Lawyers call for EU hearing on restitution
But following a declaration of support last week for their case by the Polish Association of Real Estate Owners (PUWN), the attorneys said they have expanded their strategy to encompass "all claims of all people who were dispossessed of property" not just Polish Jews.
"We are talking all of Poland," said Mel Urbach, one of two attorneys representing 11 Polish Jews who in June filed a class action lawsuit in U.S. Federal Court against the Polish government.
The attorneys are hoping hearings on restitution at the EU level would put further pressure on the government to resolve the issue, which affects thousands of owners who lost property either in World War II or under communism.
To date, no post-1989 government has managed to resolve the restitution issue, despite several legislative attempts.
"We are going to ask the EC (European Commission) to hold hearings, something similar to what happened here in the U.S. Senate where we held hearings about German labor camps," Urbach said. "That fact-finding information will help everybody. And then perhaps fruitful negotiations could be conducted under the guidance of the European Parliament."
Urbach would not say whom he or fellow attorney working on the case, Edward Klein, had contacted in the EU with their request.
"What we have done is we have made a connection to our European contact and we understand the issue will be raised at a senior level meeting in coming days," Urbach said. "What we are asking for is to get the European Parliament after this summer to hold hearings on the confiscation of all assets, and I underline the word all, because we now represent very large organizations in Poland."
He added that if such hearings were held they should cover all restitution issues and include testimony from Polish citizens, Holocaust survivors, lawyers, Polish government officials and political figures to uncover what needs to be done to resolve this issue. "We would like to see Poland becoming a model for the rest of Europe in dealing with these issues," Urbach said.
So far, neither Urbach nor Klein have had direct contact with the government about their case or the restitution issue. "But, the sooner negotiations on these issues begin, the better we will be," Urbach said.
Already, though, the lawsuit has put pressure on the government to act on the long-dormant restitution issue.
The government last week moved to ready a property restitution law after Sejm deputies threatened to introduce their own legislative package and the PUWN endorsed Urbach's lawsuit.
Speaking on Polskie Radio, Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek said the restitution law being prepared by his government would be introduced to the Sejm within two weeks. Janusz Lewandowski, deputy chairman of the Sejm's Treasury, Enfranchisement and Privatization Committee, said the prime minister was possibly prodded into action by a letter sent to him by deputies from his own Solidarity Election Action (AWS) as well as Freedom Union (UW) and Movement for the Reconstruction of Poland (ROP). He added that the letter gave the government a friendly ultimatum: introduce a restitution bill to the Sejm by the end of August or deputies would act on their own.
At the same time, the PUWN, which represents thousands of property owners who have been unable to regain holdings, said it backed the legal action filed in New York by Polish Jews and said it would encourage its own members to sign onto the class action lawsuit. "We support the claim filed by the Polish citizens of Jewish origin, and we will try to persuade our members to join it," Mirosław Szypowski, UPWN president, told the Business Journal.
The lawsuit filed in U.S. Federal District Court in Brooklyn, New York, on June 18 is a source of embarrassment for the government as it has made the restitution issue an international matter. In addition, the lawsuit alleges that the Polish state engaged in a conspiracy after World War II to intentionally keep property for its own gain that had been confiscated from Jews by the Nazis.
Urbach welcomed UPWN's statements and said it would help push the issue.
"So I consider the endorsement of the Polish organization as an opening of a flood gate," he said. "We anticipate that many Poles will join us. We will fight on behalf of anybody that seeks our assistance; anybody who has been displaced from the ownership of his property."
The restitution issue affects thousands of Poles and properties throughout the country. Unlike most other East European states, Poland has not managed to tackle the issue since the political changes of 1989.
And there is no assurance that the Parliament and government will be able to succeed this time around.
"It's a matter of reaching an extremely difficult compromise," Lewandowski said.
Under the government proposal, now being drafted by the Treasury Ministry, the issue would be resolved by making changes to a 1945 law that nationalized property. Lewandowski said such amendments would have a better chance of passage than total annulment of the legislation from that time. However, the cost of a restitution project is likely to continue being a point of contention. Lewandowski added that public opinion could turn against the project if the cost, which is likely to run into billions of dollars, becomes the focus. And while UPWN's recent backing of the U.S. lawsuit has added impetus for a resolution of the issue, Lewandowski said it could also inflame opposition.
"Such statements like the one made by (UPWN's) Szypowski might only make the entire process more difficult," Lewandowski said. "It might do this as much as the Brooklyn claim to delay reprivatization because it will set public opinion and the deputies against it."
Nevertheless, Lewandowski believes a restitution bill could be introduced in the Sejm before its July 26 recess.
Meanwhile, the U.S. attorneys representing the 11 Polish Jews vowed to continue pressing the issue until a resolution is reached. Urbach said he plans in August to visit Poland and learn more about individual cases through representatives of Polish organizations. He added that the government's draft restitution law would be a start, but needs work. "We have the draft law, and there are some serious concerns that we have about it," Urbach said.
