Polish bill adds stringent requirements for Holocaust reparations

A new Polish bill made public on Friday by the Justice Ministry in Poland includes several draconian clauses that would prevent the vast majority of Holocaust survivors and their family members from receiving any sort of reparations.

According to the bill, a Holocaust survivor seeking to file a claim for reparations must be a current citizen of Poland and needs to have lived in the country when his or her property was seized by the post-war communist regime.

Additionally, under the proposed law, heirs will be able to file a claim, but they must be children or grandchildren of the survivors.

Museum of the History of the Polish Jews, Warsaw, Poland (Photo: Reuters)

The stringent conditions preclude most survivors from filing a claim, since many Jewish families living in Poland were annihilated during the war by the Nazi regime, leaving no heirs to claim the property, while most who survived left Poland during the Holocaust or shortly afterwards. The bill also overrules reparation treaties signed between Poland and various countries after the war, meaning that survivors eligible to file a claim will no longer be able to.

Three million Polish Jews, about 90 percent of the Jewish community in the country, were murdered in the Holocaust.

Nevertheless, Poland is the only major European country that has not yet enacted a law for the restitution of Jewish property seized by the Nazis or the country's regime.

Prime Minister of Poland Beata Szydło (Photo: AP)

Following the publication of the bill's content, World Jewish Congress (WJC) President and World Jewish Restitution Organization (WJRO) Chairman Ronald Lauder and WJRO Chair of Operations Gideon Taylor, said that the WJRO is "profoundly disappointed that the Polish government’s proposal excludes the vast majority of Polish Holocaust survivors and their families."

"Polish Holocaust survivors and their families were an integral part of Polish life for centuries. Their property is often their last tangible connection with the life they lived before the destruction of the Holocaust,” they added. "We strongly urge the Polish government to ensure that the legislation, when introduced to the Parliament, will have eligibility criteria and a claims process that are fair and just to those who suffered and lost so much."

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Jewish leader opposes Austrian right party in government

The head of Vienna's Jewish community warned of the dangers of including the right-wing Freedom Party in the Austrian government, asserting that it remains xenophobic despite its newly moderate tone.

 

Oskar Deutsch says even if the "nationalistic wolf puts on a (...) sheepskin, it changes only its appearance and not character."

Freedom Party head Heinz-Christian Strache toned down his rhetoric to increase electability (Photo: Reuters)

Deutsch's weekend Facebook posting comes as the People's Party prepares to seek a coalition partner after winning elections. The Freedom Party is seen as its most probable partner given that both parties campaigned on an anti-migrant platform. Freedom Party head Heinz-Christian Strache has sought to reach out to voters that reject extremist messages by toning down his inflammatory rhetoric. He also has tried to move the party away from anti-Semitism, but it continues to attract the neo-Nazi fringe.

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Italy investigates anti-Semitic Anne Frank stickers at soccer stadium

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Fans of Lazio soccer team post anti-Semitic stickers of Holocaust victim Anne Frank wearing jersey of top team rival AS Roma; Italian police, soccer authorities open investigation; 'This is not soccer, this is not sport,' tweets head of Rome’s Jewish community Dureghello; head of Italian Left party Fratoianni says those guilty should be made to memorize Anne Frank’s diary. Italy investigates anti-Semitic Anne Frank stickers at soccer stadium : http://ift.tt/2yKnS37

Scaramucci polls Twitter followers on nr. of Holocaust victims

The official Twitter account for a media venture started by former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci published a poll Friday asking its followers to vote "How many Jews were killed during the Holocaust?", only three days after publishing a similar poll—and removing it after an hour and a half.

 

Scaramucci, who served as communications director for only 10 days before being ousted by President Donald Trump, announced the creation of an eponymous news site—The Scaramucci Post—back in September.

Scaramucci during his brief tenure as WH Communications Director (Photo: EPA)

While the site itself is not yet operational, its official Twitter account is, boasting some 25,500 followers. On Friday, it polled them on how many people they thought were killed in the Holocaust.

How many Jews were killed during the Holocaust?

— ScaramucciPost (@ScaramucciPost) October 20, 2017

 

The poll options were "less than a million", "between one and two million", "between two and three million" and "more than five million." As of this writing—and with almost 33,000 people voting—25 percent of the voters chose the first option of less than one million victims, whereas 69 percent chose the last option of more than five million.

The poll's results

This was the second time the poll was floated by The Scaramucci Post, whose Twitter account is operated by Scaramucci's business partner Lance Laifer, who is Jewish. After the first poll was taken down, Laifer wrote on Twitter that, "The intent of the poll was to highlight ignorance of the basic facts of the Holocaust. I take full responsibility for it."

Scaramucci himself commented on the poll's original removing, writing on his private Twitter account Thursday that, "If anyone was offended by this act, you have both my sincere personal apology and commitment that it will never happen again."

"I have publicly criticized the white supremacy movement and understand that the Holocaust was one of the most abhorrent moments in world history," Scaramucci added.

Scaramucci shared the poll again despite apologizing for its creation

Nevertheless and despite the above statements, Scaramucci retweeted the new poll to his 850,000 followers, adding, "Please vote and retweet. Do not let Holocaust deniers and anti-Semites control this poll. Six million Jews perished in the Holocaust." Many were outraged at the poll, including Jewish-American writer and journalist John Podhoretz, who tweeted, "Delete this disgusting thread AND the poll, you unimaginable fool."

