Poland in latest Jewish dispute

Polish public television has raised the sensitive issue of Jewish property restitution during the country’s presidential campaign by accusing the main opposition candidate, Rafal Trzaskowski, of putting foreign interests first.

Poland was home to one of the world’s biggest Jewish communities until it was almost entirely wiped out during World War Two by the Nazis who set up death camps such as Auschwitz on Polish territory.

Jewish former property owners and their descendants have been campaigning for compensation since the fall of communism in 1989. But the nationalist ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) says Poland itself was also a victim of Nazi Germany and that it is for Berlin to compensate former Polish Jews.

The prime time news show on state-owned TVP suggested on Sunday that Trzaskowski, presidential candidate of the centrist Civic Platform (PO), would use public money to compensate Jews for their losses and fail to defend national interests if he beat the incumbent, Andrzej Duda, in the June 28 vote.

President Duda is close to PiS.

TVP quoted a 2015 interview with Trzaskowski saying Poland “needs to talk with Jewish communities and try to solve this problem (of property restitution)”. It also suggested Trzaskowski’s “thinking is not based on Polish interests”.

Previously, the show has said Trzaskowski has close ties to George Soros, the billionaire financier who supports liberal causes in eastern Europe.

“(Trzaskowski) is a man (...) who represents foreign interests in our country,” PiS MP Arkadiusz Mularczyk told Reuters, adding that the PO candidate took “his mandate” from Berlin or Brussels and would not stand up for Polish interests.

A spokesman for PO said it was difficult to comment on such “absurdities”.

“Public television in Poland is more similar to public television in Russia or Belarus than to public television in a democratic country,” said Jan Grabiec.

Trzaskowski has said he will reform TVP if he wins the presidency.

Soure: Reuters

 

The Liberum

Vox Populi, Vox Dei
See full bio >
The Liberum runs on your donation. Fight with us for a free society.
Donation Form (#6)

More articles you might like

- by The Liberum on 21/01/2025

Beyond modern nihilism: tradition, progress, and the search for meaning

According to political theorist Wendy Brown, in her book Nihilistic Times: Thinking with Max Weber, […]
- by Arthur Blok on 20/01/2025

Biden mumbles and stumbles farewell while Trump gears up for his second term in office

The world can breathe a sigh of relief. Donald Trump returns to the White House […]

Top Azerbaijani diplomat: Armenia holds the key to lasting peace with Azerbaijan

The peace negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan have progressed much since Baku took back control […]

Winter Chills – Richard Condon’s Cloud of Conscience

By freak coincidence I stumbled onto a very reasonably priced secondhand copy of conspiracy thriller […]

2024 highlights: From exposing the Climate Hoax to Chaos in the Middle East & Donald Trump

The last hours of 2024. It's a cliché, but the year has flown by again. […]

Sci-Fi Contrasts – Paradise between Virtue and the Virtual

Fadi Zuwail’s 2070: The War of the Zanoun (2024) has been on my review list […]