NEW YORK, NY – The Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA) strongly opposes a new bill passed by the Polish parliament that would criminalize speech that ties the Polish nation to atrocities committed during the Holocaust. We call on Poland’s President Andrzej Duda not to sign the badly flawed legislation. “As a close friend of Poland, I am personally appalled at this blatant attempt to silence discourse on the Holocaust,” stated Cheryl Fishbein, Chair of JCPA. “We urge our affiliates at the national and local levels to immediately contact the Polish embassy or consulate nearest to them to express their grave concerns.

“While we don’t use, and urge others not to use, the term ‘Polish death camps’ to describe the Nazi death camps in Poland, it is highly destructive to criminalize such discussion and calls into question Poland’s democratic character and commitment to freedom of speech,” she added.