POLAND 2002-3

 

Poland witnessed a strengthening of extreme right political parties in 2002. Two radical nationalist populist parties, Liga Polskich Rodzin and Samoobrona, joined coalitions controlling some regional governments. A furor arose on 28 February 2002 when, during a parliamentary debate, delegates of the Liga Polskich Rodzin accused the chairman of the National Commemoration Institute, Professor Leon Kieres, of being anti-Polish and serving Jewish interests. The tense situation in the Middle East replaced the controversy over the Jedwabne massacre as a pretext for antisemitic propaganda. Several violent antisemitic incidents were also recorded.

 

the Jewish community

There are some 5,000–10,000 Jews in Poland out of a total population of close to 40 million. Most Jews live in Warsaw, Wroclaw, Krakow and Lodz, but there are smaller communities in several other cities. There are virtually no Jews in the eastern part of Poland where once large, important communities existed, such as those of Lublin and Bialystok.

The Union of Jewish Religious Communities (Zwiazek Kongregacji Wyznania Mojzeszowego), or Kehilla, and the secular Jewish Socio-Cultural Society (Towarsztwo Spoleczno-Kulturalne Zydowskie), or Ferband, are the two leading communal organizations and these, together with other Jewish groups, are linked by membership in the KKOZRP, which acts as an umbrella organization. There is a Jewish primary school in Warsaw maintained by the Lauder Foundation, which has been active in rehabilitating Jewish life in Poland, especially through youth projects, including summer and winter camps. The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee is also active in Poland, particularly in social welfare activities. The leading Jewish publications are the monthly Midrasz, Dos Jidische Wort, Jidele for youth and Sztendlach for primary school children. Significantly, all of these publications appear in Polish, except for Dos Jidische Wort which is published in a bi-lingual Yiddish-Polish edition.

Other important institutions are the Jewish Historical Institute (which opened its revamped museum in June 2000), E.R. Kaminska State Yiddish Theater in Warsaw and the Jewish Cultural Center in Krakow. There are centers for Jewish studies in Warsaw University and the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. The Polish government supports plans to erect a hi-tech interactive Museum of the History of Polish Jews. The institution is to be built opposite the Ghetto Monument and funds are being raised to advance this project.

In April 2001 President Kwasniewski vetoed legislation that would have provided for the restoration of private property to Polish citizens only – clearly discriminating against Jewish claimants, the great majority of whom are not domiciled in Poland and are not Polish citizens. In the absence of legislation, no mechanism yet exists that would provide for the return of private assets and the matter continues to be the subject of national and international debate. Jewish factionalism has interrupted the smooth functioning of the fund created to retrieve Jewish communal assets. The restoration of communal property to the Jewish communities and to the Foundation for the Preservation of the Jewish Heritage in Poland continues apace. Among the most impressive buildings returned is the synagogue in Poznan, which was turned into an indoor swimming hall by the Germans, and functioned as such until the present day. A US-based foundation has been established to raise money for restoration of the building and to assist the community in determining its best use.

 

parliamentary ORGANIZATIONS

and extra-parliamentary groups

Political Parties

Liga Polskich Rodzin (League of Polish Families – LPR) has firmly established itself as the main force of the Polish extreme right. In the wake of the September 2001 parliamentary elections (when it received 7 per cent of the vote; 40 out of 460 seats), the LPR built a strong national organization and made further gains in the local elections of October 2002. The core of the LPR leadership comes from the now defunct Stronnictwo Narodowe (National Party – SN), a hard-line antisemitic party with roots in the 1930s National Democratic movement. After many years in the political wilderness, current LPR leaders such as Maciej and Roman Giertych are now widely accepted as important players in the political arena, participating in debates with mainstream politicians and as guests in media broadcasts. The Giertychs continue the family tradition of Jedrzej Giertych, a radical antisemitic leader in the 1930s. The late Jedrzej Giertych is considered a spiritual father of the LPR, especially by its youth wing, Mlodziez Wszechpolska (All-Polish Youth – MW). This predominantly skinhead organization openly claims the heritage of the violent nationalist youth movement of the same name, which was responsible for numerous attacks on Jewish students in the years before World War II. In March 2003 the anti-fascist magazine Nigdy Wiecej (Never Again) revealed an internal document of the MW outlining its plans for targeting schools (including primary schools) to recruit pupils. MW also organizes white power music concerts, such as that of the antisemitic skinhead band Twierdza in Leszno on 4 August 2002. MW members won several seats in regional government; one of its former leaders, Wojciech Wierzejski, for example, became deputy chairman of the regional council (sejmik) of Mazowsze (Central Poland).

