#Crif #Poland - Crif meets with Tomasz Młynarski, Polish Ambassador in France

Francis Kalifat began the interview with a long introduction on the need for this meeting and the context in which it takes place.

 

"We were deeply shocked by the vote of the Polish law to criminalize any reference to Polish responsibility for crimes committed by the Nazi regime during the Holocaust," said Francis Kalifat. He said, however, that Crif fully understood that the name "Polish death camp" did not correspond to the historical reality, adding that they were Nazi extermination camps in Poland.

On the other hand, he insisted on the seriousness of the recent decision to criminalize any statement that would indicate a responsibility or a co-responsibility of the Poles in the crimes of the Holocaust.

 

Francis Kalifat also commented on the remarks of the Polish Prime Minister in Munich, who placed the responsibility for the Holocaust on the Jews themselves. "These remarks are hurtful, unacceptable and totally contrary to the historical truth" assured the President of the Crif before continuing "It amounts to making the victims the executioners". Mr Tomasz Młynarski explained that during an interview with the German newspaper Die Welt, the Prime Minister had been able to return his statements, which he considers to have been taken out of context. Francis Kalifat emphasized the unacceptability of these remarks, whatever the context, and asked that they be withdrawn.  

 

The Ambassador recalled that he found the existence of the Holocaust absolutely unacceptable on the human and religious level. He regretted that the death camps were in Poland, then occupied by the Nazi regime of the Third Reich while stating that Poland had paid a heavy price.

 

This meeting was an opportunity to recall the long history of the Jews of Poland, 1000 years old, as well as the context of antisemitism deeply rooted in the pre-war period in Poland. The President of Crif invited to remember that the Polish Jewish community before the Shoah was 3 million strong, and that almost all of it had been exterminated by the Nazis. Francis Kalifat added that by this law, it is part of the history of the Holocaust that is called into question and that the greatness of a country also lies in its ability to look at its history both in its share of light only in its shadowy part. He stressed the need to let historians work freely on the subject.

Mr. Ambassador took the opportunity to present the project to organize in the coming months two cultural events: an exhibition on 1000 years of Jewish life in Poland, and an event around the Polish Jewish roots of the State of Israel. In conclusion of the interview, Tomasz Młynarski showed a desire for appeasement.

Francis Kalifat reminded that the message of Crif on the new law remained clear and unambiguous and that it was desirable that the review of the law by the constitutional court provides clarifications and corrective essential to the desired appeasement.

 

David-Olivier Kaminski, Executive Board Member of Crif and Robert Ejnes, Executive Director of Crif, also attended the meeting.