U.S. Appeal to Poland

What About the Return of Jewish Property?

Stuart Eizenstat, an advisor to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, renewed his appeal to Polish authorities to ratify legislation regulating the return of Jewish property stolen during the German occupation of Poland. Despite Poland’s consistent position on the issue, the matter has been dragging on for years.

Eizenstat had previously addressed this topic in 2008, as former deputy Treasury Secretary under Bill Clinton. He spoke about it respectfully, but with a sense of urgency.

Yesterday’s statement from this prominent politician, lawyer and activist was different, however. Eizenstat highlighted the Polish government’s claims about the relatively strong state of the Polish economy. If the Polish government claims that times are good and that, compared to other European nations, it’s handling the economic downturn well, then why doesn’t it begin the process of compensating the victims and their lawful heirs?

This line of thinking, however, is totally detached from Polish realities and ignores the Polish position, which was formulated years ago, even before the formation of Donald Tusk’s government.

This position seems to be fair and just. Poland is looking at the Jewish estates on a case-by-case basis, and has been doing so for years. Poland has been in negotiations with Jewish communities on the topic of restitution as authorized by a previously reached agreement.

The Polish position is that all cases should be treated equally in the larger context of restitution for all property lost by Polish citizens, regardless of their ethnicity or religion. Unfortunately, with the growing deficit, Poland must halt the restitution process. In a nutshell, restitution will be made available to all citizens equally, in accordance with the means of the Polish government. This is a clear and fair answer to the appeals of Mrs. Clinton’s advisor.