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Poland in push to criminalise any claim that the country helped Nazis carry out Holocaust

February 16, 2016 11:04
Auschwitz: one the Nazi camps in occupied Poland

By

Jessica Weinstein,

Jessica Weinstein

1 min read

The Polish government wants to make it a crime to imply that Poland bears responsibility for Nazi crimes committed on Polish soil.

Polish Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro has called for new regulations to punish the use of the phrase “Polish death camps” when referring to Nazi concentration camps in Poland.

The drafted bill aims to preserve the “honour” of the Polish people and stop linking Poland to the Nazi crimes committed there. It calls for the camps to be described as “Nazi extermination camps” or “camps in occupied Poland” and would make it illegal to say that Poland "took part, organised or was co-responsible for the crimes of the Third Reich".

People could face up to five years in prison if found guilty.