The current strength of the LPR is remarkable in light of its worsening relations with Father Tadeusz Rydzyk, director of Radio Maryja, the mass-audience Catholic-nationalist radio station. Rydzyk’s support during the 2001 parliamentary campaign had contributed decisively to the party’s original electoral breakthrough. Several MPs close to Rydzyk (such as Antoni Macierewicz, former minister of home affairs in the early 1990s) broke away from the LPR and formed their own group, Ruch Katolicko-Narodowy (Catholic National Movement – RKN), also named Kolo Narodowe (National Circle – KN) after its parliamentary faction. Similarly, Jan Lopuszanski’s Porozumienie Polskie (Polish Alliance – PP) also left the LPR.

A furor arose on 28 February 2002 when, during a parliamentary debate, LPR delegates accused the chairman of the National Commemoration Institute (IPN), Professor Leon Kieres, of being anti-Polish and serving Jewish interests. The attacks on Kieres (who is not Jewish) were connected to his role in investigating the Jedwabne pogrom of 1941. The use of antisemitism in the parliamentary debate provoked a wave of condemnation, especially from intellectuals.

Despite these setbacks, the LPR has maintained and even developed its political appeal. It has managed to position itself as the main force opposing Polish membership in the EU and the principal driver of the “No” campaign prior to the June 2003 referendum on this issue. Its extreme nationalism, however, hampers it from joining the wider anti-EU movement in Europe. In March 2002 the LPR invited Sigbjørn Gjeslvik, head of the Norwegian organization Nei til EU (No to the EU) to speak at a much publicized conference on “The Family and Nation in the European Union.” The event was scheduled to take place in the Parliament building in Warsaw and was designed to highlight the LPR’s newly found “respectability.” When he discovered the ideological background of the LPR, Gjelsvik cancelled his participation, causing considerable embarrassment to the organizers.

Andrzej Lepper’s Samoobrona (Self-Defense) is the other populist nationalist party represented in Parliament since September 2001 (with 10 percent of the vote). It also strengthened its political position and made advances in local and regional government in October 2002. Unlike the LPR, it is not rooted in a specific ideological tradition but is a populist movement based primarily on economic grievances, exploiting issues such as unemployment and the difficult situation of small farmers. Nevertheless, in several regions it has been infiltrated by known extreme right, and even neo-Nazi, activists. In Szczecin and Koszalin its branches have provided political shelter for extreme nationalist neo-pagan groups such as Niklot (see ASW 2001/2) and Swiaszczyca, which consists of neo-Nazi skinheads and black metal music fans. Niklot leaders such as Igor Gorewicz ran, unsuccessfully, in the local elections on a Samoobrona ticket. In Lublin, Konrad Rekas was elected as a Samoobrona representative to the regional council. Rekas is a notorious extreme nationalist activist, a former member of Prawica Narodowa (National Right – PN), and known for having organized a 1995 demonstration in memory of Eligiusz Niewiadomski, the far right fanatic who assassinated the first president of Poland Gabriel Narutowicz in 1922. At the demonstration immediately following Aleksander Kwasniewski’s victory in the 1995 presidential election, calls for his assassination were made under antisemitic slogans such as the claim that he was Jewish. Ironically, in January 2003 Rekas was elected chairman of the Lublin sejmik with the support of Samoobrona and Sojusz Lewicy Demokratycznej (Democratic Left Alliance – SLD), the ruling party created by Kwasniewski.

