Polish President Andrzej Duda announces his decision to sign a legislation penalizing certain statements about the Holocaust, in Warsaw, Poland.

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland's president on Tuesday signed legislation that outlaws blaming Poland as a nation for Holocaust crimes committed by Nazi Germany, defying both criticism from Israel and a warning from the U.S.

But in a move that appeared designed to soften the impact of his decision, President Andrzej Duda said he would also ask Poland's constitutional court to evaluate the bill — leaving open the possibility it would be amended.

As currently written, the legislation calls for prison terms of up to three years for falsely attributing the crimes of Nazi Germany to Poland. The law takes effect 14 days after it's officially published, but it wasn't immediately clear when that will be.

Poland's authorities have described it as an attempt to protect the country's reputation from what it believes is confusion about who bears responsibility for Auschwitz and other death camps Nazi Germany set up in occupied Poland. They say it was modeled on anti-defamation laws in many other countries, including laws criminalizing Holocaust denial.

The proposed law has fueled a diplomatic crisis with Israel, which fears it would stifle discussion about the Holocaust and enable Poland to whitewash the role of the Poles who killed or denounced Jews during the German occupation of Poland during World War II.

Israel's Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that it would continue to communicate with Poland despite its reservations about the law. It said it hopes Duda's decision to ask the constitutional court to evaluate the bill will allow both sides to "agree on changes and corrections."

That language seemed more conciliatory than earlier statements, suggesting the sides are seeking compromise.

Duda acknowledged there were doubts about the legislation's intent, leading some observers to interpret his request for a constitutional review as a way to save face while calming the storm.

But critics say it was a diversionary tactic.

Slawomir Neumann of the centrist Civic Platform party accused Duda of giving in to the pressure of nationalists and anti-Semites and said his signing "deepens the diplomatic crisis."

Neumann, head of the party's parliamentary caucus, also described the constitutional court as a body without independence that will rule as the governing party wants.

The United States also strongly opposed the legislation, warning that it could hurt Poland's strategic relations with both Israel and the U.S.

Holocaust scholars and institutions have strongly denounced the law as well, arguing that its unclear wording creates the potential for abuse. Polish officials note that a provision in the law exempts historic research and works of art.

Polish officials have long argued a Holocaust speech law is needed to fight expressions like "Polish death camps" for the Nazi camps where Jews and others were exterminated.

Defending the law, Duda said it would not prohibit Holocaust survivors and witnesses from talking about crimes committed by individual Poles.

"We do not deny that there were cases of huge wickedness," he said in a speech.

But he said the point of the law is to prevent the Polish nation as a whole from being wrongly accused of institutionalized participation in the Holocaust. He recalled that the Polish government at the time had to go into exile and Polish officials were those who struggled to inform the world that the Germans were putting Jews to death on Polish soil.

"No, there was no systemic way in which Poles took part in it," Duda said.

The legislation hasn't only sparked a bitter dispute with Israel. It also has caused division within Poland, where anti-Semitic rhetoric moved quickly from the political fringes into the mainstream over just a few days.

Beata Mazurek, the spokeswoman for the conservative Law and Justice and a deputy parliament speaker, tweeted a quote by a Catholic priest who had said that the Israeli ambassador's criticism of the bill "made it hard for me to look at Jews with sympathy and kindness."

Many conservative lawmakers and commentators are now accusing Israelis and American Jews of using the issue as a pretext for getting money from Poland for prewar Jewish property seized in the communist era.

Jerzy Czerwinski, a senator with the ruling party, said on state radio Monday that he saw a "hidden agenda" in the opposition.

"After all, we know that Jewish circles, including American, but mostly the state of Israel, are trying to get restitution of property or at least compensation," he said.

On Monday evening, a small group of far-right advocates demonstrated in front of the presidential palace demanding that Duda sign the law. They carried a banner that said, "Take off your yarmulke. Sign the bill."

The bill first was proposed about two years ago, soon after Law and Justice took power in 2015, but hadn't been an issue of public debate recently. Many people were surprised when lawmakers suddenly approved it on Jan. 26, the day before International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Jan Grabowski, a historian at the University of Ottawa in Canada who studies Polish violence against Jews during the war, called Duda's signing of the law "further proof that the nationalists now in power in Poland will do anything to cater to the hard, right-wing core of their electorate."

"Unfortunately, it is not only the nationalists but also the whole Polish society which will have to pay the price," said Grabowski, who is also a member of the Polish Center for Holocaust Research in Warsaw.

Aron Heller and Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.</s>BERLIN – Polish President Andrzej Duda signed a highly controversial bill Tuesday that will ban most Holocaust accusations against Poles as well as descriptions of Nazi death camps as Polish – raising tensions with the United States and Israel, which criticized the measure.

An ally of the ruling right-wing Law and Justice Party who occasionally has been willing to buck the party’s will, Duda also announced that he would ask the country’s Constitutional Tribunal to review the bill to check whether it complies with Poland’s fundamental rights, such as freedom of speech. But the announcement to pursue a parallel review of the law did not stave off rebukes from key Polish allies.

