ANTI-SEMITISM IN POLAND: GRADUAL PROGRESS, BUT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 WARSAW 000099 SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/CE, EUR/OHI, DRL/SEAS, AND DRL/IRF E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/16/2020 TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL OSCE IS PL SUBJECT: ANTI-SEMITISM IN POLAND: GRADUAL PROGRESS, BUT CHALLENGES REMAIN REF: A. WARSAW 96 ¶B. WARSAW 43 ¶C. 2009 WARSAW 257 ¶D. 2009 WARSAW 192 Classified By: Ambassador Feinstein for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: A range of interlocutors told U.S. Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Anti-Semitism Hannah Rosenthal during her January 28-29 visit that anti-Semitism in Poland is on the decline, though not as quickly as they hoped. They cited a low incidence of anti-Semitic violence and positively assessed GOP and civil society efforts to promote tolerance, as well as Jewish culture and history. Most agreed, however, that anti-Semitic stereotypes are still too prevalent and that Polish authorities do not do enough to confront anti-Semitic rhetoric. Interlocutors similarly expressed strong concern that senior members of the Catholic Church hierarchy retain unhelpful attitudes and have not followed the late Pope John Paul II's leadership on interfaith dialogue. Interlocutors offered differing assessments of anti-Semitic January 25 remarks made by retired Bishop Tadeusz Pieronek, once considered an avid promoter of Catholic-Jewish dialogue. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) U.S. Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Anti-Semitism Hannah Rosenthal visited Warsaw January 28-29 for consultations on Polish efforts to combat anti-Semitism, one day after participating as part of the U.S. Presidential Delegation in ceremonies marking the 65th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp (ref A). ANTI-SEMITISM IN POLAND - WHAT IS IT? ¶3. (C) Konstanty Gebert, a Jewish activist and weekly columnist for the center-left Gazeta Wyborcza, said as many as 30 percent of Poles hold anti-Semitic views, but not the kind of militant beliefs "driven by genuine evil." Instead, the driving force is frustration among those who feel they were left behind by the post-1989 transformation. Because Jews are "convenient stand-ins," anti-Semitism tends to be "redirected, free-floating frustration." Gebert pointed to low levels of public support in Poland for extremist parties compared to Hungary, Slovakia, and Romania. Gebert said that anti-Semitism in post-WWII Poland was never delegitimized, so there is little penalty. As a result, anti-Semitism in Poland is "noisy and ugly," but not as dangerous as in other countries. ¶3. (C) Piotr Kadlcik, President of the Union of Jewish Communities argued similarly that there is no violent anti-Semitism in Poland, but "a broad dislike of Jews." He noted that most members of the Jewish community feel safer in Poland than in France or Germany. Like Andrzej Folwarczny from the Forum for Dialogue Among Nations, Kadlcik described Polish anti-Semitism as oil on water: widespread, but not deep. He expressed concern that Polish courts do little to confront anti-Semitic rhetoric and, when they do, hand down only symbolic penalties. Elzbieta Petrajtis-O'Neil of the Open Republic Association also highlighted the lack of effective judicial action to combat anti-Semitism. Advocating a grassroots approach, the Soros-funded Batory Foundation's Katarzyna Szotkowska said her organization is working to increase the effectiveness of government and CSO activities to confront intolerance. POLAND'S IDENTITY CRISIS ¶4. (C) Gebert noted that Poland's membership in the EU had helped to reduce anti-Semitism in the countryside, in part because of an influx of EU funds to rural areas. As the nation becomes more self-assured, the concept of "the Jew as Other" means less and less, he said. Most Poles are increasingly eager to be seen as European and are therefore embarassed by anti-Semitism among their fellow Poles. Separately, Jewish Historical Institute Director Eleanora Bergman noted that the Pila city council recently decided not to name a square in honor of Roman Dmowski, a nationalist who played a key role in Poland's efforts to regain independence in the early twentieth century. Council members made the decision after they were confronted with Dmowski's anti-Semitic writings. ¶5. (C) Participants in a CSO roundtable considered ways to bridge the artificial divide between "Poles" and "Jews." Jan Spiewak of the Polish-Jewish Youth Organization highlighted the need to focus not only on the Holocaust, but on the lives and history of Jews living in Poland before and after the WARSAW 00000099 002 OF 004 Holocaust. He described a film project, backed by the U.S. Embassy, that aims to ensure Jewish participation in the Polish public debate about Polish-Jewish relations. GOP - POLAND IS EU'S LEAST ANTI-SEMITIC MEMBER STATE ¶6. (C) Wladyslaw Bartoszewski, PM Tusk's Plenipotentiary for Polish-Jewish Relations and an 88-year-old Auschwitz survivor, argued that Poland is the least anti-Semitic EU country. "Yes, there is anti-Semitism in Poland, but it is not bloody," he said, noting that none of Poland's major political parties is anti-Semitic and that GOP officials have good ties to the Jewish diaspora. He claimed that Polish-Israeli relations are stronger than ever and that Poland was the only country in Europe where there were pro-Israeli demonstrations during the 2009 Gaza conflict. Even though Catholic and Jewish communities in pre-WWII Poland generally did not intermingle, "we have to emphasize and teach our shared historical heritage," Bartoszewski said. He argued that Poles increasingly recognize and appreciate the extensive contributions of Polish Jews. Bartoszewski stressed the important role sites like Auschwitz-Birkenau play in tolerance promotion efforts, noting that 800,000 students had visited last year alone. He reiterated an earlier invitation (ref B) for a U.S. contribution to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation's endowment to fund conservation projects on site. INCREASED INTEREST IN POLAND'S JEWISH HERITAGE ¶7. (C) Bergman and other interlocutors noted the growth in recent years of projects -- sponsored by municipalities and CSOs -- focused on Polish-Jewish dialogue and on rediscovering Poland's Jewish heritage. Bergman described extensive cooperation between her historical institute and museums, schools, and CSOs, noting that most projects are the initiative of non-Jewish groups and individuals who want to preserve the memory of Polish Jews in their communities. Albert Stankowski of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews described the Museum's 'Virtual Shtetl' program, a microhistory project that uses Web 2.0 technology to personalize more than seven centuries of Polish-Jewish heritage. Since its inception last year, the project has helped to facilitate preservation projects and mobilize local authorities, teachers, and schoolchildren to learn more about the diverse Jewish communities that used to exist in their municipalities. ¶8. (C) Monika Krawczyk of the Foundation for the Protection of Jewish Heritage said over 300 schools (and 7,000 students) had participated in the Foundation's "Bring Memory Back" program, in which teachers and students work to rediscover their local community's Jewish history. The aim of the program is to challenge anti-Semitic stereotypes in smaller communities. Krawczyk said a growing number of community leaders, teachers, and students have approached the Foundation about restoring the Jewish cemetery in their town. Other interlocutors described a grassroots "Jewish renaissance" in Poland, pointing to youth group activism and a growing interest in Hebrew and Jewish studies. Despite these positive developments, many interlocutors expressed concern about a generational and geographical divide: anti-Semitism persists among the elderly and in some rural populations. TOLERANCE EDUCATION PAYING OFF ¶9. (C) The Education Ministry's Ewa Bobinska noted the immediacy and specificity of Poland's approach to Holocaust education, both because so much of the Holocaust happened in Poland and because "Poland's history is Jewish history." There was a Jewish cultural presence in virtually every pre-WWII Polish city and town. Bobinska noted that Holocaust education had been an obligatory subject in the Polish curriculum since 1989. She said that the Ministry's Teacher Training Center had focused specifically on tolerance education for the past 15 years. Bobinska pointed to a growing number of Polish-Israeli and Polish-U.S. teacher exchange programs, many of which had led to sister-school relationships. ¶10. (C) Rosenthal asked about a recent survey indicating that history teachers on average devoted only one or two classroom hours to Holocaust education. Bobinska explained that the Holocaust is also taught in civic education, literature, and regional education classes. The latter in particular often focus on a region's pre-war Jewish community. She noted that many teachers also use extracurricular activities to teach about the Holocaust and tolerance. When asked, Bobinska said WARSAW 00000099 003 OF 004 that even private Catholic schools are obligated to teach the national curriculum, which includes the Holocaust. ¶11. (C) Bobinska noted that schools have the flexibility to choose from an array of Ministry-approved textbooks, workbooks, and other materials. She presented several examples, including workbooks developed in cooperation with the OSCE's