Poland's president promises to review Holocaust bill

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January 28, 2018 4:45 PM

Polands president on Sunday vowed to review a new bill regarding the Holocaust and the definition of Nazi death camps, after the measure sparked a diplomatic row with Israel.

Poland's rightwing-dominated parliament on Friday adopted legislation that sets fines or a maximum three-year jail term for anyone who refers to Nazi German death camps as being Polish.

The measure, intended to apply to both Poles and foreigners, must still pass the Senate before being signed by the president.

Poland's President Andrzej Duda said in a statement on Sunday that he would present his "final evaluation of procedural legal provisions after the completion of parliament's work and a careful analysis of the final shape of the act."

The bill includes an article that applies the same penalty of a fine or up to three years in jail to anyone who ascribes "responsibility or co-responsibility to the Polish nation or state for crimes committed by the German Third Reich -- or other crimes against humanity, peace and war crimes."

Israel's ambassador to Poland Anna Azari told the Polish PAP news agency that Israel believes the latter article could open the door to Holocaust survivors being prosecuted for their testimony should it concern the involvement of Poles in war crimes.

Six million citizens

She said that while Israel's government rejects the legislation, it also "understands" who built death camps like Auschwitz and that it was "not the Poles".

Duda appeared to address the concerns expressed by Azari saying that "everyone whose personal memory or historical research speaks the truth about the crimes and shameful behaviour that occurred in the past with the participation of Poles has full right to this truth."

A top Duda aide was set to meet with Azari on Monday in Warsaw, after Israel summoned a top Polish diplomat to express concerns over the legislation on Sunday.

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

Polish officials routinely request corrections when global media or politicians describe as "Polish" the former death camps such as Auschwitz set up by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland.

Late on Saturday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Poland of seeking to deny history with the bill, sentiments he repeated at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting.

"We have no tolerance for the distortion of the truth and rewriting history or denying the Holocaust," Netanyahu said on Sunday.

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