Joint Statement of Israel and Poland In a joint statement on 27 June issued by the prime ministers of the two countries, Israel and Poland seem to have found common ground in addressing their tragic history during World War II. “It’s obvious that the Holocaust was an unprecedented crime, committed by Nazi Germany against the Jewish nation, including all Poles of Jewish origin,” says the statement. “We have always agreed that the term ‘Polish concentration/death camps’ is blatantly erroneous and diminishes the responsibility of Germany for establishing those camps. The wartime Polish government-in-exile attempted to stop this Nazi activity by trying to raise awareness among the Western allies of the systematic murder of the Polish Jews.” While acknowledging and condemning “every single case of cruelty against Jews perpetrated by Poles during World War II”, the two countries are “honoured to remember heroic acts of numerous Poles, especially the Righteous Among the Nations, who risked their lives to save Jewish people.” “We reject the actions aimed at blaming Poland or the Polish nation as a whole for the atrocities committed by the Nazis and their collaborators of different nations. Unfortunately, the sad fact is that some people – regardless of their origin, religion or worldview – revealed their darkest side at that time.” A paragraph in the statement refers to the Polish “secrete state” during the war. This state was described already during the war in a book by Polish officer and diplomat Jan Karski who had risked his life to warn the allied powers about the mass extermination of the Jews. “We acknowledge the fact that structures of the Polish underground state supervised by the Polish government-in-exile created a mechanism of systematic help and support to Jewish people, and its courts sentenced Poles for collaborating with the German occupation authorities, including for denouncing Jews.” Israel and Poland “support free and open historical expression and research on all aspects of the Holocaust so that it can be conducted without any fear of legal obstacles”. No-one will “be subjected to any legal charges for exercising the right to free speech and academic freedom with reference to the Holocaust.”