Hours after the law was signed, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said he was “disappointed” in Duda’s decision. “Enactment of this law adversely affects freedom of speech and academic inquiry. . . . We believe that open debate, scholarship, and education are the best means of countering misleading speech,” Tillerson said.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry responded to the news of Duda’s decision Tuesday, expressing hope that the constitutional review would prompt “changes and corrections.” But the law is expected to take effect before the tribunal would be able to issue any clarifications, and the independence of the judges themselves has been questioned after the Law and Justice Party passed reform plans that critics condemned as an “assault” on the judiciary.

“The constitutional tribunal in its current composition serves the goals of the ruling party. . . . It is definitely not independent,” said Piotr Buras, head of the Warsaw office of the European Council on Foreign Relations. “But referring the bill to the tribunal was probably still the best available option to the Polish president.”

Buras added: “To the international audience, especially the U.S. and Israel, it signals that the Polish side sees the seriousness of the case and is perhaps ready for some changes. But it also signals to the ruling party’s most conservative domestic supporters that the government is not ready to back down.”

By refusing to veto the bill, Duda dashed the possibility of political negotiations, which Israel and the United States had still hoped for in recent days. Instead, the bill is to take effect within the next two weeks, even as the Constitutional Tribunal reviews the legislation. The tribunal is now the only institution that could still reverse the law in its entirety or in parts.

The bill’s international critics – which include the U.S. State Department and the Israeli government – argue that it violates freedom of expression. Once in effect, it will essentially ban accusations that some Poles were complicit in Nazi crimes committed on Polish soil, including in the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp, where more than 1.1 million people died. Germany operated six camps in Poland where Jews and others whom the Nazis considered enemies were killed. Once the legislation is enacted, anyone convicted under the law will face fines or up to three years in jail.

Polish officials have emphasized that artistic and historical research work will not be affected. “But there is too much room for interpretation,” said Agnieszka Markiewicz, the director of the American Jewish Committee’s central Europe office. “Who is going to determine what artistic or academic expression means? A scholar associated with a university might be excluded, but what about a schoolteacher who shares some of the horrible stories that happened in Poland?”

Markiewicz said the American Jewish Committee agreed that those crimes were committed by individuals and that the term “Polish death camps,” was “unjust and untrue” but cautioned that an extensive ban on freedom of speech was the wrong way forward.

The State Department agreed in a statement last week that the phrase “Polish death camps” was “inaccurate, misleading, and hurtful.” But it also cautioned that the bill “could undermine free speech and academic discourse.” The department warned that if the legislation is signed, it could have repercussions for “Poland’s strategic interests and relationships.”

In Israel, the reaction was also fierce. “One cannot change history, and the Holocaust cannot be denied,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement last week.

On Tuesday, the executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Malcolm Hoenlein, argued that Poland’s decision to pursue the law was a denial of facts. “It is not credible to engage in the denial,” Hoenlein said, according to The Associated Press.

Netanyahu and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki spoke on the phone 10 days ago, but despite appearing to agree to a diplomatic dialogue, the Polish government stood by the bill last week and pursued Senate approval.

Polish Deputy Justice Minister Patryk Jaki later referred to Israeli reactions as “proof of how necessary this bill is.”

In a speech on Tuesday, Duda used less provocative rhetoric. “[We] do not deny that there were cases of huge wickedness” in which Poles denounced Jews, he said, according to the AP. But Duda also stressed that “there was no systemic way in which Poles took part in” Nazi crimes.

Poland was invaded and occupied by Nazi Germany in 1939, but unlike in other European countries, there was no collaborationist Polish government. About 6 million Polish citizens were killed during World War II, about half of them Jews.

Throughout years of Nazi occupation between 1939 and 1945, a number of Polish underground movements resisted the Nazis. It is that chapter of history that the Law and Justice Party wants to emphasize.

But historians have long argued that it is not the full story: Some Poles, they say, were complicit in the Nazi crimes. Historians have pointed to incidents, including a 1941 atrocity in the town of Jedwabne, in which Poles rounded up and killed their Jewish neighbors.

The ruling party’s critics say that the legislation is mainly intended to fuel nationalistic sentiments in the country. “This is all about nationalism really, and about the imposition of a nationalist historic narrative,” said political scientist Rafal Pankowski in an interview last week. The Law and Justice party’s emphasis on Poland’s heroic past has proved an effective domestic electoral strategy, even as it has faced a damaging international backlash after accusations of having emboldened the far right.

The debate about the bill has also triggered an intense focus on the very questions of complicity that nationalist Poles were hoping to sweep aside once and for all. The government’s attempt “absolutely backfired,” said Markiewicz, the director of the American Jewish Committee’s central Europe office.

“Of course, Poland has the right to [demand people to tell] the whole truth. This country suffered immensely. It had the biggest resistance movement in Europe and helped the Allies in fighting the Nazis. It was on the right side of history,” she said. “But in the past few days, the term ‘Polish death camp’ has probably been used more than ever in the past years.”

Follow the Bangor Daily News on Facebook for the latest Maine news.</s>Vanessa Gera and Monika Scislowska, The Associated Press 

 



WARSAW, Poland -- Poland's president on Tuesday signed legislation that outlaws blaming Poland as a nation for Holocaust crimes committed by Nazi Germany, defying both criticism from Israel and a warning from the U.S.

