Tag: NEVER AGAIN

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THE ROUTLEDGE HISTORY OF ANTISEMITISM

‘The Routledge History of Antisemitism’ has been published as a long-awaited paperback. It includes a chapter on Poland written by the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association’s cofounder Rafal Pankowski.

The publisher’s announcement states:

Antisemitism is a topic on which there is a wide gap between scholarly and popular understanding, and as concern over antisemitism has grown, so too have the debates over how to understand and combat it. This handbook explores its history and manifestations, ranging from its origins to the internet.

Since the Holocaust, many in North America and Europe have viewed antisemitism as a historical issue with little current importance. However, recent events show that antisemitism is not just a matter of historical interest or of concern only to Jews. Antisemitism has become a major issue confronting and challenging our world. This volume starts with explorations of antisemitism in its many different shapes across time and then proceeds to a geographical perspective, covering a broad scope of experiences across different countries and regions. The final section discusses the manifestations of antisemitism in its varied cultural and social forms. With an international range of contributions across 40 chapters, this is an essential volume for all readers of Jewish and non-Jewish history alike.

The hardback edition was released by Routledge in September 2023, and the paperback followed at the end of 2025.

In the words of Prof. Samuel G. Freedman, Columbia Journalism School: ‘In a more just world, we would not need a book like this one. But in the broken, flawed, real world that we inhabit, the Routledge History of Antisemitism is both morally necessary and intellectually essential. With an impressive range of topics and contributors, this volume provides a sweeping survey of antisemitism over the millenia and around the globe, and it does so in a lucid and accessible way.’

‘The Routledge History of Antisemitism’ was edited by renowned experts. Mark Weitzman is Chief Operating Officer of the World Jewish Restitution Organization, the senior US delegate to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), and Vice President of the Association of Holocaust Organizations (AHO). Robert J. Williams is the CEO and Finci-Viterbi Chair of the USC Shoah Foundation, UNESCO Chair on Antisemitism and Holocaust Research, and the Advisor to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. James Wald teaches modern European history at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts.

The book’s preface was written by the late Professor Yehuda Bauer (1926-2024), one of the founding fathers of Holocaust studies.

Rafal Pankowski is the author of the book’s chapter entitled ‘Antisemitism in Poland: From >Polin< to >Antisemitism without Jews<’. He is a Professor of Sociology at Warsaw’s Civitas University and co-founder of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association. Concurrently, he has been a Rotary Peace Fellow at Makerere University in Uganda. The chapter explores the longevity of antisemitic stereotypes in Poland, even in the absence of a large Jewish population. Pankowski documents ‘antisemitism without Jews’ in the context of far-right groups, football hooliganism, and conspiracy theories, among other things.

The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association is an independent civil society organisation founded in Warsaw in 1996. It has campaigned against racism, antisemitism, and xenophobia, for peace, intercultural dialogue, and human rights across the world. ‘NEVER AGAIN’ has actively participated in international civil society networks, including the Alliance Against Genocide (AAG), the European Network for Countering Antisemitism through Education (ENCATE), and the European Practitioners Network Against Antisemitism (EPNA).

More information:

https://www.routledge.com/The-Routledge-History-of-Antisemitism/Weitzman-Williams-Wald/p/book/9781032470306
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Ugandan-Polish History Inspires Solidarity with Refugees

The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association has commemorated the ordeal of Polish refugees in Africa during World War II and appealed for solidarity with refugees in today’s world.

From 1942 till 1952, up to 20 thousand Poles – mostly women and children – found refuge in Uganda and other countries of East Africa. They had been victims of Stalinist repressions and deportations who were evacuated from the Soviet Union after the Nazi invasion against the USSR. The Polish refugees in Africa were met with a warm welcome by the local communities.

This little known page of history has been remembered in the form of a multi-lingual mobile exhibition, also available online, prepared by the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association in cooperation with the Rotary Peace Centre at the Makerere University in Uganda, the most renowned university in the region of East Africa.

‘Our project aims to restore memory of an important page of shared Polish and Ugandan history. By highlighting this story, we hope to build a social climate of openness and intercultural empathy’ – said the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association’s co-founder Dr Rafal Pankowski, Professor at Warsaw’s Civitas University and Rotary Peace Fellow at Makerere University, Kampala. In 2024, he initiated the educational project ‘Building Bridges – Inspire Peace: Towards an Intercultural Understanding Between East Africa and Poland’.

On 1 November 2025, Polish and Ugandan members and supporters of ‘NEVER AGAIN’ lit candles at a Polish refugee graveyard in the village of Koja, in the Mukono district of southern Uganda.

