NIGDY WIECEJ - NEVER AGAIN, issue 12, winter 2000/2001
SUMMARY:
"NIGDY WIECEJ" - "NEVER AGAIN" is the only magazine in Poland dedicated to the problem of racism and fascism.
In the editorial M.Kornak says good-bye to the late friends of our magazine who died recetnly: Jerzy Giedroyc - the editor of the Paris-based emigre monthly 'Kultura', Jan Karski - a hero of the Polish Resistance, Andrzej Szczypiorski - an internationally famous writer, and Eugeniusz Szyr - an old member of the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War.
'Irving stop' by R.Pankowski (page 1) is an account of the successful effort by 'NIGDY WIĘCEJ' - 'NEVER AGAIN' to stop the planned publication of the fascist historian David Irving's books by the government-owned publishing house 'Bellona'.
'Listy' ('Letters') section (page 2) includes, among others, letters of support from Buddy Elias - Anne Frank's cousin and head of the Anne Frank Fund, Father Stanislaw Obirek SJ of the Roman Catholic Church, Jaroslaw Wajchert of the Unitarian Church, and Leszek Miller MP - leader of the Democratic Left Alliance.
'Dokumenty' ('Documents') section (page 3) includes the official recognition by the Polish government of the United Nations' Convention for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, a summary of the second report on Poland by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), and a parliamentary question to the minister of justice about the unhindered activities of neofascist groups in Poland posed by A.Otreba MP.
'Klamczuszek' ('Liar') by A. Zacheja (page 3) describes how the far-right politician Marcin Libicki, chairman of the Polish delegation in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe tried to deny his membership in the extreme-right Prawica Narodowa (National Right) group.
'NOP, patrioci i folksdojcze' ('NOP, patriots, and traitors') by R.Pankowski (page 4) exposes joint activities organised by the German fascist party NPD and the Polish extreme-right party NOP (National Rebirth of Poland).
'Narodowa manipulacja' ('Nationalist manipulation') by M. Kornak (page 4) explains how the nazi band Konkwista 88 tried to fool the well-known mainstream rock musician Lech Janerka to produce their record.
In 'Jak czekista z czekista' ('Between spies') (page 4) M. Kornak reports that the state prosecutor has stated that Boleslaw Tejkowski and Boguslaw Rybicki, two extreme-right leaders, were police-informers in the communist times.
'Encyklopedia Wielkich Sciem' ('The Encyclopedia of Big Lies') by L. Scioch (page 5) is a satyrical article about a pseudo-academic publication written by several nationalist authors.
'Konferencja UNITED - Strasbourg 2000' ('UNITED conference - Strasbourg 2000') is M.Warchala's report from a European youth conference organised by UNITED for Intercultural Action in preparation for the UN World Conference on Racism (pages 5-6).
On pages 6-9 there are reports on various local educational anti-racist events using, among others, music (hip-hop, folk) and sports as a means of promoting the anti-racist and anti-fascist message.
In 'Katalog wypadków' ('List of incidents', pages 10-16) M. Kornak documents numerous cases of violence committed by Polish neonazi and racist groups in the recent months.
'Chrzescijanskie Nigdy Wiecej wobez Zaglady i antysemityzmu' ('Christian Never Again to the Holocaust and antisemitism', pages 16-18) is an article written by Father Michal Czajkowski, a co-chairman of the Polish Council of Christians and Jews who presents the most recent church teaching and especially the Pope's statements against racism.
'Marsz Zywych' ('The March of the Living') by E. Czapska (page 19-20) is a report from the annual March of the Living at Auschwitz which gathers Jewish youth as well as Polish anti-fascists.
'Jedwabne 1941' is a poem by J. Lipszyc (page 21) about the Jedwabne pogrom, preceded by an explanation of the historical background of events at Jedwabne.
'Losy mniejszosci' ('The fate of a minority') by T. Majchrzak (page 21) is a comment about problems facing national minorities living in Poland, among them Germans.
In 'Ojczyzna ludowo-demokratyczna?' ('Popular-democratic Fatherland?', page 22) A. Zacheja lists international contacts of the extreme-right group 'Ojczyzna' ('Fatherland') including its Middle Eastern and even Chinese and North Korean allies.
