A Jewish cemetery was recently desecrated in Poland, with unknown vandals spraying the word “Palestine” and a Nazi swastika on a memorial plaque for Jews murdered during the Holocaust.
The incident occurred in Dukla, Poland, a region formerly known as Galicia that was home to a large Jewish population prior to World War II.
“It can be said that today, following in the footsteps of Nazi criminals, Polish vandals are destroying monuments — erasing the traces of our neighbors and fellow citizens who, alongside Poles, helped shape the history of Dukla,” Jacek Koszczan, the head of the Dukla Shtetl organization, said in a media statement.
Koszczan blasted local Polish politicians, whom he claimed had recently promoted antisemitic narratives that emboldened the vandals and could lead to attacks on Jewish communities.
“The savagery we are witnessing in Polish society, fueled by irresponsible politicians, is deeply troubling and could lead to tragedy — not just symbolic violence, but physical violence as well,” Koszczan continued.
Earlier in July, Grzegorz Braun, a Polish member of the European Parliament, denied the Holocaust during an interview with a local radio station.
“Auschwitz with its gas chambers is unfortunately a fake,” Braun said, before the broadcaster abruptly ended the interview.
Quoting Polish resistance fighter Władysław Bartoszewski, who advocated for reconciliation between Poles and Jews, Koszczan added: “Let us not be indifferent — indifferent to evil and to all forms of racial hatred. We must speak out, report acts of racism and incitement to hatred to the proper authorities, and take a stand against wrongdoing.”
The future of Poland depends on rejecting hate and will determine “whether we live in a society rooted in respect and culture, or in a moral jungle,” he concluded.
