Fifty-nine US senators have co-signed a bipartisan letter urging Poland to amend draft legislation on a restitution bill that they say discriminates against survivors living in America.

The letter sent Monday to Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki concerns a measure from October that would require claimants to be citizens living in Poland and excludes all heirs except “first-line heirs,” meaning spouses, children or grandchildren.

Sens. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc., and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., co-authored the letter.

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“We are deeply concerned that the bill, in its current form, would discriminate against virtually all American survivors and heirs on the basis that they are not currently citizens of Poland and that they were not residents of Poland when their property was nationalized,” the letter says.

The letter comes amid a crisis in Israel’s relations with Poland over the enactment last month of a law that criminalizes blaming Poland for Nazi crimes. Jewish groups, which said the law prevents debate and research into the actions of thousands of Poles who collaborated with the Nazis, also harshly criticized Poland.

According to the Polish media, the country’s most senior leaders are not welcome at the White House because of the legislation.

The World Jewish Restitution Organization welcomed what its chair of operations, Gideon Taylor, called the senators’ “call for justice for Holocaust survivors and their families.” With fewer and fewer Holocaust survivors alive today, “we call on Poland urgently to address this historic wrong,” Taylor said in a statement and thanked the lawmakers.

Noting the part about the first-line heirs, the letters says the provision “would disproportionately impact Jewish victims and their families.”

Israel’s ambassador to Poland, Anna Azari, also complained about discrimination in the bill in a rare move by her Foreign Ministry. Israel usually refrains from speaking out publicly about restitution issues.

In their letter, the senators also tied the legislation to the future of US-Poland relations.

“We urge you to work with the Polish Parliament to pass fair and just restitution legislation that would both fully realize the goals of the Terezin Declaration and further strengthen the bond between our countries,” they wrote.

Restitution experts estimate that following the Holocaust, Jewish individuals and institutions in Poland lost property with a combined value exceeding $1 billion. Poland does not have laws for restitution for privately owned property. It passed a law on communal property in 1997 and has returned some of it, but thousands of claims in that category have gone unaddressed.

About 90 percent of over 3 million Polish Jews were killed in the Holocaust.</s>Fifty-nine US Senators on Monday sent a bipartisan letter to Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki urging his government to quickly pass fair legislation regarding restitution, which in its current form, would “discriminate against virtually all American survivors and heirs.”



In the letter, authored by Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Marco Rubio (R-FL), the senators wrote that draft legislation regarding restitution of property confiscated during and after the Holocaust would “adversely affect Holocaust victims and their heirs and is therefore of urgent importance to many of our constituents, millions of Americans, and Holocaust survivors around the world."





The Polish Justice Ministry said last month that it was reviewing the draft legislation after the Standing Committee of the Council of Ministers returned it to the ministry for reconsideration.The limits of the legislation have also drawn criticism from the Israeli government and the World Jewish Restitution Organization (WJRO), which said it would exclude the vast majority of Holocaust survivors and their families.Polish Deputy Justice Minister Patryk Jaki announced in October that the legislative proposals would grant cash compensation to those stripped of their property by the pro-Soviet communist regime that governed Poland following World War II. In many cases, property was initially looted by the Nazis and subsequently seized by the Communists.The draft legislation requires that claimants currently be citizens of Poland, as well as having been residents in Poland at the time that their property was nationalized by the Communist regime.A position paper submitted by the WJRO to the Justice Ministry explains that these provisions would exclude the vast majority of Holocaust survivors and their families.Since the Communist authorities nationalized property between 1944 and 1962, the requirement of residency at that time bars survivors who left Poland during the Holocaust or at any point before the property was nationalized, the WJRO wrote.Furthermore, because most Holocaust survivors and their families do not currently hold Polish citizenship, even those survivors who were still residents and citizens at the time their property was nationalized are still likely to be excluded based on the requirement of having current citizenship.In addition, only spouses and direct descendants can stake a claim to assets. Since many Jewish families were killed during the Holocaust, in various cases there are no living first-line heirs that could step forward and make a claim to properties, and siblings or nieces and nephews were often the only remaining heirs.Of the few who would be considered as eligible to claim properties, they still will not be given their properties back entirely. Instead, a successful claim would result in them receiving 20% of the value of the property in cash or 25% in government bonds. Claimants have a one-year deadline after which property would be transferred to the Polish Treasury.“The United States and Poland have a long and deep relationship stemming from the American Revolutionary War and continuing through our NATO partnership today,” wrote the senators in their letter. “It is in this spirit—coupled with the recognition of the tremendous contributions made by Polish-Americans—that we are writing to express concern about legislation regarding Holocaust Era property restitution that has been proposed by the Polish Ministry of Justice.”They objected to the legislation on the grounds that it would “eliminate the possibility of the return of actual property, provide only limited compensation, prevent compensation for ownership of companies that were destroyed, and bar claims by foreign citizens who did not benefit from eligible post-war treaties, including the one between Poland and the United States.”Gideon Taylor, WJRO Chair of Operations welcomes the letter, saying that “with fewer and fewer Holocaust survivors alive today, we call on Poland urgently to address this historic wrong. We are grateful to Senators Baldwin and Rubio and all of the 59 Senators who are raising their collective voice on behalf of Holocaust survivors and their families.”Poland is the only major country in Europe that has not passed national legislation for the restitution of property seized by the Nazis nor for property nationalized by a Communist regime, the letter notes.</s>(JTA) — Fifty-nine U.S. senators have co-signed a bipartisan letter urging Poland to amend draft legislation on a restitution bill that they say discriminates against survivors living in America.

