UK Green Party Leader Accused of Fabricating Family Holocaust Story
Translated & summarized from Kan News by baba
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Green Party leader Zac Polonsky accused of fabricating Holocaust escape narrative.
- Investigation suggests his ancestors settled in Britain before World War II.
- Party faces internal crisis over a proposal to define Zionism as racist.
- The proposal also rejects the two-state solution and labels Israel as genocidal.
- Polonsky and the party declined to comment on the allegations.
Zac Polonsky, the Jewish leader of Britain's Green Party, is reportedly facing accusations of fabricating his family's history regarding their escape from the Nazis. The Daily Mail reported on Saturday that Polonsky, 44, had claimed in a speech last year that his ancestors fled Nazi persecution. However, the newspaper's investigation suggests his grandparents were born in Britain long before World War II.
In his speech at the party conference in Bournemouth, Polonsky spoke of his Jewish heritage, stating, "I am very much a product of immigration. That is why protecting immigrants is so important to me." He described his family's background as "confusing and vague" due to being "constantly on the run," and recounted a narrative of his ancestors fleeing pogroms in Latvia and Ukraine, encountering Nazis in Poland, and eventually arriving in England where they faced antisemitism.
Public records of births, marriages, and deaths confirm that Polonsky's great-grandparents did originate from Latvia and Russia. Yet, historical census data from as early as 1891 and 1901, along with other public sources, indicate they settled in Britain in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This suggests that his close relatives were in Britain for many years before the outbreak of World War II, raising questions about who exactly fled from the Nazis.
Polonsky and the Green Party declined to comment on the allegations that he invented his family's Holocaust-related biography. The party is currently grappling with an ideological crisis that could lead to a split, as members are scheduled to vote on a proposal to define Zionism as a "racist ideology" and reject the two-state solution. This proposal, known as E02 and formulated by Palestinian activist Lubna Shpitan, labels Israel as committing "genocide" and could subject Jewish members who support Zionism to disciplinary proceedings for racism. The proposal has already encountered significant opposition, including from within the party's parliamentary group.
Read the original at Kan NewsMentioned
