German FM to Poland: We will counter distortions of history

BERLIN – Germany’s foreign minister says Poland can rely on his country to condemn distortions of history such as descriptions of Nazi camps in occupied Poland as “Polish concentration camps.”

A proposed new law in Poland would outlaw publicly and falsely attributing Nazi Germany’s crimes in World War II to the Polish nation. The U.S. has joined Israel in criticizing it, saying it would impact free expression.

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said Saturday: “This organized mass murder was carried out by our country and no one else. Individual collaborators change nothing about that.”

Gabriel added: “We are convinced that only carefully appraising our own history can bring reconciliation. That includes people who had to experience the intolerable suffering of the Holocaust being able to speak unrestrictedly about this suffering.”