The letter sent Monday to Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki concerns a measure from October that would require claimants to be citizens living in Poland and excludes all heirs except “first-line heirs,” meaning spouses, children or grandchildren.

“We are deeply concerned that the bill, in its current form, would discriminate against virtually all American survivors and heirs on the basis that they are not currently citizens of Poland and that they were not residents of Poland when their property was nationalized,” the letter says.

The letter comes amid a crisis in Israel’s relations with Poland over the enactment last month of a law that criminalizes blaming Poland for Nazi crimes. Jewish groups, which said the law prevents debate and research into the actions of thousands of Poles who collaborated with the Nazis, also harshly criticized Poland.

According to the Polish media, the country’s most senior leaders are not welcome at the White House because of the legislation.

The World Jewish Restitution Organization welcomed what its chair of operations, Gideon Taylor, called the senators’ “call for justice for Holocaust survivors and their families.” With fewer and fewer Holocaust survivors alive today, “we call on Poland urgently to address this historic wrong,” Taylor said in a statement and thanked the lawmakers.

Noting the part about the first-line heirs, the letters says the provision “would disproportionately impact Jewish victims and their families.”

Israel’s ambassador to Poland, Anna Azari, also complained about discrimination in the bill in a rare move by her Foreign Ministry. Israel usually refrains from speaking out publicly about restitution issues.

In their letter, the senators also tied the legislation to the future of U.S.-Poland relations.

“We urge you to work with the Polish Parliament to pass fair and just restitution legislation that would both fully realize the goals of the Terezin Declaration and further strengthen the bond between our countries,” they wrote.</s>Fifty-nine U.S. senators have called on the Polish prime minister to support legislation that would allow Holocaust victims and their heirs to receive compensation for property that was seized by the Germans during World War II and later nationalized by the Communists.

In a letter signed by more than half of the Senate and released Monday, the lawmakers expressed concern about a restitution bill under discussion in Poland that, in its current form, would require that claimants be Polish citizens and limit compensation to spouses, children or grandchildren.

“This draft legislation would adversely affect Holocaust victims and their heirs and is therefore of urgent importance to many of our constituents, millions of Americans, and Holocaust survivors around the world,” the senators wrote in the letter to Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

The letter was authored by Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat from Wisconsin, and Marco Rubio, a Republican from Florida.

The restitution of prewar property has proven to be a difficult challenge for Poland, which suffered massive destruction during the war and the changes of its borders in the postwar settlement, followed by the nationalization of property by the Communist regime. Those dispossessed included a swath of prewar Polish citizenry, among them many of the Jews who perished in the Holocaust or who fled Poland after the war.

Since the fall of communism, multiple efforts to pass a law that would offer restitution or partial compensation to prewar owners have all failed, with lawmakers balking at the high cost.

Without a systematic law there have been individual efforts, some of them successful, to regain properties. But the process has been marred by irregularities and fraud, with rightful heirs sometimes cheated out of their rights and tenants evicted by new owners.

With ownership of some properties unclear, especially in Warsaw, some buildings are falling into dilapidation while some plots cannot be developed.

The Polish draft legislation is an attempt to finally settle the matter.

The World Jewish Restitution Organization said it welcomed the call by the senators. Its chair of operations, Gideon Taylor, said: “With fewer and fewer Holocaust survivors alive today, we call on Poland urgently to address this historic wrong.”

The law comes as Poland has also seen its ties with the United States and Israel strained over a recently enacted Polish law that would limit some types of Holocaust speech.</s>WARSAW, Poland — Fifty-nine U.S. senators have called on the Polish prime minister to support legislation that would allow Holocaust victims and their heirs to receive compensation for property that was seized by the Germans during World War II and later nationalized by the Communists.

