Scholar says Poland's Holocaust policies mark step backward

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A prominent Polish-American academic whose scholarship has explored Polish violence against Jews during World War II says Poland's new right-wing leadership is taking "a step back to the dark ages of anti-Semitism" with a threat to strip him of a state honor and other measures.

In recent years the 68-year-old sociologist and historian has stoked controversy in Poland with works that expose dark chapters in a wartime history that Poles are otherwise proud of thanks to a strong resistance by Poles to Nazi Germany.

Gross said he is also disturbed by government plans for a new law which could see five-year prison sentences for anyone found guilty of using the expression "Polish death camp" to refer to Auschwitz or other extermination sites that Nazi Germany operated in German-occupied Poland.