Netflix Documentary Receives Backlash For Being Factually Inaccurate

The Netflix documentary series “The Devil Next Door” came under fire when multiple people, including the Polish prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki, complained that the information was not accurate. Now, following complaints, adjustments are set to be made.

“The Devil Next Door” focuses on a man, John Demjanjuk, who is so notoriously evil in Poland he’s known as “Ivan the Terrible.” Now, following a letter from Morawiecki last Sunday explaining the inaccuracies in the program, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has revealed that edits are being made, according to Variety.

Most notable in Morawiecki’s complaint is that maps seen throughout the docu-series show concentration camps placed inside modern-day Poland. As the BBC explained, the implication is that the map pins the guilt on Poland, rather than the Nazi German occupiers during World War II.

Hastings responded, saying that Netflix will add on-screen text to clarify the meaning of the well-intended documentary series. Upon announcing the amendments, Morawiecki and the Polish people agreed with the decision.

Netflix released a statement on their decision: “This will make it clearer that the extermination and concentration camps in Poland were built and operated by the German Nazi regime, [which] invaded the country and occupied it from 1939-1945.”

Aside from the backlash, “The Devil Next Door” has received high praise and currently holds a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. One of the directors, Daniel Sivan, previously received high-praise for the historically accurate “The Oslo Diaries.”

Sivan also spoke with the Jewish Journal about “The Devil Next Door,” and the 1,000s of hours of interviews and research that went into the film, saying: “The show is about these different narratives clashing, which is what makes it exciting and painful at the same time.”