The Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem said Thursday it was "deeply disturbed" by the implications of a libel case in Poland in which two prominent Holocaust researchers were ordered to apologize to a woman for allegedly slandering her uncle over his wartime actions.
Lawyers for 81-year-old Filomena Leszczynska argued that the scholars had slandered her late uncle, Edward Malinowski, by suggesting he had helped kill Jews during World War II.
In a statement, Yad Vashem stressed the importance of academic freedom and said any attempt to limit it through political or legal pressure was "unacceptable."