Bill passed by senate makes it illegal to accuse Polish nation of complicity in the Holocaust
Poland has disputed claims that a new law to punish false references to “Polish” concentration or death camps will hinder discourse about the country’s Nazi occupation.
On Wednesday evening Poland’s senate, the upper house of parliament, passed a controversial bill making it illegal to accuse the Polish nation or state of complicity in the Holocaust.
The bill foresees fines and a three-year jail term for “anyone who, against the facts, publicly states that the Polish nation or state was responsible or co-responsible for Third Reich crimes”.
President Andrzej Duda, who is expected to sign the amended bill into law, says Poland has the right “to defend historical truth” against distortions.
Particularly problematic in Polish eyes is the recurring problem of Auschwitz being described as a “Polish death camp”, insinuating – intentionally or not – shared responsibility for what took place in Nazi-occupied Poland.
But the Israeli government, the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and many historians have attacked the law as an attempt to curb debate and research on complicity of individual Poles, or groups of Poles, in massacres of Jews during and after the Nazi period.
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| Under the proposed legislation, violators would face three years in prison for a mention of “Polish death camps.” Pictured is Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. Photograph: Istock |
Poland has disputed claims that a new law to punish false references to “Polish” concentration or death camps will hinder discourse about the country’s Nazi occupation.
On Wednesday evening Poland’s senate, the upper house of parliament, passed a controversial bill making it illegal to accuse the Polish nation or state of complicity in the Holocaust.
The bill foresees fines and a three-year jail term for “anyone who, against the facts, publicly states that the Polish nation or state was responsible or co-responsible for Third Reich crimes”.
President Andrzej Duda, who is expected to sign the amended bill into law, says Poland has the right “to defend historical truth” against distortions.
Particularly problematic in Polish eyes is the recurring problem of Auschwitz being described as a “Polish death camp”, insinuating – intentionally or not – shared responsibility for what took place in Nazi-occupied Poland.
But the Israeli government, the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and many historians have attacked the law as an attempt to curb debate and research on complicity of individual Poles, or groups of Poles, in massacres of Jews during and after the Nazi period.
Please Click Here For Details
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