Poland amends controversial Holocaust law

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Europe

Poland's prime minister on Wednesday proposed an amendment to a controversial Holocaust law that has stoked tension with Israel by imposing jail terms on anyone ascribing co-responsibility of the Polish state for Nazi German war crimes, a senior aide said.

The amendment is designed to remove fines or criminal penalties of up to three years in prison for anyone found guilty of ascribing Nazi crimes to the Polish state.

Holocaust Museum in Silesia, Poland. /VCG Photo

"We are departing from criminal penalization that may divert attention from the goal" of the legislation, Michal Dworczyk, a chief aide to rightwing Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, told public broadcaster Polish Radio.

"It must be remembered that this goal was and is to defend the good name of Poland and historical truth," Dworczyk added.

The law, passed by Poland's Senate in February, currently sets fines or up to three years in jail for anyone ascribing "responsibility or co-responsibility to the Polish nation or state for crimes committed by the German Third Reich".

Holocaust monument in Silesia, Poland. /VCG Photo

The main aim of the legislation was to prevent people from erroneously describing Nazi German death camps in Poland, such as Auschwitz-Birkenau, as Polish.

But the jail terms included in the law ignited an unprecedented diplomatic row with Israel and calls in the Jewish state for the recall of Israel's ambassador in Warsaw.

Israel expressed deep concerns that the legislation could open the door to prosecuting Holocaust survivors for their testimony should it concern the involvement of individual Poles for allegedly killing or giving up Jews to the Germans.

People take part in the annual "March of the Living" to commemorate the Holocaust, in Oswiecim, Poland, April 12, 2018. /VCG Photo‍

Israel also sees it as a bid to deny the participation of individual Poles in killing Jews or handing them over to the Nazis.

Poland's government has faced criticism over the law, which it insists was meant to protect Poland from false accusations of complicity in the Holocaust.

Poland was occupied by Nazi Germany in World War II, losing six million of its citizens, including three million Jews.

(Cover: Messages are left by visitors on the railway during the "March of the Living", a yearly Holocaust remembrance march on April 12, 2018 in Oswiecim, Poland. /VCG Photo)

Source(s): AFP