⚠️ Historical Documentation Notice
This document is part of a historical archive and is presented for scholarly research and educational purposes.
The content reflects historical perspectives and should be understood within its historical context.
today’s AR-online AR-Online recent issues: February 1999 January 1999 December 1998 November 1998 October 1998 September 1998 August 1998 July 1998 March 9, 1999 Poland To Protect Death Camp Sites By ANDRZEJ STYLINSKI Associated Press Writer WARSAW, Poland (AP) – The Polish government on Tuesday backed a proposal that would establish a 100-yard protection zone around the sites of former Nazi death camps.
The proposed law was developed after conservative Catholics erected hundreds of crosses just outside of the former death camp at Auschwitz. Jewish organizations have protested the crosses, which they say insults the memory of Jews killed there. The measure, which is expected to go to parliament this month, will restrict business and building activity around the camps, as well as limit public gatherings at the sites.
The bill also is designed to allow government to maintain an atmosphere of peace and dignity at the sites, a government communique said Tuesday. Jewish organizations also protested earlier plans to build a mall across from the Auschwitz museum. The project has since been limited to a visitors center. More than 1.5 million people, mostly Jews, perished in Auschwitz and the adjacent camp of Birkenau in 1940-45.
Besides Auschwitz, the bill covers the sites of former Nazi death camps at Majdanek, Sobibor, Belzec, Treblinka, Gross Rosen, Sztutowo and Chelmno. Some 6 million European Jews, half of them from Poland, perished in the Nazi Holocaust, and the majority of death camps were set up in occupied Poland. The bill also concerns the camp at Lambinowice, where the Nazis held Polish prisoners of war. After the fall of the Third Reich, Poles used the facility to keep Germans awaiting resettlement.
Residents of cities near the camps have criticized the government for its plan. They claim the broad zones would drive away investors and jobs. © Associated Press, 1999 Register your name and address to go on the Mailing List to receive 1999