closeicon
World

Jewish Congress warns antisemitism is being normalised in Poland

President Moshe Kantor expressed “grave concerns” about the rise in antisemitic incidents in the country once home to Europe’s largest Jewish population

articlemain

The European Jewish Congress has warned that antisemitism is being normalised in Poland.

President Moshe Kantor expressed “grave concerns” about the rise in antisemitic incidents in the country once home to Europe’s largest Jewish population.

He said that under Poland’s right-wing Law and Justice government “there has been a distinct normalisation of antisemitism, racism and xenophobia.”

He added: “We hope that the Polish government will stem this hate and act forcefully against it.”

In the statement released on Thursday he noted the growth of "fascist slogans" and the frequent presence of flags of the nationalist ONR group at official ceremonies.

He said the increase of such activity had "coincided with the Polish government closing its communications with the official representatives of the Jewish community."

Mr Kantor said it had been a year since a senior Polish minister had met with leaders of the Union of Jewish Communities to discuss issues concerning Poland’s Jews.

The UJC represents the 10,000 Jews who belong to Jewish organisations in the country of 38 million people.

In a study released in January the University of Warsaw’s Centre for Research on Prejudice reported a rise in the acceptance of antisemitic hate speech online.

It found this acceptance was prevalent among young Poles and 37 per cent expressed negative attitudes towards Jews in 2016, up from 32 per cent in 2015.

It also found 56 per cent of Poles would not accept a Jewish person in their family, up nearly 10 per cent from 2014.

Share via

Want more from the JC?

To continue reading, we just need a few details...

Want more from
the JC?

To continue reading, we just
need a few details...

Get the best news and views from across the Jewish world Get subscriber-only offers from our partners Subscribe to get access to our e-paper and archive