Samoobrona’s links with the extreme right are further illustrated by the decision of its leader, Andrzej Lepper, to appoint antisemitic publisher Leszek Bubel to run the party weekly newspaper, also called Samoobrona. Bubel is notorious for having published extremely racist material such as The Protocols of the Elders of Zion (distributed by Ruch, a state-owned company). He was also one of the instigators of provocative actions during the controversies over the Auschwitz crosses and the Jedwabne pogrom (see ASW 2000/1, 2001/2). Cooperation between Lepper and Bubel ceased in April 2003, apparently for financial reasons.

In October 2002 Janusz Marszalek was elected mayor of the town of Oswiecim (Auschwitz). Marszalek, who ran as an independent candidate, had been involved in controversies over the construction of the Maja shopping center, which he owns, near the gate of the former extermination camp. He is closely linked to and supported by Edward Moskal, the notoriously antisemitic chairman of Kongres Polonii Amerykanskiej (Polish-American Congress – KPA). Marszalek’s publication Nowe Forum Gospodarcze (New Economic Forum) features articles by, among others, Jaroslaw Tomasiewicz, a New Right intellectual and former skinhead.

Prawo i Sprawiedliwosc (Law and Justice – PiS) is the main conservative party in Poland, represented in the country’s parliament with 9 per cent of the national vote. It absorbed a number of nationalist activists, notably the well known MPs Michal Kaminski (notorious for his public support of the traditional antisemitic slogan “Poland for the Polish”) and Marcin Libicki (a veteran member of the extremist organization PN, known for his vigorous opposition to the restitution of property to former Jewish owners).

 

Extra-parliamentary Groups

A number of extra-parliamentary groups actively promote chauvinism and antisemitism, among them Narodowe Odrodzenie Polski (National Rebirth of Poland – NOP), led by Adam Gmurczyk. This predominantly neo-Nazi skinhead organization has links to the fascist International Third Position in the UK and the Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands (NPD) in Germany. Numerous public calls to the authorities to put an end to its activities have gone unanswered, despite the fact that steps were taken to ban the NPD (see Germany).

The NOP is known especially for its promotion of Holocaust denial. Its magazine Szczerbiec (distributed by Ruch) regularly publishes Holocaust denial articles written by the British denier David Irving and translated by the antisemitic author Bartlomiej Zborski. Prior to the 2002 local elections the NOP allied with Antoni Macierewicz’s RKN and other right-wing groups. In Lodz they jointly supported Jerzy Kropiwnicki, who was subsequently elected mayor.

Another extra-parliamentary organization Zwiazek Orla Bialego (White Eagle Union – ZBO), led by Wojciech Podjacki, targets mainly the Roma community in its propaganda and activities. Podjacki ran unsuccessfully as a candidate for mayor in Gdynia in 2002.

Polska Wspolnota Narodowa (Polish National Community – PWN), led by the notorious antisemite Boleslaw Tejkowski, remained largely inactive on the home front in 2002, but it maintained its extensive international contacts, especially with extreme racist groups in Russia and Belarus such as Sobor Slovianski (Slavonic Council), but also with the German hard-line communist Revolutionaerer Freundschaftsbund.

Oboz Narodowo-Radykalny (National-Radical Camp – ONR) is a neo-Nazi skinhead group which adopted the name of a 1930s fascist youth movement. Active in southern Poland, especially in Czestochowa, it cooperates with the LPR on the local level.

The international neo-Nazi skinhead networks Blood & Honour and Combat 18 have organized Polish chapters. Like the indigenous racist music company Narodowa Scena Rockowa (National Rock Scene – NSR), they promote virulently antisemitic messages through concerts and records of neo-Nazi rock bands. The World Church of the Creator is another “imported” neo-Nazi organization. Its Polish branch is active mainly on the Internet where it supplements the already existing wide array of Polish-language antisemitic, extreme right and neo-Nazi websites. In addition, dozens of hate messages are posted daily on Internet forums of mainstream media, and are seldom removed by the servers.