'Byłem skinem' ('I was a skin') is an interview by R.Pankowski (pages 23-24) with an ex-fascist, a former activist of several extremist organisations.
'Polsko-Niemiecka Współpraca Młodzieży' ('Polish-German Youth Co-operation', page 25) contains information on joint Polish-German youth projects.
'Warszawskie ulice' ('Streets of Warsaw') is a selection of photographs taken by C. Reilly (page 24) documenting numerous racist graffiti in the capital city which is met with indifference of the city authorities.
'Pokazmy rasizmowi czerwona kartke' ('Let's show racism the red card', pages 25-26) is an interview conducted by J. Skubiszewska with A. Potocki MP, chairman of GKS Piast Gliwice football club in which he discusses strategies to remove manifestations of racism at sport events.
'Pilka nozna a rasizm w Niemczech' ('Football and racism in Germany', pages 27-28) is another contribution to the debate on the topic of racism in sport, drawing from the German experience.
'Nie moge latwo oddac skory' ('I cannot let them get me easily', pages 29-30) is M. Fijka's interview with Piotr Mohamed, the Sudanian-born leader of the Polish rock group Sweet Noise supporting the campaign Music Against Racism run by the 'Never Again' Association.
'Zycie stalo się latwiejsze' ('Life has become easier', page 31) is R.Pankowski's interview with the British pop group Chumbawamba who also took part in the Music Against Racism campaign in Poland.
'Kilka refleksji o pieciu plytach' ('Some thoughts about five records', page 32) is M.Kornak's reflection on anti-racist messages in some recent music releases.
'Pozegnanie Muzyki Przeciwko Rasizmowi' ('Farewell to Music Against Racism', page 32) is an assessment by M. Kornak of the achievements of the Music Against Racism initiative.
'Graffiti nurtu trzeciej fali' ('Third wave of graffiti', pages 33-34) is a presentation of anti-racist graffiti as an alternative to fascist slogans on the walls.
'Antyfaszystowski zabytek' ('Antifascist monument', page 34) is M.Kornak's report on the recent discovery of a wartime anti-nazi mural painted by young members of the Polish resistance movement in Warsaw.
'Przeglad prasy antyfaszystowskiej wydawanej w Europie' ('Review of the European anti-fascist press', pages 35-37) is a translation of an article from the Russian anti-fascist magazine 'Tum-Balalaika' presenting anti-fascist publications from all over Europe.
'Das Zentrum Demokratische Kultur - Centrum Kultury Demokratycznej' ('Centre for Democratic Culture', page 37) is a presentation of a German research group working in the field of analysing the phenomenon of right-wing extremism.
'Joerg Haider i neofaszyzm w Austrii' ('Joerg Haider and neo-fascism in Austria') by Z.Michalczyk and R.Pankowski (pages 38-39) discusses Haider's links with the old and new generations of the nazi movement as well as his hypocrisy over the issues of drugs and homosexuality.
'Ekofaszyzm - zbawienie gatunku homo sapiens?' ('Eco-fascism: a salvation for homo sapiens?') by K.Majchrzak (pages 40-41) warns against the possibility of injecting racist ideas into the ecological movement giving examples from Germany and from Poland.
'Faszystowska przeszlosc NRD' ('The fascist past of the GDR') is a translation of an article by D.Tichner published in the German left-wing magazine 'Telegraph'. It describes the lack of sincere attempts at thorough de-fascisation on the part of the authoritarian rulers of communist East Germany.
'Muzyka white power w Szwecji' ('White power music in Sweden') by S.Larson (pages 43-44) is an excerpt from the book 'White Noise', published by Searchlight Educational Trust, on the career of the Swedish nazi-skinhead band Ultima Thule.
'Recenzje' ('Reviews', pages 44-48) include reviews of books, magazines, CD-ROMs, and films, about past and present struggles against racism and fascism.
NB This issue of NIGDY WIĘCEJ - NEVER AGAIN includes a special section in the German language with a selection of articles from past issues of the magazine.