NEVER AGAIN - Stowarzyszenie „NIGDY WIĘCEJ”

2 października 2017

“NEVER AGAIN” RECEIVES AWARDS AMID PLETHORA OF ACTIVITIES

Co-founder of the anti-fascist “NEVER AGAIN” Association Rafal Pankowski was awarded the prestigious annual Human Rights Distinction by Poland’s Ombudsman Dr Adam Bodnar in a ceremony held in Warsaw’s Old Town on 25 September.

The celebratory speech was delivered by Marian Turski, a Lodz Ghetto and Auschwitz survivor who is Chairman of the Council for the Museum of the History of Polish Jews and Deputy Chairman of the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute as well as a member of the International Auschwitz Council.

– “I am honoured and grateful for the award and wish to dedicate it to the memory of Marcin Kornak, the late leader of NEVER AGAIN, my closest friend” – said Rafal Pankowski who is a Professor in Sociology at Warsaw’s Collegium Civitas. – “I remember our joint efforts tackling racism, antisemitism and the far right undertaken together with our allies Adam Bodnar and Marian Turski more than twenty years ago. Unfortunately, some of the threats to the democratic culture we signaled back in the 1990s are materializing in front of our eyes nowadays, but we must move from despair to hope.”

Coincidentally, the Australian-based Jerzy Boniecki Foundation has also decided to give its prize to Rafal Pankowski in a separate ceremony held at the Warsaw Uprising Museum on 30 September. The prize was awarded “for educational, public and cultural activity in favour of racial, ethnic and religious tolerance and for the efforts in the construction of civil society and democracy.” The candidate was nominated by Professor Jan Pakulski of the University of Tasmania.

The awards came during “NEVER AGAIN”s busy period of activity on both national and international level.

On 17-22 September, “NEVER AGAIN” member Natalia Sineaeva-Pankowska participated in the programme on “The European Holocaust Research Infrastructure” held in Lviv (Ukraine) by the NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies (Amsterdam) in cooperation with the Center for Holocaust Studies at the Institute for Contemporary History (Munich) and the Center for Urban History of East-Central Europe (Lviv).

On 27 September, the “NEVER AGAIN” Association, together with the History Meeting House (Warsaw) and the Heinrich Boell Foundation (Phnom Penh), co-organized a film screening and discussion on “The Khmer Rouge genocide and Cambodian society” with the participation of expert speakers from Cambodia, Germany and the USA.

On 26-27 September, Dr Anna Tatar represented “NEVER AGAIN” during the conference on “Models of Civil Society” held at the European Parliament in Brussels.

On 27 September, “NEVER AGAIN” activist Stanislaw Czerczak led the discussion on sports, tolerance and identity during the film festival “Regional Identity” organized by the Zbigniew Herbert Library and the “Europe Direct” Centre of European Information in Gorzow Wielkopolski.

On 28 September, Dr Maciej Kaluza participated on behalf of “NEVER AGAIN” in a discussion about the current rise of Islamophobia with imam Youssef Chadid, organized by the Jewish Community Centre in Krakow. In this context, Monika Bobako’s book “Islamophobia as technology of power” was published with the support of the “NEVER AGAIN” Association on 21 September.

On 29 September, Rafal Pankowski presented experiences of the “NEVER AGAIN” Association during the conference on “Promoting diversity and a discrimination free environment in host cities during and after the FIFA World Cup 2018” organized in Moscow by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Moscow City Council. He discussed the achievements and legacy of the “RESPECT Diversity” programme implemented by “NEVER AGAIN” around the Euro 2012 Football Championships in Poland and Ukraine.

On 1 October, Rafal Pankowski will speak at a debate entitled “How to stop xenophobia?” organized by Poland’s main daily newspaper “Gazeta Wyborcza” at the University of Warsaw as part of the Festival of Science. On the same day, through its “Music Against Racism” campaign, “NEVER AGAIN” supports the anti-racist music concert “Grand Festival Robrege” held in front of the Palace of Culture and Sciences in the Warsaw city centre, headlined by the French artist Manu Digital and the Polish reggae legend, Izrael.

“NEVER AGAIN” is an independent monitoring and educational organization established in Warsaw in 1996. It deals with the commemoration of the Holocaust as well as contemporary issues of diversity and tolerance.