The memory of the Polish refugee experience was presented at the annual Capstone conference of the Rotary Peace Centre in Kampala on 23 October 2025. On 22 October, Rafal Pankowski delivered a lecture for Makerere University students coming from across Africa and beyond on the subject of genocide in world history and the message of ‘NEVER AGAIN’. A special contribution to the session was recorded by Gregory Stanton, the author of the model of Ten Stages of Genocide and founder of Genocide Watch.

Earlier, on 11 October 2025, the ‘Building Bridges’ project had been presented during the multi-cultural Human Rights Academy organized in Warsaw by the Dunaj Institute of Dialogue. On 29 August 2025, the story of the Polish deportees in the USRR who found themselves in Uganda was the topic of a lecture by Rafal Pankowski at the Marc Bloch Library of Civilizations in Chisinau (Moldova).

The graphic design of the exhibition was prepared by Andrei Sergunkin, a Warsaw-based anti-war political exile from Russia and a member of the Memorial group, renowned for its efforts to commemorate the victims of Stalinist repressions.

The ‘Building Bridges’ initiative is accompanied by workshops prepared in the frames of the project. During interactive sessions, the participants are encouraged to reflect on the issues of refugees, migration, international solidarity as well as counteracting racism and discrimination.

The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association is an independent civil society organisation founded in Warsaw in 1996. It has campaigned against racism, antisemitism, and xenophobia, for peace, intercultural dialogue, and human rights across the world.

More information:

https://www.nigdywiecej.org//docstation/com_docstation/172/building_bridges_towards_an_intercultural_understanding_exhibition.pdf

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MINORITY AND INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES: FOR A JUST PEACE

The Minorities for Peace initiative has concluded a groundbreaking peacebuilding project that brought together displaced minority and indigenous community leaders from Eastern Europe, with a focus on Ukraine and the Russian Federation, in the wake of Russia’s invasion against Ukraine.

On the occasion of the United Nations’ International Day of Peace (21 September), the initiative announced a comprehensive theoretical framework for peacebuilding in conflict/post-conflict settings, available in multiple languages, including endangered ones such as Buryat and Roma-Laesh. The document is published on the project’s website: www.minoritiesforpeace.org .

Refugees are not a uniform group. The refugees from Ukraine include members of ethno-cultural minorities and faith groups (e.g. Roma, Jews, Muslims), indigenous people (Crimean Tatars) as well as migrants from Africa and Asia. Moreover, those who have left Russia in protest against the war include members of ethnic and religious minorities as well as indigenous peoples. The Minorities for Peace initiative aims to build a culture of peace through empowering refugees who represent minorities and indigenous communities as agents of peace and dialogue in the region marred by war. Supported by the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association, Exult! Solutions, Rotary International through its partnership with the Institute for Economics and Peace, and other partners, the project has promoted trust and cooperation among communities divided by conflict.

Since March 2024, 111 participants from 27 minority and indigenous community groups took part in a series of online trainings, in-person seminars in Warsaw (Poland) and Chisinau (Moldova) as well as global online sessions connecting experts and minority communities from Asia, Africa, and Europe which took place in January and September 2025. An estimated 1,500–2,000 people were reached additionally through local networks and partner organizations.

The project trained and empowered minority community leaders through equipping them with knowledge about the Positive Peace pillars, the concept of Dealing with the Past (DwP) – including the right to justice for war crimes, and mediation as a method in various walks of life. During the project, new partnerships were formed with organizations including the Ukrainian Centre of Romani Studies, the Free Buryatia Foundation, Moldova for Peace, Roma Women Platform ROMNI, Environmental Association of River-Keepers Eco Tiras, International Mediation Campus, among others. Moreover, seven minority-led projects were developed by the participants, with a focus on developing their activity in the future.

PARTICIPANT TESTIMONIES

‘Being involved in the project inspired me to create my own peace project for my community’ – Beryvan Avdoian, Yezidi community of Ukraine.

‘Peace is respect for each other’s choices and non-violence. Minorities can show by their own example that a tolerant society is possible’ – Aleksandra Garmazhapova, founder of Free Buryatia Foundation.

‘Before the project, I perceived peace as simply the absence of war. Now I understand peace as a process of dialogue, mutual respect, and overcoming divisions’ – Evghenii, human rights defender, Moldova.

