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Post by Bonobo on Mar 16, 2018 21:17:43 GMT 1
Polish politician denies Jewish museum’s claim her 2017 tweet was anti-Semitic
March 13, 2018 8:28am
WARSAW, Poland (JTA) – A former Polish presidential candidate has called on the Polin Museum of the History of Polish Jews to apologize for putting one of her tweets on display as an example of modern anti-Semitism.
Magdalena Ogórek in a tweet Monday called the display of her prior tweet “another expression of oppressive political propaganda.” She said that if the Polin Museum does not apologize for placing her tweet on display, she will go to court and ask for compensation, which Ogorek later said she would donate to The Museum of Cursed Soldiers, which highlights a variety of Polish anti-Soviet and anti-communist resistance movements formed in the later stages of World War II.
Her tweet appears in a new temporary exhibition titled “Estranged: March ’68 and Its Aftermath.” In the July 2017 tweet, displayed anonymously, Ogorek asks if a rival politician, Sen. Marek Borowski, changed his surname “from Berman to Borowski,” referring to his Jewish roots. At the time of the tweet, she was criticized by Jewish organizations and the leftist SLD party from which she ran for president three years ago.
Ogorek is demanding the removal of the tweet from the exhibition and a public apology.
“No one has the right to gag the questions of a historian and a journalist. To see my tweet as an example of ‘modern anti-Semitism’ is another example of political oppression,” said Ogórek, now a broadcaster who leans right politically. In the 2015 presidential election, she ran an unsuccessful campaign as the candidate of the Democratic Left Alliance.
Ogorek in a letter to the director of the Polin Museum recalled that she had visited the museum before its opening and that she has often come back with her daughter.
“Today my child is over a dozen years old. I am proud to say that thanks to me she is a young Polish woman, a patriot who has a lot of affection for the Jewish people,” Ogorek wrote.
The exhibition deals with the organized anti-Semitic campaign by Polish authorities that resulted in the exodus of several thousand Jews from Poland in 1968. Polish President Andrzej Duda on March 8 apologized for the actions of Polish authorities 50 years ago.
“Part of our exhibition ‘Estranged: March ’68 and Its Aftermath’ includes examples of modern hate speech similar to the language used 50 years ago,” Żaneta Czyżniewska, a Polin Museum spokeswoman, told JTA. “All texts are real, and come from various websites and social media. We don’t publish the names of their authors.”
www.jta.org/2018/03/13/news-opinion/former-polish-presidential-candidate-calls-jewish-museum-remove-tweet-exhibition
Notes from Poland
12 marca o 10:14 ·
Two Polish journalists have reacted angrily at their inclusion in a new exhibition at the Museum of the History of Polish Jews as examples of modern-day antisemitism in Poland.
The exhibition, which is about the events of March '68, juxtaposes antisemitic statements from that period with similar statements from the present day, including letters of abuse sent to the Israeli embassy and tweets made by Magdalena Ogórek and Rafał Ziemkiewicz.
Ziemkiewicz described Jews as 'greedy scabs', with the Polish word he used for scab, 'parch', being a long-established term of offence towards Jews. Ogórek made insinuations about an opposition politician changing his name from (the Jewish) Berman to (the Polish) Borowski. In fact, the politician hadn't changed his name (although his father had).
Ziemkiewicz (who recently had a speaking tour of the UK cancelled due to his anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim statements) accuses the museum of 'insolence and stupidity' and of creating 'party propaganda for the "total opposition"'. Ogórek (a failed left-wing presidential candidate who has reinvented herself as a conservative commentator) says that POLIN is spreading 'oppressive political propaganda' and threatens to take the museum to court if it doesn't apologise.
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Post by Bonobo on Mar 16, 2018 22:07:04 GMT 1
www.timesofisrael.com/us-jewish-group-withdraws-holocaust-video-offensive-to-poles/
US Jewish group withdraws Holocaust video offensive to Poles
Clip shows people saying 'Polish Holocaust,' calls on US to sever ties with ally Poland until it revokes controversial bill
By Vanessa Gera 22 February 2018, 12:17 am 10
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A prominent Jewish-American foundation removed a video from YouTube which had sparked outrage in Poland and beyond on Wednesday with its provocative use of the term “Polish Holocaust” to protest a controversial new Polish law criminalizing some comments about the Holocaust.
