World Jewish Restitution Organization “Profoundly Disappointed” at Proposed Polish Property Legislation that would Exclude Vast Majority of Holocaust Survivors and Their Families
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WJRO represents world Jewry in pursuing claims for the recovery of Jewish properties in Europe (outside of Germany and Austria). WJRO was established by leading world Jewish organizations to address the restitution of Jewish property and to remind the world that the time has come to redress the enormous material wrongs caused to European Jewry during the Holocaust.
Urges Government to Ensure Fair and Just Law
October 20 – Over seventy years after 90% of Polish Jewry was killed during the Holocaust, the Polish Government today published proposed legislation that would address property confiscations. The draft legislation as proposed would exclude most Holocaust survivors and their families.
On behalf of the World Jewish Restitution Organization (WJRO), Ambassador Ronald S. Lauder, Chairman, and Gideon Taylor, Chair of Operations, made the following statement after the Polish Ministry of Justice released earlier today the text of planned legislation on confiscated property:
“We are profoundly disappointed that the Polish government’s proposal excludes the vast majority of Polish Holocaust survivors and their families. Polish Holocaust survivors and their families were an integral part of Polish life for centuries. Their property is often their last tangible connection with the life they lived before the destruction of the Holocaust. We strongly urge the Polish government to ensure that the legislation, when introduced to the Parliament, will have eligibility criteria and a claims process that are fair and just to those who suffered and lost so much.”
According to the text published by the Ministry of Justice, the legislation would:
The proposed legislation, in Polish, can be found at the Ministry of Justice website www.ms.gov.pl/pl/informacje/news,9903,duza-ustawa-reprywatyzacyjna.html.
Since 1993, the WJRO has urged the Government of Poland to address the issue of Holocaust-era restitution in a comprehensive manner. Roughly half of the Jews who perished in the Holocaust were Polish – approximately 3 million Polish Jews were killed in the Holocaust, 90% of the Polish Jewish population. Poland is the only major country in Europe that has not passed national legislation for the restitution of property unjustly seized by the Nazis and/or nationalized by the Communist regime.
For media inquiries please contact pr@wjro.org.il
