On the first anniversary of Putin’s war, the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association has appealed to the global music community for solidarity with the people of Ukraine and with all the victims of violent conflicts around the world. ‘NEVER AGAIN’ has launched its new initiative, ‘Music Against War’.
The Association has unveiled the emblem of the anti-war campaign, authored by Witold Popiel, a graduate of the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts and inspired by the logo of ‘NEVER AGAIN’s long-term campaign ‘Music Against Racism’.
The emblem is available in the blue and yellow colours of Ukraine as well as in black and white. ‘NEVER AGAIN’ encourages musicians, bands, promoters and fans of all types of music to use the symbol freely.
– ‘At the moment when we enjoy our favourite music during a gig or at home, innocent people are dying. We must not ignore it, let’s show solidarity with Ukraine and with all the refugees from war zones’ – call the activists of ‘NEVER AGAIN’. – ‘The Music Against War symbol can be included on a poster for your show, on a record cover, everybody can share it on social media’.
The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association invites musicians, record labels and promoters who are interested in releasing music tracks or videos as well as organising concerts with the promotional support of ‘Music Against War’ to get in touch via email: info@neveragainassociation.org .
‘Music Against War’ is a continuation of the ‘Music Against Racism’ campaign initiated by the late Marcin Kornak, the founder of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association. From the age of fifteen, due to an accident, Marcin lived with a physical disability. He was an activist as well as a poet and songwriter who collaborated with independent rock bands. Marcin passed away in 2014 at the age of 46, but his legacy lives on. Over the years, numerous musicians and bands of different genres have supported the ‘Music Against Racism’ campaign.
In 2021, the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association released the historic album ‘One Race – Human Race. Music Against Racism: Part 2’ (previously released in 1998 on CD and cassette), for the first time on vinyl. It features diverse Polish bands as well as internationally renowned anti-racist acts: Chumbawamba and Zion Train. The ‘One Race – Human Race’ record is also available in full on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5m2-fFk2zk .
‘NEVER AGAIN’ is an independent anti-racist organization founded in Warsaw in 1996, which has campaigned against antisemitism, racism and xenophobia, and for peace, intercultural dialogue and human rights both in Poland and internationally.
More information:
www.NeverAgainAssociation.org
www.facebook.com/Respect.Diversity
www.twitter.com/StowNIGDYWIECEJ
www.linkedin.com/company/never-again-association
The National Media channel has over 250,000 subscribers. It produces an average of 100-150 broadcasts per month, some of them have tens of thousands of views.
Since the first days of the Russian invasion, the National Media broadcasts have presented refugees from Ukraine as a threat (including ‘biological’ threat) to the Polish society, denied the Ukrainians’ right to preserve their own national identity (demanding that they ‘polonize’ themselves), and questioned the Russian war crimes committed in Ukraine. The head of the National Media, Robert Bakiewicz, already in 2021 warned against ‘Ukrainian immigration’, which in his view would lead to an ‘ethnic replacement’ in Poland.
On 8 December, delegates of ‘NEVER AGAIN’ addressed a rally organized by the International Forum for Secular Bangladesh in front of the European Commission headquarters calling for the international recognition of the 1971 Bangladesh Genocide. The rally was followed by a conference on ‘Recognizing Bangladesh Genocide of 1971 and resisting ongoing Rohingya Genocide in Myanmar, Afghanistan and other parts of the world’ hosted by the Ahmadiya mosque in Brussels and chaired by Shahriar Kabir, a renowned Bangladeshi film-maker, writer and social justice advocate. On the following day, ‘NEVER AGAIN’ members spoke at a press event held at the Brussels Press Club and chaired by executive director of the South Asia Democratic Forum Paulo Casaca.
The project ‘Identifying and Countering Holocaust Distortion: Lessons for and from Southeast Asia’ has been conducted by ‘NEVER AGAIN’ since 2020. It deals with various forms of genocide distortion and denial spread in the region of Southeast Asia. The project draws on the regional experiences of the Second World War and further instances of genocide in Cambodia, Myanmar, and Thailand to inspire critical memory discourses and develop capacities to counter Holocaust and genocide distortion in the region. The project’s participants included opinion-makers, faith leaders (such as Buddhist monks as well as Jewish and Muslim figures), academics, and the staff of museums and memorial sites, among others. The project’s activities have included research, seminars, publications, and awareness raising. The initiative has been developed in close cooperation with local supporters and partners of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association in the countries of Southeast Asia.
Co-founder of ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Rafal Pankowski participated in the Eradicate Hate Global Summit held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (USA) on 19-21 September 2022. The Summit is the most comprehensive anti-hate conference in the world. It unites experts and leaders from around the globe, who are dedicated to eradicating all forms of hate-fuelled violence. The mission of the Summit is to identify and implement effective solutions for collective change.
On another festival day a meeting was held with the rock band Strachy na Lachy (Empty Threats) at the information stand of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association. For many years, this group has been involved in the activities of the ‘Music Against Racism’ campaign run by ‘NEVER AGAIN’. Krzysztof ‘Grabaz’ Grabowski, the leader of Strachy Na Lachy, explained his band’s involvement in support of the refugees from Ukraine after the outbreak of the war. Some of the musician’s family came from Volhynia (a previously Polish territory, now a region in Ukraine). In press interviews, ‘Grabaz’ emphasised the importance of having neighbours of different nationalities and how it can lead to outbursts of creativity: ‘If in some place different cultures coexist peacefully with each other, then they will undoubtedly develop that place and its culture’.
– ‘During our meeting with Strachy Na Lachy, we talked primarily about war and peace, about respect and prejudice in everyday life, about hate speech and how it can lead to violence. We asked the band to explain how music can create a better world,’ said Joanna Naranowicz, a representative of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association and the lead singer of the punk band Qulturka.
The ‘Lets’ Kick Racism out of the Stadiums’ tournament has been organised for over twenty years by the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association at the Polish Woodstock/Pol’and’Rock Festival. In 2022 it was co-organized with the grass-roots football team FC GAN Pila and supported by FARE network and the Adidas Football Collective through its grassroots support programme. Tournament’s male and female participants jointly express their support for the ideas that guide the entire festival: peace, friendship and respect for diversity. This year, the message resonated particularly strongly with young players from Ukraine who had had to flee the cruelty of war.
During the Pol’and’Rock Festival, the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association also organised educational workshops on volunteering and supporting refugees. At NEVER AGAIN’s information stand, there were also practical worskhops on designing anti-racist DIY sew-on patches and t-shirts with the use of stencils and paints. The resulting items of clothing with the message ‘Music Against Racism’ were presented to the participants!
According to the members of Human Rights, ‘The album <Plague> was recorded as a protest against political depravity and the epidemic of intolerance.’ The songs include reflections on ‘what attitudes people adopt in the face of a pandemic, war, dictatorship, lack of mutual respect and tolerance, aggression. It is not without reason that the word <plague> appears in the lyrics of every track.’
Human Rights is a hardcore punk band from Warsaw. For years, it has been supporting the Music Against Racism campaign of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association. The band describes its work as ‘energetic music and positive and direct lyrics coming out of irritation at intrusive attempts to manipulate our lives only because of differences in sex, views, religion or nationality. So there is fire and fury, there is also some melody and catchy choruses about freedom, respect, compassion, tolerance.’
The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association encourages musicians, record labels and promoters from all over the world who are interested in releasing music tracks or videos as well as organizing concerts with the promotional support of the Music Against Racism campaign to get in touch via email: 
During the rally, invited representatives of civil society commented on seven messages that Wladyslaw Bartoszewski espoused: ‘Be open’, ‘Do not get carried away by hatred’, ‘Remember’, ‘Be true to yourself and your own convictions’, ‘Get involved for the benefit of others’ and ‘Search for ways of understanding’. On behalf of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association Dr. Anna Tatar spoke about the value of ‘not being indifferent’: ‘Throughout his life, Wladyslaw Bartoszewski opposed hatred and built a dialogue between nations and people, even when it seemed impossible. May we be able to imitate him in this regard.’
Over thirty presenters, panelists and moderators from Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Germany, Israel, Myanmar, Poland, Russia, Spain, Thailand, UK and US contributed to the debates during the symposium’s four days. Keynote speakers included Professors Yehuda Bauer (Honorary Chairman of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance), Teun Van Dijk (Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona) and Ben Kiernan (Founder of the Genocide Studies Program at Yale University).
A session on counteracting genocide denial in the frame of interfaith dialogue was conducted by the Chief Rabbi of Poland Michael Schudrich and Venerable Lablu Barua (Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University, Ayutthaya, Thailand).