Polish PM’s comments not intended to deny Holocaust: gov’t spokesperson

Kopcińska said that Morawiecki during the Munich Security Conference did not intend “to charge the Jewish victims of the Holocaust with responsibility for what was a Nazi German perpetrated genocide.”

“On the contrary, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has repeatedly and categorically opposed denial of the Holocaust - the murder of European Jewry - as well as anti-Semitism in all its forms,” Kopcińska said.

On Saturday, New York Times journalist Ronen Bergman recounted the story of his mother who narrowly escaped from the Gestapo during the Holocaust. Many of her relatives were killed after being denounced to the Gestapo by Poles, he said. Bergman asked whether recounting this story publicly made him a criminal in Poland.

Morawiecki was cited by The Daily Telegraph as saying: “It's not going to [be] punishable, not going to be seen as criminal, to say that there were Polish perpetrators, as there were Jewish perpetrators, as there were Russian perpetrators, as there were Ukraine and German perpetrators."

Morawiecki's comments sparked outrage among politicians in Israel, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Polish government spokeswoman Joanna Kopcińska said: “Attempts to equate the crimes of Nazi German perpetrators with the actions of their victims - Jewish, Polish, Romani among others - who struggled for survival should be met with resolute, outright condemnation.”

She added that Morawiecki has made his position clear: “Poland wants to continue dialogue with Israel in the spirit of truth and mutual trust.”

Polish President Andrzej Duda recently signed into force a contested law which could impose a jail term on anyone who accuses Poland of being complicit in Nazi German crimes. (aba/pk)

Source: PAP, The Daily Telegraph