US senators want Poland to pay victims of Nazi property thefts

U.S. senators urged President Donald Trump’s administration to pressure Poland, a NATO ally, to resolve demands to compensate Holocaust victims for property confiscated by the Nazis during World War II.

More than 80 senators from both parties signed a letter calling on Secretary of State Michael Pompeo to “act boldly and with urgency to help Poland resolve this issue comprehensively.” The move comes four weeks before Trump is due to visit Poland to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the start of World War II, which began with shots fired by a German ship near the Baltic port of Gdansk.

Poland, while seeking to boost the U.S. military presence on its soil to counter Russian threats, has vehemently rejected calls for a property-restitution law, saying former owners can pursue claims in court for belongings seized by the Nazis and later held by Communists. Deputy Justice Minister Michal Wojcik said yesterday that he’s “fully calm” because the issue has been resolved.

“It is possible to regain inheritance through the courts – that’s the normal mechanism,” Wojcik told public radio. “But this is all about property that has no heirs and Polish law regulates this in an unambiguous way.”

Following the Holocaust, many properties that belonged to Jews before the war were left without any heirs. Under Polish law, such assets are transferred to the state and not subject to court proceedings. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said in May that Polish citizens were the victims of atrocities by German occupants and “can’t bear any responsibility” today.

Poland is the only ex-communist nation without comprehensive legislation addressing claims for property nationalized last century. The World Jewish Restitution Organization has repeatedly called on the country to address property claims by U.S.-citizen Holocaust survivors and their families, and the U.S. Congress last year obliged the State Department to monitor progress in restitution laws.

After Pompeo urged Poland to move forward with legislation in February, the issue became a lightning rod for right-wing groups in the country. Wojciech Moskwa & Daniel Flatley, Bloomberg