Polish property restitution law ‘flawed, not fair,’ Polish chief rabbi says
World Jewish Restitution Organization says ordinance seeks ‘paper over history’
Chief Rabbi of Poland Michael Schudrich has described a law applying a statute of limitations to property restitution claims which was recently passed in the lower house of the Polish parliament as flawed and unfair.
Schudrich said efforts by the Polish government to protect current residents of confiscated properties might be understandable, but that the possibility of compensation for the original owners should be preserved.
Last Thursday, the lower house of the Polish parliament, the Sejm, approved legislation that would apply a 30-year statute of limitations to claims on property confiscated from their original owners by the Polish Communist regime after World War II.
In the late 1940s and early 1950s the Communist authorities enacted a massive program of property confiscation across the country, which included large amounts of property previously belonging to Poland’s prewar Jewish population of some three million people, 90% of whom were murdered at the hands of the Nazis in the Holocaust.
Much of this property confiscation was carried out in accordance with laws enacted by the Communist regime, but some was done outside the framework of those laws, leaving room for the original owners, or their heirs, to reclaim the property through the Polish courts.
According to the World Jewish Restitution Organization (WJRO), which has strongly advanced the cause of fair restitution or compensation for confiscated property in Poland, the new law would however make it impossible for a court to invalidate a confiscation if ten years have passed since that confiscation was carried out.
In addition, the new law would make it impossible to even begin proceedings in court to reclaim property if 30 years has passed since the property was confiscated.
Finally, if legal proceedings have already been initiated to reclaim a specific property, but were begun more than 30 years after it was confiscated and the legal process is not complete before the new law enters into force, then that claim would automatically be dismissed.
“One could make the argument that someone living in a property for 30 years has a right to feel that they are not going to be thrown out of their house,” Schudrich told The Jerusalem Post.
“On other hand, the government has still done something wrong and has a responsibility to correct that, so an argument can be made that compensation should be provided, the rabbi continued.
“Being able to gain compensation from the government would be the most reasonable, honest, fair, and moral solution.”
Added the rabbi: “This is clearly a flawed law and we need to see what we can do to make it better.”
Schudrich said there might be an option to amend the legislation to allow for compensation to be provided in lieu of property restitution before it passes through the Polish Senate and into law, but said that it remained to be seen whether or not the government was interested in such a measure.
Speaking to the Post, chair of Operations for the World Jewish Restitution Organization Gideon Taylor spoke out strongly against the legislation, saying it seeks to cover up the actions of Poland’s Communist regime.
“This proposed law would extinguish the limited number of claims which are possible, and instead of Poland saying in 2021 ‘lets find a creative way to address what happened’ its the reverse direction and the country is saying ‘we’re going to cover over what happened, and close out any claims,” and is saying that the issue is closed, that everyone has a good title, and is papering over history,” said Taylor.
Taylor also objected to what he said were efforts to misconstrue property restitution claims as a campaign to extract money from Poland for Nazi crimes, instead of what the claims are actually aimed at which is redress for the actions taken by the Communist government of Poland.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Friday after the law passed the Sejm that “as long as I am the prime minister, Poland will surely not pay for the German crimes. Not a zloty, not a euro, not a dollar,” a comment which was strongly condemned by Foreign Minister Yair Lapid.
“It is absolutely correct that
Poland was victim to terrible Nazi atrocities during the war but this issue is not trying to make Poland pay for those atrocities or the losses that happened during the war caused by the Germans,” insisted Taylor.
“This is absolutely not what this is about, this is about actions which were taken by the Polish Communist government after the war, it’s about property that was taken after the war which today exist in Poland and for which no compensation was ever paid.
“It is very disappointing to see politicians somehow imply that this is an attempt to make Poland pay for the wrongs of Germany, when that is absolutely, clearly not the case.”
“What we are seeking is for Poland to address its own past and actions that took place after the war and confiscations which affect many Holocaust survivors which is why it is a deep emotional concern to us and to the Jewish people and to the State of Israel and to the US,” Taylor said.
Taylor also noted that almost all other central and east European countries in which property confiscations took place have passed some form of compensation law.
“What we say to Poland is ‘let’s sit together and find a way to address the issue, let’s map out a plan that takes into [account] the financial realities, the survivors who are alive, and other issues.’
“But this legislation is so upsetting because it tries to wipe out any possibility of finding a solution.”