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Internet platform for studying Xenophobia, Radicalism and Problems of Intercultural communication.

Vandalism

Vandalism The Vandals desecrated the Jewish cemetery in the Polish town of Sochachevo. December 2015.

In 2013, there were 14 cases of xenophobic vandalism. Two-thirds of these cases were of anti-Semitic. Synagogues were desecrated in Zamosc (September 3 ), Gdansk (November 5 ), Dzierzoniow (November 19 ), and the Jewish cemetery in Krasniqi (January ), Kalisz (15 February ), Myslenice (March 15 ), Warsaw (April 10 ), Blon (April 29 ), Lublin (July 22 ), Otmuchow (August 1 ).Such extent suggests explicit sense of impunity for those who commit it, as well as the important role of anti-Semitism in the right-wing ideology.

On August 4, 2013, became known of anti-Semitic graffiti on a mural depicting Pope John Paul II in Krakow (Poland) . On the night of September 10, 2013 mural in Trawniki, which depicts prisoners of the Nazi labour camps, as well as the scheme of the camp, was desecrated again. Unknown persons painted the Star of David on it. Also, on July 21, in Trzebiatów in northern Poland, a hooligan tried to throw a firecracker into the Uniate church during worship . In 2013, bilingual labels in cities populated by Lithuanians such as Puńsk, Trakiszki, Seino, Wojtukiemie were destroyed . In addition, on June 5 in Bialystok, antifascists damaged car local leader of NRP and wrote “Volksdeutsche” (i.e, a collaborator) on his house .

There have been 9 cases of xenophobic vandalism in 2014. Two thirds of those were anti-Semitic. On April 23, vandals in Krakow daubed in paint a stone memorial dedicated to Pope John Paul II. A Star of David was painted under the memorial inscription “Ty jesteś skałą”. The incident occurred days before the canonisation of the pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church. On June 6, “Yids, get out” and “vermin” were written on a synagogue building in Nowy-Sacz . On June 29, unknown vandals desecrated a mosque and a Muslim cemetery in the Tatar village of Krusiniany . On July 4, anti-Semitic graffiti was found in Lench . On October 5, it was reported that several tombstones in Klodzko Jewish cemetery have been intentionally damaged . On November 6, unknown vandals shattered windows of a synagogue in Landschute . On May 31, 13 plaques dedicated to the opening of the Jewish Museum in Radomsko have been destroyed . On June 13, an anti-Semitic inscription, which urged to “destroy the Jews in Poland” appeared in Poznan on the highway, under a pedestrian bridge near the fast tram line near the Boleslaw the Brave park . On September 18, nationalists displayed a banner, saying “Red murderers live among us” on a bridge in Torun .

Several cases have been noted in 2015. In January 2015: A mosque in Poznań, western Poland, has been covered with stickers which said: “Poland free from Islam”. In February 2015: A catholic church in Częstochowa, central Poland, has been devastated. Somebody wrote such slogans as: “Ave Satan”, “Kill Christians” or “666”. In April 2015: The Jewish cemetery in Olkusz, southern Poland, has been devastated.

In April 2015, a monument to the Red Army soldiers in one of the parks in Warsaw was smeared with faecal masses. In August and September 2015, graffiti was painted on a mural in the city of Zywiec, which depicted a boat with migrants and read “Poland for the Poles”, “White Poland.” In September 2015, graffiti was found in Krakow, saying “Every Arab must remember: For us, Poland is a sacred cause.”

Periodic incidents of vandalism at Soviet soldiers and Jewish cemeteries could be observed in 2018-2020. There has been a growing wave of vandalism at Soviet cemeteries, which experts attribute to the state's "decommunization" program, which involves the demolition of Soviet-era monuments that was adopted in 2017. Here are some examples:

  • In March 2018, three tombstones were smashed in the Red Army cemetery in Novy Tomysl.
  • In August 2018, about 24 stars on the common grave of Red Army soldiers in Gdańsk were damaged.
  • In October 2018, vandals desecrated a cemetery of Soviet soldiers in the town of Jelenia Góra in southwestern Poland. According to some reports, more than 20 graves were damaged at the hands of the attackers.
  • July 30, 2020 unknown vandals in the town of Legnica in western Poland stole a monument to Soviet Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky from the municipal cemetery. The figure was soon found without its head. The monument had been part of the exposition of the Copper Museum at the Soviet Army Cemetery since 2019. The 600-kilogram figure was taken out through the broken gate of the cemetery. A museum employee later told police that the monument was found abandoned in a field near the cemetery. The vandals had damaged it by chipping off its head.

With the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine in February 2022, incidents of vandalism at Soviet memorial cemeteries have become regular:

  • On the night of March 5-6, 2022, in Lyubava, unknown persons removed the red star from the obelisk and draped the obelisk itself with a sheet.
  • On the night of March 8-9, the central monument was allegedly demolished by an excavator in the Soviet section of the city cemetery in Koszalin.
  • In April 2022, unknown assailants wrote inscriptions in red paint on the pedestal of a monument in the center of the cemetery on Żwirki and Wigura Streets in Warsaw. More than 21,000 soldiers of the First Belarusian Front of the Red Army, who liberated Poland during World War II, are buried in this largest military cemetery-mausoleum.
  • On 12 May 2022, at the cemetery of Soviet soldiers in Gdańsk, 20 of the stars set above the graves were either torn out by the roots or severely damaged.

In addition, as already indicated, anti-Semitic vandalism continued in 2018-20. For example, in June 2020, the wall of a Jewish cemetery in Tarnow was damaged. It should be noted that similar incidents have occurred several times over the past few months. Similarly, in July 2019, an anti-Semitic inscription appeared on another wall of the Jewish cemetery in Tarnovo. It should be noted that this incident occurred shortly after the cemetery was renovated. The incident occurred in July 2019.

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