Polish president signs controversial Holocaust bill into law

Poland’s president has signed a bill that outlaws blaming Poland as a nation for crimes committed by Nazi Germany during the Holocaust.

Officials confirmed Andrzej Duda had enacted the law about six hours after he announced he planned to do so.

However, Mr Duda said earlier in the day he planned to ask Poland’s constitutional court to evaluate the bill, leaving open the possibility it might be amended.

As written, the legislation approved by Polish MPs carries fines and prison sentences of up to three years for public statements that falsely attribute the crimes of Nazi Germany to Poland.

Both Israel and the US have criticised the law. Israeli officials and Holocaust scholars said it would allow Poland to whitewash the role of Poles who killed or denounced Jews during Nazi Germany’s occupation of Poland during the Second World War.