‘Participation in the project inspired me, and through me my friends, to dedicate a radio program to the topic of peace. We wanted to show that there are people speaking directly and demanding peace’ – Tjan Zaochnaya, Itelmen community (indigenous ethnic group of the Kamchatka Peninsula).

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

‘This project showed that even in the times of war, communities are willing to come together, listen to one another, and build bridges across divides’ – Rafal Pankowski, co-founder of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association.

‘Minorities and indigenous people possess unique knowledge, skills, and experiences that can benefit each society going through conflict and in post-conflict settings. This is what we wanted to highlight through this project’ – Natalia Sineaeva, Minorities for Peace project manager and UN OHCHR Minority Fellow (2024).

‘The project has shown that peace frameworks can be adapted across different regions. We have so many conflicts and tensions worldwide, including in Asia, so we see the need to bring the Minorities for Peace framework to other contexts’ – Rukmini Iyer, project partner, Exult! Solutions, India.

The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association is an independent civil society organisation founded in Warsaw in 1996. It has campaigned against racism, antisemitism, and xenophobia, for peace, intercultural dialogue, and human rights across the world.

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A LIFE ON THREE CONTINENTS – WITOLD LILIENTAL’S STORY

Witold Liliental is a witness to history, having lived through the most significant events of the 20th century across three continents. He survived the Holocaust in Nazi-occupied Poland and experienced the apartheid era in South Africa. He then immigrated to the US and later to Canada. In June of 2025, his memoirs entitled ‘Two Worlds’ (in Polish: ‘Dwa swiaty’) were published under the auspices of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association by the renowned publishing house Austeria. Currently, the memoirs are published in Polish only.

Dr Witold Liliental is a Polish-Canadian activist and a long-time supporter of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association. He was born in 1939 in Warsaw on the eve of World War II, in an assimilated family with Jewish roots. His father, a reserve officer of the Polish Army, was killed in the Katyn massacre, perpetrated on Stalin’s order in 1940. His mother was actively involved in clandestine education activities under the German occupation. After the war, she left Poland with her son and settled in South Africa. Witold engaged in anti-racist activism against the apartheid regime. In 1959, he returned to Poland, where he graduated from the Warsaw University of Technology. In 1981, he moved to the US and ten years later to Canada.

Witold Liliental ‘Two Worlds’

In the ‘Two Worlds’, Witold Liliental writes, ‘Due to my own experience, I am allergic to any kind of racism and bigotry, and I watch in horror the ever-growing indifference of some parts of the Polish society to the suffering of other nations, as well as the increasing wave of racially motivated attacks. Of course, the great aid provided to the Ukrainian refugees has helped to improve the image of Polish people, but it is hard to forget the situation at the border with Belarus, where the refugees have a darker skin and pray to a different God. (…) I live in Canada, a country where multiculturalism and openness to the Other are cherished and practised. And I do envy that, as I dream that the same could happen in my first Homeland.’

Dr Anna Tatar from the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association says, ‘Witold Liliental’s book discusses transformative events in world history. But this epic story is bound together by a perspective of one man, who managed to intertwine his own experiences with a universal account of the human condition. His memoirs, written in a vivid language and full of anecdotes, serve as a tribute to diversity. The author values respect among people of various skin colours, roots, or religions, who create a community based on equal rights for everyone.’

Witold Liliental with his Black colleagues in Applied Physiology Laboratory, South Africa

Witold Liliental has collaborated with the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association for many years. He is a co-author of the ‘Brown Book’, a chronicle of racism and discrimination, and he has written numerous articles for the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ e-zine. His writings focused on, among other things, the persecution of the First Nations in Canada, the attack on the US Capitol in January 2021, and the legacy of apartheid in South Africa. Moreover, Liliental is a commentator of social and political events for the ‘Gazeta Wyborcza’ daily and ‘Angora’ weekly in Poland, among other press titles. He never hesitates to stand up for minorities, and he condemns all types of bigotry.

The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association is an independent civil society organisation founded in Warsaw in 1996. It has campaigned against racism, antisemitism, and xenophobia, for peace, intercultural dialogue, and human rights across the world. It has participated in important initiatives to commemorate the Holocaust and to combat Holocaust denial. In September 2024, ‘NEVER AGAIN’ was awarded the prestigious Ronald Eissens and Suzette Bronkhorst Award for ‘exceptional work in combatting online hate and promoting human rights’.

Austeria Publishing House focuses on publishing books related to Jewish subjects as well as Yiddish, Hebrew, Italian, French, German, and Hungarian literature. Its office is located in Kazimierz, an old Jewish district of Cracow, in a historic mikvah building, a Jewish ritual bath. In 2021, Austeria was awarded the title of the Ambassador of New Europe by the European Solidarity Centre in Gdansk.

