NIGDY WIECEJ - NEVER AGAIN, issue 14, fall/winter 2004
SUMMARY:
NIGDY WIECEJ – NEVER AGAIN is the major Polish magazine devoted to the issues of racism and antisemitism.
* The editors’ opening article touches upon the problem of the chauvinistic activists’ presence within the far right political parties. One example in is League of Polish Families (LPR), one of the current parliamentary political forces. Some of its prominent members, now occupying positions as high as European Parliament, have been involved in the extremist nationalist and antisemitic groups. What makes this problem even more alarming is that as the 2005 elections are approaching and along with LPR’s growing popularity, some of the mainstream right or centre-right parties are tolerating LPR xenophobic orientation and treat them as a potential coalition ally. The editorial signals also more positive aspect of social processes taking place in Poland, namely more and more friendly attitudes towards ethnic and national minorities.
* ‘Zbrodnia obojetnosci’ (‘The Crime of Indifference’, page 1) by Marcin Kornak highlights shocking facts about the presence of contemporary antisemitic and neo-nazi graffiti found on the barracks of the former concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. Surprisingly, the graffiti has been ignored by a number of public institutions, including the local and state authorities, and even the directors of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum.
* In the letters section (page 2, ‘Listy’) are letters of support from the Club for the Culture of Coexistence and Tolerance as well as individuals sharing their critical views on antisemitism and neo-fascism.
* The documents section (pages 2-3) presents an exchange between the Polish Senate and the Institute for National Remembrance regarding legal consequences of distribution of publications containing Holocaust denial contents (disseminating such contents, qualified as “Auschwitz lie”, is forbidden by Polish law). Other document is a resolution signed by the Federation of Young Social Democrats declaring this organisation’s and its members’ avoidance to co-operate in any form with the far-right Mlodziez Wszechpolska (All-Polish Youth). This section also presents a resolution signed by the board members of ATTAC-Poland, denying the supposed extreme right inclinations of the Polish branch of the association, and denouncing the conception of the “alliance of extremes” promoted by the anti-globalist magazine ‘Obywatel’ (see also issue #13 of Never Again magazine).
* ‘Rasizm zniewaga Boga’ (‘Racism is an insult for God’, page 3) are reflections by the pope John Paul II on racial discrimination shortly before the 2001 Durban conference.
* ‘Jestem uzalezniony od tematu Holocaustu’ (‘I’m addicted to the subject of Holocaust’, pages 4-7 and 63) is an interview by Katarzyna Nowak with Henryk Grynberg, a well-known Polish-Jewish writer. Grynberg shares his thoughts on various issues, e.g. collective and individual historical memory, contemporary Polish-Jewish relations, and new appearances of antisemitism in Europe. The text includes transcript of Grynberg’s discussion with the audience during a meeting in Oswiecim in 2003.
* ‘Jeżeli nie dyskryminacja, to co?’ (‘If it’s not discrimination then what is it?’, page 9) by Marcin Kornak, exposes institutional discrimination experienced by people with disabilities in Poland. Among the institutions mentioned in the article are: the National Health Fund (which used humiliating procedures of ‘proving’ one’s disability), Polish Airlines ‘Lot’ (which required its passengers to fill out forms containing questions about ‘whether a passenger is unpleasant for those around’) and the Customs Office (which forced a wheel-chair user to pay $25,000 customs duty on her wheelchair qualified as golf-cart) and Tomysl high school (blind student was unwanted there). The problem of discrimination against people with disabilities exists also in some night clubs which do not allow ‘other-looking’ persons in.
* In ‘Przykazanie VIII, czyli grzech w Domu Bozym’ (‘The Eighth Commandment, or a Sin In God’s House’, pages 9-10), Maria Pożarowska tells about historical context explaining the appearance of an antisemitic painting still being displayed in the well-known church in Sandomierz. The author also discusses contemporary controversies over the painting’s presence in the church.
* Marcin Kornak’s article ‘Taki sobie eksperyment’ (‘A Dubious Experiment, pages 10-11) explores the neo-fascist and racist tendencies in neo-pagan organisations in Poland.
