Polish official fired for branding country’s Holocaust law as ‘stupid’

January 10, 2022 9News Nigeria Europe 0

A Polish diplomat has been dismissed for criticising the government’s approach to regulating speech on the Holocaust.

Jaroslaw Nowak was fired by Poland’s foreign ministry just days after labelling the country’s laws “stupid”.

Nowak had served as Poland’s diplomat in charge of improving relations with Jews worldwide and made the remarks during an interview with the UK weekly Jewish News.

In Poland, a 2018 law bans certain statements about the Holocaust that claim Poland — a victim of Nazi Germany — also bore responsibility.

The legislation originally called for prison terms of up to three years for falsely attributing German crimes to Poland but was later amended to remove the criminal provisions.

The legislation had outraged Israel, while Nowak told Jewish News the bill is “one of the stupidest amendments that was ever done by any law.”

Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau dismissed Nowak on Saturday, foreign ministry spokesperson Lukasz Jasina announced on Twitter.

Last year, Poland also approved a law that restricts the rights to reclaim property seized by the country’s former communist regime. Among those affected are Holocaust survivors and their heirs and the law also provoked a serious diplomatic dispute with Israel which still remains unresolved.

Nowak also told Jewish News that Poland should pass a law on property restitution, further criticising the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party.

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