NIGDY WIECEJ - NEVER AGAIN, issue 18, spring 2010
SUMMARY:
* Marcin Kornak’s editorial discusses the rise of chauvinism and anti-Russian sentiments among the political class after the crash of presidential airplane near Smolensk in April 2010, as well as other recent developments on the far right political scene.
* ‘Listy’ (‘Letters’ section, pages 2-3), contains correspondence sent to the editors of the Never Again. It includes congratulatory letters from institutions or public figures, as well as personal stories and opinions.
* ‘Platforma opolska: odcień brunatny’ (‘Platform of Opole in brown colours’, pages 3-4) by Rafał Pankowski, highlights far right links of a politician from the ruling Civic Platform (Platforma Obywatelska). Despite formally leaving ranks of a nationalist organization, Arkadiusz Karbowiak, who since 2002 has been a deputy mayor of Opole, continues contributing his articles and opinions to far right magazines and journals. As the author writes: “Civic Platform was for many a hope for ending the politics of tolerating officials with neo-fascist and far right views. The case of Opole is a great disappointment.”
* ‘Z historii’ (‘History’, page 5), contains three critical reflections: two of them by witnesses of pre-World War II antisemitism in Poland and one concerning new fashion for “historical reconstructions” of past events, such as Warsaw uprising, in which more and more participants want to play role of Nazi German soldiers.
* ‘Narodowcy o narodowcach’ (‘Nationalists about nationalists’, page 5) is a section that presents excerpts from nationalist discourses concerning the far right itself.
* ‘Polska nie radzi sobie z rasizmem’ (‘Poland unable to tackle racism’, page 5) is a note on the book Hate Crime Monitoring and Victim Assistance in Poland and Germany, a joint study by an international team of German and Polish scholars and activists of the Never Again Association and Opferperspektive. The book presents legal framework for dealing with hate crime in both countries as well as empirical analysis of capacities, actions and needs of some fifty NGOs and informal groups monitoring racism and related phenomena as well as providing aid to victims of hate crime in Poland and Germany.
* ’10 tysięcy podpisów przeciwko antysemickim pismom w ruchu’ (’10 thousand signatures against antisemitic periodicals distributed by Ruch’, page 6) informs about a campaign launched by the Never Again Association against a major press distributing company in Poland responsible for selling right-wing extremist periodicals. The section contains passages from some of those publications, highlighting their anti-Jewish contents.
* ‘Antyfaszyzm powraca na ulice’ (‘Anti-fascism is back to the streets’, pages 6-7) is a report on an anti-fascist counter-mobilization against far right’s march that took place in Warsaw on November 11th, 2009.
* ‘Polska tolerancja’ (‘Polish tolerance’, pages 7-9) by ‘Biały’, is an anonymous personal account of dark-skinned person’s biographic experiences with racism and neo-fascist violence in Poland.
* ‘Odrobina prawdy na zjazdach słuchaczy Radia Maryja’ (‘A pinch of truth at conventions of Radio Maryja’s listeners’, page 10) by Rafał Maszkowski, gives insight to ideological atmosphere of xenophobia and chauvinism at a youth convention of the far right and ultraconservative Radio Maryja’s listeners in 2009.
* ‘Białostockie swastyki’ (‘Swastikas in Bialystok’, pages10-11) by Wojciech Koronkiewicz, discusses a problem of neo-Nazi graffiti in the city of Bialystok and the author’s personal campaign against municipal authorities to have the swastikas removed from public space. The story is accompanied by passages from Internet opinions related to the problem described by the author.
* ‘Poczytajmy o Romach’ (‘Let us read about Roma’, page 12) by Arkadiusz Zacheja, presents Dialog – Pheniben, a journal published by the Association of Roma in Poland. Among matters discussed by the author are presence of Roma in sport, politics and art, as well as socio-economic situation of Romani population in Poland.
