Racism in Poland

Racism in Poland is present like in all countries, even though a race-based worldview has had little chance to develop. Racism has persisted alongside the fact that ethnic minorities have made up a significant proportion of the population since the founding of the Polish state. Throughout most of its one thousand-year history, Poland has experienced very limited immigration; apart from the immigration of the Jews while they were having been expelled from other parts of the Europe. Poland has never had overseas colonies. For a lengthy period the country was regarded as having a very tolerant society vowing to "constant evidence for numerous varieties of religious nonconformity, sectarians, schism, and heterodoxy."

During World War II Poland was the main scene of the Holocaust and Porajmos : genocides conducted by Nazi Germany of people of Jewish and Romani ancestry. Those, along with Poles, were classified as "sub-human" in Nazi racial theory and were to be eradicated, and their culture destroyed. Robert Gellately wrote that the intent of the Nazis was "to erase the Polish state, nation, and culture from the face of the Earth" and described this intent as "serial genocide".

Jews

King Casimir III the Great brought Jews to Poland during the crusades at a time when Jewish communities were being persecuted and expelled from all over Europe. As a result of better life conditions, by the mid-16th century, 80% of the world's Jews lived in Poland. The Catholic Church, however, was opposed to the tolerant attitude of the Polish royalty. The 1266 council of Breslau applied the Fourth Council of the Lateran limitations on the Jews to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Gniezno, forbidding side-by-side life of Jews and Christians and setting up Jewish gehttos. During the 15th century in the royal capital of Kraków, extremist clergymen advocated violence towards the Jews, who in a gradual process lost their positions. In 1469 Jews were expelled from their old settlement to Spiglarska Street. In 1485 Jewish elders were forced into a renunciation of trade in Kraków, which led many Jews to leave for Kazimierz that did not fall under the restrictions due to its status as a royal town. Following the 1494 fire in Kraków, a wave of anti-Jewish attacks took place. King John I Albert forced the remaining Jews of Kraków to move to Kazimierz.

In the Second Polish Republic, from the 1920s the Polish government excluded Jews from receiving government bank credits, public sector employment, and obtaining business licenses in government controlled sphere of the economy. From the 1930s limits were placed on Jewish enrollment in university education, Jewish shops, Jewish export firms, Shechita, Jewish admission to the medical and legal professions, Jews in business associations, etc. While in 1921-22 25% of students were Jews, by 1938-9 the proportion went down to 8%. The far-right National Democracy (Endeks) organized anti-Jewish boycotts. Following the death of Poland's ruler Józef Piłsudski in 1935, the Endeks intensified their efforts and in 1937 declared that their "main aim and duty must be to remove the Jews from all spheres of social, economic, and cultural life in Poland", which lead to violence in a few cases pogroms in smaller towns. The government in response organized the Camp of National Unity (OZON), which in 1938 took control of the Polish parliament. The Polish parliament then drafted anti-Jewish legislation similar to anti-Jewish laws in Germany, Hungary, and Romania. OZON advocated mass emigration of Jews from Poland, boycott of Jews, numerus clausus (see also Ghetto benches), and other limitation on Jewish rights.

In the mid-20th century, notable incidents of antisemitism in Poland included Jedwabne pogrom of 1941 in the presence of German Ordnungspolizei (police officers) and Anti-Jewish violence in Poland, 1944–46, attributed to postwar lawlessness as well as an anti-communist insurrection against the new pro-Soviet government immediately after the end of World War II in Europe, and the "Żydokomuna" (Jewish communism) stereotype. Another major event took place during the 1968 Polish political crisis.

The Jewish community in Poland consisted of about 10% of the general population by 1939, but was all but eradicated during the Holocaust following the German invasion of Poland in 1939 at the onset of World War II.. During the Polish census of 2011, 7,353 persons declared Jewish ethnicity (including the second one).

In 2017, the University of Warsaw’s Center for Research on Prejudice found an increase in antisemitic views in Poland, possibly due to growing Islamophobia and anti-migrant sentiment. Later that year, the European Jewish Congress accused the Polish government of "normalizing" the phenomenon in the country.

