About the Civilization of Death

According to the book, the key to winning the culture war against LGBTs is to employ the language used by the LGBTs. The book advocates the use of "jester" (wesołek) instead of "gay" (gej), "self-female" (autosamica) instead of "feminist", and "retreat" (odwrotek) instead of transgendered. Accusations of homophobia should be dismissed with the claim that heteronormal people are the victims of "heterophobia".[9]

According to Chodakiewicz, he "wrote this book because it is important for Poles to know what awaits them if they do not oppose the 'civilization of death.' I saw with my own eyes how LGBT, gender, and feminism emerged from the underground and was gradually embraced in American politics: introducing a new version of Marxism that I call Marxism-Lesbianism."[5] This statement was added to the description of the book at online bookstores.[3]

In July 2019, the book engendered controversy and propelled Chodakiewicz to fame[10] when the Institute of National Remembrance hosted Chodakiewicz for a talk on the book at the Warsaw Janusz Kurtyka IPN Educational Center. Chodakiewicz, who usually resides in the United States, was on a trip to Poland to promote his book.[11][4][5][6] The talk was moderated by Najwyższy Czas! editor Tomasz Sommer.[3]

In the talk, Chodakiewicz described the urban legend of "gerbilling" as factual. Chodakiewicz stated that in 1984 his ex-girlfriend Debbie, who was a registered nurse, extracted a hamster smeared in fat from the anus of a gay man. Chodakiewicz said that the claws and teeth of the hamster were removed prior to this episode.[11][4][6][7][12] According to Chodakiewicz, "gerbilling" was a response to the AIDS epidemic.[7] He made additional homophobic claims over the next.[7][13] Contrasting lesbians to gays, Chodakiewicz said that lesbians are much "calmer" than gays, while gays in San Francisco, including Chodakiewicz's colleagues, have on average 350 sexual partners a year, with some even reaching 1,000 partners.[6] Chodakiewicz also spoke on the "ideology of Marxism-lesbianism",[6] contrasting "homosexual ideology" with Communism and Nazism, and saying they are a fifth column in Poland and receive cash from abroad.[8]

Historian Sławomir Cenckiewicz said he was shocked at Chodakiewicz, in particular of the talk of "feces, sperm and blood" and homosexuals.[14][6] Małgorzata P. Bonikowska, editor-in-chief of Polish-Canadian newspaper Gazeta, writes that she does not recall anything as vulgar and repulsive as Chodakiewicz's lecture.[15]

The delivery of the talk at a publicly funded educational facility was controversial. The IPN, which initially declined to comment,[5] eventually responded to queries saying that Prof. Chodakiewicz's views are not the official position of the IPN. According to the IPN, the purpose of the meeting was to discuss Chodakiewicz's latest book. Both Chodakiewicz and Sommer had collaborated with the IPN previously.[3][8] Chodakiewicz also serves on the council of the Museum of the Second World War in Gdańsk; the museum did not respond to journalists' requests for comments.[3]