The private Ruderman Family Foundation also launched a parallel campaign calling, as people do in the video, for the United States to sever its ties with Poland, an ally in NATO where the US has recently deployed troops.
The Boston-based foundation put out the video on Wednesday in reaction to the new Polish law, which criminalizes falsely attributing the Holocaust crimes of Nazi Germany to Poland. The measure has angered Israel and Jewish communities elsewhere, where it has been seen as an attempt to whitewash the actions of Poles who killed Jews during World War II.
The provocative use of the term “Polish Holocaust” in the video was seen as hugely offensive to many in Poland. Many of Nazi Germany’s death camps, like Auschwitz, were located in German-occupied Poland but after Jews, Poles accounted for the largest number of victims.
A man participating in a Ruderman Family Foundation campaign released on February 21, 2018, urging the United States to cut its ties with Poland over a law criminalizing blaming the Polish state or nation for crimes of the Holocaust. (Screen capture/YouTube)
Multiple attempts to reach the foundation by phone were unsuccessful. But Jonathan Ornstein, director of the Jewish Community Center in Krakow, told the Associated Press that he had explained to the president Jay Ruderman how troubling the video was and was assured that the video would be removed. Later in the evening the video was gone from YouTube.
“The term ‘Polish Holocaust’ is not accepted by any reasonable person whether Jewish, Polish, Israeli or German,” Ornstein had said earlier. “Emotions are running high and harmful, inaccurate comments from various sides have been published, but this is indefensible,” Ornstein said.
Michal Dworczyk, an aide to Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, described the video as an affront to the thousands of Poles who risked their lives during the war to help Jews.
Polish state television’s all-news channel TVP Info reported it as the top story on its website, calling the video “shocking.”
Witold Jurasz, a journalist with the private Polsat broadcaster, called the video “offensive and scandalous,” and said it “spits in the face of every Pole” — even those who, like him, oppose Poland’s Holocaust law.
The official Jewish community of Poland also strongly condemned the video and said the response to the new law “cannot be a campaign of hatred.”
Poland’s Holocaust law, which takes effect on February 28, has already triggered rising anti-Semitism in Poland. In reaction to criticism from Holocaust historians and others, the government said it will be reviewed by Poland’s constitutional court.
Deputy foreign minister Bartosz Cichocki said Tuesday that no criminal charges would be brought under the law until the court reviews it.
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Post by Bonobo on May 5, 2018 19:04:42 GMT 1
It`s fascinating to see how a Jew lashes out at a Pole who in turn is defended by other Jews.
Ambassador to US calls on Jersey City mayor to apologise to Senate Speaker
11:15, 05.05.2018
Polish Ambassador to the US Piotr Wilczek addressed a letter to Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop on Friday, in which he appealed to him to apologise for remarks he made about Polish Senate (upper house) Speaker Stanslaw Karczewski.
On Thursday, Fulop said in a Tweet that Karczewski is "a known anti-Semite, white nationalist and Holocaust denier" with "zero credibility." He also claimed Karczewski was "the only unpleasant thing" in an ongoing dispute over the planned removal from a Jersey City square of a monument to the victims of the Katyn massacre.
"I was shocked to see your accusations against Senator Stanislaw Karczewski, the speaker of the Senate of the Republic of Poland," Wilczek wrote. "They are untrue, hurtful and unfitting for international dialogue between those holding office in two alliance countries." The ambassador went on to point out that one of the Senate's duties is to take care of the Polish diaspora around the world.
That was why "Speaker Karczewski expressed his alarm at the future of the Katyn Memorial in Jersey City, alarm which I share and expressed in a letter I wrote to you on Monday, respected mayor," Wilczek continued. "Due to the gravity of your groundless accusations, I request you in the name of the Republic of Poland to apologise to the Senate speaker," the letter stated.
"Your sudden announcement concerning the Katyn Monument and the lack of more specific details from your office has saddened many people, however we cannot allow ourselves to be guided by emotions."
The ambassador concluded by appealing to Fulop to "clean up the atmosphere and again focus attention on the problem facing us, for constructive dialogue to find a solution which will not require the long-term removal of the Katyn Monument."