But in a move that appeared designed to soften the impact of his decision, President Andrzej Duda said he would also ask Poland's constitutional court to evaluate the bill -- leaving open the possibility it would be amended.

As currently written, the legislation calls for prison terms of up to three years for falsely attributing the crimes of Nazi Germany to Poland. The law takes effect 14 days after it's officially published, but it wasn't immediately clear when that will be.

Poland's authorities have described it as an attempt to protect the country's reputation from what it believes is confusion about who bears responsibility for Auschwitz and other death camps Nazi Germany set up in occupied Poland. They say it was modeled on anti-defamation laws in many other countries, including laws criminalizing Holocaust denial.

The proposed law has fueled a diplomatic crisis with Israel, which fears it would stifle discussion about the Holocaust and enable Poland to whitewash the role of the Poles who killed or denounced Jews during the German occupation of Poland during World War II.

Israel's Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that it would continue to communicate with Poland despite its reservations about the law. It said it hopes Duda's decision to ask the constitutional court to evaluate the bill will allow both sides to "agree on changes and corrections."

That language seemed more conciliatory than earlier statements, suggesting the sides are seeking compromise.

Duda acknowledged there were doubts about the legislation's intent, leading some observers to interpret his request for a constitutional review as a way to save face while calming the storm.

But critics say it was a diversionary tactic.

Slawomir Neumann of the centrist Civic Platform party accused Duda of giving in to the pressure of nationalists and anti-Semites and said his signing "deepens the diplomatic crisis."

Neumann, head of the party's parliamentary caucus, also described the constitutional court as a body without independence that will rule as the governing party wants.

The United States also strongly opposed the legislation, warning that it could hurt Poland's strategic relations with both Israel and the U.S.

After Duda signed it, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the new law "adversely affects freedom of speech and academic inquiry."

Holocaust scholars and institutions strongly denounced the law as well, arguing that its unclear wording created the potential for abuse. Polish officials note that a provision in the law exempts historic research and works of art.

Polish officials have long argued a Holocaust speech law is needed to fight the use of expressions like "Polish death camps" as shorthand for the German camps in Nazi-occupied Poland where Jews and others were exterminated.

Secretary of State Tillerson said that while "terms like 'Polish death camps' are painful and misleading," they are best countered through "open debate, scholarship, and education."

Defending the law, Duda said it would not prohibit Holocaust survivors and witnesses from talking about crimes committed by individual Poles.

"We do not deny that there were cases of huge wickedness," he said in a speech.

But he said the point of the law is to prevent the Polish nation as a whole from being wrongly accused of institutionalized participation in the Holocaust. He recalled that the Polish government at the time had to go into exile and Polish officials were those who struggled to inform the world that the Germans were putting Jews to death on Polish soil.

"No, there was no systemic way in which Poles took part in it," Duda said.

The legislation hasn't only sparked a bitter dispute with Israel. It also has caused division within Poland, where anti-Semitic rhetoric moved quickly from the political fringes into the mainstream over just a few days.

Beata Mazurek, the spokeswoman for the conservative Law and Justice and a deputy parliament speaker, tweeted a quote by a Catholic priest who had said that the Israeli ambassador's criticism of the bill "made it hard for me to look at Jews with sympathy and kindness."

Many conservative lawmakers and commentators are now accusing Israelis and American Jews of using the issue as a pretext for getting money from Poland for prewar Jewish property seized in the communist era.

Jerzy Czerwinski, a senator with the ruling party, said on state radio Monday that he saw a "hidden agenda" in the opposition.

"After all, we know that Jewish circles, including American, but mostly the state of Israel, are trying to get restitution of property or at least compensation," he said.

On Monday evening, a small group of far-right advocates demonstrated in front of the presidential palace demanding that Duda sign the law. They carried a banner that said, "Take off your yarmulke. Sign the bill."

The bill first was proposed about two years ago, soon after Law and Justice took power in 2015, but hadn't been an issue of public debate recently. Many people were surprised when lawmakers suddenly approved it on Jan. 26, the day before International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Jan Grabowski, a historian at the University of Ottawa in Canada who studies Polish violence against Jews during the war, called Duda's signing of the law "further proof that the nationalists now in power in Poland will do anything to cater to the hard, right-wing core of their electorate."

"Unfortunately, it is not only the nationalists but also the whole Polish society which will have to pay the price," said Grabowski, who is also a member of the Polish Center for Holocaust Research in Warsaw.

Aron Heller and Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.</s>WARSAW, Poland — Poland’s president on Tuesday signed legislation that outlaws blaming Poland as a nation for Holocaust crimes committed by Nazi Germany, defying both criticism from Israel and a warning from the U.S.

But in a move that appeared designed to soften the impact of his decision, President Andrzej Duda said he would also ask Poland’s constitutional court to evaluate the bill — leaving open the possibility it could be amended.

As written, the legislation calls for prison terms of up to three years for falsely attributing the crimes of Nazi Germany to Poland. The law takes effect 14 days after it’s officially published, but it wasn’t immediately clear when that will be.

Poland’s authorities have described it as an attempt to protect the country’s reputation from what it believes is confusion about who bears responsibility for Auschwitz and other death camps Nazi Germany set up in occupied Poland. They say it was modeled on anti-defamation laws in many other countries, including laws criminalizing Holocaust denial.

