Holocaust speech law OKd by Senate

WARSAW — Poland’s Senate has backed legislation that will regulate Holocaust speech, a move that has already strained relations with both Israel and the United States.

The bill proposed by Poland’s ruling conservative Law and Justice party and voted for Thursday could see individuals facing up to three years in prison for intentionally attempting to falsely attribute the crimes of Nazi Germany to the Polish nation as a whole.

It was approved by the lower house last week. The bill has yet to become law as it requires the approval from President Andrzej Duda, who has supported it.

Although the bill exempts artistic and research work, it has raised concerns that the Polish state will decide itself what it considers to be historic facts. The bill has already sparked a diplomatic dispute with Israel and drawn calls from the United States for a reconsideration.

Though Deputy Justice Minister Patryk Jaki suggested Israel had been consulted on the bill and voiced no objections, many in Israel have argued that the move is an attempt to whitewash the role some Poles played in the killing of Jews during World War II.

Poland’s government argues that it is fighting against the use of phrases like “Polish death camps” to refer to camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland.