Bill H.R.1226 - akcja podpisywania listow protestacyjnych do członków Izby Reprezentantów Kongresu USA

Drodzy Państwo,

W niedzielę, 11-tego lutego, w godzinach od 10-tej do 14-tej w Szarotce (3400 West Adams Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90018) jest organizowana akcja podpisywania listow protestacyjnych do członków Izby Reprezentantów Kongresu USA. W tych listach Polonia protestuje przeciwko proponowanej ustawie HR1226 umożliwiającej wywieranie nacisków na Polskę do zapłacenia organizacjom żydowskim sumy szacowanej na przynajmniej 65 miliardów dolarów tytułem rekompensaty za tzw. bezspadkowe mienie żydowskie z okresu Holokaustu.

Bardzo prosimy o liczne poparcie tej akcji. Jest to ogromnie ważne abysmy zademonstrowali głos Polonii w w tej sprawie i pomogli Polsce.

Mogą Państwo również wysłać swój list bezpośrednio do Państwa reprezentanta w Kongresie - wzór listu po angielsku podajemy poniżej. Na stronie www.GovTrack.us, na podstawie adresu zamieszkania, mogą Państwo znaleźć dane kontaktowe polityka, który Państwa reprezentuje w Waszyngtonie.

Dodatkowe informacje na temat proponowanej ustawy HR1226 znajdziemy na stronie internetowej www.stopactHR1226.org

Edward Wojciech Jeśman

President & National Director

Polish American Congress

of Southern California

 

Wzór listu

 

The Honorable Member of Congress

 

…..............................................

 

Dear Member of the House of Representatives,

 

I am your constituent residing at ……………………….. ………………………………..

I would like to urge you to vote against Bill H.R.1226 for the proposed Bill disregards historical truths and goes against the existing laws.

 

  1. Restitution for heirless property, a misnomer in this case, is against the Western legal tradition and against the existing law. In all Western countries, the USA included, heirless property escheats to the state.

 

  1. The Bill HR1226 leaves out other racial, ethnic, and religious groups who were killed by Germans during WWII and who left behind heirless properties.

 

  1. Due to the fact that before WWII Poland had the largest Jewish community in Europe, a lot of properties belonging to the Jews who perished in the WWII were located in Poland. As a result, Poland is the main target of that Bill.

 

  1. According to the 1960 Treaty between the communist government of Poland and the USA, Poland agreed to compensate American nationals whose assets had been nationalized by the Polish communist government. The USA completed its administration of the Polish Claims Program on March 31, 1966. The program involved a total of 10,169 claims. Of the 10,169 claims filed, awards were granted in 5,022 claims, which totaled $100,737,681.63 in the principal amount, plus interest in the amount of $51,051,825.01. The treaty included an indemnification clause (Article 4), which was intended to shield Poland from any additional claims and compensation demands. Signing into law and the actual enforcement of the reconciled Bills S447 and HR1226 would violate the terms of the 1960 Treaty between the United States and Poland.

 

  1. Poland has resorted to various means in order to return properties to their rightful owners.
  2. a) Thousands of people with legitimate title claims – regardless of their ethnic origin-have recovered and are still recovering their properties through the court system pursuant to the private property law.
  3. b) Jewish religious and communal properties in Poland have been returned or compensated for by now, pursuant to the 1997 law.

 

  1. The Bill treats Poland and her citizens as perpetrators of the Jewish Holocaust rather than another victim of WWII German atrocities. Poland suffered the most of all countries during WWII. Poland lost 3 million ethnic Poles and 3 million Polish Jews and experienced physical destruction like no other European country. After the war Poland was placed under the Soviet devastating occupation and oppression for over forty years after the end of WWII. In this Bill one victim goes after another victim for compensation. That’s not justice.

 

  1. The international pressures that might result from the passage of the two Bills, S447 and HR1226, would be detrimental to Poland, to the U.S., and to the relationship between the two good allies. This legislation would, no doubt, have a financially devastating effect on Poland. Not only doesn’t Poland, a strong ally of the United States, deserve this hostile treatment, but the severely weakened Poland would not be in the interest of the U.S.

 

I strongly urge you to vote against this grossly flawed Bill.

 

Sincerely,

 

……………