Witold Liliental’s article: ‘South Africa – Land of my Youth’ (in English – PDF):

https://www.nigdywiecej.org//docstation/com_docstation/188/witold_liliental_south_africa___land_of_my_youth._e_zine_never_again_no._1_20.pdf

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A Hero’s Welcome For An Apartheid Killer

On the anniversary of Chris Hani’s tragic death, the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association publishes a report on the glorification of the racist killer Janusz Walus. On 10 April 1993, Walus assassinated Hani, a leading South African anti-apartheid activist and a close associate of Nelson Mandela. In December 2024, Walus landed in Warsaw, Poland. The far right has created a peculiar cult around the killer.

Walus emigrated to South Africa from Poland in 1981. He became involved in the activities of a neo-Nazi organisation called Afrikaner Resistance Movement (Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging, AWB). By murdering Hani, he tried to stop democratic changes aimed at dismantling the system of racial segregation. He was sentenced to death, but his sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment. In 2022, he was granted parole but was required to remain in South Africa for an additional two years.

During his deportation flight back to Poland, Walus was accompanied by Grzegorz Braun, a Member of the European Parliament and candidate in the 2025 presidential election in Poland, an infamous antisemite, charged with several hate-related crimes.

On his return to Poland, Walus confirmed his attachment to the ideology of racism and his complete lack of remorse for the murder he had committed. In one of his YouTube interviews, he argued his case firmly by exclaiming ‘We had to eliminate someone’.

According to Rafal Pankowski, co-founder of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association, Professor at Warsaw-based Collegium Civitas, and Rotary Peace Fellow at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda: ‘Walus is downright proud of his crime. He has become a symbol of the internationalization of violent racist extremism. It is terrifying that he has become a role model to so many’.

The report of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association documents public expressions of support for Walus upon his arrival to Poland made by Members of Parliament and other figures.

The appreciation for Walus was demonstrated during the football fans’ annual pilgrimage to Czestochowa (Jasna Gora) – the most important Catholic monastery in Poland – in January as well as on banners during football games and on the street walls in several cities. Walus’s supporters announced multiple fundraiser initiatives on his behalf, and the far-right organisation The Patriots of Bydgoszcz (Bydgoscy Patrioci) celebrated his birthday with a  cake and a banner describing the killer as a ‘Lone White Wolf’.

Numerous online expressions of support for the racist murderer were reported by the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association to the administrators of Facebook, Twitter/X and YouTube. Dr Anna Tatar of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association informs, ‘Only Facebook reacted and removed most of such content reported by us. Twitter/X did not delete anything. Coincidentally, its owner Elon Musk himself originates from South Africa’. YouTube also failed to remove the reported videos praising Walus and his crime.

The report includes an appendix with the words of Ewa Walus, the daughter of Janusz Walus, who contacted the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association, ‘I have never shared my father’s views. I think that proclaiming such harmful, racist and neo-Nazi statements is outrageous, but above all, it is dangerous. Because we see how the world is getting radicalised’.

The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association is an independent civil society organisation founded in Warsaw in 1996. It has campaigned against racism, antisemitism, and xenophobia, for peace, intercultural dialogue and human rights across the world. It has actively participated in civil society networks, including the Global Alliance Against Digital Hate and Extremism (GAADHE), the International Network Against Cyber Hate (INACH), and the Alliance Against Genocide.

Rafal Pankowski (‘NEVER AGAIN Association’) with Lester Kiewit about the welcome of Chris Hani’s unrepentant killer Janusz Walus by the far-right in Poland:

https://nigdywiecej.org/en/multimedia/video-materials/5543-rafal-pankowski-with-lester-kiewit-about-the-welcome-of-janusz-walus-by-the-far-right-in-poland-24-01-2025

Report ‘«We had to eliminate someone». A Hero’s Welcome For An Apartheid Killer’ (full version in PDF file):

https://www.nigdywiecej.org//docstation/com_docstation/172/a_heros_welcome_for_an_apartheid_killer._report.pdf

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‘NEVER AGAIN’ IN SOLIDARITY WITH RWANDA

Strengthening Ties in the Fight Against Genocide Denial and Hate Speech, and Promoting Peacebuilding

News from the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association

A strategic meeting between representatives of sister organizations, Never Again Rwanda and the Polish-based ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association took place in Kigali (Rwanda’s capital city) on 18 December 2024.