The proposed law has fueled a diplomatic crisis with Israel, which fears it would stifle discussion about the Holocaust and enable Poland to whitewash the role of the Poles who killed or denounced Jews during the German occupation of Poland during World War II.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that it would continue to communicate with Poland despite its reservations about the law. It said it hopes Duda’s decision to ask the constitutional court to evaluate the bill will allow both sides to “agree on changes and corrections.”

That language seemed more conciliatory than earlier statements, suggesting the sides are seeking compromise.

Duda acknowledged there were doubts about the legislation’s intent, leading some observers to interpret his request for a constitutional review as a way to save face while calming the storm.

But critics say it was a diversionary tactic.

Slawomir Neumann of the centrist Civic Platform party accused Duda of giving in to the pressure of nationalists and anti-Semites and said his signing “deepens the diplomatic crisis.”

Neumann, head of the party’s parliamentary caucus, also described the constitutional court as a body without independence that will rule as the governing party wants.

The United States also strongly opposed the legislation, warning that it could hurt Poland’s strategic relations with both Israel and the U.S.

After Duda signed it, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the new law “adversely affects freedom of speech and academic inquiry.”

Holocaust scholars and institutions strongly denounced the law as well, arguing that its unclear wording created the potential for abuse. Polish officials note that a provision in the law exempts historic research and works of art.

Polish officials have long argued a Holocaust speech law is needed to fight the use of expressions like “Polish death camps” as shorthand for the German camps in Nazi-occupied Poland where Jews and others were exterminated.

Secretary of State Tillerson said that while “terms like ‘Polish death camps’ are painful and misleading,” they are best countered through “open debate, scholarship, and education.”

Defending the law, Duda said it would not prohibit Holocaust survivors and witnesses from talking about crimes committed by individual Poles.

“We do not deny that there were cases of huge wickedness,” he said in a speech.

But he said the point of the law is to prevent the Polish nation as a whole from being wrongly accused of institutionalized participation in the Holocaust. He recalled that the Polish government at the time had to go into exile and Polish officials were those who struggled to inform the world that the Germans were putting Jews to death on Polish soil.

“No, there was no systemic way in which Poles took part in it,” Duda said.

The legislation hasn’t only sparked a bitter dispute with Israel. It also has caused division within Poland, where anti-Semitic rhetoric moved quickly from the political fringes into the mainstream over just a few days.

Beata Mazurek, the spokeswoman for the conservative Law and Justice and a deputy parliament speaker, tweeted a quote by a Catholic priest who had said that the Israeli ambassador’s criticism of the bill “made it hard for me to look at Jews with sympathy and kindness.”

Many conservative lawmakers and commentators are now accusing Israelis and American Jews of using the issue as a pretext for getting money from Poland for prewar Jewish property seized in the communist era.

Jerzy Czerwinski, a senator with the ruling party, said on state radio Monday that he saw a “hidden agenda” in the opposition.

“After all, we know that Jewish circles, including American, but mostly the state of Israel, are trying to get restitution of property or at least compensation,” he said.

On Monday evening, a small group of far-right advocates demonstrated in front of the presidential palace demanding that Duda sign the law. They carried a banner that said, “Take off your yarmulke. Sign the bill.”

The bill first was proposed about two years ago, soon after Law and Justice took power in 2015, but hadn’t been an issue of public debate recently. Many people were surprised when lawmakers suddenly approved it on Jan. 26, the day before International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Jan Grabowski, a historian at the University of Ottawa in Canada who studies Polish violence against Jews during the war, called Duda’s signing of the law “further proof that the nationalists now in power in Poland will do anything to cater to the hard, right-wing core of their electorate.”

“Unfortunately, it is not only the nationalists but also the whole Polish society which will have to pay the price,” said Grabowski, who is also a member of the Polish Center for Holocaust Research in Warsaw.</s>WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland's president said Tuesday he will sign into law a controversial proposal to outlaw blaming Poland as a nation for crimes committed by Nazi Germany during the Holocaust, despite strong criticism from Israel and the United States.

But in an unusual move, President Andrzej Duda also said he will ask the country's constitutional court to evaluate the bill — theoretically opening the way for parliament to amend it.

The law will impose prison terms of up to three years for falsely attributing the crimes of Nazi Germany to Poland. It has fueled a diplomatic crisis with Israel, which fears it will stifle discussion about the Holocaust and enable Poland to whitewash the role of Poles who killed or denounced Jews during the German occupation of Poland during World War II.

The United States also strongly opposes the legislation, saying it could hurt Poland's strategic relations with Israel and the U.S. The U.S. has also expressed concerns that the law could hurt freedom of expression and academic research.

Defending the law, Duda said the law will not block Holocaust survivors and witnesses from talking about crimes committed by individual Poles.

"We do not deny that there were cases of huge wickedness," he said in a speech.

But he said the point of the law is to prevent Poles and Poland from being wrongly accused of institutionalized participation in the Holocaust.

"No, there was no systemic way in which Poles took part in it," he said.

The legislation was earlier approved by parliament. It is not clear whether the Constitutional Tribunal will ask for any changes, as it is controlled by Poland's conservative ruling Law and Justice party.