* ‘Wszechpolska przyszlosc narodu?’ (‘All-Polish Future of the Nation?’, pages 11-13) written by Arkadiusz Zacheja, reveals internal factions within the nationalist Mlodziez Wszechpolska (All-Polish Youth), its extremist tendencies as well as its conflicts with neo-fascist National Rebirth of Poland (NOP).
* ‘Contra Boys 88’ (page 13) exposes neo-fascist inspirations of music band Contra Boys whose album features songs of football fans. The article is yet another account of the phenomenon of neo-fascism among groups of football fans.
* ‘Katalog Wypadkow – Brunatna Ksiega’ (‘List of Incidents – the Brown Book’, pages 13-23 and 64) by Marcin Kornak and Jacek Purski, is a detailed record of violent acts and other incidents committed by members and sympathizers of racist and fascist groups in Poland in the recent period. It refers not only to racism, antisemitism or xenophobia, but also to homophobia, violence against feminist groups and towards antifascist activists, as well as discrimination of people with disabilities.
* ‘Skrajna prawica w Polsce – marsz ku instytucjom’ (‘The Far Right in Poland – Marching Towards Public Institutions’, pages 23-24) by Stefan Zgliczynski, a paper presented by the author at the second European Social Forum in Paris, 2003, analyses the situation of Polish extreme right from early 1990’s onwards. The author claims that the current parliamentary forces of the Right are based on leaders with neo-fascist orientations, and the main threat from the chauvinists to the public life is their infiltration to public institutions and dissemination of ultraconservative thinking in the society. The author also warns that given the background of still worsening economic conditions of Polish people, the growing popularity of the chauvinistic right might also increase social pressure to establish authoritarian rule.
* ‘Poezja i prawa czlowieka’ (‘Poetry and Human Rights’, pages 24-25) by Simon Mol, is a critical anti-racist view of poetry inspired by a popular poem written by Julian Tuwim, one of the most famous 20th-century Polish poets. Simon Mol was honoured as Antifascist of the year 2004 by the ‘Never Again’ Association.
* ‘Rasizm w literaturze dla dzieci – trop afrykanski’ (Racism in Children’s Literature – a View on Africa, page 26) by Gertrud Seltzer, is another critical analysis of popular culture, discussing racist stereotypes and colonial images of Africa and African people, as well as hegemonic images of Europeans in German-language children’s literature.
* ‘Wietnamczycy w Polsce’ (‘Vietnamese People in Poland’, pages 27-29) by Nguyen Thi Hoa, Wiktor Kaspian and Pham Viet Anh, is an extensive account of the past and present of Vietnamese community in Poland. The article tells readers about various aspects of Vietnamese immigrants’ experience in Poland, including communal and religious life, and restrictive immigration policy of Polish authorities towards them. The text also provides historical-political information about Vietnam before and after their emigration.
* ‘Jednosc w wielosci’ (‘Unity in Plurality’, page 30), an essay written by a well-known journalist and publicist Max Cegielski, attempts to question Eurocentric perspective on non-Western cultures. The author argues that despite development of pluralist thought, the Western world fails to acknowledge and embrace the historical reality of cross-cultural exchange on various continents.
* ‘Rewolucja mentalna i show’ (‘Mental Revolution and the Show’, pages 31-34) are Jacek Purski’s interviews with members of a DJ’s collective Masala Sound System: Maciej Szajkowski, Max Cegielski, Tomasz Szczecinski and Rafal Kolacinski. They tell about their anti-racist and multicultural inspirations and message.
* ‘Muzyka przeciwko rasizmowi not Die’ on page 34 is a list of music releases by various bands containing logo or a slogan of the campaign ‘Music Against Racism’.
* ‘Rap kontra rasizm: z historii radykalnego hip-hopu’ (‘Rap Against Racism: History of Radical Hip-Hop’, pages 35-37) by a well-known publicist Zbigniew M. Kowalewski, is an analysis of radical message in African-American popular culture, containing extensive quotes from rap songs.
* ‘Otwarte spoleczenstwo i jego radio’ (‘Open Society and Its Radio Station’, pages 38-42) by Rafał Maszkowski, provides content analysis of discussions and presentations broadcast in Radio Maryja, the major ultraconservative media institution in Poland. The author’s analysis uncovers ideology behind Radio Maryja’s ‘religious mission’, that is national chauvinism, racism, antisemitism, as well as anti-democratic and authoritarian tendencies as expressed by the chief editors and guest speakers of the station.