Despite the current Jewish population being scant, antisemitism persists in Poland and fulfills various important roles in Polish society. It is an informal tenet of Polish religiosity, facilitates viewing Poles as the main victim of the Nazis, enables denial of historic responsibility for anti-Jewish crimes, and it provide a scapegoat for problems in the post-communist transition. Unlike other European societies, contemporary Polish antisemitism is not related to attitudes towards Israel. Furthermore, political representation of those employing antisemitic rhetoric is very limited.

Roma

In June 1991 the Mława riot happened, which was a series of violent incidents against Polska Roma after a Polish man was killed and another one permanently harmed by a Romani teenager in a luxury car in a hit-and-run accident. After that a rioting mob attacked Romani residents of the Polish town of Mława where hundreds fled out of fear. The Mlawa officials insisted that the event was caused by jealousy to the prosperity of the Romani, whose predominant occupation was gold and automobile trade. However the racial motive of the events is commonly recognized.

Among coverage of the riot, a change of ethnic stereotypes about Roma in Poland was mentioned: A Roma is no longer poor, dirty, or cheerful. They also do not beg or pretend to be lowly. Nowadays a Roma drives a high status car, lives in a fancy mansion, flaunts his wealth, brags that the local authorities and the police are on his pay and thus he is not afraid of anybody. At the same time he is, as before, a swindler, a thief, a hustler, a dodger of military service and of a legal, decent job. Negative "metastereotypes" – or the Romas' own perceptions regarding the stereotypes that members of the dominant groups hold about their own group – were described by the Polish Roma Society in an attempt to intensify the dialogue about exclusionism.

Sub-Saharan Africans

The most common word in Polish for a black person is "murzyn". It is generally regarded as a neutral word which was used for centuries to describe a person of black (Sub-Saharan African) ancestry, but nowadays some black Africans consider it to be pejorative, though the majority of people in Poland see it as a neutral term regardless.

One of the high-profile events regarding blacks in Poland was the death of Maxwell Itoya in 2010, a Nigerian street vendor from a mixed marriage who was selling counterfeit goods. He was shot in the upper leg by a policeman during a street brawl that followed a screening check at a market in Warsaw and died of a severed artery. The event led to a media debate regarding policing and racism.

There have been other cases of violence against blacks in recent years. In Strzelce Opolskie, Black soccer players from LZS Piotrówka club were attacked in a bar by fans of the opposing team Odra Opole in 2015 and two young men were arrested. At least six men were sentenced. In a Łódź dance-club, a black student was attacked in a men's washroom.

Ethnic Poles

German warning in Nazi-occupied Poland 1939 - "No entrance for Poles!"

See also: Racial policy of Nazi Germany, Nazi crimes against the Polish nation, and Polish decrees

When part of Poland was under the rule of the German Empire, the Polish population was discriminated against by racist policies. These policies gained popularity among German nationalists, some of whom were members of the Völkisch movement, leading to the expulsion of Poles by Germany. This was fueled by Anti-Polish sentiment, especially during the age of partitions.

Poland was under German and Soviet occupation during World War II. At this period Polish people were harshly discriminated against in their own occupied country. The Nazi German regime saw the Poles as "subhumans" (untermenschen). In the directive No. 1306 by Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda from 24 October 1939, the term "subhuman" is used in reference to Polish ethnicity and culture, as follows:

It must become clear to everybody in Germany, even to the last milkmaid, that Polishness is equal to subhumanity. Poles, Jews and Gypsies are on the same inferior level. This must be clearly outlined [...] until every citizen of Germany has it encoded in his subconsciousness that every Pole, whether a farm worker or intellectual, should be treated like vermin".

