Poland's new law harms Holocaust survivors and their families

Dear friends,

This weekend, Polish President Andrzej Duda signed into law shameful legislation that both violates the rights of Holocaust survivors and their families and distorts the memory of the Holocaust. Specifically, the law significantly limits the possibility of restitution for Jewish-owned property stolen by Nazis during World War II, and later nationalized by the postwar communist regime.

This law not only prevents families from accessing property that is rightfully theirs, it also removes one of the few ways Poland acknowledges the incredible suffering and loss experienced by Jewish families during the world's worst genocide.Sadly, this is just the latest in Poland's long history of antisemitism. In recent years, publications containing antisemitic content and pro-Nazi propaganda are being disseminated throughout Poland — including being sold in more than 30 different online bookstores — in violation of Polish law.

The Lawfare Project and the global law firm Dentons initiated criminal and civil actions in Poland to curb the publication and dissemination of such materials, and to deter future publications.

"Whether it's Poland's new law that restricts the civil rights of Holocaust survivors and their families or the selling of pro-Nazi propaganda throughout Poland, it's clear that Jew-hatred continues to reign in Poland 80 years after the Holocaust began. The Lawfare Project will continue to take action against discrimination like this and calls on allies from across the globe to loudly condemn Poland for this Jew-hatred," said Brooke Goldstein, Executive Director of The Lawfare Project.

Please join us in voicing your opposition to Poland's new law by tweeting at Polish President Duda (@AndrzejDuda) and using the hashtag #EndJewHatred.

The Lawfare Project is dedicated to protecting the civil and human rights of the Jewish people. We must call out discrimination against Jews where it exists. We've seen the horrific things that can happen if we don't.