Additional information:

www.nigdywiecej.org
www.facebook.com/Respect.Diversity
www.twitter.com/StowNIGDYWIECEJ

15 września 2017

“NEVER AGAIN” SUPPORTS HOLOCAUST AWARENESS IN EASTERN EUROPE

The “NEVER AGAIN” Association, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, the Jewish Community of Moldova and the Oral History Institute in Chisinau co-organized a series of lectures and discussions with the distinguished historian and War and Society professor at Princeton University, Jan Tomasz Gross.

The initiative took place in Chisinau (Kishinev), the symbolic site of several centuries of life in a multicultural society as well as the anti-Jewish pogroms in 1903, 1905 and 1941.‎

The events took place at the “House of Nationalities” – the Interethnic Relations Bureau of Moldova (on 13 September) and at the Moldova State University (on 14 September). They were accompanied by numerous interviews, publications and media broadcasts. There was also an additional lecture by a “NEVER AGAIN” member on critical history and identity studies at the Mark Bloch Library/Higher Anthropological School on 11 September, which was attended by dozens of intellectuals, journalists and officials.

The discussions were framed around the publication of Jan Tomasz Gross’s most recent book “Golden Harvest: Events at the Periphery of the Holocaust” in Russian by the St.Petersburg-based renowned publishing house Nestor History with the assistance of the “NEVER AGAIN” Association (translated by Leonid Mosionjnik). Excerpts from the book in Romanian were published by platzforma.md (translated by Viorica Ursu and Vitalie Sprinceana).

The dialogues were held in English, Russian and Romanian/Moldovan languages. ‎The discussion on 13 September was preceded by a special performance of Nicoletta Esinencu’s ‘Clear History’ by Theatre Spalatorie – Moldova’s foremost alternative theatre group, dealing with the often forgotten issue of the Holocaust in Bessarabia.

Jan Tomasz Gross was born in Warsaw in 1947 and emigrated from Poland having participated in student protests of 1968. In 1975 he defended his doctoral thesis at Yale University. Not only has he served as a guest lecturer at the most prestigious American universities, including Harvard and Stanford, but also at universities in Paris, Vienna, Krakow, Tel-Aviv and other cities. His most recent books “Neighbours” (2001), “Fear” (2006) and “Golden Harvest” (2011) have played a breakthrough role in the consciousness of Eastern European societies. He has drawn attention to the role of the local population (the neighbours) in the Holocaust across Europe. He has inspired many Polish and European historians to study the complexity of the Holocaust and initiated a debate concerning the relations between Jews and their Christian neighbours, antisemitism and post-war violence against Jews in Poland and beyond. The Polish edition of “Golden Harvest” (written with Irena Grudzinska-Gross) became the most important book event in Poland in 2011, when it was published by Znak publishing house in Krakow. The authors were awarded Sybil Halpern Milton Book Prize for the best book on the Holocaust written in 2011 by the German Studies Association (USA).

– “The debate continues and has become essential to the critical identity of Eastern European countries in the post-totalitarian era” – said Natalia Sineaeva-Pankowska who has coordinated the initiative on behalf of the “NEVER AGAIN” Association.

Mark Weitzman of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in New York wrote in his essay prepared especially for the “NEVER AGAIN” Association: “There are historians like Jan and Irena Gross who use history to force us to confront our consciences and to take an unblinking look at the destructive power of unexamined inherited traditions and distorted national myths. We are in their debt for their courage; we would greatly enhance our world if we could follow their examples.”

“NEVER AGAIN” is a Warsaw-based Polish and East European NGO established in 1996, dealing with the commemoration of the Holocaust as well as contemporary issues of diversity and tolerance.

Additional information:

www.nigdywiecej.org
www.facebook.com/Respect.Diversity
www.twitter.com/StowNIGDYWIECEJ

4 sierpnia 2017

PEACE, LOVE, AND FOOTBALL AT POLISH WOODSTOCK FESTIVAL

During the biggest free festival in Europe, held on 3-5 August, representatives of “NEVER AGAIN” are carrying out educational activities focusing on the growing problem of bigotry and violence.