Both groups are active in the field of genocide commemoration and prevention, combating denial and hate speech.

The Rwandan host organization was represented by its executive director, Dr Nkurunziza Joseph Ryarasa. The Polish delegation was led by Rafal Pankowski, Professor at Collegium Civitas and cofounder of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association who is also a 2024-25 Rotary Peace Fellow at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda.

The discussants exchanged experiences of the common struggle against genocide denial as a global phenomenon, especially on social media platforms. They acknowledged the challenges in dealing with the past, especially when the perpetrators and victims of atrocities had been neighbours. They stressed the importance of awareness raising and civic education in creating a culture of peace.

– ‘We want to empower citizens to act against hate speech and denial’ – said Dr Ryarasa who had visited the former Nazi German death camp Auschwitz in Poland in 2011.

The 1994 genocide against the Tutsi minority in Rwanda resulted in approximately 1 million deaths. Nonetheless, cases of denial and distortion of that genocide frequently occur in the social media space.

Never Again Rwanda is a peacebuilding and social justice non-governmental organization that was established in 2002, in response to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. For the last 22 years, it has emerged as a peacebuilding influence, a thought-leader in governance, citizen participation and youth engagement.

– ‘The message of NEVER AGAIN is universal’ – said Rafal Pankowski. – ‘We look forward to our continued cooperation with our friends and partners in Rwanda and across the region of East Africa’.

In addition to Never Again Rwanda, in recent weeks the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association conducted meetings in Uganda and Kenya and established cooperation with other civil society organisations, including APNOM (Advocates for Peace, Nature and Opportunities for the Marginalized, Uganda) and the Alfajiri Youth Initiative (Kenya).

The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association is an independent civil society organization founded in Warsaw in 1996. It has campaigned against racism, antisemitism, and xenophobia, for peace, intercultural dialogue and human rights across the world.  It has actively participated in international civil society networks, including the Alliance Against Genocide (AAG), the European Network for Countering Antisemitism through Education (ENCATE), Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE), the International Network Against Cyber Hate (INACH), the Global Alliance Against Digital Hate and Extremism (GADHE), and the European Network for Solidarity with Ukraine (ENSU).

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MINORITIES FOR PEACE INITIATIVE PRESENTED AT UNITED NATIONS FORUM ON MINORITY ISSUES

Geneva, Switzerland – Natalia Sineaeva-Pankowska, a representative of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association and OHCHR Minority Fellow, was among the speakers at the 17th session of the United Nations Forum on Minority Issues, held in Geneva on 28-29 November. During the session, she presented the ‘Minorities for Peace: Enabling Dialogue through Positive Peace and Mediation for Indigenous and Minority Communities in Eastern Europe’ initiative. The project is supported by Rotary International through the Rotary-Institute for Economics and Peace Partnership and is being carried out by ‘NEVER AGAIN’ in cooperation with Exult! Solutions, Rotary Positive Peace Activators, and other partners.

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is the leading UN entity on human rights. It has a unique mandate provided by the UN General Assembly to promote and protect all human rights for all people.

The Forum, held at the prestigious Palais des Nations, brought together representatives from minority communities around the world, alongside delegations from member states and international organizations. The Minorities for Peace project was met with enthusiastic support from participants, underscoring its timely and significant contribution to peacebuilding efforts in Eastern Europe.

The Minorities for Peace initiative aims to foster a culture of peace by empowering leaders from minority and indigenous communities in Eastern Europe – focusing specifically on refugees from war-torn Ukraine and exiles from Russia – as agents of peace and dialogue. The region, with its complex history of both peaceful coexistence and violent conflict, continues to suffer the devastating consequences of war, particularly affecting its minority populations.

Integrating the frameworks of Dealing with the Past and Positive Peace, the initiative focuses on developing skills in mediation and dialogue. The project includes online trainings, in-person seminars in Poland and Moldova, publications, and recommendations designed to promote the pillars of Positive Peace as a foundation for preventing the recurrence of atrocities.

– ‘We believe that through education, we can equip minorities with the tools to become effective mediators, fostering peace and dialogue across entrenched divisions. With their multiple identities and intercultural competencies, they are uniquely positioned to serve as powerful messengers of peace, even in deeply divided societies, in ways that others cannot. Mediation, as a learned skill, is essential for preventing violence, promoting accountability, and fostering reconciliation. It addresses historical injustices, rebuilds trust, and promotes lasting peace, with the pillars of minority rights ensuring the dignity and rights of minorities are safeguarded throughout the process. The pillars of Positive Peace are deeply interconnected with the pillars of minority rights. We urge the international community to support initiatives that empower minorities as agents of peace,’ said Natalia Sineaeva-Pankowska in her speech at the Forum.

