Wiesenthal Center Commends US Senator Menendez For Urging Poland to Repeal Holocaust Law

March 30, 2018

The Simon Wiesenthal Center commended US Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) for urging Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki to repeal the bill criminalizing speech referring to Polish complicity in crimes committed by Nazi Germany that was passed by the Polish Sejm in February.

Senator Menendez, the Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee wrote in part, “restricts freedom of expression and risks fueling a concerning rise in anti-Semitic incidents in Poland that threaten the renaissance of Poland’s Jewish community in recent years.”

Mark Weitzman, the Wiesenthal Center’s Director of Government Affairs who had been in close contact with the Senator and other members of Congress, said, “Senator Menendez’s letter, coming from the Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, reflects the deep concern and alarm felt by many Americans about the recent manifestations of anti-Semitism, particularly from elites in the government and political circles. We hope Warsaw is beginning to understand the damage this bill has caused on both sides of the Atlantic,” Mr. Weitzman concluded.

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The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).