In a letter signed by more than half of the Senate and released Monday, the lawmakers expressed concern about a restitution bill under discussion in Poland that, in its current form, would require that claimants be Polish citizens and limit compensation to spouses, children or grandchildren.

The U.S senators said they are “deeply concerned” because the bill would discriminate against Jewish heirs, many of them Americans.

The effort was led by Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat from Wisconsin, and Marco Rubio, a Republican from Florida.</s>WARSAW/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's education minister said on Monday he was "honored" Poland had canceled his visit to Warsaw this week because he refused to back off of condemnation of a bill that would outlaw suggesting Poland was complicit in the Holocaust.

 Earlier on Monday, Naftali Bennett said he would travel to Poland to discuss the bill, which Israeli officials have said amounts to Holocaust denial. However Poland's government spokeswoman said there would be no such visit.

 "The blood of Polish Jews cries from the ground, and no law will silence it," Bennett later said in a statement. "The government of Poland canceled my visit, because I mentioned the crimes of its people. I am honored."

 After Bennett's statement, the government spokeswoman declined to comment further on the issue.

 Israel has denounced the Polish Holocaust bill, which passed in parliament last week and is awaiting a decision by President Andrzej Duda over whether to sign it.

 The Polish measure would impose prison sentences of up to three years for mentioning the term "Polish death camps" and for suggesting "publicly and against the facts" that the Polish nation or state was complicit in Nazi Germany's crimes.

 Poland's rightwing nationalist government says the bill is necessary to protect the reputation of Poles as victims of Nazi aggression. Israel says the law would ban true statements about the role that some Poles played in Nazi crimes.

 The bill has drawn criticism from the United States and condemnation from a number of international organizations as well as Polish minority groups.

 Poland, which had Europe's biggest Jewish population when it was invaded by both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union at the start of World War Two, became ground zero for the "final solution", Hitler's plan to exterminate the Jews of Europe.

 More than three million of Poland's 3.2 million Jews were murdered by the Nazis, accounting for about half of the Jews killed in the Holocaust. Jews from across the continent were sent to be killed at death camps built and operated by Germans in Poland, including Auschwitz, Treblinka, Belzec and Sobibor.

 According to figures from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Nazis also killed at least 1.9 million non-Jewish Polish civilians.

 "The death camps in Poland were built and operated by the Germans, and we cannot allow them to evade responsibility for these actions," Bennett said.

 "However, many Polish people, all over the country, chased, informed or actively took part in the murder of over 200,000 Jews during, and after, the Holocaust. Only a few thousand people, Righteous Among the Nations, risked themselves to save Jews."

 

 (Additional reporting by Pawel Sobczak in WARSAW; Writing by Lidia Kelly; Editing by Peter Graff)</s>RALEIGH, North Carolina – The area of the country around here is known as the Research Triangle.

Yet, as far as the Ottawa Senators are concerned, it has become more like the Bermuda Triangle, a place where their game mysteriously disappears over and over again.

It was the same old story again Monday, as the depleted Senators lineup — full of recent call-ups from Belleville of the American Hockey League — lost 4-1 to the Carolina Hurricanes.

The Senators are now 1-12-3 at the PNC Arena in the past decade.

They are also on a five-game losing streak, continuing to struggle towards the finish line with eight games remaining in this lost season.

Warren Foegele, with his first NHL goal in his first NHL game, Valentin Zykov and Brock McGinn scored for the Hurricanes. Sebastian Aho iced the game by scoring into an empty net, extending his point streak to nine games. Hurricanes goaltender Cam Ward made 19 saves. Bobby Ryan scored for the Senators, with goaltender Craig Anderson stopping 26 Hurricanes shots.

The Senators, who lost the first end of the home-and-away series to the Hurricanes 5-2 on Saturday at Canadian Tire Centre, were very much alive midway through the contest.

Ryan’s goal, on a spinerama move in the slot after taking a pass from Matt Duchene, tied the game 1-1. It came after a strong push by the Senators in the opening minutes of the middle period.

The Hurricanes, however, took control again with goals from Zykov – the former Gatineau Olympiques star – and Brock McGinn before the period was out.

Zykov’s goal, his fourth in six NHL games, came after Anderson failed to control a rebound outside the crease.

McGinn had time to set up shot in the slot before ripping a shot into the roof of the net past Anderson.

“I thought we played well for 55 minutes,” said Ryan. “You’ve got to manage that (late second period play). We compounded (the Zykov goal) by giving up a 2-on-1 right after that to make it 3-1. You’re asking your goalie to make a big save right down the middle.”

Coming into the game, the Senators knew they were in tough, playing without captain Erik Karlsson and alternate captain Mark Stone.

Ben Sexton, called up from Belleville of the AHL on Sunday, was the latest player to receive a shot in the big leagues.

