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Orrin Hatch condemns new Polish Holocaust bill

Posted at 4:40 PM, Feb 06, 2018
and last updated 2018-02-07 08:10:53-05

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Orrin Hatch, (R-UT) denounced Poland’s new Holocaust bill, which bans people from accusing the nation of atrocities committed by Nazis during World War II.

“As a member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council and a strong supporter of Israel, I urge President Duda and Prime Minister Morawiecki to reject this terrible affront to the Jewish people,” Hatch said in a statement.

Many historians have asserted that Polish citizens and groups aided Nazi forces when they occupied Poland during the war. Recently the Polish government has worked to alter the narrative, asserting that Polish people did not contribute to the Holocaust.

Polish President Andrzej Duda announced that he planned on signing the bill into law, making it illegal for people to say that the nation was complicit in any of the crimes that Nazi Germany committed during the Holocaust. The signing of the bill by Duda was condemned by both the United States and Israel, causing tension to rise between both nations and Poland. Violations of the new bill could be punishable by up to three years in jail.

“This bill, which was drafted as the world commemorated International Holocaust Remembrance Day, would be severely detrimental to those in Poland who want to learn from the dark lessons of the past and work towards a brighter future,” Hatch said.

Duda said he planned on signing the bill, but it was unclear when he would do so.