* ‘Najjaśniejsze tradycje Najjaśniejszej Rzeczypospolitej’ (‘The noblest traditions of the Most Serene Republic’, pages 13-16) by Sebastian Daniel, highlights a number of aspects of multi-cultural and multi-religious history of Poland from early modern period to late 20th century.
* ‘Czarna Polonia, czyli o pierwszych polskich antyrasistach’ (‘Black Poles abroad, or first Polish anti-racists’, pages 17-19) by Marcin Kornak, presents little-known history of Haitian descendants of Polish military units that participated in suppressing anti-French uprising in San Domingo in 1801. The author tells the story of descendants of those Polish soldiers who defected to the side of Black insurgents thus supporting the fight for Haiti’s independence from France.
* ‘Nazi Allegro’ by Krzysztof Skiba and ‘Nazizmu NIGDY WIĘCEJ na Allegro’ (‘Racism never again at Allegro’) by Dariusz Paczkowski (pages 20-21), are two articles presenting the Never Again Association’s campaign to ban neo-Nazi gadgets and symbols on a popular auction portal Allegro.pl.
* ‘Portalowe dyskusje’ (‘Online discussions’, pages 22-24) by Bartłomiej Gutowski, highlights the problem of hate speech in the Internet. Pages 24-25 also contain a report of the ‘Racism Delete’ campaign in 2009. According to the report, in 2009, the Never Again Association received approx. 900 notifications (decline by 20% compared to 2008) of racist contents online; 200 of them contained threats or insults, some 300 included links to portals known before (such as Redwatch), about 50 included links to new web sites and 20 of them were qualified for further action. As a result, by 21st of October, 2009, 15 web sites have been blocked.
* ‘Muzyka to nasza broń’ (‘Music is our weapon’, pages 26-27) by Wiktor Marszałek, summarizes 11 years of the Never Again Association’s campaign Music Against Racism.
* ‘Mieszanie przynosi fajne rezultaty (‘Mixing has great effects’, pages 27-28) is an interview by Filip Szklarz with Georg, a vocalist of the VAVAMUFFIN band. The interview touches upon issues of racism, antisemitism and the role of popular music in cultural change.
* ‘Moda jako forma propagandy neofaszyzmu’ (‘Fashion as a form of neo-fascist propaganda’, pages 29-32) by Jacek Purski, is an extensive analysis of development of marketing and branding strategies by garment companies targeting far right and neo-Nazi customers. Pages 32-33 also contain descriptions of major symbolic-ideological references used by the Thor Steinar company, such as Nordic mythology, Nazism and World War II, colonialism and violence in sport context.
* ‘Autonomiczni Nacjonaliści – nowe trendy w ruchu neofaszystowskim’ (‘Autonomous nationalists: new tendencies in the neo-fascist movement’, page 34) by Wiktor Marszałek, analyzes symbolic mimicry strategy undertaken by far right movements in Germany and elsewhere (including Poland), appealing to alternative youth by using selectively anarchist and left wing anti-globalization motifs (such as ‘black bloc’ outlook, horizontal forms of organizing, rebellious slogans or anti-capitalist rhetoric) to recruit new members and spread neo-fascist ideology.
* ‘Pedagogika pamięci’ (‘Pedagogy of remembrance’, pages 35-36) by Tomasz Kranz, presents a thread of pedagogy that concerns remembrance sites and historical reflection on the Holocaust. Theoretical foundations for this paradigm in education were laid by Theodor W. Adorno, who stressed the significance of autonomous, self-critical and non-conformist personality as a condition for preventing the return of Nazism.
* ‘Konkurs literacki Młodzież pamięta’ (‘Literary contest Youth’s Remembrance’, page 36) by Małgorzata Matecka, presents the idea and a list of prize winners of a recent literary contest for high-school and middle-school youth, focused on the subject of the Holocaust and memory. The prizewinning story Shoah by Norbert Borowski, is published on page 37.