Nazi policy towards ethnic Polish was and eventually the genocide and destruction of whole Polish nation, as well as cultural genocide, which involved Germanisation, as well as the suppression or murder of religious, cultural, intellectual, and political leadership.On March 15, 1940, Heinrich Himmler stated “All Polish specialists will be exploited in our military-industrial complex. Later, all Poles will disappear from this world. It is imperative that the great German nation considers the elimination of all Polish people as its chief task.” Poles were the victims of Nazi crimes against humanity and were the main non-Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Approximately 2.5 million ethnic Poles were killed or murdered during the war and the ensuing occupation. The Nazis were intent on preventing effective Polish resistance and exploiting the Poles as slave labor. Polish slaves in Nazi Germany were forced to wear identifying red tags with the letter P that were sewn to their clothing. Sexual relations with Germans (rassenschande or "racial defilement") were punishable by death. During the war, thousands of Polish men were executed for their relations with German women.

Other than that, during World War II, Polish people became the primary targets of ethnicity-based massacres by Ukrainian Insurgent Army, then in the territory of occupied Poland.

Modern Poland

2008 EVS survey

An analysis based on the European Values Survey (EVS), which took place in 2008, compares Poland to other European nations. Poland had very high levels of political tolerance (lack of extremist political attitudes), relatively high levels of ethnic tolerance (based on attitudes towards Muslims, immigrants, Romas, and Jews) and at the same time low levels of personal tolerance (based on attitudes towards people considered "deviant" or "threatening"). From 1998 to 2008, there was a marked increase in political and ethnic tolerance, but a decrease in personal tolerance.

In 1990, due partly to the political euphoria accompanying the fall of communism, Poland was the most tolerant nation in Central Europe. However, over the course of the '90s, tolerance decreased. By 1999, EVS recorded Poland as having one of the highest rates of xenophobia in Europe, while antisemitism also increased during this time. The factors behind these decreases in tolerance and the radicalization in attitudes towards other ethnic groups during this time likely included the country's economic problems associated with a costly transition from Communism (for example, high unemployment), ineffectual government and possibly an increase in immigration from outside.

These attitudes began to change after 2000, possibly due to Poland's entry into the European Union, increased travel abroad and more frequent encounters with people of other races. By 2008, the EVS showed Poland as one of the least xenophobic countries in Central and Eastern Europe. The negative attitudes towards Jews have likewise returned to their lower 1990s level, although they do remain somewhat above the European average. During the same time period, ethnic tolerance and political tolerance increased in Southern Europe (Spain, Greece) and decreased in other parts of Northern Europe (Netherlands).

While the Roma group was listed as most rejected, the level of exclusion was still lower than elsewhere in Europe, most likely due the long history of Roma (see Polska Roma) and their relatively low numbers in the country.

State and racism

In 2004, the government took some initiatives in order to tackle the problem of racism. They adopted the "National Programme to Prevent Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance 2004-2009" ("Krajowy Program Przeciwdziałania Dyskryminacji Rasowej, Ksenofobii i Związanej z Nimi Nietolerancji 2004 – 2009") and also established the Monitoring Team on Racism and Xenophobia within the Ministry of Interior and Administration. The Implementation Report (2010) stated that the programme suffered from various obstacles, including lacking and unclear funding, and eventually some planned tasks were completed, while others were not.

Islamophobia

Initially Poland's small Muslim community, some 0.1% of the population, were treated equally unlike other minorities, Jews in particular, that have faced hostility and suspicion. During communist rule the censorship office barred unfavorable portrayals of Muslims due to Poland's geopolitical alignment with Arab countries during this period. Following the European migrant crisis, Islamophobia has been on the rise in Poland according to Dr. Konrad Pedziwiatr. In 2016, the wSieci magazine ran a cover with a white women assaulted by dark males under the title "The Islamic rape of Europe" which evoked outrage, and has been compared to WWII propaganda with the same imagery. While the moderate wing of the Catholic Church has espoused toleration, conservative voices, associated with the conservative wing of the Church, expressed in Fronda.pl and Polonia Christiana (PCh24.pl) have been significant in their contribution to the stereotyping of refugees and Muslims. Whereas the normal age distribution of prejudice is tilted towards older people, the opposite is true in Poland: A 2015 opinion poll showed 59 percent of 18 to 24 years associated Islam with dangers contrasted with 37 percent of those older than 65.

