AK veterans sue ZDF and UFA Fiction in Kraków over 'Generation War'

In 2013, Zbigniew Radłowski, a veteran of the Home Army (AK, the main Polish underground force in WWII), and the World Association of AK Soldiers filed a lawsuit in Kraków. The defendants were the German public broadcaster ZDF and the production company UFA Fiction.

The suit targeted the three-part drama 'Unsere Mütter, unsere Väter', known in Poland as 'Nasze matki, nasi ojcowie' and in English as 'Generation War'. The series followed five young Germans through the Second World War. The plaintiffs argued that it portrayed AK soldiers as antisemites, and that this violated the personal rights of the veterans, including their dignity and good name.

The series had already caused controversy in Poland. Critics, including politicians and historians, said it presented a distorted picture of the Polish underground and its attitude towards Jews, while Germany's own wartime crimes were shown in a more sympathetic light. German makers and broadcasters defended it as a work of fiction meant to prompt debate among younger viewers.

The case became a long-running dispute over historical memory, artistic freedom and how nations depict each other in popular culture.