Polish officials have long argued the law is needed to fight expressions like "Polish death camps" for the camps Nazi Germany operated in occupied Poland.

The legislation has not only sparked a bitter dispute with Israel — it has also caused division within Poland, which has seen a marked increase of anti-Semitic rhetoric in public debate in recent weeks.

On the weekend Beata Mazurek, the spokeswoman for Law and Justice and a deputy speaker of parliament, quoted a Catholic priest on Twitter who had said that the Israeli ambassador's criticism of the law has "make it hard for me to look at Jews with sympathy and kindness."

Ryszard Czarnecki, Vice President of the European Parliament, weighed in by saying on state TV that "the circles of American Jews have often been even more aggressive than the Jewish circles in Israel."

On Monday evening a small group of far-right advocates demonstrated in front of the presidential palace demanding that Duda sign the law. They carried a banner that said, "Take off your yarmulke. Sign the bill."

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland's president on Tuesday signed legislation that outlaws blaming Poland as a nation for Holocaust crimes committed by Nazi Germany, defying both criticism from Israel and a warning from the U.S.

But in a move that appeared designed to soften the impact of his decision, President Andrzej Duda said he would also ask Poland's constitutional court to evaluate the bill — leaving open the possibility it could be amended.

As written, the legislation calls for prison terms of up to three years for falsely attributing the crimes of Nazi Germany to Poland. The law takes effect 14 days after it's officially published, but it wasn't immediately clear when that will be.

Poland's authorities have described it as an attempt to protect the country's reputation from what it believes is confusion about who bears responsibility for Auschwitz and other death camps Nazi Germany set up in occupied Poland. They say it was modeled on anti-defamation laws in many other countries, including laws criminalizing Holocaust denial.

The proposed law has fueled a diplomatic crisis with Israel, which fears it would stifle discussion about the Holocaust and enable Poland to whitewash the role of the Poles who killed or denounced Jews during the German occupation of Poland during World War II.

Israel's Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that it would continue to communicate with Poland despite its reservations about the law. It said it hopes Duda's decision to ask the constitutional court to evaluate the bill will allow both sides to "agree on changes and corrections."

That language seemed more conciliatory than earlier statements, suggesting the sides are seeking compromise.

Duda acknowledged there were doubts about the legislation's intent, leading some observers to interpret his request for a constitutional review as a way to save face while calming the storm.

But critics say it was a diversionary tactic.

Slawomir Neumann of the centrist Civic Platform party accused Duda of giving in to the pressure of nationalists and anti-Semites and said his signing "deepens the diplomatic crisis."

Neumann, head of the party's parliamentary caucus, also described the constitutional court as a body without independence that will rule as the governing party wants.

The United States also strongly opposed the legislation, warning that it could hurt Poland's strategic relations with both Israel and the U.S.

After Duda signed it, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the new law "adversely affects freedom of speech and academic inquiry."

Holocaust scholars and institutions strongly denounced the law as well, arguing that its unclear wording created the potential for abuse. Polish officials note that a provision in the law exempts historic research and works of art.

Polish officials have long argued a Holocaust speech law is needed to fight the use of expressions like "Polish death camps" as shorthand for the German camps in Nazi-occupied Poland where Jews and others were exterminated.

Secretary of State Tillerson said that while "terms like 'Polish death camps' are painful and misleading," they are best countered through "open debate, scholarship, and education."

Defending the law, Duda said it would not prohibit Holocaust survivors and witnesses from talking about crimes committed by individual Poles.

"We do not deny that there were cases of huge wickedness," he said in a speech.

But he said the point of the law is to prevent the Polish nation as a whole from being wrongly accused of institutionalized participation in the Holocaust. He recalled that the Polish government at the time had to go into exile and Polish officials were those who struggled to inform the world that the Germans were putting Jews to death on Polish soil.

"No, there was no systemic way in which Poles took part in it," Duda said.

The legislation hasn't only sparked a bitter dispute with Israel. It also has caused division within Poland, where anti-Semitic rhetoric moved quickly from the political fringes into the mainstream over just a few days.

Beata Mazurek, the spokeswoman for the conservative Law and Justice and a deputy parliament speaker, tweeted a quote by a Catholic priest who had said that the Israeli ambassador's criticism of the bill "made it hard for me to look at Jews with sympathy and kindness."

Many conservative lawmakers and commentators are now accusing Israelis and American Jews of using the issue as a pretext for getting money from Poland for prewar Jewish property seized in the communist era.

Jerzy Czerwinski, a senator with the ruling party, said on state radio Monday that he saw a "hidden agenda" in the opposition.

"After all, we know that Jewish circles, including American, but mostly the state of Israel, are trying to get restitution of property or at least compensation," he said.

On Monday evening, a small group of far-right advocates demonstrated in front of the presidential palace demanding that Duda sign the law. They carried a banner that said, "Take off your yarmulke. Sign the bill."

The bill first was proposed about two years ago, soon after Law and Justice took power in 2015, but hadn't been an issue of public debate recently. Many people were surprised when lawmakers suddenly approved it on Jan. 26, the day before International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Jan Grabowski, a historian at the University of Ottawa in Canada who studies Polish violence against Jews during the war, called Duda's signing of the law "further proof that the nationalists now in power in Poland will do anything to cater to the hard, right-wing core of their electorate."

