Polish president recognizes importance of restitution of Jewish property issue in his country
Subtitle: During a meeting Tuesday in Warsaw with a delegation from the European Jewish Congress.
http://ejpress.org/article/37803
07/Jul/2009 23:29
WARSAW (EJP)---Polish President Lech Kaczynski has recognized the importance of the issue of restitution of Jewish property confiscated during the Nazi and Communist eras in the country, during a meeting Tuesday in Warsaw with a delegation from the European Jewish Congress.
"Mr Kaczynski agreed to hold another meeting of a more practical nature on the issue in November," Moshe Kantor, president of the European Jewish Congress, said after what he described as "friendly and constructive discussions."
"We certainly recognize the complexity of the issue of restitution, but to date, unfortunately we have not seen measures taken by previous Polish governments to deal with private property restitution," Kantor said.
"To understand the magnitude of the loss, over 3.5 million Jews lived in Poland before the Holocaust," he added.
He expressed the hope that the current administration "will take concrete measures that would enable the claimant and their heirs to fulfil their rights in the most just and efficient manner".
He stressed the need for the European Union to establish strong moral foundations of individual rights. "This issue of individual claims of Holocaust era assets is still an unresolved issue in several European countries, with Poland being one of the most significant."
The EJC delegation also met with Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski and the local Jewish Community
Other topics discussed include initiatives aimed at fighting racism and anti-Semitism, and forging tolerance in Europe, EU-Israel relations and Holocaust education.
Kantor mentioned that Poland has long been "an important ally and partner of Israel and of Jewish communities in Europe."
"So many issues that affect Jewish communities are of equal importance to general society both in Poland and throughout Europe," he said.
The EJC suggested holding a special commemorative joint event on the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, to be co-sponsored by the United Nations, the European Jewish Congress and the Polish government.
The Jewish body also came with the idea – endorsed by the Polish leaders- of bringing missions of members of the EU parliament to Auschwitz every year on January 27.
"This idea has both educational merit and moral value, particularly in light of the rise of the extreme right parties in the EU parliament," Kantor said.