Unia Polityki Realnej (Real Politics Union – UPR) is a radical right party espousing an ideological mixture of free-market ideas and nationalism. It has entered into a formal pact with the LPR aimed mainly at combating Polish membership in the EU. The UPR weekly publication Najwyzszy Czas! frequently uses antisemitic stereotypes on its pages.

The Polish section of the international anti-globalization movement Attac aroused controversy in 2002 due to its infiltration by extreme right activists (such as Jaroslaw Tomasiewicz, a New Right ideologue) and ideas. This is illustrated by its semi-official organ Obywatel, which has published articles by the Russian National-Bolshevik leader Alexander Dugin, inter alia, and eulogized Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber.

There is a discernible, although generally unacknowledged, antisemitic tendency within the Polish anarchist movement, too, represented by the magazine Inny Swiat which regularly publishes antisemitic and pro-fascist articles. The magazine cooperates with members of the nationalist pagan Niklot.

 

ANTISEMITIC ACTIVITIES

Violent Incidents

Several violent antisemitic incidents were perpetrated in 2002, the majority in Wroclaw, where the synagogue was set alight in May and a Jewish communal building was the target of an arson attack in July. On the night of 9/10 September some 80 graves were desecrated at Wroclaw’s Jewish cemetery. Another cemetery desecration occurred in November in Starachowice, where 17 graves were destroyed and daubed with the slogan Jude Raus.

Neo-Nazi graffiti also appeared, in January, on the monument commemorating the victims of Jashowitz, a sub-camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau; on a former synagogue in Wlodawa in February; and on the monument to the victims of Jedwabne in July.

On 9 November a group of neo-Nazi skinheads disrupted a commemoration ceremony for the victims of the 1938 Kristallnacht pogrom in Olsztyn.

 

Propaganda

As mentioned above, the dissemination of virulently antisemitic material continues, including through the government-owned company Ruch, which retains about 50 percent of the national newspaper distribution market.

The Antyk Patriotic Bookshop remains an important (and symbolic) source for the distribution of hard-line antisemitic books and magazines, including the publications of the NOP. The bookshop is situated in the basement of the All Saints’ church at Plac Grzybowski in Warsaw (on the border of the former Ghetto), which faces the city’s only surviving Jewish theater and synagogue. The primate, Jozef Glemp, refused to take action to remove the bookshop from church property despite repeated protests from Catholic youth circles.

Despite several reprimands from the Episcopate, the xenophobic and antisemitic Radio Maryja continues its broadcasts. The nationalistic mass-circulation daily Nasz Dziennik, which is closely aligned with Radio Maryja, continues to be published as well. In 2002 Tadeusz Rydzyk, the founder of the radio station, announced plans to further expand his media empire through the creation of a television station under the name TV Trwam (I Survive). The plan was subsequently approved by the State Radio and Television Council which issues broadcasting licenses.

Football stadiums are fertile ground for promoting racism and antisemitism. The Legia Warszawa–Widzew Lodz match that took place on 25 October 2002 serves to illustrate the fascist symbolism accompanying the culture of violence in some Polish stadiums. The game was interrupted by a riot during which the Warsaw stadium was partly demolished. A banner with the Nazi motto Arbeit Macht Frei was also displayed. In addition to a penalty for hooliganism, Legia Warszawa was fined 50,000 zlotys by the Football Association for displaying racist and fascist symbols in the stadium. This is the first time in Polish football history that a club was punished for racist behavior of the fans. An anti-racist campaign directed at football fans is being conducted by the Never Again Association in cooperation with the Football against Racism in Europe (FARE) network.

Since December 2002 antisemitic conspiracy theories have accompanied a corruption scandal involving Lew Rywin, a businessman and producer of Roman Polanski’s Oscar-winning film The Pianist. Rywin’s significant position within the Polish political élite is sometimes explained by his alleged powerful Jewish connections, which – according to conspiracy theorists – have a decisive influence on Polish economic and political life. His Jewish background was publicly alluded to by parliamentarians such as Zygmunt Wrzodak of the LPR and Jan Sienko of the SLD.

