Prisoners in their shack in the Vorkuta Gulag

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Lois sur la mémoire historique et mensonges nationalistes

Mar 7, 2018 Nikolay Koposov

ATLANTA – Une loi controversée, récemment édictée par le parti au pouvoir de Pologne, le Parti Droit et justice (PiS), a suscité une vive attention autour du monde pour sa criminalisation de certaines expressions comme « les camps de la mort polonais. » Mais la loi se veut bien plus qu'un moyen d'amener les citoyens à être vigilants quant à leurs propos.

La loi stipule qu'une personne peut se voir infliger une amende ou jusqu'à trois ans d'emprisonnement pour « publiquement et contrairement aux faits » attribuer à des citoyens ou au gouvernement polonais « une responsabilité ou une co-responsabilité dans les crimes nazis » ou « dans d'autres infractions » qui constituent des crimes contre la paix, des crimes contre l'humanité ou des crimes de guerre.

Il est vrai que les « crimes nazis » ont été commis par les Nazis et qu'à cet égard ces crimes ne sauraient en aucune manière être reprochés aux Polonais. De même, bien que les camps d'extermination nazis aient été situés en Pologne, ils n'étaient absolument pas polonais. Mais c'est la mention des « autres infractions » qui devrait nous préoccuper.

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Varsovian Warsaw Aug 13, 2018

The very rare cases of Poles helping Jews include the 50,000 Poles recorded as executed by the Germans for helping Jews. The Poles are also fighting with one hand behind their back - as they have perhaps wisely not mentioned anything about the widespread collaboration by Jews (and Ukrainians) in the massacres of Poles in eastern Poland in 1939-41. Hundreds of thousands of Poles died. Postwar repression in Poland was also led by the secret police, whose officers were overwhelmingly Jewish. Hence the man who voluntarily got himself interred in Auschwitz for the purpose of launching a camp uprising - Witold Pilecki - was tortured by a certain Jozef Goldberg after the war, and shot.
The Communists also launched the Kielce massacre after the war to force Jews to choose either Communism or exile. The Jewish part of my family emigrated to Israel and 80% of Jews who stayed entered into Communist organizations (compared to 5% among the general Polish population).
For more: http://mailstar.net/schatz.html - written by the then head of Jewish studies at Lund University, Sweden
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Piotr B. Mar 8, 2018

Bashing of Poland part 54682...
I don't know who Mr. Koposov is, but he is quite good at manipulation. It is not „ascribing to the Polish people or government” but „ attributes to the Polish Nation or to the Polish State” which is a huge difference. The law is controversial and far from perfect but the aim of it is not to punish anyone who says for example that „Poles committed crimes during WW2”, or that „there were Poles who killed Jews” but when it's attributed to the whole nation or state, like the official extermination policy in Germany at that time. Official policy of the then Polish State was to punish anybody who killed or who contributed to killing Jews. Also important is that there is absolute freedom guaranteed in „artistic or scientific activity” (see p.3), which means that you can repeat lies about „Polish Holocaust” or „Polish death camps” as an artist or scientist.

It is also remarkable how Mr. Koposov singles out „xenophobic” Poland as an EU member. It doesn't matter that in this xenophobic country lives more than one million people from Ukraine and Belarus (official numbers are closer to 1,5 mln.). The point is, you know, to make an impression that the country doesn't fit into this noble organization of free/liberal/democratic countries. I'm sure Mr. Putin agrees with that.

Full taxt of the amendment:

„after art. 55, the following art.55a and art. 55b are inserted:
“Art. 55a. 1. Whoever publicly and contrary to the facts attributes to the Polish Nation or to the Polish State responsibility or co-responsibility for the Nazi crimes committed by the German Third Reich, as specified in Article 6 of the Charter of the International Military Tribunal - Annex to the Agreement for the prosecution and punishment of the major war criminals of the European Axis, executed in London on 8 August 1945 (Journal of Laws of 1947, item 367), or for any other offences constituting crimes against peace, humanity or war crimes, or otherwise grossly diminishes the responsibility of the actual perpetrators of these crimes, shall be liable to a fine or deprivation of liberty for up to 3 years. The judgment shall be communicated to the public.
2. If the perpetrator of the act specified in section 1 above acts unintentionally, they shall be liable to a fine or restriction of liberty.
3. An offence is not committed if the perpetrator of a prohibited act set out in sections 1 and 2 above acted within the framework of artistic or scientific activity.”
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CAROLINE TAN Mar 7, 2018

Brilliant and excellent analysis explaining why the Polish Holocaust Law and memory laws are being the preferred instruments of nationalistic populists like the PIs government in Poland playing the "Patriotic card" . It is very worrying ,though.
- Piotr B. Mar 8, 2018
  
  Forgive me, I am not a native speaker, what is the difference between "brilliant" and "excellent"?
  A new reply to this comment has been posted.
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Lois sur la mémoire historique et mensonges nationalistes

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