"Unfortunately, it is not only the nationalists but also the whole Polish society which will have to pay the price," said Grabowski, who is also a member of the Polish Center for Holocaust Research in Warsaw.

Aron Heller and Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>WARSAW, Poland (AP) - Poland's president said Tuesday he will sign into law a controversial proposal to outlaw blaming Poland as a nation for crimes committed by Nazi Germany during the Holocaust, despite strong criticism from Israel and the United States.

But in an unusual move, President Andrzej Duda also said he will ask the country's constitutional court to evaluate the bill - theoretically opening the way for parliament to amend it.

The law will impose prison terms of up to three years for falsely attributing the crimes of Nazi Germany to Poland. It has fueled a diplomatic crisis with Israel, which fears it will stifle discussion about the Holocaust and enable Poland to whitewash the role of Poles who killed or denounced Jews during the German occupation of Poland during World War II.

The United States also strongly opposes the legislation, saying it could hurt Poland's strategic relations with Israel and the U.S. The U.S. has also expressed concerns that the law could hurt freedom of expression and academic research.

Defending the law, Duda said the law will not block Holocaust survivors and witnesses from talking about crimes committed by individual Poles.

"We do not deny that there were cases of huge wickedness," he said in a speech.

But he said the point of the law is to prevent Poles and Poland from being wrongly accused of institutionalized participation in the Holocaust.

"No, there was no systemic way in which Poles took part in it," he said.

The legislation was earlier approved by parliament. It is not clear whether the Constitutional Tribunal will ask for any changes, as it is controlled by Poland's conservative ruling Law and Justice party.

Polish officials have long argued the law is needed to fight expressions like "Polish death camps" for the camps Nazi Germany operated in occupied Poland.

The legislation has not only sparked a bitter dispute with Israel - it has also caused division within Poland, which has seen a marked increase of anti-Semitic rhetoric in public debate in recent weeks.

On the weekend Beata Mazurek, the spokeswoman for Law and Justice and a deputy speaker of parliament, quoted a Catholic priest on Twitter who had said that the Israeli ambassador's criticism of the law has "make it hard for me to look at Jews with sympathy and kindness."

Ryszard Czarnecki, Vice President of the European Parliament, weighed in by saying on state TV that "the circles of American Jews have often been even more aggressive than the Jewish circles in Israel."

On Monday evening a small group of far-right advocates demonstrated in front of the presidential palace demanding that Duda sign the law. They carried a banner that said, "Take off your yarmulke. Sign the bill."</s>Image copyright Reuters Image caption President Andrzej Duda says Poland has the right "to defend historical truth"

Poland's president says he will sign a controversial Holocaust bill, despite angry protests from Israel and the US.

Andrzej Duda defended the legislation, which will make it illegal to accuse Poland of complicity in Nazi crimes committed under occupation.

The Polish government says it aims to stop the Polish nation or state being blamed for the atrocities.

Israel is worried the law could stifle the truth about the role of some Poles, and says it hopes Poland will amend it.

There are also fears Holocaust survivors could face criminal charges for giving testimony that incriminates Poles.

In a speech on Tuesday, Mr Duda said the bill "protects the Polish interests... protects our dignity, the historical truth, so that we could be judged fairly in the world, so that we would not be slandered as a state and as a nation".

He acknowledged that individual Poles did commit crimes against Jews during World War Two.

But he said the Polish state bore no responsibility because it ceased to exist following the invasion by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. He said there had been no systematic collaboration of Polish institutions.

In a gesture to Israel, Mr Duda said he would send it to the Constitutional Tribunal to check whether its regulations comply with the Polish constitution.

What does the bill state?

It says that "whoever accuses, publicly and against the facts, the Polish nation, or the Polish state, of being responsible or complicit in the Nazi crimes committed by the Third German Reich… shall be subject to a fine or a penalty of imprisonment of up to three years".

But it adds the caveat that a person "is not committing a crime if he or she commits such an act as part of artistic or scientific activities".

Poland's Senate approved the bill last week.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Poland has long objected to phrases which suggest shared responsibility during Nazi occupation

The country has long objected to the use of phrases like "Polish death camps", which suggest the Polish state in some way shared responsibility for camps such as Auschwitz.

The camps were built and operated by Nazi Germany after it invaded Poland in 1939.

What has Israel said?

Israel is furious about the bill, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described as an attempt to rewrite history and deny the Holocaust.

After Mr Duda's speech, the foreign ministry said on Twitter it hoped Poland would still amend the text in the period until the constitutional court makes its decision.

Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely warned last month it could be a "slippery slope" that could be used to "minimise the responsibility of those Poles who participated in the war crimes committed by the Nazis".

Deputies from across Israel's often fractious political spectrum have united to denounce it.

On Monday, Israel's education minister said Poland had cancelled his scheduled visit to the country because he refused to back down from condemning the bill.

"The government of Poland cancelled my visit, because I mentioned the crimes of its people. I am honoured," Naftali Bennett said in a statement.

Image copyright AFP Image caption Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he strongly opposes the bill

The US state department had also urged the Polish government to rethink the bill.

