Opinion | Poland Digs Itself a Memory Hole
- 6 years ago
Opinion | Poland Digs Itself a Memory Hole
But on Jan. 26, the Sejm renewed the project, approving an article stipulating a punishment of up to three years in prison for those who “publicly
and against the facts attribute to the Polish nation or the Polish state responsibility or co-responsibility for Nazi crimes committed by the German Third Reich” or for “other crimes against peace, humanity or war crimes.”
The Polish Center for Holocaust Research responded: “We consider the adopted law a tool intended to facilitate the ideological manipulation
and imposition of the history policy of the Polish state.”
In this context (arguably not entirely unlike the present one in the United States), xenophobia — against Jews, Ukrainians, Muslims, Roma, L. G.B.
It was the publication of Mr. Gross’s “Neighbors” that motivated the first attempts, in 2006 during the first Law and Justice government, to enshrine historical policy by criminalizing the denial
that Poles were innocent of any Nazi or Communist crimes.
This draft law is part of a program introduced in the past two years, named by the Law
and Justice government “a good change.” The change has included attempts to legalize government control of the media and introduce draconian anti-abortion laws.
Communists once spoke of “enemies of the people.” Today Mr. Kaczynski labels those who criticize the government “the worst sort
of Poles.” They are those who reject the “joyous mood” of authentic Poles, otherwise called Law and Justice supporters.
But on Jan. 26, the Sejm renewed the project, approving an article stipulating a punishment of up to three years in prison for those who “publicly
and against the facts attribute to the Polish nation or the Polish state responsibility or co-responsibility for Nazi crimes committed by the German Third Reich” or for “other crimes against peace, humanity or war crimes.”
The Polish Center for Holocaust Research responded: “We consider the adopted law a tool intended to facilitate the ideological manipulation
and imposition of the history policy of the Polish state.”
In this context (arguably not entirely unlike the present one in the United States), xenophobia — against Jews, Ukrainians, Muslims, Roma, L. G.B.
It was the publication of Mr. Gross’s “Neighbors” that motivated the first attempts, in 2006 during the first Law and Justice government, to enshrine historical policy by criminalizing the denial
that Poles were innocent of any Nazi or Communist crimes.
This draft law is part of a program introduced in the past two years, named by the Law
and Justice government “a good change.” The change has included attempts to legalize government control of the media and introduce draconian anti-abortion laws.
Communists once spoke of “enemies of the people.” Today Mr. Kaczynski labels those who criticize the government “the worst sort
of Poles.” They are those who reject the “joyous mood” of authentic Poles, otherwise called Law and Justice supporters.