The Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland Mr. Donald Tusk

Tel Aviv, 2008

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland

Mr. Donald Tusk

Dear Sir,

I, the undersigned, Zvi Nagler, attorney and notary and a Polish citizen with many years of professional experience in Israel, have the unpleasant duty to approach you and complain in the matter of the negative attitude of the supervisor of the Warsaw District with regard to the handling of applications for the ratification of Polish citizenship for citizens of Jewish descent.

Since the recent elections in Poland, the Warsaw District has been creating great difficulties in this matter. The persons applying for ratification of their citizenship are Polish citizens, and many of them have been awarded governmental citations of excellence for their activity on behalf of Poland. Most of them were forced to leave Poland as a result of the Holocaust and the terrible suffering of the Jewish People during World War II. These people fled from the Nazi invaders to the Soviet Union, and returned to Poland after the war, with the status of returning citizens, in most cases not to the homes and places that they had left, and were forced to cope with difficult conditions in a new place and to begin to reorganize their lives from the beginning.

According to the Polish citizenship law of January 20, 1920, a person wishing to ratify his Polish citizenship must present – among other documents – his parents’ marriage certificate and confirmation of the fact that he was not recruited to serve in a foreign army.

The Polish citizenship of men who arrived in Israel up to January 19, 1951 and who were of an age requiring military service in the Polish Army (i.e. between the ages of 18 and 50) has not been revoked, even after they received Israeli citizenship.

Recently, the supervisor of the Warsaw District decided to set rules which effectively do not permit the ratification of the Polish citizenship of all those who left Poland and came to Israel, nor for their descendants.

The new rules are as follows:

1.      It was decided not to honor verdicts in the matter of marriage ceremonies that took place outside Israel, that were issued by the Rabbinical Court in Israel (the only court in Israel that is authorized to rule in the matter of marriages).

Dear Mr. Prime Minister, these are marriage ceremonies that often took place in forests, in ghettoes, in concentration camps, during World War II. These are people who were unable to save any documents whatsoever, if they managed to survive the turmoil of war.

The Israeli court (with a bench comprising three judges), conducts an investigation and examines the evidence presented by the applicants, their children and other witnesses, and only once it has become convinced of the truth and the reliability of the evidence, does it hand down its verdict confirming the marriage.

Over the years verdicts of the Israeli Rabbinical Court were honored in Poland as documents proving the existence of marriages, and only recently (after the elections in Poland) was a decision made not to honor them. 

2.      Another decision that was made pertains to men who are members of the reserve forces. Even those who did not perform compulsory service and who were never called up for active reserve duty are considered to have served in a foreign army.

This decision has become the main pretext for revoking Polish citizenship.

Under the Israeli Defense Service Law, every citizen or permanent resident of the State of Israel is obligated to perform reserve duty, in accordance with his state of health and his age.

This decision runs counter to what was customary until not long ago and, in effect, revokes the ratification of Polish citizenship from most of the applicants.

Dear Mr. Prime Minister,

The press that is published in our two countries – Poland and Israel – never ceases to publish articles praising the good relations that prevail between Poland and Israel, mainly in the context of your visit to our country and the visit of representatives of our government to Poland.

In Israel, as you probably know, 2008 has been declared the Year of Poland. Our population has an opportunity to acquire better knowledge of Poland’s rich culture.

We were very pleased to hear that you have made a decision and are taking action in order to restore the Polish citizenship to Polish citizens of Jewish descent who were forced to leave Poland in 1968.

However, at the same time, thousands of Polish citizens of Jewish descent who were entitled to the ratification of their Polish citizenship until recently, are now having their Polish citizenship revoked.

This proceeding appears very negative from every perspective.

The decisions that are being made are clearly of a political nature, rather than a legal one.

I believe that in order to prevent unjust decisions that harm citizens who wish to ratify their Polish citizenship, it would be logical and right if you, Mr. Prime Minister, would use your powers and your authority and order a change in the aforementioned new decisions.

Thank you very much in advance. I am looking forward to your reply in the matter detailed in my letter.

Sincerely yours,

Zvi Nagler, Attorney at Law