Poland cancels Israeli delegation’s visit over Holocaust restitution concerns
Polish government pulls trip over concerns they may have raised the issue of returning former property of Polish Jews looted by Nazi Germany
The Polish government has cancelled a visit by an Israeli delegation because it is thought they would raise the possible restitution of former Jewish property looted during the Second World War.
The issue is emerging in Poland ahead of European elections this month and national elections in the autumn.
Poland was once home to 3.3 million Jews, most whom were murdered by Nazi Germany during the Holocaust.
Their properties were often looted by Germans and later nationalised by the Communist regime.
Some Jewish organisations have been seeking the restitution of the properties.
This comes after hundreds of protesters against Holocaust restitution in Poland marched through Warsaw.
The protest Saturday, which began outside the U.S. embassy and moved to the prime minister’s office, featured signs calling claimants “Holocaust hyenas.” Another slogan heard was “stop the Jewish claims,” Gazeta Wyborcza reported.
It was over the passing last year of a law, which President Donald Trump signed, called the Justice for Uncompensated Survivors Today Act. The far-right National Radical Camp movement, known in Poland as ONR, had a significant presence at the rally, according to Gazeta Wyborcza.
The measure requires the State Department to report on how certain European countries have progressed in returning wrongfully confiscated or transferred Holocaust-era assets. It does not mention Poland which is the only European country that has not passed laws to compensate for private-owned property lost during World War II.
The nationalist Law and Justice government has said that as a victim in World War Two Poland should not be saddled with any financial obligations, Reuters reported.
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki repeated that message at an election rally in the northern town of Mlawa on Saturday, state run news agency PAP reported.
“We will not allow any damages to be paid to anyone because it is us who should get damages,” PAP quoted him as saying.
Poland will hold European parliament elections on May 26. Elections for its own parliament will take place in the autumn.
comments