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‘Jews out’ shouted by far-right Poles at independence day parade
Ministers condemned the scenes, as masked marchers made ‘Sieg Heil’ salutes and urged authorities to “remove Jewry from power”
‘Jews Out’ was among the chants of choice for 60,000 far-right Poles marching through the streets of Warsaw on Saturday, marking the country’s independence.
While some Polish ministers condemned the scenes, others spoke about the “beautiful” march, as masked men made ‘Sieg Heil’ salutes, called for a “white Europe” and urged authorities to “remove Jewry from power”.
Among those travelling to Warsaw for the march were former English Defence League (EDL) head Tommy Robinson, who denied that it was a “Nazi march,” which he called “slander,” before adding: “Poland is fortress Europe. I’ve never seen pride and patriotism like it.”
Jonny Daniels, a British Jew who founded a Poland-based Holocaust commemoration group, said a small minority had “hijacked” the event, adding: “Poland cannot allow this to happen.”
He wrote: “Sadly, a group of reportedly uninvited participants took this as an opportunity to intimidate and show intolerance, in turn breaking Polish law.”
Calling for arrests, the From the Depths founder wrote: “As a proud Jew of Polish origin, I am disgraced and ashamed that citizens of this country be allowed to do such heinous acts and I expect the prosecutor to take full action.”
Agnieszka Markiewicz, the director of the American Jewish Committee’s Warsaw office, said: “The apparent tolerance for purveyors of hate by some Polish government officials is particularly troubling.”
In the western city of Wroclaw, another Independence Day march of 2,000 participants was led by Piotr Rybak, who was convicted earlier this year of burning an effigy of a Jew two years ago at a demonstration against immigration.
A former priest also at the Wroclaw march, Jacek Miedlar, told the crowd to “be ruthless, be radical in the fight against evil, lies, injustice, lawlessness, the destruction of the Polish judiciary and Talmudism… No Jewish Marxist horde will take away our flag or the cross of Christ”.
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