On Monday, Steven Fulop announced plans to build a park on the grounds on which the memorial stands, and the monument's temporary move to the city's Department of Public Works. Plans to move the memorial, which commemorates 1940 mass executions of 22,000 Polish POWs by the Soviets in west Russia's Katyn Forest, evoked a hefty response from the local Polish community, which had not been consulted about the plans. Protests against the memorial's removal have also been voiced by Poland.
Meanwhile, Deputy Foreign Minister Marek Magierowski pointed out that Mayor Fulop had insulted Poland's number-three person. "Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop insulted not only Stanislaw Karczewski personally, but the number-three person in the Republic of Poland; the situation demands firmness," the deputy FM wrote on Twitter in reference to the ambassador's letter. (PAP)
www.pap.pl/en/news/news,1399098,ambassador-to-us-calls-on-jersey-city-mayor-to-apologise-to-senate-speaker.htmlStanisław Karczewski, the second on the left  Johnny Daniels, head of the Holocaust memory organisation, defends Karczewski:
Mayor @stevenfulop this is myself alongside one of the Righteous Among The Nations and Speaker @stkarczewski lighting Chanukah Candles in his office this year. Whilst no one is perfect, calling him an “anti-Semite” and “Holocaust denier”is beyond reproach. pic.twitter.com/msjJzHo79j
— Jonny Daniels (@mrjonnydaniels) 3 maja 2018
Mayor, as a Jew working in Poland I can tell you your words are scandalous . You owe him an apology. You should not be throwing around terminology like “holocaust denier” when you clearly don’t know what your talking about. t.co/Xrxgx4RmNA
— Jonny Daniels (@mrjonnydaniels) 3 maja 2018
As the head of a Jewish foundation @ftdepths dealing with Holocaust memory & memorial, Mayor @stevenfulop this message is for you.
We invite you to visit Katyn and see for yourself the site where one of the most horrendous crimes took place.#KatynMemorial @stkarczewski pic.twitter.com/uWjGYcb3Ep
— Jonny Daniels (@mrjonnydaniels) 4 maja 2018
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Post by Bonobo on Jun 1, 2018 12:55:04 GMT 1
Ambassador to US calls on Jersey City mayor to apologise to Senate Speaker
11:15, 05.05.2018
Polish Ambassador to the US Piotr Wilczek addressed a letter to Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop on Friday, in which he appealed to him to apologise for remarks he made about Polish Senate (upper house) Speaker Stanslaw Karczewski.
On Thursday, Fulop said in a Tweet that Karczewski is "a known anti-Semite, white nationalist and Holocaust denier" with "zero credibility." He also claimed Karczewski was "the only unpleasant thing" in an ongoing dispute over the planned removal from a Jersey City square of a monument to the victims of the Katyn massacre.
The mayor, after he found time and checked a few facts, expressed regret over what he had said. Today it is known that the monument will be moved a little further from its current site. Current Holocaust denial situations in Poland according to Tel Aviv University study  Ewa Kurek is on the list. Recently a new scandal about her person erupted. www.timesofisrael.com/polish-officials-prevent-award-to-author-accused-of-anti-semitism/
Polish officials prevent award to author accused of anti-Semitism
Ewa Kurek, who was to receive prize from private organization at New York's Polish consulate, said 'Jews had fun in the ghettos'
By AP 11 April 2018, 9:58 pm 3
WARSAW, Poland — Polish officials have intervened to prevent an author accused of anti-Semitism from receiving an award at a Polish diplomatic outpost in the United States.
A private US-based Polish organization had planned to give awards at the Polish consulate in New York next week to three people. One, Polish author Ewa Kurek, has claimed that Jews had fun in the ghettos during the German occupation of Poland during World War II.
Kurek’s views are offensive to relatives of Holocaust survivors. Never Again, an anti-racism association in Warsaw, raised alarm this week about the nature of Kurek’s writings. Polish media have reported on the controversy.
The initiative was threatening to become another public relations headache for Poland’s government, which has been dealing all year with an international backlash to a Holocaust speech law that angered Israel and that many see as attempted historical revisionism.
Andrzej Pawluszek, an adviser to Poland’s prime minister, said Wednesday that the award was never a government initiative, but authorities acted to stop an event that would have been divisive.
Matthew Tyrmand. (YouTube screenshot)
One of the others set to receive an award at the consulate event was Matthew Tyrmand, an American right-wing political activist and contributor to Breitbart News.
