AP News, February 28th, 2007
The Jewish Claims Conference joined with Polish restitution organizations Wednesday to appeal for the return of private property seized in the country during World War II and under Communist rule.
Representatives of the Jewish conference, who met with Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, hope for legislation similar to a 1997 law that provided for restitution of Jewish communal property, such as synagogues or cemeteries.
"We had constructive meeting with the prime minister," the group's president, Israel Singer, told a news conference held with non-Jewish Polish groups later Wednesday.
"We had the opportunity to describe in great detail why citizens, whether Jewish or not, have the right to have their property back."
Miroslaw Szypowski, the head of an alliance of Polish groups seeking restitution, estimated the value of seized property claimed by owners, or their heirs, was up to $23 billion. About 17 percent of that rightly belongs to Jewish owners or their heirs, Szypowski said.
Some of the property was seized by the Nazis during their wartime occupation of Poland and later taken into public ownership, and some was seized under Communist rule.
"We are happy that today Polish and Jewish organizations are jointly taking action and calling for their rights and for justice," Szypowski said.
Kaczynski assured the Jewish leaders of "good will" on his government's part to resolve the restitution issue, his office said. It did not elaborate on how it might be resolved.
In 2001, then-President Aleksander Kwasniewski vetoed a bill calling for the restitution of private property, arguing that it violated the constitution and would be too costly for Poland.
Authorities in Warsaw, where many of the claims have been made, argue that restitution would be complicated because about 40 percent of the city's infrastructure was destroyed during the war and later replaced by new buildings.
Asked whether his group would resort to litigation if Poland refuses to restitute some or all of the property, Singer replied: "We don't come here to threaten."
