Public manifestations of antisemitism and xenophobia on Polish networks and the legal authorities are not reacting.
The Internet Site “Niezalezne Media Podlasia” (“Independent Media from the Podlasia Region”), which enjoys high popularity and has tens of thousands of readers, has been publishing in recent months, without interruption, a series of antisemitic articles. Some of the articles, which were read by more than 90,000 people, include harsh antisemitic expressions and even call to physically harm Jews. Polish authorities prefer to close their eyes, despite repeated warnings of antisemitic content on the site and incitement to violence against Jews.
One of the longest articles on the site, read by tens of thousands of readers and with more than a thousand “likes” is entitled “Meet the Jew” (“Jak rozpoznać ydyda”). The man behind the article, identified as “Klimon Solowiecki,” explains “How the Poles can identify a Jew?”. The shocking text includes some well-known antisemitic stereotypes and in the end the author even gives a recommendation “how to fight the Jews both physically and spiritually.” I wrote to the prosecutor’s office of the Podolskaya district in Bialystok and tried to tell them about the website inciting publicly against Jews. Despite the efforts to get an answer, all the questions I asked the prosecutor in Bialystok remained unanswered. The directors of the Polish Facebook page, the Ośrodek Monitorowania Zachowań Rasystowskich i Ksenofobicznych, which daily publishes a series of antisemitic and racist manifestations in Polish society, appealed to the prosecutor in Bialystok to act against the advertisers of the antisemitic website. In this case, too, they were left without an answer.
The article “Meet the Jew” opens with a description of “the typical appearance of the Jews” and recalls some of the most well-known antisemitic stereotypes. The author states that “the Jews look like a duck, they have a large forehead, a large nose and ears attached to the cheeks.” Afterward, “Klimon Soloveitsky” details some of the “behavior patterns of the Jews”. He writes: “The Jews are greedy and do not work too hard, they are vengeful, and they kill the closest person of their enemy in order to cause him great pain, they are cruel and have no mercy for other people”. “They are drunk with power and want to rule the whole world, Jewish women are pushing their nose into matters not concerning them and many Jews are hiding their identity because they are ashamed of it … They live like leeches on the blood of other people”.
He then continues with vicious expressions of hatred towards the Jews and even claims that they collaborated with the Nazis. He claims that they even carry out antisemitic provocations in order to win world’s sympathy. “The Jews welcomed Hitler and the Nazis because they always join the strong and unite forces with them. They carry out antisemitic provocations such as burning synagogues, desecrating cemeteries, and others, in order to incriminate others. They do nothing for humanity, and only live at the expense of others.” This article full of hatred is open on internet. At the end of the shocking article, which the authorities in Poland saw no reason to act against its writers, the author of the article advises readers on how to beat the Jews and calls to harm them physically. “We must fight the Jews physically and spiritually. We will not destroy them completely because this is not in accordance with the spirit of Christianity” he writes, adding that the Jews must be excluded from the media, politics, science and art. The author claims also: “we must begin with a “Christian attack” that will show the evil acts perpetrated by the Jews for many years.
He ends the article with a call to murder Jews. “If you can shoot a Jew, hit precisely, because if you miss, you can expect revenge all your life. The Pole can forgive, sometimes too easily, the Jew – never”.
