Polish President Andrzej Duda has stated he will sign the so-called “Holocaust bill,” which criminalizes statements accusing Poles of complicity in the Holocaust and propaganda of Ukrainian nationalist ideology and refers the legislation to the country’s Supreme Court for review.
The legislation was adopted by the Polish Senate on February 1 and requires the president’s approval to come into force.
However, the as yet unsigned bill has already drawn the indignation of top Israeli officials, including the country’s prime minister, president, and the Foreign Ministry have expressed their disagreement with the law, which, according to them, juggled historical truth, and demanded that it be reviewed. Israel’s Yad Vashem center for the study of the Holocaust, for its part, pledged to proceed with its studies despite the restrictions imposed by Poland.
The debated legislation will criminalize the propaganda of Ukrainian nationalist ideology along with any accusations of complicity in war crimes during World War II, including the Holocaust, made against Polish people, as well as any denials of the killings of Poles by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. The bill has been sharply criticized by Israel as it fears that the law might hit Jews, who had suffered at the hands of Poles and would like to go public with it.