The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association is an independent civil society organization founded in Warsaw in 1996. It has campaigned against racism, antisemitism, and xenophobia, for peace, intercultural dialogue and human rights across the world. It has actively participated in civil society networks, including the Global Alliance Against Digital Hate and Extremism (GAADHE), the International Network Against Cyber Hate (INACH) and the Alliance Against Genocide. It takes part in international projects to counter hate speech, Get The Trolls Out and SafeNet: Monitoring and Reporting for Safer Online Environments.

Natalia Sineaeva-Pankowska on ‘Minorities for Peace’ project of the NEVER AGAIN Association, the 17th session of the United Nations Forum on Minority Issues, Geneva, 28.11.2024:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPqvzZqEpa0

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THE AGGRESSOR WEARS A BROWN SHIRT. A NEW REPORT BY ‘NEVER AGAIN’ ASSOCIATION

The so-called civic patrols against migrants, brutal assaults on an Azerbaijani student and several Indians at a worker hostel, are just a few examples of racism and xenophobia in Poland from recent weeks. The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association has published the new ‘Brown Book’, which documents some of the attacks on minorities that happened in 2023 and 2024.

Dr. Anna Tatar, who co-authored the report, explains, ‘This escalation of violence comes as no surprise. We have warned countless times that when politicians instigate fear or hostility towards migrants and refugees, street violence will always follow’.

‘NEVER AGAIN’s ‘Brown Book’ lists racist and xenophobic physical assaults, acts of discrimination, and desecrations of cemeteries or monuments to the Holocaust. It includes racist incidents committed by football hooligans, too. In addition, the report documents hate speech in the Polish public debate, especially on social media.

Rafal Pankowski, co-founder of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association, Professor at Warsaw-based Collegium Civitas, and Rotary Peace Fellow at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, says, ‘Hatred towards minorities is a global issue. This is why solidarity with all the victims of discrimination and violence is so important’.

The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association was founded in 1996 as an independent anti-racist organisation, which runs the ‘Brown Book’: ongoing documentation of events with xenophobic and antisemitic context in Poland. Its initiator was the long-time leader of ‘NEVER AGAIN’, Marcin Kornak (born 1968, died 2014).

Between 1 September 2023 and 15 October 2024, the ‘Brown Book’ monitoring was supported by the Henryk Wujec Civic Fund.

In September 2024, the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association was awarded the prestigious Ronald Eissens and Suzette Bronkhorst Award for ‘exceptional work in combatting online hate and promoting human rights’.

The incidents described in the new ‘Brown Book’ by ‘NEVER AGAIN’ include:

  • LODZ. On the night of 25/26 March 2023, a group of a dozen or so people, men and women, attacked two Ukrainians. The aggressors shouted at them, ‘We hate you, you are from Ukraine, out back home!’ and four thugs brutally beat them: they punched them, knocked them to the ground and kicked them. The Ukrainians were taken to the hospital, one of them had a broken jaw and rib, the other bruised kidneys and a damaged tooth.
  • WROCLAW. On 30 June 2023, a teacher from the Philippines was attacked by an unknown woman. The attacker insulted her and threatened her with violence and death. She shouted, ‘I f*cking hate you! Because you are all cruel and evil. You transmit various diseases’.
  • RACIBORZ. On 15 August 2023, a dark-skinned teenager who had left a kebab shop was insulted and threatened by a passer-by. The man shouted to him, ‘You fcking Pki, get the fck out of here, I’ll fck you up’.
  • PIEKOSZOW. On 21 October 2023, one of the locals, 36-year-old Szczepan B., brutally beat a twelve-year-old boy from Ukraine. ‘The perpetrator insulted but also beat, punched, kicked the boy’s head and entire body with his legs, causing the child to lose consciousness’.
  • WARSAW. On 11 November 2023, the participants of the so-called March of Independence burned flags of the European Union. They also chanted slogans that were racist and xenophobic, ‘White honour, white pride’, ‘White power is and was’, ‘Poland for Poles’, ‘There will be a stick for the leftie snout’. Moreover, the demonstrators displayed banners with the Celtic cross, a flag in the colours of the Third Reich, and banner with the slogan ‘Stop the Ukrainisation of Poland’.
  • GDANSK. On 2 January 2024, on Owsiana Street, ‘unknown perpetrators’ destroyed a plaque commemorating the ghetto where Jews from Gdansk and other areas occupied by the Third Reich were held during the World War II.
  • WARSAW. On the night of 30 April/1 May 2024, a juvenile perpetrator tried to set fire to the Nozyk Synagogue on Twarda Street. He threw a Molotov cocktail which crashed against the façade near one of the ground floor windows.
  • WARSAW. On the night of 24/25 August 2024, a student from Azerbaijan was beaten because of his skin colour. In one of the shops a group of men and a woman flung racist insults at him. The victim reported, ‘They said «Poland for Poles», and they called me a «fcking ngger». […] I got hit on the head with something hard […]. I fell to the ground, and I think I lost consciousness right away. They started hitting me with their hands and kicking me’.
  • NOWY SACZ. On 8 September 2024, at the Jewish cemetery on Rybacka Street, several attackers assaulted a group of Jewish tourists who intended to visit the necropolis. The perpetrators hurled antisemitic slurs and threats at them.
  • ZYRARDOW. On 21 September 2024, the town witnessed a far-right march, self-described as a ‘civic patrol’. The protesters chanted, ‘This is Poland!’ ‘This is Zyrardow, this is where we’re walking! We are doing what everybody should!’ Moreover, members of the ‘patrol’ brutally assaulted migrants residing at a local worker hostel. Ukrainians, Azerbaijanis, and Georgians defended themselves with fire extinguishers. As a result, 70 migrants resigned from their work in Zyrardow.
  • SZCZECIN. On 7 October 2024, a Ukrainian taxi driver was assaulted due to his nationality by his passenger. The man started to insult the driver, punched him in the face and head, and shouted, ‘Ukrainian tw*t!’

‘Brown Book 2023-2024’ (full version of the report – PDF)

More information:
www.NeverAgainAssociation.org
www.facebook.com/Respect.Diversity
www.twitter.com/StowNIGDYWIECEJ
www.linkedin.com/company/never-again-association

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PRESTIGIOUS AWARD FOR ‘NEVER AGAIN’ AT ANTI-CYBER HATE SUMMIT

The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association has been awarded the prestigious Ronald Eissens and Suzette Bronkhorst Award for ‘exceptional work in combating online hate and promoting human rights’.

The award commemorates Ronald Eissens and Suzette Bronkhorst who were pioneers in the struggle against online hate speech, founders of the Magenta Foundation, the Dutch complaints bureau for discrimination on Internet (MDI), and the International Network Against Cyber Hate (INACH) in 2002. The first award went to Jean-Hubert Bondo and his organization Africa Sans Haine (Africa Without Hate) from the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2021.

– ‘Your long-standing efforts to fight antisemitism, racism, and xenophobia through education and advocacy have been truly remarkable. The NEVER AGAIN Association’s impact in Poland and globally, especially through initiatives promoting tolerance and peace, has made a significant difference in the fight for human dignity’ – wrote Brieuc-Yves Mellouki Cadat-Lampe, the chair of the Magenta Foundation and chair of the Award Jury, in his letter to the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association.

The award ceremony took place during the INACH’s Anti-Cyber Hate Summit on Artificial Intelligence and the Changing Legal Climate held in Budapest, Hungary on 27 September 2024. The award was presented by Panayote Dimitras, the 2023 laureate, a veteran human rights activist and founder of the Greek Helsinki Monitor. This year’s award was shared by the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association and Fighting Online Antisemitism (FOA), an organization dedicated to combating rising online antisemitism.

-‘It is a real honour for us to be awarded the prize named after Ronald and Suzette. For more than two decades, their commitment and passion in the struggle against hate speech has had a major impact on the activity of the NEVER AGAIN Association’ – said Rafal Pankowski, ‘NEVER AGAIN’s cofounder, during the ceremony.

In September 2024, ‘NEVER AGAIN’ published its most recent report ‘The Twitter Standards of Hate’ about the prevalence of hate speech on Elon Musk’s platform. In the same month, the activities and experiences of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association were presented by Rafal Pankowski during the International Workshop on Right-Wing Extremism organized by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Project on Countering the Far Right and Nueva Sociedad in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association is an independent civil society organization founded in Warsaw in 1996. It has campaigned against discrimination, racism and xenophobia both in Poland and internationally. It has actively participated in civil society networks, including the Global Alliance Against Digital Hate and Extremism (GAADHE), the International Network Against Cyber Hate (INACH) and the Alliance Against Genocide. It takes part in international projects to counter hate speech, Get The Trolls Out and SafeNet: Monitoring and Reporting for Safer Online Environments.

