AJC Central Europe Urges Poland Government to Counter Neo-Nazi Groups

WARSAW, Poland, Jan. 23, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AJC Central Europe has called on Poland's government to take concrete steps to monitor and counter the activities of Neo-Nazi groups.

AJC sent letters to the Minister of the Interior and Administration and the Minister of Justice following the broadcast Saturday evening on Polish news channel TVN24 of a documentary on two organizations, the "Pride and Modernity" association and "The Eagle's Nest" foundation, involved in spreading Nazi ideology and glorifying NSDAP (the Nazi party) leadership.

The program showed events in Poland marking the 128th anniversary of Adolf Hitler's birth. Participants carried Nazi flags, wore Nazi German uniforms, ate a swastika-decorated cake, and toasted Hitler as a "very decent man" and a "gentleman." The hidden camera captured words abusive towards the Jewish community, including anti-Semitic terms with expletives that can be considered punishable under Polish law.

"Nazi glorification in 21st century Poland is outrageous and must be condemned unequivocally," said AJC Central Europe Director Agnieszka Markiewicz. "Poland was the utmost victim of the German Third Reich and its Jewish community lost 90 percent of its population. Poles in general were decimated. One can hardly find a family in Poland that was not affected by the barbarities of Nazism."

Markiewicz emphasized that "though the Prime Minister and two senior government ministers condemned on Twitter the incidents shown in the documentary, Poland has yet to effectively confront the rising threat of radical nationalism and neo-Nazism. Those who preach fascist ideology and racial hatred should be brought to justice."

SOURCE American Jewish Committee