World: Poland passes Holocaust bill

Israel, US voice concerns over controversial legislation

Polish lawmakers approved draft legislation on Thursday penalizing suggestions of any complicity by Poland in the Nazi Holocaust on its soil during World War II, defying criticism by Israel and the United States.

The proposal has triggered a diplomatic spat between Israel and Warsaw’s conservative government since its initial approval in the lower house of parliament last week, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu comparing it to an effort to change history.

The US State Department urged Poland on Wednesday to reevaluate the draft law, expressing concern about consequences on Warsaw’s relations with the US and Israel if the draft becomes law.

Under the proposed legislation, violators would face three years in prison for a mention of “Polish death camps,” although scientific research into World War II would not be constrained.

Poland has fought against the use of the phrase in some Western media for years, arguing it suggested the Polish state was at least partly responsible for the camps, where millions of people, mostly Jews, were killed by Nazi Germany.

The camps were built and operated by the Nazis after the 1939 invasion of Poland, home to Europe’s largest Jewish community at the time.

“We have to send a clear signal to the world that we won’t allow for Poland to continue being insulted,” Patryk Jaki, a deputy justice minister, told reporters in parliament.

The Senate voted on the draft bill in the early hours on Thursday and it will now be sent to President Andrzej Duda for a final signature.

Poland’s PAP news agency reported 57 senators voted for the draft bill, with 23 against and two abstentions.

The Polish government has said the legislation aims to stop the Polish people or state being blamed for Nazi crimes.

The US said, however, the legislation “could undermine free speech and academic discourse. We all must be careful not to inhibit discussion and commentary on the Holocaust.”

“We believe open debate, scholarship, and education are the best means of countering inaccurate and hurtful speech,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement.