Polish state-funded nationalist media outlet promotes antisemitic book
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Loading... - Benjamin Grant
- 27 Apr 2022
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A nationalist media group that receives state funding has promoted an antisemitic book that describes Jews as a “parasitic tribe”. The government has previously faced criticism over the funding given to the outlet, which is published by the group behind Warsaw’s annual Independence March.
The book in question is called Poznaj Å»yda, meaning “Meet the Jew”. Its cover features a common antisemitic caricature of a Jew in a variety of guises, suggesting that Jews are behind communism, the LGBT movement, the media, and various protest groups in Poland.
Despite the modern cover, it is a reprint of a 1912 book by conservative writer Teodor Jeske-ChoiÅ„ski. Its first chapter begins by describing Jews as a “parasitic tribe [that] has nested on our skin, sucks our sweat, our blood, for six centuries”.
The latest version has been published by Magna Polonia, a far-right media group. One of its leading figures, Przemysław Holocher, was recently invited to discuss the book in an interview on the YouTube by nationalist outlet Media Narodowe.
Media Narodowe is published by the Independence March Association, which organises the annual nationalist march in Warsaw on Independence Day. It was last year awarded a grant of 1.3 million zloty (€280,000) from the new “Patriotic Fund” set up by the government and overseen by the culture ministry.
Media Narodowe itself also received a grant from the National Freedom Institute, a body set up by the government in 2017 to support civil society, worth 198,000 zloty over 2021 and 2022.
After news emerged that state grants were being awarded to far-right groups, a group of more than 160 public figures protested to the culture minister, Piotr GliÅ„ski, calling on him to “stop financing fascism”.
Asked by the Rzeczpospolita daily about Media Narodowe promoting an antisemitic book, the culture ministry issued a statement saying that all applications for grants from the Patriotic Fund are assessed by experts according to the relevant criteria.
It noted that those experts can only make assessments based on the content of the applications. The Institute for Legacy of Polish National Thought, which distributes the grants and is overseen by the ministry, told the newspaper that Poznaj Å»yda is a publicly available work. Read More…
