ADAM MICHNIK DISCUSSES ANTISEMITISM IN 20TH CENTURY POLAND
Polish-Jewish relations have once again become an important topic. In February, the Polish parliament passed a law which calls for up to three years in prison or a fine for anyone—in Poland or abroad—who accuses the Polish state or people of participating in the Holocaust or other Nazi crimes. This attempt to re-write history and criminalize historical discourse has caused the greatest crisis between Poland and Israel in decades. And the law has been widely criticized by Jewish communities throughout the world. In Poland, it triggered both expressions of antisemitism in the media, and protests against antisemitism among intellectuals and in wide social and cultural circles.