"We are talking all of Poland," said Mel Urbach, one of two attorneys representing 11 Polish Jews who in June filed a class action lawsuit in U.S. Federal Court against the Polish government.
The attorneys are hoping hearings on restitution at the EU level would put further pressure on the government to resolve the issue, which affects thousands of owners who lost property either in World War II or under communism.
To date, no post-1989 government has managed to resolve the restitution issue, despite several legislative attempts.
"We are going to ask the EC (European Commission) to hold hearings, something similar to what happened here in the U.S. Senate where we held hearings about German labor camps," Urbach said. "That fact-finding information will help everybody. And then perhaps fruitful negotiations could be conducted under the guidance of the European Parliament."
Urbach would not say whom he or fellow attorney working on the case, Edward Klein, had contacted in the EU with their request.
"What we have done is we have made a connection to our European contact and we understand the issue will be raised at a senior level meeting in coming days," Urbach said. "What we are asking for is to get the European Parliament after this summer to hold hearings on the confiscation of all assets, and I underline the word all, because we now represent very large organizations in Poland."
He added that if such hearings were held they should cover all restitution issues and include testimony from Polish citizens, Holocaust survivors, lawyers, Polish government officials and political figures to uncover what needs to be done to resolve this issue. "We would like to see Poland becoming a model for the rest of Europe in dealing with these issues," Urbach said.
So far, neither Urbach nor Klein have had direct contact with the government about their case or the restitution issue. "But, the sooner negotiations on these issues begin, the better we will be," Urbach said.
Already, though, the lawsuit has put pressure on the government to act on the long-dormant restitution issue.
The government last week moved to ready a property restitution law after Sejm deputies threatened to introduce their own legislative package and the PUWN endorsed Urbach's lawsuit.
Speaking on Polskie Radio, Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek said the restitution law being prepared by his government would be introduced to the Sejm within two weeks. Janusz Lewandowski, deputy chairman of the Sejm's Treasury, Enfranchisement and Privatization Committee, said the prime minister was possibly prodded into action by a letter sent to him by deputies from his own Solidarity Election Action (AWS) as well as Freedom Union (UW) and Movement for the Reconstruction of Poland (ROP). He added that the letter gave the government a friendly ultimatum: introduce a restitution bill to the Sejm by the end of August or deputies would act on their own.
At the same time, the PUWN, which represents thousands of property owners who have been unable to regain holdings, said it backed the legal action filed in New York by Polish Jews and said it would encourage its own members to sign onto the class action lawsuit. "We support the claim filed by the Polish citizens of Jewish origin, and we will try to persuade our members to join it," Mirosław Szypowski, UPWN president, told the Business Journal.
The lawsuit filed in U.S. Federal District Court in Brooklyn, New York, on June 18 is a source of embarrassment for the government as it has made the restitution issue an international matter. In addition, the lawsuit alleges that the Polish state engaged in a conspiracy after World War II to intentionally keep property for its own gain that had been confiscated from Jews by the Nazis.
Urbach welcomed UPWN's statements and said it would help push the issue.
"So I consider the endorsement of the Polish organization as an opening of a flood gate," he said. "We anticipate that many Poles will join us. We will fight on behalf of anybody that seeks our assistance; anybody who has been displaced from the ownership of his property."
The restitution issue affects thousands of Poles and properties throughout the country. Unlike most other East European states, Poland has not managed to tackle the issue since the political changes of 1989.
And there is no assurance that the Parliament and government will be able to succeed this time around.
"It's a matter of reaching an extremely difficult compromise," Lewandowski said.
Under the government proposal, now being drafted by the Treasury Ministry, the issue would be resolved by making changes to a 1945 law that nationalized property. Lewandowski said such amendments would have a better chance of passage than total annulment of the legislation from that time. However, the cost of a restitution project is likely to continue being a point of contention. Lewandowski added that public opinion could turn against the project if the cost, which is likely to run into billions of dollars, becomes the focus. And while UPWN's recent backing of the U.S. lawsuit has added impetus for a resolution of the issue, Lewandowski said it could also inflame opposition.
"Such statements like the one made by (UPWN's) Szypowski might only make the entire process more difficult," Lewandowski said. "It might do this as much as the Brooklyn claim to delay reprivatization because it will set public opinion and the deputies against it."
Nevertheless, Lewandowski believes a restitution bill could be introduced in the Sejm before its July 26 recess.
Meanwhile, the U.S. attorneys representing the 11 Polish Jews vowed to continue pressing the issue until a resolution is reached. Urbach said he plans in August to visit Poland and learn more about individual cases through representatives of Polish organizations. He added that the government's draft restitution law would be a start, but needs work. "We have the draft law, and there are some serious concerns that we have about it," Urbach said.
