Page 10 - ARUBA TODAY

A10 WORLD NEWS
Thursday 28 June 2018

Poland scraps prison threat for blaming nation for Holocaust

By VANESSA GERA One nationalist lawmaker,
MONIKA SCISLOWSKA Robert Winnicki, described
Associated Press the changes as caving in
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — to Jewish interests. He even
Poland suddenly back- tried to block the podium in
tracked Wednesday on a the lower house in protest,
disputed Holocaust speech but the vote went ahead
law, scrapping the threat anyway. Meanwhile, lib-
of prison for attributing Nazi eral opponents bitterly criti-
crimes to the Polish nation cized the ruling party for in-
— but leaving the possibility troducing the law in the first
of fines in place. place, calling it a disaster
The original law, which was that had deeply harmed
passed five months ago, the country's international
was presented as an at- position.
tempt to defend the coun- Morawiecki, the prime
try's "good name" — but minster, argued that the
mostly had the opposite legislation had still been
effect. There was wide- a success because it had
spread suspicion that the created greater global
true intent was to suppress awareness of Poland's war-
free inquiry into a complex time tragedy and heroism.
past, and the law was com- He described the joint dec-
pared by some to history laration with Netanyahu as
laws in Turkey and Russia. one positive result.
The amendments were un- "We have defended the
expectedly presented to honor of our forefathers,"
lawmakers by Prime Minis- Morawiecki said. "This is a
ter Mateusz Morawiecki in very good day for Poland,
the morning, passed with for Poland's history."
lightning speed in both During difficult questioning
houses of the legislature by in the Senate, he pushed
the afternoon, and then back against the idea that
signed by the president be- Poland was doing the bid-
fore nightfall. ding of foreign interests
"This small corrective and insisted that "nobody is
strengthens our position, as writing our laws for us. This is
we defend Poland's good a sovereign decision."
name, because during The legislation keeps in
those few months we were place the possibility of law-
able to awaken the aware- suits and fines for the same
ness of many our partners, offenses. Morawiecki sug-
also in Israel," Morawiecki gested Poland would use
said in defending the whole In this file photo dated Friday, Feb. 2, 2018, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki visits the the law against any offend-
legislative effort. Ulma Family Museum, in Markowa, Poland. ing foreign media, saying
The original version of the Associated Press they could face fines of
law had called for prison even 100 million dollars or
terms of up to three years cussing cases of Poles who dispute with the European Israel's Prime Minister Benja- euros. It wasn't clear how
for falsely and intentionally denounced or killed Jews Union over rule of law. min Netanyahu welcomed that would work in prac-
accusing the Polish nation during the war. Polish Holocaust scholars the amendments and is- tice.
of Holocaust crimes that But the law nonetheless argued that the original sued a conciliatory joint The dispute with Israel had
were committed by Nazi sparked a major diplomatic law would have been use- statement with Morawiecki sparked a wave of anti-
Germany. crisis with Israel, where Ho- less against people outside late Wednesday that ex- Semitic comments in Po-
The ruling Law and Jus- locaust survivors and poli- of Poland and feared it was pressed a common desire land — even by officials
tice party said it needed a ticians feared that it was mostly meant to suppress a for dialogue and acknowl- and state-run media com-
tool to fight back against an attempt to whitewash growing body of scholarly edged many of Poland's mentators — as well as anti-
foreign media and politi- the episodes of Polish anti- research about Polish vio- positions. Polish hate speech in Israel
cians who have sometimes Semitism. The United States lence against Jews. But Poland's government and elsewhere.
used expressions like "Polish warned the law threat- The focus on the dark side will now have to face the The joint Polish-Israeli dec-
death camps" to refer to ened academic freedom of Polish wartime history is anger of nationalist voters, laration condemned both
German-run camps in oc- and could harm Poland's deeply unsettling to many who saw the original law anti-Semitism and "anti-Pol-
cupied Poland. Even for- "strategic" relationships. Poles, who fear it has come as an attempt to defend onism," or prejudice against
mer U.S. President Barack Ukraine strongly opposed to overshadow the heroic national honor. Many feel Poles, and Morawiecki
Obama once used such the law as well because it aspects of Poland's resis- that the nation's dignity has welcomed the formal ac-
terminology, causing deep criminalized denying atroc- tance to Nazi Germany been debased by the fo- knowledgement of its exis-
offense. ities committed by Ukrai- and the massive suffering cus on Polish wartime anti- tence.
Polish authorities insisted nian nationalists against inflicted on the country. Semitism, which they see The law was never put
that nobody would be Poles. During the war, nearly 6 as pushing from view acts into practice because the
punished for any statement Those strained ties with its million Polish citizens were of Polish resistance against president had sent it to the
backed up by facts and allies deepened Poland's killed — 3 million Jews but the Nazis and the help giv- Constitutional Tribunal for
that there would be no international isolation at almost as many Christian en to Jews by thousands of review, expressing some
criminal punishment for dis- a sensitive time of a bitter Poles. Poles. doubts about it.q