What about in Poland?

Polish politicians have expressed bafflement at the Israeli response.

Deputy Justice Minister Marcin Warchol said it was wrong to suggest the bill would stop people researching Polish history.

Meanwhile, Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said his country was committed to combating lies about the Holocaust.

"The camps where millions of Jews were murdered were not Polish. This truth needs to be protected," he said.

Poland is governed by a nationalist party, Law and Justice (PiS), which is keen to show the world how Poland was ruthlessly victimised by its German and Soviet neighbours in the war.

What happened in Poland in WW2?

Poland was attacked and occupied by Nazi Germany. Millions of its citizens were killed, including three million Polish Jews in the Holocaust.

Six million Jews were killed in the Holocaust overall.

More Poles have been honoured by Israel for saving the lives of Jews during the war than any other nation.

However, historians say others were complicit by acts such as informing on Jews in hiding for rewards, and participating in Nazi-instigated massacres including in Jedwabne where hundreds of Jews were murdered by their neighbours.

A historian and well-known "Nazi-hunter" at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Efraim Zuroff, says the number of collaborators runs into "many thousands".

"The Polish state was not complicit in the Holocaust, but many Poles were," Mr Zuroff told the Times of Israel.</s>Vanessa Gera And Monika Scislowska, The Associated Press 

 



WARSAW, Poland - Poland's president on Tuesday signed legislation that outlaws blaming Poland as a nation for Holocaust crimes committed by Nazi Germany, defying both criticism from Israel and a warning from the U.S.

But in a move that appeared designed to soften the impact of his decision, President Andrzej Duda said he would also ask Poland's constitutional court to evaluate the bill - leaving open the possibility it would be amended.

As currently written, the legislation calls for prison terms of up to three years for falsely attributing the crimes of Nazi Germany to Poland. The law takes effect 14 days after it's officially published, but it wasn't immediately clear when that will be.

Poland's authorities have described it as an attempt to protect the country's reputation from what it believes is confusion about who bears responsibility for Auschwitz and other death camps Nazi Germany set up in occupied Poland. They say it was modeled on anti-defamation laws in many other countries, including laws criminalizing Holocaust denial.

The proposed law has fueled a diplomatic crisis with Israel, which fears it would stifle discussion about the Holocaust and enable Poland to whitewash the role of the Poles who killed or denounced Jews during the German occupation of Poland during World War II.

Israel's Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that it would continue to communicate with Poland despite its reservations about the law. It said it hopes Duda's decision to ask the constitutional court to evaluate the bill will allow both sides to “agree on changes and corrections.”

That language seemed more conciliatory than earlier statements, suggesting the sides are seeking compromise.

Duda acknowledged there were doubts about the legislation's intent, leading some observers to interpret his request for a constitutional review as a way to save face while calming the storm.

But critics say it was a diversionary tactic.

Slawomir Neumann of the centrist Civic Platform party accused Duda of giving in to the pressure of nationalists and anti-Semites and said his signing “deepens the diplomatic crisis.”

Neumann, head of the party's parliamentary caucus, also described the constitutional court as a body without independence that will rule as the governing party wants.

The United States also strongly opposed the legislation, warning that it could hurt Poland's strategic relations with both Israel and the U.S.

Holocaust scholars and institutions have strongly denounced the law as well, arguing that its unclear wording creates the potential for abuse. Polish officials note that a provision in the law exempts historic research and works of art.

Polish officials have long argued a Holocaust speech law is needed to fight expressions like “Polish death camps” for the Nazi camps where Jews and others were exterminated.

Defending the law, Duda said it would not prohibit Holocaust survivors and witnesses from talking about crimes committed by individual Poles.

“We do not deny that there were cases of huge wickedness,” he said in a speech.

But he said the point of the law is to prevent the Polish nation as a whole from being wrongly accused of institutionalized participation in the Holocaust. He recalled that the Polish government at the time had to go into exile and Polish officials were those who struggled to inform the world that the Germans were putting Jews to death on Polish soil.

“No, there was no systemic way in which Poles took part in it,” Duda said.

The legislation hasn't only sparked a bitter dispute with Israel. It also has caused division within Poland, where anti-Semitic rhetoric moved quickly from the political fringes into the mainstream over just a few days.

Beata Mazurek, the spokeswoman for the conservative Law and Justice and a deputy parliament speaker, tweeted a quote by a Catholic priest who had said that the Israeli ambassador's criticism of the bill “made it hard for me to look at Jews with sympathy and kindness.”

Many conservative lawmakers and commentators are now accusing Israelis and American Jews of using the issue as a pretext for getting money from Poland for prewar Jewish property seized in the communist era.

Jerzy Czerwinski, a senator with the ruling party, said on state radio Monday that he saw a “hidden agenda” in the opposition.

“After all, we know that Jewish circles, including American, but mostly the state of Israel, are trying to get restitution of property or at least compensation,” he said.

On Monday evening, a small group of far-right advocates demonstrated in front of the presidential palace demanding that Duda sign the law. They carried a banner that said, “Take off your yarmulke. Sign the bill.”