* ‘Historia wykluczania Żydów ze społeczeństw Europejskich’ (‘History of exclusion of Jews in Europe, pages 38-40) by Katarzyna Meroń, highlights relationships between Christianity and anti-Jewish discrimination in medieval and early modern Europe.
* ‘Nagrobki i kult ofiar rzekomych żydowskich mordów rytualnych w dawnej Rzeczpospolitej’ (‘Tombstones and cult of victims of alleged Jewish ritual murder in old Poland’, pages 40-45) by Marcin Zgliński, refers to previous studies on blood libel against Jews, but goes beyond them to highlight the issue of how alleged victims have been commemorated and celebrated in folklore and religious imagery in early modern Poland..
* ‘Pius XII – Benedykt XVI. Słów kilka o dialogu chrześcijańsko-żydowskim’ (‘Pius XII – Benedict XVI: some notes on Christian-Jewish dialogue, pages 45-46) by Urszula Orlińska-Frymus, reflects on the Catholic Church’s ambivalent role during the Holocaust. The author compares different opinions about pope Pius XII and his position towards Nazism and extermination of Jews in Europe.
* ‘Postać obcego w legendach miejskich na przykładzie polskich legend o Azjatach’ (‘Character of stranger in urban legends: an example of Polish legends about Asians’, pages 47-49) by Dorota Kuran, is an anthropological insight to stereotypes and patterns of prejudice against Asians and Asian immigrants in contemporary Poland. In particular, the author analyzes mechanisms of creating and popularizing stereotypes pertaining to food customs and working habits.
* ‘Stieg Larsson nieznany – wspomnienie Rafała Pankowskiego’ (‘Another face of Stieg Larsson – a recollection by Rafał Pankowski, page 50) is an interview that focuses on the Swedish writer’s anti-fascist activity. The interview was taken for the Polish Radio Euro by Anna Depczyńska.
* ‘Szwedzkie media przeciw nazistowskiemu terrorowi’ (‘Swedish media against Nazi terror’, pages 51-52) by Stieg Larrson, presents history of a Swedish anti-fascist magazine, Expo, of which was founded and edited by the article’s author. On page 52 there is also a presentation of the Expo based on information from the magazine’s web site.
* ‘Partie skrajnej prawicy w Europie Środkowowschodniej’ (‘Far right parties in Central-Eastern Europe, page 53) by Michał Syska, provides an analysis of the rise of right-wing extremism in the Central and Eastern European region, following elections to the European Parliament in 2009.
* ‘Współczesny antysemityzm i ekstremizm prawicowy w Niemczech: nowy dyskurs?’ (‘Contemporary antisemitism and right-wing extremism in Germany: a new discourse?’, pages 54-57) by Yves Patrick Pallade, is a study of new contexts and patterns of antisemitic ideology as used and recast recently by far right parties and movements in Germany, often in alliance with anti-Israeli Islamists.
* ‘Biblioteka Antyfaszysty (‘Anti-fascist’s library’ section, pages 58-67) presents reviews of books, films and comic books. Among the reviewed books are two case studies of Radio Maryja’s far right discourse, a collection of texts by literary and cultural theorist Maria Janion, Pope and Jews by David I. Kertzer. Movie reviews include presentations of Edward Zwick’s Defiance, Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, Robert Young’s movie Eichman and others.
* Pages 68-71 contain information as well reprinted reviews and press commentaries on the Brown Book – a register of racist and related incidents in Poland edited by Marcin Kornak and published by the Never Again Association in 2009. On page 71 there is also a short information on the new book by an activist of the Association, Rafał Pankowski – The Populist Radical Right in Poland: The Patriots, published by Routledge in 2010.
* ‘Katalog Wypadkow – Brunatna Ksiega’ (‘Catalogue of Incidents – The Brown Book’, pages 72-86) by Marcin Kornak with collaboration of Anna Tatar, is a detailed record of violent acts and other incidents of racism, xenophobia and discrimination, in particular those committed by members and sympathisers of racist and neo-fascist groups in Poland in the period between January 2008 and December 2009.