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All-Polish Youth

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All-Polish Youth
Młodzież Wszechpolska
LeaderZiemowit Przebitkowski
SecretaryBartosz Malewski
General SecretaryMichał Białek
SpokespersonMateusz Marzoch
Deputy LeaderWojciech Niedzielko
Adam Wyszyński
Founded1922 (original incarnation)
1989 (revived, current incarnation)
Dissolved1934 (banned, original incarnation)
Headquartersul. Świderska 109 J m.19, Warsaw, 03-128
IdeologyPolish nationalism
Ultranationalism
National radicalism [pl]
Anti-communism
Anti-globalization
Hard Euroscepticism
Political Catholicism
Anti-Americanism
Anti-Germanism
Anti-LGBT rights
Political positionFar-right
National affiliationNational Movement
ColoursBlack, Green and White
Website
mw.org.pl
March of All-Polish Youth in 2013

The All-Polish Youth (Polish: Młodzież Wszechpolska) refers to two inter-linked Polish far-right ultranationalist[1][2][3][4][5] youth organizations, with a Catholic-nationalist philosophy. Its agenda declares that its aim is "to raise Polish youth in a Catholic and patriotic spirit".

The inter-war incarnation was created in 1922 as part of the National Democracy movement, and was modelled after the inter-war fascist movement Falanga.[6]. During World War II it operated underground and was clamped down on the break of 1945/1946 by the Communist authorities.

The present incarnation was created on December 2, 1989. Its manifesto from 1989 states that "one's country is the greatest earthly good. After God, your foremost love belongs to the Homeland, and foremost after God you must serve your own country," and declares itself opposed to "doctrines promoting liberalism, tolerance, and relativism.

The All-Polish Youth was affiliated with the League of Polish Families (2001-2006), but was never officially its youth wing.[7] In the 21st Century it has been a fierce opponent of LGBT rights leading it to be widely condemned as homophobic by various organisations.

It currently plays a major role as part of the National Movement party.

Inter-war All-Polish Youth

The organisation, properly the Academic Union "All-Polish Youth" (Związek Akademicki "Młodzież Wszechpolska"), was founded in 1922 as an ideological youth organisation with a strong nationalist sentiment,[8] and was the largest student organisation in the Second Polish Republic. The Founding Convention of the All-Polish youth took place in March 1922, with Roman Dmowski being selected honorary chairman.

The term "All-Polish" is intended to represent a desire to unify all Polish lands, and accentuate national ties and the equality of all people of Polish origin regardless of their wealth or social status. The idea for creating the organization occurred when Poland was partitioned and not officially on the world map, therefore it aimed to unite Poles from all three partitions. In the inter-war period, members of the organisation participated actively in academic life, and became the heads of many student organisations. The All-Polish Youth was the largest student organization in Poland during the 1930s. The goals of the organization were mainly focused on three issues:[9]

  1. Defending the autonomy of universities against centralising forces of the government
  2. Campaigning for lower tuition fees
  3. Limitation of non-Polish, especially Jewish students, from higher education to prevent exclusion of Polish students from the countryside

All-Polish Youth was the least radical of organizations of the National Democracy camp.[10] Nevertheless, some of its members praised Mussolini and his Italian fascism for its hardline stances towards the left and realisation of "national revolution".[11] Part of the members, including Jędrzej Giertych, also praised Hitler's Germany[12] economical changes, but understood that it is with the contradiction with Polish national interests and changed his views a year after NSDAP obtained power in Germany.[13] Most leaders of the All-Polish Youth criticized Hitler for racism and radicalism. According to Jan Mosdorf, a pre-war chairman of All-Polish Youth who died in Auschwitz for saving Jews, the organization was against fascists and Hitlerites.[14] Some Members of the All-Polish Youth also praised authoritarian regimes of the Mediterranean, Salazar's Portugal and Franco's Spain.[citation needed]

They also favoured economically boycotting the Jews, limiting their access to higher education (numerus clausus)[15] in order to equal the chance of children from countryside families who had very limited access to education to the chance of the children of Jewish families living in the towns and cities.[16] The All-Polish Youth also actively campaigned for ghetto benches, segregated seating for Jewish students.[17]

Modern days

All-Polish Youth on 2015 March of Independence

The modern incarnation[citation needed] of the All-Polish Youth was founded in Poznań in 1989, on the initiative of Roman Giertych, the former leader of the League of Polish Families (LPR). Continuing the tradition of its precursors,[citation needed] [clarification needed]the organisation maintains its aim of raising youth with their ideology, and operates across all of Poland, working with high-school and university students.

In 2006, the Polish Public Prosecutor's office launched an investigation after a video recording from a private party was leaked to the Polish press. It was considered that All-Polish Youth members including Leokadia Wiącek, a personal assistant of Maciej Giertych (member of the European Parliament), were seen fraternizing with Neo-Nazi skinheads, listening to Neo-Nazi bands, and saluting the swastika.[18][19][20] Following the incident, Leokadia Wiącek was expelled from All-Polish Youth,[21] and the League of Polish Families cut ties with the group.[22] As it was later determined, during the private party Leokodia Wącek was not a member of the organisation and the main Polish television channel Telewizja Polska apologized to All-Polish Youth for accusing them of neo-nazi connotations.[23]

All-Polish Youth have declared that it is only by making Poland a Catholic state that its future will be secured, and chairman Konrad Bonisławski has stated "We do not want to become like Holland with its free drugs and gay marriage. Since joining the European Union we have seen attempts to destroy our Catholic values."[24]

All-Polish Youth have gained considerable press coverage due to their staunch opposition of abortion and, particularly, homosexuality (which their website condemns as "unnatural behaviour" and describes gay rights marches as "militant homosexualism").[25] This has led to (sometimes violent) clashes with pro-choice and gay rights demonstrators.