The bill first was proposed about two years ago, soon after Law and Justice took power in 2015, but hadn't been an issue of public debate recently. Many people were surprised when lawmakers suddenly approved it on Jan. 26, the day before International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Jan Grabowski, a historian at the University of Ottawa in Canada who studies Polish violence against Jews during the war, called Duda's signing of the law “further proof that the nationalists now in power in Poland will do anything to cater to the hard, right-wing core of their electorate.”

“Unfortunately, it is not only the nationalists but also the whole Polish society which will have to pay the price,” said Grabowski, who is also a member of the Polish Center for Holocaust Research in Warsaw.</s>Vanessa Gera and Monika Scislowska, The Associated Press 

 



WARSAW, Poland -- Poland's president on Tuesday signed legislation that outlaws blaming Poland as a nation for Holocaust crimes committed by Nazi Germany, defying both criticism from Israel and a warning from the U.S.

But in a move that appeared designed to soften the impact of his decision, President Andrzej Duda said he would also ask Poland's constitutional court to evaluate the bill -- leaving open the possibility it would be amended.

As currently written, the legislation calls for prison terms of up to three years for falsely attributing the crimes of Nazi Germany to Poland. The law takes effect 14 days after it's officially published, but it wasn't immediately clear when that will be.

Poland's authorities have described it as an attempt to protect the country's reputation from what it believes is confusion about who bears responsibility for Auschwitz and other death camps Nazi Germany set up in occupied Poland. They say it was modeled on anti-defamation laws in many other countries, including laws criminalizing Holocaust denial.

The proposed law has fueled a diplomatic crisis with Israel, which fears it would stifle discussion about the Holocaust and enable Poland to whitewash the role of the Poles who killed or denounced Jews during the German occupation of Poland during World War II.

Israel's Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that it would continue to communicate with Poland despite its reservations about the law. It said it hopes Duda's decision to ask the constitutional court to evaluate the bill will allow both sides to "agree on changes and corrections."

That language seemed more conciliatory than earlier statements, suggesting the sides are seeking compromise.

Duda acknowledged there were doubts about the legislation's intent, leading some observers to interpret his request for a constitutional review as a way to save face while calming the storm.

But critics say it was a diversionary tactic.

Slawomir Neumann of the centrist Civic Platform party accused Duda of giving in to the pressure of nationalists and anti-Semites and said his signing "deepens the diplomatic crisis."

Neumann, head of the party's parliamentary caucus, also described the constitutional court as a body without independence that will rule as the governing party wants.

The United States also strongly opposed the legislation, warning that it could hurt Poland's strategic relations with both Israel and the U.S.

Holocaust scholars and institutions have strongly denounced the law as well, arguing that its unclear wording creates the potential for abuse. Polish officials note that a provision in the law exempts historic research and works of art.

Polish officials have long argued a Holocaust speech law is needed to fight expressions like "Polish death camps" for the Nazi camps where Jews and others were exterminated.

Defending the law, Duda said it would not prohibit Holocaust survivors and witnesses from talking about crimes committed by individual Poles.

"We do not deny that there were cases of huge wickedness," he said in a speech.

But he said the point of the law is to prevent the Polish nation as a whole from being wrongly accused of institutionalized participation in the Holocaust. He recalled that the Polish government at the time had to go into exile and Polish officials were those who struggled to inform the world that the Germans were putting Jews to death on Polish soil.

"No, there was no systemic way in which Poles took part in it," Duda said.

The legislation hasn't only sparked a bitter dispute with Israel. It also has caused division within Poland, where anti-Semitic rhetoric moved quickly from the political fringes into the mainstream over just a few days.

Beata Mazurek, the spokeswoman for the conservative Law and Justice and a deputy parliament speaker, tweeted a quote by a Catholic priest who had said that the Israeli ambassador's criticism of the bill "made it hard for me to look at Jews with sympathy and kindness."

Many conservative lawmakers and commentators are now accusing Israelis and American Jews of using the issue as a pretext for getting money from Poland for prewar Jewish property seized in the communist era.

Jerzy Czerwinski, a senator with the ruling party, said on state radio Monday that he saw a "hidden agenda" in the opposition.

"After all, we know that Jewish circles, including American, but mostly the state of Israel, are trying to get restitution of property or at least compensation," he said.

On Monday evening, a small group of far-right advocates demonstrated in front of the presidential palace demanding that Duda sign the law. They carried a banner that said, "Take off your yarmulke. Sign the bill."

The bill first was proposed about two years ago, soon after Law and Justice took power in 2015, but hadn't been an issue of public debate recently. Many people were surprised when lawmakers suddenly approved it on Jan. 26, the day before International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Jan Grabowski, a historian at the University of Ottawa in Canada who studies Polish violence against Jews during the war, called Duda's signing of the law "further proof that the nationalists now in power in Poland will do anything to cater to the hard, right-wing core of their electorate."

"Unfortunately, it is not only the nationalists but also the whole Polish society which will have to pay the price," said Grabowski, who is also a member of the Polish Center for Holocaust Research in Warsaw.

Aron Heller and Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
Polish President Andrzej Duda ratifies a controversial Holocaust bill, despite angry protests from Israel and the United States. Duda defends the legislation, which will make it illegal to accuse the Polish state of complicity in the Holocaust during the Nazi occupation.