Claims Conference to press Poland

The Claims Conference is expected to press Poland on restitution when it meets in Warsaw on Feb. 27-28. Poland is the only former Eastern Bloc country that has not struck a deal on restitution or compensation for private property confiscated by the Nazis and then the Communist regime. For the first time, the Claims Conference will be working jointly with non-Jewish groups to push for a compensation law. Some 80 percent to 90 percent of the property in question belongs to non-Jews. The Polish government has been floating a draft of a compensation law for some years, without progress. The current government proposal submitted to Parliament would offer heirs 15 percent of a property’s current value, a deal that many have found unsatisfactory.