* ‘O mniejszosci z pozycji slusznosci’ (‘On Minority from the Position of Rightness’, pages 42-44) is a critical review by Łukasz Sommer of Michael Fleming’s book ‘National Minorities in Post-Communist Poland’. The article rises some methodological and theoretical questions about the way various issues concerning national minorities in contemporary Poland have been dealt with in the book.
* ‘Maly wielki karaimski swiat’ (‘Small but Great World of Karaites’, pages 45-46) by Agnieszka Milczarek, presents history, religion and culture of Karaites – the smallest national minority in Poland.
* ‘Stowarzyszenie NIGDY WIECEJ – Grupa Oswiecim’ (‘Oswiecim Section of NEVER AGAIN Association’, pages 46-48) by Katarzyna Nowak reports on activities of a local section of the Association. These activities range from educational programs and cultural events to protest letters and public demonstrations against fascism and racism, to international co-operation with anti-racist networks.
* In an essay ‘Kto jeśli nie my? Kiedy, jeśli nie teraz? Gdzie, jeśli nie tutaj?’ (‘Who if not us? When if not now? Where if not here?’, pages 48-49) Łukasz Mirecki provides a calendar-framework for anti-racist activism, showing some examples of initiatives.
* Pages 50-54 contain material closely linked with one of the major ‘Never Again’ Association’s campaigns: ‘Let’s Kick Racism Out of Stadiums’. ‘Z ziemi wloskiej do Polski’ (‘From the Italian land to Poland’) by Jacek Zinkiewicz (pages 50-51) tells about grassroots anti-racist football competitions in Italy and Poland in 2003. A report about anti-racist football initiatives at the 2004 ‘Woodstock Station Festival’ (rock music event attended by more than 200,000 people) is published on pages 53-54 (‘Antyrasistowskie Mistrzostwa Polski w Pilce Noznej’ – ‘Anti-Racist Polish Cup’). In his article ‘5 lat przeciwko rasizmowi na stadionach’ (‘Five Against Racism at Stadiums) Jacek Purski presents the Football Against Racism in Europe network (pages 51-52).
* Two articles are about antiracism in Norway. On page 53 the Norwegian version of the British campaign “Show Racism The Red Card” is described. ‘O norweskiej wspolpracy miedzy zwiazkiem zawodowym a organizacja pozarzadowa’ (‘On the Norwegian Co-operation Between a trade union and an NGO’, pages 54-55) presents joint initiatives against racism and for tolerance and pluralism undertaken together by the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions and an old anti-racist organisation Norwegians Aid.
* ‘Komiks – sztuka dojrzala’ (‘Comics – A Mature Art’, pages 55-58) by Marcin Kornak is another article on the art of comics published in ‘Never Again’ magazine (see also issue #13). The author tells about antifascist contents presented in a number of comic books, proving that comics has become a serious field of artistic expression, including politically-involved messages.
* ‘Tajemne zycie Vidala Sassoona’ (‘Secret Life of Vidal Sassoon’, pages 58-59), a translated version of Julian Kossoff’s article, tells a story of radical anti-racist activity of today’s business giant Vidal Sassoon in late 1940’s Britain.
* ‘Wolnosc nienawisci’ (‘Freedom of Hatred’, pages 59-60) is a translation of Arun Kundnani’s account of difficulties with fighting against institutional racism in Great Britain. The author attempts suggests that anti-racist organisations should take more firm actions against media exploiting racial prejudice and to protect victims of racism.
* ‘Homoseksualisci a Holocaust’ (‘Homosexuals and Holocaust’, pages 60-61) discusses the fate of gay minority during the Third Reich nazi regime. At least several thousand homosexuals died in the nazi concentration camps. The article tells about the exhibition ‘Nazi Persecutions of Homosexuals, 1933-1945’ presented at the U.S. Holocaust Museum.
* The ‘Reviews’ section (‘Recenzje’, page 62) presents an anti-racist/anti-globalisation music album, and a book by recently passed father Stanislaw Musial about antisemitism within the catholic church.