Polish PM has sent Netflix a written complaint about ‘The Devil Next Door’

The Prime Minister of Poland has sent a written complaint to Netflix about inaccuracies in the true crime documentary, The Devil Next Door.

PM Mateusz Morawiecki said a map shown in the series locates the death camps within modern-day Poland’s borders.

He says this misrepresents Poland as being responsible for the concentration camps, when the land was actually occupied by Germany during the war.

The Prime Minister sent a letter to the CEO of Netflix, Reed Hastings, expressing his anger. In the letter he reportedly said it’s important to “honour the memory and preserve the truth about World War II and the Holocaust”.

He added “certain works” in Netflix’s The Devil Next Door are “hugely inaccurate” and accused it of “rewriting history”.

The Devil Next Door is about the true story of John Demjanjuk, a man accused of being Ivan the Terrible – a Nazi concentration camp officer who enabled the deaths of thousands of Jews during the Holocaust.

Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweeted a picture of the map in question and said: “Netflix, stay true to historical facts! During the time which the ‘The Devil Next Door’ series describes, Poland’s territory was occupied, and it was Nazi Germany who was responsible for the camps. The map shown in the series does not reflect the actual borders at that time.”

Replies to the tweet include: “I hope that they correct this for Poland” and “Poland, you are right to ask for this correction. As an historian Netflix should have been accurate with their documentary, maps and graphics, they could of overplayed a modern map for geographical reference and said as such.”

However, others seem to be defending Netflix. One reply says: “It’s petty and stupid. They have clipped and blown up the screenshot from the documentary of the map in question, which makes me wonder if Poland is interested in historical fact at all. It’s a map of the camps as situated in the 1980s.”

The map on the right of the tweet is a map of Europe in late 1942 – which Poland’s Prime Minister also attached in his letter. He also attached an account written by Witold Pilecki, who was voluntarily imprisoned in Auschwitz, and wrote about his experiences after successfully escaping.

The PM said he thinks the mistake was “terrible” but he believes it was made unintentionally.

Netflix told Reuters it was aware of concerns regarding the documentary.

Related stories recommended by this writer:

• Netflix’s The Devil Next Door is ‘haunting’ and the ‘best true crime ever’

• The harrowing story behind Netflix’s new true crime docu ‘The Devil Next Door’

• The 13 best true crime series on Netflix right now for real addicts