Delete this disgusting thread AND the poll, you unimaginable fool. https://t.co/sjNDA7RwuQ

— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) October 20, 2017

 

Scaramucci, originally a New York financier, was a large donor to the Republican Party. He was considered part of Trump's inner circle and defended him on television numerous times. On July 21, Trump returned the favor by appointing Scaramucci his White House Communications Director, a position he held for only 10 days, until July 31.

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German prosecutors charge former Majdanek death camp guard

A former guard at the Majdanek death camp in Nazi-occupied Poland has been charged in Germany with being an accessory to murder for allegedly serving there during a period when at least 17,000 Jews were killed, Frankfurt prosecutors said Friday. The 96-year-old Frankfurt resident, whose name wasn't released under German privacy regulations, is alleged to have served at the death camp near the Polish city of Lublin between August 1943 and January 1944.

Majdanek concentration camp (Photo: AP)

Prosecutors allege that as a 22-year-old member of the SS's Death's Head division, the man worked as a perimeter guard and in the camp's guard towers. "According to the known evidence, the suspect, as well as all other SS members of the camp, knew of the cruel and organized mass murder," prosecutors said in a statement.

"He also knew that these people, facing their fate innocently and defencelessly, were killed for inhuman reasons based on race," it added.

In particular, the indictment accuses the man of supporting the so-called Operation "Erntefest"—Operation Harvest Festival—on November 3, 1943. On that day, at least 17,000 Jewish prisoners from the Majdanek camp and others who were being used as forced laborers in and around Lublin were shot in ditches just outside the camp. Music was blared from the Majdanek loudspeakers to mask the sound of the executions. The Frankfurt resident charged Friday "contributed in his role as a perimeter guard and as a tower guard, and thus knowingly and deliberately aided" the killings, prosecutors said.

"By being part of a chain of guards and a tower guard, he made a contribution to (the Erntefest) and knowingly and willingly supported the malicious and cruel acts."

The prosecutor's charges are based on an investigation by the Central Office for the Investigation of Nazi Crimes and on historical documents found as part of the investigation.

No trial date has been set.

More than 70 years after the end of World War II, German prosecutors continue to bring new cases against former Nazi war crimes suspects. Due to their advanced ages, the task of getting suspects to trial is getting increasingly difficult, but prosecutors have secured notable convictions in recent years.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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'Nazi grandma' Holocaust denier sentenced to jail in Germany

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Ursula Haverbeck, 88, receives six months in jail for repeated Holocaust denial, an illegal offence in German law; Haverbeck has repeatedly described Holocaust as 'the biggest and most sustainable lie in history,' denied existence of gas chambers in Auschwitz. 'Nazi grandma' Holocaust denier sentenced to jail in Germany : http://ift.tt/2x1Plu0

Anne Frank becomes a halloween costume on US site

An American website that sells halloween costumes for children has come under fire for including in its range an outfit of Anne Frank, a German-born diarist who became one of the most prominent victims of the Holocaust. Frank was betrayed and handed over to the Nazis while hiding in the Netherlands between 1942 and 1944 and her diary became one of the most heavily examined historical sources of the period.

The website, which also delivers to Israel, advertized a costume labelled “WW2 Costume for Girls.” However the URL link read “girls-anne-frank-costume.html” and the costume can also be found by searching for her name on the site.

Anne Frank costume

While the American site attempted to disguise the URL with a different label on the site, the European, Canadian, Australian and British versions of the site are less discreet, which shows a picture of a girl clad in WWII-style clothes next to the title: “Anne Frank Costume for girls.” The costumes in Europe can be purchased for between approximately 14-24 Euros while in Canada the sinister costumes are on sale for between $19-32. The costume didn't go on sale for the first time in 2017. At the beginning of the current decade, consumers complained about the insensitive branding and sale. The costume was described as “the worst costume of all time” by The Blaze website which also displayed the costume’s packaging.

American version labelled as 'WW2 Costume for Girls'

“It seems every year Halloween costumes get more tasteless and more controversial. This year’s winner might just be the ‘World War II Evacuee’ costume for young girls,” The Blaze wrote. According to one manufacturing company called Girls Fantasy, “all that is missing here is a yellow star.” As a result of the ensuing furor, a British blogger named Nick Douglas sought to defend the sale of the costume, insisting that it had its origin in British educational tradition and that it actually has no connection to halloween. Douglas claimed that as part of an educational day called “Evacuation Day,” British children are asked to dress up as British children of the Second World War to help them feel greater empathy toward those who suffered during its course.

Anne Frank

While Douglas is correct, as demonstrated by a simple google search for “evacuee costume,” he was not able to explain why the site had explicitly named its costume after the Jewish girl who was murdered by the Nazis. One of the site representatives on the chat forum of halloweencostumes responsible for the tasteless sale said he was unable to answer a question on the matter when asked directly, claiming that he was not authorized to act as a spokesperson for the company. After being referred to the customer service of the company, Ynet was told: “This is the Second World War. These are costumes that are similar to what was worn then. It doesn’t portray anything, it is a style of the dress at the time.” When asked why the costume was called “Anne Frank” on the site, the representative shirked responsibility: “I don’t make decisions and anyone who answers you here has been working here for two months and help people buy. It isn’t something I can change. If you call here no one will help you. You can send a complaint via mail.”

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