Liszka Katarzyna, Articles 55a and 55b of the IPN Act and the Dialogue about the Holocaust in Poland

Asked by a friend about this paper I replied: I am trying to describe a controversial January 2018 amendment (hereinafter: „the IPN Amendment Act”) to the Act on the Institute of National Remembrance (hereinafter: „the IPN Act”) in the context of a dialogue on the crimes of Poles against Jews during World War II. „And what is the dialogue?”, asked my friend. This short conversation is a good introduction to the main topic of this paper.

On 26 January 2018 the IPN Amendment Act, which introduced Articles 55a and 55b to the IPN Act, was passed by a majority of votes by the ruling Law and Justice (Polish: Prawo i Sprawiedliwość, PiS) party and Kukiz15 movement. The law penalized ascribing responsibility or co-responsibility to the Polish nation or State for the Nazi crimes, committed by the Third Reich. The amendment unleashed mounting criticism abroad, stormy debate in Poland, increased antisemitism in the Polish political dis-course, and a diplomatic crisis in relations between Poland...