Poles, and Romany.

Based on the reasons outlined above, MAUS is unsuitable and unacceptable as instructional material. No student should be forced to study a book that treats his or her national group in the dishonest and prejudiced way that Poles are portrayed in MAUS. No book in any school curriculum targets another group for derision in this way; it is abusive and psychologically damaging. Because Spiegelman’s comic book memoir falsifies history, deeply offends on many levels, and presents a bigoted stereotype of Poles, it should have no place in public school education. 

Senator Durbin, in endorsing MAUS, please remember that Polish Americans constitute a substantial community in your home state of Illinois, so much so that Polish is the second most spoken language among its residents, many of whom, no doubt, supported your candidacy in the past.

Sincerely,

David Blatt, Vice President

Polish American Strategic initiative Educational Organization (PASI EDU)

Chicago, IL

Gene Sokolowski, President

Polish American Strategic initiative Educational Organization (PASI EDU)

Woodbridge, VA