Euro 2012: antisemitic echoes that threaten celebration of football | World news | The Observer
What is most bizarre is the antisemitism in Poland, despite there being virtually no Jews (for the obvious reason), but still horrific.
" Perhaps that's to be expected given the catastrophic destruction visited on the two countries, but it has led many to a world-view that is a perversion of the golden rule: do unto others as others have done unto you.
It is most visible in the culture surrounding football. Racism, xenophobia, Jew hatred, all manifest themselves at the footie. Why this hatred should be so strong has social historians grasping for answers.
Jan Olaszek, of Poland's Institute of National Remembrance, says: "People don't know history. They know stereotypes." This is what lies behind one of the strangest phenomena of contemporary Polish life, what Olaszek calls "antisemitism without Jews".
Poland was the centre of the Holocaust. There are virtually no Jews left in the country, yet antisemitism persists. This is what Olaszek means by stereotypes. "Some Poles think all Jews were communists."
What is most bizarre is the antisemitism in Poland, despite there being virtually no Jews (for the obvious reason), but still horrific.
" Perhaps that's to be expected given the catastrophic destruction visited on the two countries, but it has led many to a world-view that is a perversion of the golden rule: do unto others as others have done unto you.
It is most visible in the culture surrounding football. Racism, xenophobia, Jew hatred, all manifest themselves at the footie. Why this hatred should be so strong has social historians grasping for answers.
Jan Olaszek, of Poland's Institute of National Remembrance, says: "People don't know history. They know stereotypes." This is what lies behind one of the strangest phenomena of contemporary Polish life, what Olaszek calls "antisemitism without Jews".
Poland was the centre of the Holocaust. There are virtually no Jews left in the country, yet antisemitism persists. This is what Olaszek means by stereotypes. "Some Poles think all Jews were communists."
No comments:
Post a Comment