Cabinet approves legislation that could see someone imprisoned for three years for using phrase to refer to second world war concentration camps

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

The Polish government has approved a new bill that foresees prison terms of up to three years for anyone who uses phrases like “Polish death camps” to refer to Auschwitz and other camps that Nazi Germany operated in occupied Poland during the second world war.

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The justice department said the prime minister Beata Szydło’s cabinet approved the legislation on Tuesday. It is expected to pass easily in the parliament, where the nationalistic ruling party Law and Justice enjoys a majority.

The bill aims to deal with a problem the Polish government has faced for years: foreign media outlets referring to the Nazi camps as Polish.

Poles fear that as the war grows more distant younger generations will incorrectly assume that Poles were responsible for the death camps.