At this year’s Woodstock Festival Poland, the “NEVER AGAIN” Association holds an Anti-Racist Football Championship under the slogan: “Let’s kick racism out of stadiums.” The tournament was officially opened by The Polish Civil Rights Ombudsman, Dr Adam Bodnar. The Ombudsman took part in the opening match.

The annual Woodstock Festival Poland takes place in Kostrzyn near the Polish-German border. It has been named after the legendary festival of 1969, which featured Jimmy Hendrix and Janis Joplin and made cultural history as a symbol of the peace movement. This year, several hundred thousand people are taking part in the Woodstock Festival Poland. Performers include New Model Army (UK) and Nine Treasures, a Mongolian-Chinese band, which delivers a mix of traditional music and punk rock sound.

During the festival, “NEVER AGAIN” is hosting meetings with numerous bands involved with the “Music Against Racism” campaign, initiated by the late Marcin Kornak, the founder of the “NEVER AGAIN” Association. The musicians are drawing attention to the anti-racist message in rock music. Woodstock participants are also taking part in workshops conducted at the “NEVER AGAIN” info stand where they discuss ways of reacting to hate speech and discrimination.

Staszek Czerczak, a “NEVER AGAIN” activist, explained: “During the meetings at the festival we discuss issues such as peace in the world and in our own lives. What could be more wonderful than the idea of respect for diversity?”

This year’s Anti-Racist Football Championship was organised in partnership with the Municipal Centre for Sport and Recreation in Kostrzyn and the “Gazeta Lubuska” daily.

The “NEVER AGAIN” Association was founded by Marcin Kornak in 1996 as an independent organization that monitors xenophobic incidents and publishes the anti-racist magazine “NIGDY WIECEJ”. It also conducts educational campaigns such as “Music Against Racism” and “Let’s Kick Racism out of the Stadiums”. “NEVER AGAIN” has been personally supported by figures such as Barack Obama and recently the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton.

Additional information:

www.nigdywiecej.org
www.facebook.com/Respect.Diversity
www.twitter.com/StowNIGDYWIECEJ

28 maja 2017

OBAMA, MERKEL AND THE ‘NEVER AGAIN’ ASSOCIATION AT KIRCHENTAG

The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association participated in Germany’s international Kirchentag alongside Barack Obama and Angela Merkel.

Kirchentag 2017 is a series of panel discussions, concerts and film screenings, all concerned with human rights, tolerance and intercultural dialogue, organized by the German Evangelical Church in Berlin and Potsdam from 24^th to 28^th May. The speakers at this year’s event included, among others, the former president of the USA Barack Obama, the Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel, the Israeli writer Amos Oz, and the Islamic feminist from Malaysia Rozana Isa.

‎A co-founder of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association, Rafal Pankowski, participated in the panel discussion about hate speech, which took place as part of Kirchentag in the plenary session hall of the regional parliament of Brandenburg on 26^th May. The discussion was illustrated by a theatre performance dealing with xenophobia and stereotypes. Victims of intolerance were commemorated by a minute of silence. Other participants in the panel included Michal Bilewicz from the University of Warsaw, Magdalena Kicinska from Poland’s main daily ‘Gazeta Wyborcza’, Philipp Fritz from ‘Berliner Zeitung’ and Florian Kellermann from Deutschlandradio.

Rafal Pankowski invited the audience to participate in the next edition of ‘Polish Woodstock’, Europe’s biggest music festival, which takes place near the Polish-German border, where the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association organizes its annual football tournament under the motto: ‘Let’s kick racism out of the stadiums’. – ‘This is a manifestation of the existence of a tolerant and open Poland’ – said the representative of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association, and his speech was interrupted by applause.

– ‘We face a common challenge to create a positive vision, solidarity over national and religious divisions’ – said Rafal Pankowski.

This year’s Kirchentag was organized as part of celebrations to commemorate the 500^th anniversary of the Reformation initiated by Martin Luther. The panel in which both Barack Obama and Angela Merkel participated was met with special attention as the first European public appearance of the former President since last year’s election in the United States.

The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association is an anti-racist educational and monitoring organization established in Poland in 1996.

More information:

www.nigdywiecej.org
www.facebook.com/Respect.Diversity
www.twitter.com/StowNIGDYWIECEJ