All-Polish Youth have been widely condemned as homophobic by various organisations including Amnesty International,[26] Human Rights Watch,[27] and even the United Nations (which, in their Universal Periodic Review, describes All-Polish Youth as an "extremist homophobic grouping"),[28] as well as a multitude of gay rights organisations such as OutRage! and the Polish Campaign Against Homophobia. In 2004, 2005, and 2006, All-Polish Youth members and sympathizers violently attacked people who were taking part in pro-gay demonstrations, throwing eggs, bottles and rocks at them,[29][30] and were reported to have shouted "Send the fags to the hospital", "Perverts, get out of Kraków", "Let's gas the fags" and "We'll do to you what Hitler did to the Jews".[27]

From 2012 onwards, the organisation has been heavily involved in playing a major role as part of the National Movement party, a party which the organisation was one of the several co-founders.

In January 2019, the organisation's leader from 2015 to 2016, Adam Andruszkiewicz, was appointed as Poland's deputy minister for digital affairs.[31]

Former member (joined 2000), Lubusz chapter leader (2003–2004) and chairman (2005 and 2006) Krzysztof Bosak became the Confederate Party candidate for the presidential election 2020 after winning the presidential primaries held at the party convention in Warsaw on January 18 2020.[32]

In August 2019, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination called the Polish government to delegalize and criminalize All-Polish Youth (along with several others) for promoting and inciting racial discrimination.[33]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ Transformations in Central Europe between 1989 and 2012: Geopolitical, Cultural, and Socioeconomic Shifts. Tomas Kavaliauskas. Lexington Books. 2012. ISBN 9780739174111. Chapter 4, page 60.
  2. ^ The Place of Artists' Cinema: Space, Site, and Screen. Maeve Connolly. Intellect Books. 2009. Page 122. ISBN 9781841503295
  3. ^ "Polacy na prawo od Jarosława Kaczyńskiego" ("Poles to the right of Jarosław Kaczyński"). Onet.pl News, 8 September 2016. Retrieved from: https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/kraj/ruchy-skrajnie-prawicowe-moga-stac-sie-rywalami-pis/9wzdy4
  4. ^ "Ultranacjonaliści uczczą antysemickie zamieszki" "(Ultranationalists are celebrating anti-semitic riots)". Gazeta Wyborcza, 15 July 2005. Retrieved from: https://wyborcza.pl/1,75248,2821469.html?disableRedirects=true
  5. ^ Polska brunatnieje. Tygodnik Przegląd, 5 February 2018. Retrieved from: https://www.tygodnikprzeglad.pl/polska-brunatnieje/
  6. ^ Michael Minkenberg (2017). The Radical Right in Eastern Europe: Democracy under Siege?. Palgrave Macmillan US. p. 74. ISBN 978-1-137-56332-3.
  7. ^ "Młodzież Wszechpolska: LPR nie może nas rozwiązać". Gazeta.pl Wiadomości (in Polish). 26 October 2007. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
  8. ^ Wapiński 1980, 238.
  9. ^ Kulińska 2000, 36-37.
  10. ^ Jacek Misztal, “Związek Akademicki Młodzież Wszechpolska 1922-1939, p. 164.″
  11. ^ Wapiński 1980, 243-244
  12. ^ Wapiński 1980, 317.
  13. ^ Jacek Misztal, “Związek Akademicki Młodzież Wszechpolska 1922-1939, p. 94.″
  14. ^ Mateusz Kotas, "Jan Mosdorf. Filozof, ideolog, polityk, p. 45."
  15. ^ Wapiński 1980, 239.
  16. ^ Jacek Misztal, “Związek Akademicki Młodzież Wszechpolska 1922-1939, p. 23″
  17. ^ Joanna Beata Michlic, Poland's Threatening Other: The Image of the Jew from 1880 to the Present, University of Nebraska Press, 2006, ISBN 0-8032-3240-3, p. 113.
  18. ^ Warsaw Voice - LPR Ditches All-Polish Youth
  19. ^ EJP | News | Eastern Europe | ‘All-Polish Youth’ Nazi movie generates controversy Archived 2009-03-31 at the Wayback Machine
  20. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-06-19. Retrieved 2008-11-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  21. ^ http://wiadomosci.wp.pl/kat,1342,wid,8625569,wiadomosc.html?ticaid=17530
  22. ^ Warsaw Voice - LPR Ditches All-Polish Youth (20 Dec 2006)
  23. ^ TVP Polish Television Evening News (02 Aug 2007)
  24. ^ Daily Telegraph - Ghetto survivor warns of Polish 'fascism' (24 June 2006)
  25. ^ "All-Polish Youth website - Demonstration March 2007". Archived from the original on 2009-09-06. Retrieved 2009-08-19.
  26. ^ Amnesty International Report 2006 - Poland (archived by UNHRC, United Nations Refugee Agency)
  27. ^ a b Human Rights Watch (Scott Long)
  28. ^ UN Human Rights Council - Universal Periodic Review, Annual Report 2005 (page 6) Archived 2011-07-28 at the Wayback Machine
  29. ^ BBC News Report, 28 April 2006
  30. ^ Human Rights Watch (Scott Long) 14 Feb 2006
  31. ^ "Far-right Polish official steps back from radical comments". Associated Press. 4 January 2019.
  32. ^ Białczyk, oprac Piotr (2020-01-18). "Wybory prezydenckie 2020. Konfederacja wyłoniła kandydata na prezydenta". wiadomosci.wp.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  33. ^ Concluding observations on the combined twenty-second to twenty-fourth periodic reports of Poland, Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (advance unedited version), August 29, 2019

References

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