Chmielnik – several days before the Ninth Series of Encounters with Jewish Culture, unknown persons hung up placards and also distributed leaflets with Antisemitic slogans in the area of the entrance to the church parish complex and the market in Chmielnik.
The incident occurred on Sunday. As reported by the Mayor, Yaroslav Zatorsky, to KIA (the Polish News Agency), the leaflets were distributed among the worshippers at holy mass and put on car windscreens.
“In the pamphlets words were used that had been taken out of context from the 2000 reprint of the story of the 12 volumes of history published by ‘Yednoshatz’ (“Unity” in Polish) in Kielce, about periods in which the Priest Jan Vishnievsky served in office in the 18th Century in the parish: thus were Antisemitic slogans constructed and formulated, which included in a despicable manner, names of the respected patrons who had sponsored the publication itself” said Zatorsky.
The Mayor has complained about the laziness and slowness of the police who arrived at the location of the incident from the Moravche Headquarters several hours later when the offenders had already disappeared.
The police are looking for witnesses who saw people hanging out placards and heard the shouting of Antisemitic slogans. The offenders can expect a sentence of up to 2 years in prison for public incitement to hatred based on national distinctions.
