Polish lawmakers have approved a new national holiday honoring Poles who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust.
The Senate voted Wednesday on the bill, initiated by President Andrzej Duda, to make March 24 a national day of remembrance. It was approved 58-14 in the Senate with three abstentions.
The bill now only requires Duda's signature to become law.
The bill pays tribute to Poles who showed courage and compassion and were "faithful to the highest ethical values."
The new holiday follows the passage of legislation in Poland recently that criminalizes falsely attributing the crimes of Nazi Germany to Poland. Poland's government says the law aims to protect Poland and Polish nationals from being accused of crimes they did not commit. However, Israeli and U.S. officials fear that the law could undermine free speech and academic research into the cases of Polish violence against Jews during World War II.
The law and the new holiday are being seen as a larger effort by nationalist authorities to stress Polish heroism during World War II.