For more information:

www.neveragainassociation.org

www.facebook.com/Respect.Diversity

www.twitter.com/StowNIGDYWIECEJ

www.linkedin.com/company/never-again-association

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PRESTIŻOWA NAGRODA DLA ‘NIGDY WIĘCEJ’ ZA PRZECIWDZIAŁANIE NIENAWIŚCI

Stowarzyszenie ‘NIGDY WIĘCEJ’ zostało laureatem prestiżowej Nagrody im. Ronalda Eissensa i Suzette Bronkhorst za ‘wyjątkowe osiągnięcia w przeciwdziałaniu mowie nienawiści i propagowaniu praw człowieka’.

Nagroda upamiętnia Ronalda Eissensa i Suzette Bronkhorts, którzy zapoczątkowali walkę z mową nienawiści w internecie jako założyciele Stichting Magenta, holenderskiego biura do walki z dyskryminacją (MDI), a także Międzynarodowej Sieci Przeciw Cybernienawiści – International Network Against Cyber Hate (INACH) w 2002 r. Po raz pierwszy nagroda została przyznana w 2021 r., otrzymał ją wówczas Jean-Hubert Bondo i jego organizacja Africa Sans Haine (Afryka Bez Nienawiści) z Demokratycznej Republiki Konga.

– ‘Wasze długotrwałe wysiłki w walce z antysemityzmem, rasizmem i ksenofobią poprzez edukowanie i kampanie społeczne są naprawdę niezwykłe. Osiągnięcia Stowarzyszenia NIGDY WIĘCEJ w ramach inicjatyw promujących tolerancję i pokój w Polsce i na całym świecie mają wielkie znaczenie dla walki o ludzką godność’ – napisał w liście do Stowarzyszenia ‘NIGDY WIĘCEJ’ Yves Mellouki Cadat-Lampe, prezes Stichting Magenta i przewodniczący jury nagrody.

Uroczystość wręczenia nagrody miała miejsce podczas konferencji sieci INACH pt. ‘Anti-Cyber Hate Summit: Sztuczna Inteligencja a Zmiany w Prawie’, zorganizowanej w Budapeszcie 27 września 2024 r. Laudację wygłosił Panayote Dimitras, laureat nagrody z 2023 r., weteran działalności na rzecz praw człowieka i założyciel organizacji Greek Helsinki Monitor. Tegoroczna nagroda została przyznana Stowarzyszeniu ‘NIGDY WIĘCEJ’ oraz organizacji Fighting Online Antisemitism (FOA), walczącej z antysemityzmem w internecie.

– ‘Być laureatem nagrody imienia Ronalda i Suzette to dla nas prawdziwy zaszczyt. Przez ponad dwie dekady ich zaangażowanie i nieustępliwość w walce z mową nienawiści miały wielki wpływ na działania Stowarzyszenia NIGDY WIĘCEJ’ – powiedział w trakcie ceremonii dr hab. Rafał Pankowski, współzałożyciel Stowarzyszenia, profesor Collegium Civitas.

We wrześniu 2024 r. ‘NIGDY WIĘCEJ’ opublikowało swój najnowszy raport ‘O standardach nienawiści na Twitterze’ na temat niebezpiecznych treści obecnych na platformie Elona Muska. W tym samym miesiącu działania i doświadczenia Stowarzyszenia zostały zaprezentowane przez Rafała Pankowskiego podczas międzynarodowego warsztatu nt. prawicowego ekstremizmu, zorganizowanego przez Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung oraz Nueva Sociedad w Buenos Aires.

Stowarzyszenie ‘NIGDY WIĘCEJ’ jest powstałą w 1996 roku niezależną organizacją antyrasistowską, która prowadzi ‘Brunatną Księgę’ – dokumentację zdarzeń na tle ksenofobicznym i antysemickim. Jako pierwsza organizacja pozarządowa w Polsce zainicjowała kampanię przeciwko mowie nienawiści w internecie ‘R@cism-Delete’, uczestniczy w projektach Get The Trolls Out i Safenet. Jest częścią międzynarodowych sieci społeczeństwa obywatelskiego, m.in. International Network Against Cyber Hate (INACH), Global Alliance Against Digital Hate and Extremism (GADHE) oraz Alliance Against Genocide.

Dodatkowe informacje:

www.nigdywiecej.org

www.facebook.com/Respect.Diversity

www.twitter.com/StowNIGDYWIECEJ

www.linkedin.com/company/never-again-association