WARSAW: A Polish diplomat accused of improving contacts with Jews around the world has been fired after criticizing his own government’s approach to deregulation Holocaust speech, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Monday.
jaroslav novak, the plenipotentiary for contacts with the Jewish diaspora called the Holocaust speech legislation passed by his country’s ruling party “stupid”.
Nowak also said that Poland should pass a law on the restoration of assets, a statement that draws further criticism from the ruling authorities, who have recently passed a law cutting off opportunities for restoration or compensation for properties confiscated by communists. had passed.
Those affected include Holocaust survivors and their successors.
foreign Minister zabignyu rau On Saturday, Novak was fired, the ministry’s spokesman, Lukasz Jasin, announced on Twitter on Monday.
The development comes just days after Poland recalled its new ambassador to Prague, after the diplomat criticized his own country – in that case, Poland’s approach to a dispute with the Czech Republic over a state-run coal mine. in relation.
Nowak’s sacking came a day after Jewish News UK published an interview in which Nowak said that the law passed in 2018 to ban certain statements about Poland and the Holocaust was “the most committed by any law”. One of the stupidest modifications.”
The law sought to fight against false claims that Poland, a victim of Nazi Germany, took responsibility for the Holocaust. This angered Israel, where many felt it was an attempt to whitewash the fact that some Poles had killed Jews during the German occupation during World War II.
The law originally convicted Poland as a nation for Holocaust crimes committed by Nazi Germany, with a prison sentence of up to three years for wrongly attributing German crimes in Poland. It was later amended to remove the criminal provisions.
Last year Poland also approved a law that sharply restricts the rights of Holocaust survivors or their descendants to reclaim property confiscated by the country’s former communist regime.
That law provoked a serious diplomatic dispute with Israel that is still unresolved.
“I think at some point Poland really has to come to the conclusion that we have to do something,” Nowak said.
Nowak has been involved in the Polish-Jewish dialogue since the 1980s. He became the plenipotentiary for liaison with the Jewish diaspora in July.
jaroslav novak, the plenipotentiary for contacts with the Jewish diaspora called the Holocaust speech legislation passed by his country’s ruling party “stupid”.
Nowak also said that Poland should pass a law on the restoration of assets, a statement that draws further criticism from the ruling authorities, who have recently passed a law cutting off opportunities for restoration or compensation for properties confiscated by communists. had passed.
Those affected include Holocaust survivors and their successors.
foreign Minister zabignyu rau On Saturday, Novak was fired, the ministry’s spokesman, Lukasz Jasin, announced on Twitter on Monday.
The development comes just days after Poland recalled its new ambassador to Prague, after the diplomat criticized his own country – in that case, Poland’s approach to a dispute with the Czech Republic over a state-run coal mine. in relation.
Nowak’s sacking came a day after Jewish News UK published an interview in which Nowak said that the law passed in 2018 to ban certain statements about Poland and the Holocaust was “the most committed by any law”. One of the stupidest modifications.”
The law sought to fight against false claims that Poland, a victim of Nazi Germany, took responsibility for the Holocaust. This angered Israel, where many felt it was an attempt to whitewash the fact that some Poles had killed Jews during the German occupation during World War II.
The law originally convicted Poland as a nation for Holocaust crimes committed by Nazi Germany, with a prison sentence of up to three years for wrongly attributing German crimes in Poland. It was later amended to remove the criminal provisions.
Last year Poland also approved a law that sharply restricts the rights of Holocaust survivors or their descendants to reclaim property confiscated by the country’s former communist regime.
That law provoked a serious diplomatic dispute with Israel that is still unresolved.
“I think at some point Poland really has to come to the conclusion that we have to do something,” Nowak said.
Nowak has been involved in the Polish-Jewish dialogue since the 1980s. He became the plenipotentiary for liaison with the Jewish diaspora in July.
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