World Jewish News

Polish foreign minister rejects WJC demands over restitution

Poland's foreign minister Adam Rotfeld has said that Jews would be treated like all other groups of the population regarding the restitution of, or compensation for, property seized by the Nazis during World War II and later nationalized by the Polish State. In response to a request by the World Jewish Congress to return properties previously owned by Jews in the country, the minister told the Polish news agency PAP that "no ethnic group should be treated in a different way than others". Restitution must be based on the principles of justice and the rule of law, he pointed out. Poland was the country that had been most ravaged by World War II, and to restitute more than the 15% of the value of the properties, a figure currently under discussion, would mean that the country would go bankrupt. Before the war, 3.5 million Jews lived in Poland, 10 per cent of the population. Most were killed in the Holocaust, others left following waves of anti-Semitism under the Communist regime. Today, only between 5,000 and 40,000 Jews live in Poland, and property restitution to their rightful owners or their heirs is a divisive issue.

Источник: wjc.org.il