As a reminder, on June 24 Polish parliament passed an amendment to the Administrative Procedure Code which would impose a time limit on applying for the restitution of property lost during the Second World War. According to critics, the amendment would close the path for Holocaust survivors to inquire for restitution, and the bill outright forbids the return of Jewish property.
The Polish parliament’s decision was strongly criticized by Israel. Israeli FM Yair Lapid and the Israeli embassy in Warsaw in particular used very strong words against the decision.
According to the Polish Press Agency (PAP), 12 American senators, both Democrats and Republicans, have now joined the group of critics. They sent an open letter to President Andrzej Duda in which they ask him to veto the amendment.
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid declared that the amendment to the law was “shameful” and would harm mutual relations.
“We strongly believe that this legislation would significantly increase the existing hurdles that prevent victims and their families from claiming restitution and compensation for property wrongfully taken by Nazi Germany and by the communist-era government of Poland,” the letter reads.
“We firmly believe that the partnership between the United States and Poland is strongest when we are united in our commitment to freedom and justice for the victims of the crimes committed by the Nazis and communists,” the senators underlined.
The letter’s main initiator was Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio.