Warsaw-based Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, ODIHR (ref C). Despite close coordination between the Ministry and ODIHR to produce those materials, ODIHR officials privately expressed regret that they had not been invited -- even after requesting an invitation -- to attend the GOP's January 27 ministerial conference on Holocaust education in conjunction with the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. ODIHR officials said high-level GOP officials seem to resent the implication that outsiders know better how to teach about the Holocaust, given Poland's direct and tragic historical experience. ANTI-SEMITISM PERSISTS WITHIN POLISH CATHOLIC CHURCH ¶12. (U) Rosenthal's visit occurred in the wake of January 25 public remarks by Bishop Tadeusz Pieronek (once considered a promoter of Catholic-Jewish dialogue) alleging that Jews use the Holocaust as propaganda. Although earlier reports suggested he had said the Shoah was a "Jewish invention," Pieronek later explained he had meant to say that Elie Wiesel had created a new term in the 1960s, Shoah, to describe an unprecedented act of genocide -- but instead, through a "mental shortcut" he had spoken of a Jewish invention. Pieronek expressed regret that his "unfortunate but unintended declaration" had caused offense, but did not walk back statements alleging Jewish dominance of the media. ¶13. (C) Rosenthal raised Pieronek's comments with Warsaw Archbishop Kazimierz Nycz, who expressed "certainty" that Pieronek had been misunderstood. Nycz said that Pieronek, whom he has known for 40 years, had always supported Catholic-Jewish dialogue. Nych did not respond when Rosenthal suggested it would be appropriate -- and helpful -- for Church authorities to issue a clarification. Instead, he noted that much had changed in Polish thinking in the past two decades, especially among younger generations. He cautioned against generalizing on the basis of "a few voices that raise doubts." Nycz expressed hope that the Bishop's comments would not lead to a conflagration, insisting that because of the leadership of Pope John Paul II, anti-Semitism had become a rarity in the Polish Church. Rosenthal asked Nycz to respond to Pieronek's comments by reiterating Pope John Paul's statements that anti-Semitism is a sin. Nycz did not offer a direct response. Instead, he expressed concern that Pieronek's comments not be "overblown" like the 1993 controversy over plans to build a Carmelite convent on the periphery of the former Auschwitz concentration camp. ¶14. (C) In sharp contrast, most interlocutors expressed concern about persistent anti-Semitism within the Church. Even so, almost all said they had been surprised by Pieronek's comments. Gebert suggested Pieronek may have been trying to "show balance" on Jewish issues, since he had in the past criticized the ultraconservative, anti-Semitic Radio Maryja. "Sometimes people change," Jewish Historical Institute Director Bergman said. Gebert noted that most Poles did not react, either because they agreed (an estimated 30 percent) or were not surprised at such statements from a Church official (70 percent). Bergman cautioned against generalizing about anti-Semitism in the Polish Catholic Church, noting that a number of younger priests are avid students of Jewish history and culture. Union of Jewish Communities President Kadlcik agreed that the Church is not monolithic, but was more pessimistic. While some clergy feel a duty to hold the line of Pope John Paul II, few actually believe in Catholic-Jewish dialogue, he said. ¶15. (C) Gebert expressed concern that the Church since 1989 had played a leading role in keeping anti-Semitism alive in Poland. He argued that the public's post-1989 focus on the market reduced the Church's relevancy and prompted an anti-democratic reaction within the Church. Petrajtis-O'Neil and Spiewak also pointed to the radicalization of the Catholic Church. Whereas ten years ago the Church had strongly criticized Radio Maryja's anti-Semitism, today the radio station represents the mainstream view within the Church hierarchy, Gebert claimed. As the Church has espoused more conservative views, it has gradually become a "relic," Gebert said, noting that Poles go to church in large numbers because it is a social convention, not because they subscribe to Church doctrine. Other interlocutors similarly noted that the Church's ultraconservative base, as well as Radio WARSAW 00000099 004 OF 004 Maryja's listener demographic, is very specific (defined by age group, geographic location, and socioeconomic background),and does not reflect mainstream Poland. Most agreed with Gebert's assessment that the Church was becoming more extreme -- consciously or not -- in reaction to the growing apathy of Poles towards Catholicism. ¶16. (U) Special Envoy Rosenthal has cleared this cable. FEINSTEIN