Israel slams Polish legislation on Holocaust
occupied jerusalem — Israeli leaders angrily criticised pending legislation in Poland that would outlaw blaming Poles for the crimes of the Holocaust, with some accusing the Polish government of outright denial on Saturday as the world marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the proposed law “baseless” and ordered his country’s ambassador to Poland to meet with Polish leaders to express his strong opposition.
The lower house of the Polish parliament on Friday passed the bill, which prescribes prison time for using phrases such as “Polish death camps” to refer to the killing sites Nazi Germany operated in occupied Poland during World War II. > The pending legislation would outlaw blaming Poles for the crimes of the Holocaust. > Netanyahu asks country’s ambassador to convey opposition to Polish leaders. > The bill prescribes prison time
Many Poles fear such phrasing makes some people incorrectly conclude that Poles had a role in running the camps. But critics say the legislation could have a chilling effect on debating history, harming freedom of expression and opening a window to Holocaust denial.
The bill still needs approval from Poland’s Senate and president. for using phrases likes ‘Polish death camps’ to refer to the World War II killing sites. > Lower house of the Polish parliament has passed the bill. > The bill needs approval from Senate and president. However, it marks a dramatic step by the country’s current nationalist government to target anyone who tries to undermine its official stance that Poles only were heroes during the war, not Nazi collaborators who committed heinous crimes.
Netanyahu’s government generally has had good relations with Poland, which has been recently voting with Israel in international organisations.
At Auschwitz on Saturday evening, Israel’s ambassador to Poland, Anna Azari, abandoned a prepared speech to criticise the bill, saying that “everyone in Israel was revolted at this news”.
In Israel the legislation provoked outrage. Israeli president Reuven Rivlin, noting that exactly 73 years had passed since the Auschwitz death camp on Polish soil was liberated, cited the words of a former Polish president about how history could not be faked and the truth could not be hidden.
“The Jewish people, the State of Israel, and the entire world must ensure that the Holocaust is recognized for its horrors and atrocities,” Rivlin said. — AP
Saying ‘Polish death camps’ made a crime