Polish prime minister: Committed to combating all forms of antisemitism
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki wrote to Jewish Agency head Isaac Herzog following the shooting attack on a Jewish house of worship in Halle, Germany.
By HAGAY HACOHENPoland's former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki(photo credit: FRANCOIS LENOIR / REUTERS)
Poland is committed to “combating all forms of antisemitism” and is proud that the country “remains a safe home to Jews,” Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said in a letter to Jewish Agency head Isaac Herzog on Thursday.The prime minister was replying to a letter sent by Herzog in which he urged Morawiecki to ensure that the security of Jewish sites and community members be given “high priority” in Poland. Herzog noted previous attacks on Jews that took place on European soil in Toulouse, Brussels and Paris.Morawiecki sent his response roughly two weeks after a neo-Nazi tried to enter and attack a synagogue in Halle, Germany, and instead murdered two bystanders.“We are proud that Poland remains a safe home for our Jewish compatriots,” the prime minister wrote.The Jewish community in Poland, once one of the largest in the world, was nearly annihilated when the country was occupied by Nazi Germany. Roughly three million Jewish citizens of Poland were murdered, and millions of other Jewish people were brought to Poland – then occupied by Germany – to be killed in Auschwitz and other death camps.The current ruling party in Poland, the Law and Justice Party (PiS), has passed several laws that make allegations against Polish participation in the Holocaust a criminal offense.From the Polish perspective, while individual Poles might had taken part in the murder of Jews, the nation as a whole was a victim of the Nazis, and as such, should not be held responsible.In Israel, the new laws were met with concern that they would influence historical research about the Holocaust.