Events in the Middle East, previously overshadowed by the controversy over Jedwabne (see ASW 2001/2), seemed to be the main pretext for antisemitic propaganda during 2002. There were several attempts at infiltration of the Polish anti-war movement by right-wing extremist groups seeking to promote an antisemitic agenda, such as at the anti-war demonstration in Warsaw on 15 February 2003. The extreme right NOP was evicted from the demonstration by the organizers following the intervention of a member of the Never Again Association.

 

Racist Activity

The aftermath of 11 September 2001 and the growing tensions in the Middle East resulted in a first major wave of islamophobia and anti-Arab attacks in Poland. Among others, Arab-owned restaurants and mosques were targeted. The islamophobic climate was further ignited by the appearance of articles written by the Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci and perceived to be racist, in several leading mainstream newspapers such as Gazeta Wyborcza and Wprost. The Council of Media Ethics condemned both the publication of Fallaci’s commentaries and Radio Maryja’s antisemitic broadcasts.

In 2002 the Never Again Association registered 64 serious hate crimes, mostly violent attacks against ethnic minorities and foreigners as well as political enemies and others, committed by neo-Nazi skinheads who were members or sympathizers of racist political groups. However, it should be noted that no reliable statistics on racially motivated crimes are kept by any official body. The culprits, if convicted, are usually punished on the basis of “regular” criminal code provisions that do not take into account aggravating circumstances, such as the ideological (extreme right) background of the crime. At least 30 persons have been reportedly killed in racist attacks perpetrated by neo-Nazi groups in Poland since 1990.

 

ATTITUDES TOward THE HOLOCAUST

Much of the antisemitic discourse in Poland in 2002 was influenced by the publication of the Polish edition of Norman Finkelstein’s book The Holocaust Industry. It provided a convenient frame of reference for antisemitic resentment in discussions sparked off by the revelations regarding the Jedwabne pogrom (Finkelstein himself had taken part in the Jedwabne debate, supporting the deniers of Polish participation in the 1941 massacre). The book was reviewed and discussed by numerous media outlets.

The books of British Holocaust denier David Irving continue to be translated and published in Poland, thanks to the efforts of the above-mentioned Bartlomiej Zborski. They are available in most bookshops, including virtually all ‘respectable’ academic bookshops in the country.

The memories of World War II still form an important part of Polish national consciousness; however, occasionally a more apologetic attitude to the perpetrators of Nazi crimes may be detected. This is illustrated by the support given by MP Marcin Libicki (on “humanitarian grounds”) to Henryk Mania who was tried and sentenced by a court in Konin in 2001 to eight years imprisonment for his wartime role as a guard at the Chelmno death camp.

 

RESPONSES TO ANTISEMITISM

The Jedwabne debate, which touched upon important and difficult problems of Polish-Jewish history, remained largely centered on the past. However, many issues related to contemporary antisemitism remain unaddressed.

            Legal responses in particular are grossly inadequate despite the existence of relevant legal instruments, as noted in March 2003 by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), which reviewed Polish compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. In its official conclusions the Committee “reminds the State party of its obligation under article 4 [of the Convention] to prohibit all organizations and activities, including those of the mass media, which promote and incite racial discrimination.” In addition, “the Committee is concerned that some cases of incitement to racial hatred have been dismissed with reference to their low degree of damage to society. The Committee expresses the view that, according to the Convention, all such cases are very harmful to society.” The CERD also noted its concern about “reports of racially motivated harassment and discrimination against Jews, Roma and persons of African and Asian origin, which have not been properly investigated by the law enforcement agencies.” Among its recommendations, the Committee encouraged the Polish government “to consult with organizations of civil society working in the area of combating racial discrimination, during the preparation of the next periodic report.” Three non-governmental organizations, assisted by the Geneva-based Anti-Racism Information Service (ARIS), submitted reports to the Committee: the European Roma Rights Center, the Polish Helsinki Human Rights Foundation and Never Again.