2012 CRP survey

In a 2012 survey conducted by the Center for Research on Prejudice at the University of Warsaw, it was found that 78.5% of participants disagreed with traditional antisemitic statements (eg. "Jews are responsible for the death of Jesus Christ"), but 52.9% agreed with secondary antisemitic statements (eg. "Jews spread the stereotype of Polish anti-Semitism"), and 64.6% believed in a "Jewish conspiracy" (eg. "Jews would like to rule the world"). The authors noted that "belief in [a] Jewish conspiracy proved to be the strongest significant predictor of discriminatory intentions towards Jews in all fields. Traditional anti-Semitism predicted social distance towards Jews, while it did not predict any of the other discriminatory intentions. Secondary anti-Semitism failed to predict any form of discriminatory intentions against Jews."

ADL Global 100 survey

In the "ADL Global 100" survey conducted in 2013-2014, 57% of respondents said that "it is probably true" that "Jews have too much power in the business world"; 55% that "Jews have too much power in international financial markets"; 42% that "Jews have too much control over global affairs"; and 33% that "people hate Jews because of the way Jews behave".

2018 CRP survey

In a 2018 survey conducted by the Center for Research on Prejudice at the University of Warsaw, 35%-40% of respondents agreed or "definitely agreed" with the following statements: "the Jews achieve group goals through secret agreements" (40%); "the Jews want to have a decisive voice in international financial institutions" (39.3%); "the Jews strive to rule the world" (35.8%); "the Jews often operate covertly, behind the scenes" (38.2%), and "the Jews strive to expand their influence on the world economy" (36.7%). A further 24%-25% agreed with traditional antisemitic views such as that Jews had kidnapped Christian children in the past (24.5%), and that Jews were responsible for the death of Jesus (24.3%). The authors surmise that "antisemitism is still a serious social problem in Poland".

2018 FRA survey

In the FRA 2018 Experiences and perceptions of antisemitism/Second survey on discrimination and hate crime against Jews in the EU, antisemtism in Poland was identified as a "fairly big" or "very big" problem by 85% of respondants (placing Poland at the fourth place after France, Germany and Belgium); 61% reported that antisemitism had increased "a lot" in the past five years (second place after France, and before Belgium and Germany); 74% reported that intolerance towards Muslim had increased "a lot" (second place after Hungary, and before Austria and the UK); and 89% reported an increase in expressions of antisemitism online (second place after France, and before Italy and Belgium). The most commonly heard antisemitic statements were "Jews have too much power in Poland" (70%) and "Jews exploit Holocaust victimhood for their own purposes" (67%).

Antisemitic expressions

According to the Kantor Center at the Tel Aviv University, "during the first half of 2018... hundreds of antisemitic statements appeared in the Polish media (including the state-controlled media), many of them expressed by mainstream figures such as members of Parliament." The report quotes popular media figure Rafal Ziemkiewicz and Piotr Nisztor, and politicians like Pawel Kukiz, Krystyna Pawłowicz, Kornel Morawiecki and Ryszard Czarnecki.

Countering racism

"Never Again" Association

Main article: "Never Again" Association

The "Never Again" Association is an a-political anti-racist organization, based in Warsaw. The organization has its roots in an in-formal anti-Nazi youth group that was active since 1992, and was formally founded in 1996 at Bydgoszcz by Marcin Kornak. As of 2010, there were several hundred members in the organization, of which some 80% were in Poland and 20% were in other European countries. "Never Again" publishes, since 1994, the "Never Again" magazine. The magazine is focused on countering intolerance, fascism, racism and xenophobia. "Never Again" publishes the Brown Book (Polish: „Brunatna Księga”), which compiles xenophobic, racist, and anti-gay incidents.

Further reading

• Friedrich, Klaus-Peter (2010). "Antisemitism in Poland". Antisemitism in Eastern Europe: history and present in comparison. Frankfurt am Main ; New York: Peter Lang. pp. 9–28. ISBN 978-3-631-59828-3. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |editors= ignored (|editor= suggested) (help)
• Gross, Jan Tomasz (2006). Fear: anti-semitism in Poland after Auschwitz : an essay in historical interpretation. New York: Random House. ISBN 978-0-307-43096-0. Retrieved 2018-06-07.