Post by justjohn on Aug 19, 2008 5:17:12 GMT -7
BBC NEWS
Seized properties shame Poland
Since communism ended in Poland almost 20 years ago, the country has come a long way, embracing the future as a member of both the EU and Nato.
But in the eyes of many Poles the historical legacy of property claims blights its onward march, the BBC's Michael Buchanan reports.
Standing on a street in central Warsaw, Piotr Sokolowski peers in the window of a renovated three-storey villa.
The building - currently owned by the Polish Academy of Sciences - used to belong to his grandmother. In 1955, however, the communist government, as part of a general nationalisation programme, seized the property.
Mr Sokolowski's family have fought for years to have it returned, but to no avail.
"It is the private property of my family, and it was confiscated due to some illegal rules," he says, adding that the property is worth "a lot of money, about $15m" (£8m).
While all former communist countries faced similar problems to Poland, most have already settled the issue, paying in most cases some compensation to those who lost.
But in Poland the issue has never been fully addressed. Ownership claims hang over 89,000 properties in Poland, including 15,000 in Warsaw. They include part of Warsaw's City Hall, the Academy of Arts and even the site of the US embassy.
Jewish losses
Standing outside one building that is being reclaimed, Miroslaw Szypowski, who runs an umbrella group for claimants, forcefully put the case for his members.
"It was a plunder, plunder, because it was seizure without compensation. It was robbery.
"Today's Warsaw is a communist state, a socialist one, where 90% of the land is state property. There's not such a case in the whole of Europe."
Most of the claimants lost out as a result of communism. But a significant minority - about 20% - come from the survivors or descendants of Poland's once large Jewish community.
The country used to be home to Europe's biggest Jewish population - about 3.5 million people - but 90% did not survive World War II.
In recent years, there has been a surge of interest in the country's Jewish heritage, with festivals and cultural events springing up across the country. Such a development is obviously welcomed by Jewish leaders, but the issue of compensation is a running sore.
The president of the World Jewish Congress recently paid a visit to Warsaw, to urge the government to pass a bill paying compensation. Not having done so, said Ronald Lauder, "violates basic democratic principles".
Konstanty Gebert, a Jewish newspaper columnist, says that anti-Semitism in Poland has made it harder for the authorities to resolve the issue.
"The belief is that the compensation will go to the Jews, which much of Polish opinion doesn't want. The anti-Semitic motivation is strong enough to paint the whole issue as a Jewish extortion from the Polish state."
Costly compensation
Whatever the reasons for the delay in returning property or paying compensation, it has become harder and costlier for the Polish government to resolve the issue.
To compensate fully everyone who claims to have lost will cost an estimated $37bn - a quarter of the government's entire budget. That is not going to happen, but it perhaps partly explains why a recent opinion poll showed most Poles were opposed to paying any compensation.
Still, the government is determined to finally address this issue and has promised to pass legislation before the end of the year.
Treasury ministry spokesman Maciej Wewior would not confirm media reports that successful claimants will receive 15%-20% of their assets, paid out over many years, but emphasised that the government was going to resolve the problem.
"Of course it's a shame that for 18 years Poland wasn't able to tackle this problem.
"It would have been much easier at the beginning of the 1990s, when the state took over all the lands, the buildings. Back then we should have given it back to the people - now it's a little too late. Those people deserve to be compensated."
Those claiming compensation will welcome the sentiment, but they have heard it before from Polish officials. This time they hope the Polish government really does close this chapter in the country's history.
Story from BBC NEWS:
news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/7568841.stm
Published: 2008/08/19 00:33:54 GMT
