11 April 2007
United States senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and other members of the US Helsinki Commission have written to the Polish prime minister, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, requesting that Poland enact legislation regarding the restitution of property confiscated during the Nazi occupation and later under the Communist regime. The commission members want the Polish government to ensure that properties obtained illegally are returned or the rightful owners or that the property holders and their heirs be compensated. In the letter, statements by Polish government officials that they would work to pass legislation on the issue by the end of this year are welcomed, but the letter also expresses concerns that victims had experienced numerous delays in their efforts to gain restitution.
Along with restitution or compensation, the commission's recommendations in the letter to Kaczynski include keeping the burden for filing a claim to a minimum, consistent involvement of the central government and the return of artwork to its rightful owners. "The delay in resolving the property claims of elderly survivors and their family members has gone on for too long," Clinton and the co-signers of the letter argue. The Helsinki Commission is a US government agency that monitors and encourages compliance with the agreements of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