Without Karlsson, the Senators blue line featured three rookies: Thomas Chabot, Ben Harpur and Christian Wolanin.

Considering that the Hurricanes were in position to control the match-ups because they owned home ice, with the opportunity to exploit the Senators inexperience, Senators coach Guy Boucher recognized how difficult the situation could be.

Boucher likened it to “throwing lions into the den” and a “baptism by fire”.

At this point, the Senators can only hope that all the learning on the fly will pay dividends at some point down the road.

“They’ve got to learn somehow, right?” said Anderson. “Right now, it’s a good time. You see some guys stepping into roles they’re not used to playing and doing quite well with it.”

The Senators stayed even with the Hurricanes for most of the first period, catching a break or two – including a Derek Ryan shot off the post at the 4:30 mark – but the Hurricanes broke the ice with 1:08 left in the opening period.

While Sexton was living out his dream of playing his first NHL game for the Senators, so, too, was Foegele.

Foegele didn’t waste the opportunity, squeezing a bad angle shot past Anderson. Foegele added an assist on Zykov’s second period goal.

The Senators chances were limited in the first period, with Ward’s best stop being a trapper save off Ryan with 7:30 left in the period.

In traditional fashion, Sexton received the raw rookie treatment by his teammates during the pre-game warm-up, doing a couple of laps on his own before the remainder of the team joined him.

“I kind of had a little moment there during the national anthem,” Sexton said of finally being on the big stage. “I gave myself a little pinch there and realized I was in the National Hockey League. It was definitely cool.”

There’s little time for the Senators to rest.

They were scheduled to fly back to Ottawa immediately following the game in preparation for Tuesday’s game against the New York Islanders at Canadian Tire Centre. The Islanders, like the Senators and Hurricanes, are also playing out the string in a season that will end without a playoff berth.</s>FIVE KEYS TO THE GAME

1—Solving the PNC Arena riddle: In their past 15 appearances in Raleigh, dating back to 2008-09, the Senators have posted a 1-11-3 record in the building.

2—Letting the call-ups shine: Ben Sexton will make his NHL debut Monday, the latest recall from Belleville to receive a shot in the big leagues.

3—Under siege in their own end: In the past three games, the Senators have been outscored 18-6, including a 5-2 loss to Carolina at Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday.

4—Managing the minutes: Without Erik Karlsson in the lineup, the Senators top end defencemen will receive big minutes. Without Karlsson last Thursday against Edmonton, Cody Ceci played 32:49.

5—Playing with pride: In the big picture, there isn’t all that much for either team to play for, having been pushed out of the playoff race weeks ago. Still, losing shouldn’t sit well with competitive athletes.

Somewhat lost in the Senators’ 5-2 loss to the Hurricanes Saturday was the fact Pageau played 21:32 and went 11-6 in the face-off circle. If Pageau had scored on a late first-period breakaway to give the Senators a 2-1 lead, it could have turned the game in the Senators favour.

Staal, meanwhile, had a strong game of his own for the Hurricanes, registering a goal and an assist in his 17:13 of ice time. He went 11-7 in faceoffs.</s>Advocacy by a Catholic middle school teacher helped convince the Kentucky legislature to make teaching about the Holocaust mandatory in public schools.



The state Senate on Wednesday unanimously passed the Ann Klein and Fred Gross Holocaust Education Act. The House passed the bill earlier this month, the Jewish Louisville Community reported.





Governor Matt Bevin is expected to sign the legislation into law.New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Florida, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and California are states that require some measure of Holocaust and genocide education, according to the report.The bill requires every public middle and high school in the state to include in their curriculum instruction on the Holocaust and other acts of genocide, as defined by the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.Fred Whitaker, a science, religion and Holocaust studies teacher at St. Francis of Assisi School in Louisville – a Catholic middle school – has been lobbying for mandatory Holocaust instruction for 13 years. He has involved his students in the process, bringing them to the capital, Frankfort, to testify before House and Senate committees on how Holocaust instruction has affected their lives, the Jewish Louisville Community reported.Other St. Francis parents and students have worked the phones and social media and stood on the capitol steps with signs in what became a full-court press for passage, according to the report.Whitaker will travel to Poland this summer on a Classrooms Without Borders seminar to see the Nazi death camps and walk through the Warsaw Ghetto Gross, a Holocaust survivor, and Linda Klein, daughter of the late Ann Klein, were on the floor when the vote was taken and received a standing ovation from the senators.About 10,000 Jews live in Kentucky.
A letter from 59 US Senators is sent to Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki criticising proposed legislation on reparations to Holocaust victims. The Senators say the bill will discriminate against victims and descendants who had emigrated.