Press Releases 2005

July 1, 2003 – December 15, 2004, submitted by the Department of State to the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on International Relations in accordance with Section 4 of PL 108-332, December 30, 2004

Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
January 5, 2005

Surveys over the past several years showed a continuing decline in anti-Semitic sentiment, and avowedly anti-Semitic candidates have won few elections. However, anti-Semitic feelings persisted among certain sectors of the population, occasionally resulting in acts of vandalism and physical or verbal abuse. In prior years, there were reports of sporadic incidents of harassment and violence against Jews and occasional desecration of Jewish cemeteries committed by skinheads and other marginal elements of society.

A credible NGO reported that on October 26 a Jewish youth from Sweden wearing a skullcap while visiting the Auschwitz Extermination Camp encountered three young Poles who shouted anti-Semitic slurs at him. The youth, who reported the incident by e-mail, said that this was not typical of his entire visit to Poland.

In April, the pastor of St. Brigid Church in Gdansk told parishioners during services that "Jews killed Jesus and the prophets" and displayed posters asserting that only Christians could be true citizens. The Archbishop of Gdansk subsequently removed the priest for this and other improprieties.

In June, police in Krakow discovered the desecration of a 19th-century synagogue. Vandals had painted swastikas and a Star of David hanging from gallows on the Temple Synagogue. The desecration occurred a few days before the opening of an International Festival of Jewish Culture in Krakow's Kazimierz district.

In December 2003, a group of Catholics protested what they considered to be anti-Semitic literature sold in a bookstore in the basement of a Warsaw church. The group called for church authorities to close the bookstore, which was run by a private company renting the basement space, and for state authorities to prosecute the bookstore owner for hate crimes. The state prosecutor's office examined the case and found no basis for prosecution. Catholic Church authorities stated that they could not take action due to the
bookstore's lease.

The Government supported the American Jewish Committee in establishing a $4 million memorial at the site of the Belzec death camp, where Nazi Germany murdered 500,000 Jews during the Holocaust. Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski took part in the dedication of the memorial in June.

The Government cooperated with the country's NGOs and officials of major denominations to promote religious tolerance and lend support to activities such as the March of the Living, an event to honor victims of the Holocaust. On April 19, the 13th March of the Living took place. An estimated 6,000 to 7,000 participants, including schoolchildren, Boy Scouts, the Polish-Israeli Friendship Society, Polish survivors of Auschwitz, and the Polish Union of Jewish Students, walked from the former Auschwitz concentration camp to the former Birkenau death camp. In June, the Government held a major international conference to unveil its proposal to open an international center for human rights education in Oswiecim.

The Government provided grants to a number of organizations involved in anti-bias education, including the public-private Jewish Historical Institute (ZIH) in Warsaw. Many of ZIH's staff were also government employees. ZIH was the largest depository of Jewish-related archival documents, books, journals, and museum objects in the country. The Government also provided grants to the Jewish Historical Association, which produces educational materials on Jewish culture, the Holocaust and religious tolerance, and to other NGOs.

The Institute of National Remembrance - Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation (IPN), created by parliament in 1998, is under the direction of a president who acts independently of government control and is elected for a 5-year term. One of the three principal departments of IPN was the Public Education Office, which produces materials for schools, teachers, and students. The office also held competitions, sponsored exhibitions on historical themes, and supported workshops, seminars, and other activities. Educational materials included a major research and documentation project on "The Extermination of Jews in Poland" during World War II. This project included a critical review of attitudes towards the Jewish population during the war, and instances of collaboration with the Nazis, as well as activities undertaken by underground organizations and individuals to rescue Jews.

Local governments have also been active in encouraging tolerance. On December 13, Deputy Mayor of Warsaw Andrzej Urbanski, together with the Chief Rabbi of Israel and Chief Rabbi of Poland, participated in the first public lighting of a Menorah in the history of the Polish capital. Together with Jewish organizations from Poland and abroad, several towns have contributed to the renovation of Jewish cemeteries. Such towns include Ozarow Swietokrzyski, Iwaniska, Goldap, Karczew and Wyszkow.