Tyrmand expressed relief that the Polish government withdrew permission for a room to be used to honor a “divisive” person such as Kurek.
“Common sense prevailed,” Tyrmand said. “Nobody wanted to be in a room with her, including me.”
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Post by Bonobo on Sept 27, 2020 7:27:59 GMT 1
American senators sent a letter to Polish Presidentt, pointing to cases of antisemitic rhetoric promoted by the current right-wing rulers.
His Excellency Andrzej Duda President Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland Wiejska Street 10 00-902 Warsaw, Poland Dear President Duda: As co-chairs of the United States Senate Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Anti-Semitism and supporters of a strong U.S.-Poland relationship that is rooted in shared democratic values, we write to express our deep concerns about the proliferation of anti-Semitic rhetoric in Poland and your government’s failure to implement restitution for Holocaust survivors and their families.
Poland’s partnership with the United States as a stalwart NATO ally has contributed significantly to security and prosperity in Central and Eastern Europe. We appreciate Poland’s longstanding defense cooperation, including its participation in U.S. military operations and willingness to host American troops on Polish territory. The Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), signed on August 15, 2020, represents an important milestone for bilateral relations. We also strongly support Poland’s transition to democracy since 1989 , based on a shared historical commitment to the rule of law and human rights.
This includes Warsaw’s decision to host the 2020 Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom, in close cooperation with the United States. It is for these reasons that we are alarmed by growing anti-Semitic discourse in Poland and scapegoating of the Jewish community, which run counter to
our nations’ shared values. Specifically, during Poland’s 2020 presidential campaign, the Law and Justice Party and state television peddled anti-Semitic tropes and thinly veiled demagoguery. Examples include:
On June 9, 2020, a presenter on Polish state media channel Telewizja Polska (TVP) asked whether Polish opp
osition candidate Rafał Trzaskowski “will fulfill Jewish demands,” and declared Trzaskowski does the bidding of “a powerful foreign lobby.”
On June 15, 2020, a TVP presenter claimed, “The stream of money tha
t is flowing from the state budget into the pockets of Polish families will dry up if Trzaskowski, after a potential victory in the presidential election, seeks to satisfy Jewish claims
On July 9, 2020, founder and President of the ruling Law and Justice Party Jarosław Kaczyński castigated Trzaskowski for considering restitution for Holocaust-era Jewish property, telling a Polish radio station
that “[o]nly someone without a Polish soul, a Polish heart, and a Polish mind could say something like that.
On July 9, 2020, arguing against any settlement of Jewish property restitution claims, you stated
on TVP, “I will never sign a bill which says that we will treat the inheritance of people from one ethnic group
more favorably than from others.”
This rhetoric led Polish Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich to respond that “[t]he Jewish community of Poland was
shocked that President Duda made a statement that specifically appealed to the votes of anti-
Semites.”
In addition to putting Poland’s Jewish community at risk, these troubling statements undermine Poland’s obligations under the 2009 Terezin Declaration on Holocaust Era Assets and Related Issues. As one of 47 signatories, Poland committed to supporting national laws to help Holocaust survivors reclaim their property. On July 29, 2020, the U.S. State Department released a report on the status of Holocaust-era property restitution, as required by the Justice for Uncompensated Survivors Today (JUST) Act, signed into law by President Donald Trump in 2018. Among other findings, the report concluded that despite Poland’s “serious commitment to Holocaust commemoration,” it has not yet enacted comprehensive legislation on national property restitution or compensation covering Holocaust confiscations. This makes Poland the only European Union member state with significant Holocaust-era property issues not to have done so.”
While we recognize the devastating loss and destruction that Poland suffered in World War II and commemorate the many Poles who bravely resisted against the brutal Nazi occupation, Poland’s failure to adopt property restitution legislation contravenes America’s commitment to ensuring justice for Holocaust victims and their families.
We know you share our desire to strengthen the U.S.-Poland partnership, which is why we call on you to unequivocally condemn anti-Semitism, including when propagated by the Law and Justice Party and your political allies, and to adopt comprehensive legislation on Holocaust-era property restitution. Thank you for your attention to this serious matter.
We look forward to your response. Sincerely, ______________________________ ______________________________ JACKY ROSEN JAMES LANKFORD Co-Chair Co-Chair Senate Bipartisan Task Force for Senate Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Anti-Semitism Combating Anti-Semitism
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