Poland

September 17, 2021, 4:36 am

Germany: Berlin memorial to Polish WWII victims to be built in coming years

Foreign Minister Heiko Maas says ‘fundamentally important’ project is a ‘gesture to the Polish victims,’ will be approved during next parliament’s 4-year term

By AP

In this file photo taken October 5, 2015 a woman walks by the entrance to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg (AP/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

September 7, 2021, 4:22 pm

EU seeks daily fines against Poland over controversial judicial reforms

Brussels aims to penalize Warsaw until it improves functioning of Polish Supreme Court, suspends laws said to undermine judicial independence

By LORNE COOK

Promo pic for The Champion of Auschwitz, based on the life of Tadeusz Pietrzykowski (Courtesy)

September 5, 2021, 9:55 am

‘Champion of Auschwitz’: New book tells the story of a boxer who brought hope

Polish Catholic Tadeusz Pietrzykowski won dozens of matches at the death camp, along with special privileges that ensured his and others’ survival

By Anna Maria Jakubek

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid meets with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Rome, on June 27, 2021. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, Pool, File)

August 30, 2021, 7:22 am

Could Lapid’s harsh rebuke of Poland harm ties beyond repair?

Some experts question wisdom of foreign minister’s enraged response to Warsaw’s newly passed controversial restitution law

By Cnaan Liphshiz

Danish conceptual artist Kristian von Hornsleth poses next to a sculpture he made being shown in a new exhibition at the Ujazdowski Castle Center for Contemporary Art in Warsaw, Poland, Wednesday Aug. 25, 2021. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

August 28, 2021, 2:23 am

Polish art show defies ‘cancel culture’ but faces criticism for antisemitism

Exhibition meant to showcase artists shunned for political work, but includes Swedish provocateur who left swastikas and boxes labeled ‘Zyklon B’ outside a synagogue

By Vanessa Gera

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken listens as he gives a joint press conference with Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, following a meeting of the US-led coalition against the Islamic State (IS) group, at the Fiera di Roma, in Rome, as part of Blinken's three-nation tour of Europe, on June 28, 2021. (ANDREAS SOLARO / AFP)

August 17, 2021, 5:51 am

Blinken laments Polish president’s authorization of Holocaust restitution law

US reiterates concerns over legislation that will severely restrict compensation for wrongfully confiscated property, urges Warsaw to develop legal procedure for resolving disputes

By Jacob Magid

Holocaust survivor Edward Mossberg with Polish president Andrzej Duda, at a ceremony in the March of the Living at the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp site in Poland, as Israel marks annual Holocaust Memorial Day, on April 12, 2018. (Yossi Zeliger/ Flash90/ File)

August 16, 2021, 8:33 pm

Poland recalls envoy to Israel in row over Holocaust claims

Move comes after Israel recalled ambassador and called Polish anti-compensation law ‘antisemitic’

By Agencies and TOI staff

Holocaust scholars Barbara Engelking, left, and Jan Grabowski, right. (Yad Vashem via AP / courtesy)

August 16, 2021, 8:20 pm

Holocaust scholars in Poland win closely watched libel case on appeal

Jan Grabowski and Barbara Engelking were ordered in February to apologize for their research on Poles who collaborated with Nazis

By AP and TOI staff

A student on a trip to the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp site in modern-day Poland on April 27, 2014. (Yossi Zeliger/Flash 90)

August 16, 2021, 6:32 pm

Warsaw threatens to end ‘anti-Polish’ Israeli youth Holocaust memorial trips

Amid public spat over WWII restitution claims law, deputy FM claims organized visits to Nazi death camps ‘instill hatred for Poland’

By TOI staff

August 15, 2021, 1:53 pm

Daily Briefing Aug 15 – Will restitution law make Poland Israel’s new frenemy?

Back from Morocco with FM Lapid, Lazar Berman reports on the new Israel-Poland brush fire; military reporter Judah Ari Gross sounds off on the IDF’s role in fighting COVID

By TOI staff

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid (left) speaks at a ceremony in Rabat, on August 11, 2021. Poland's President Andrej Duda (right) arrives for a NATO summit in Brussels on June 14, 2021. (Shlomi Amsalem/GPO; Kenzo Tribouillard/Pool via AP)

August 14, 2021, 10:01 pm

Major crisis as Israel recalls envoy to Poland after WWII restitution law okayed

Bennett slams ‘disgraceful contempt for the memory of the Holocaust’; Lapid rages against ‘antidemocratic’ Warsaw; Polish ambassador advised not to return from vacation

By TOI staff

Polish President Andrzej Duda announces his decision to sign legislation penalizing certain statements about the Holocaust, in Warsaw, Poland, on February 6, 2018. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)

August 14, 2021, 5:55 pm

Polish president approves WWII restitution law, defying Israel and US

Andrzej Duda rails against ‘reprivitization mafias’ as he signs legislation that will effectively prevent heirs to property seized by Nazis during Holocaust from reclaiming it

By Agencies and TOI staff

The leader of PiS Party, Law and Justice, Jaroslaw Kaczynski speaks during a campaign convention in Warsaw, Poland, October 8, 2019, (AP/Czarek Sokolowski)

August 14, 2021, 12:31 am

Poland’s ruling populists risk isolation in bid to stay in power

Law and Justice party manages to pass controversial media ownership law and bill restricting claims on properties seized after WWII, which has strained relations with Israel

By Bernard OSSER

Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki speaks with the media as he arrives for an EU summit at the European Council building in Brussels, on May 24, 2021. (Olivier Hoslet, Pool via AP, File)

August 10, 2021, 10:11 pm

Poland’s ruling coalition crumbles as PM dumps junior partner

Government spokesman predicts ruling Law and Justice party will be able to maintain a parliamentary majority after deputy premier Jaroslaw Gowin sacked

By AFP

Belarus athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya (C) walks through Terminal 1 before boarding her Vienna-bound flight at Narita International Airport in Narita, Chiba Prefecture, outside Tokyo on August 4, 2021 (CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP)

August 4, 2021, 10:41 am

Belarus Olympic athlete leaves Japan after Poland offers refuge

Krystsina Tsimanouskaya has said she fears for her life if forced to return home; athlete’s problems began after she publicly criticized her coaches

By Kyoko HASEGAWA and Sara Hussein