‘THERE CANNOT BE ANY ACCOMMODATION WITH FASCISM.’ IN MEMORY OF MARCIN KORNAK
22 October 2016
Attacks on foreigners and minorities, racist threats and insults as well as marches by extreme-right groups have become commonplace in Poland. Marcin Kornak (1968-2014), founder of the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association, warned against extreme nationalism and impunity of neo-fascists as early as the mid-1990s. The magazine that he created, ‘NEVER AGAIN’ – ‘NIGDY WIECEJ’, is commemorating his stance with a special issue.
It contains over 200 pages of articles, analyses and opinion pieces from renowned academics, activists and journalists including Adam Michnik, the editor of Poland’s main newspaper ‘Gazeta Wyborcza’, and many others.
-‘Marcin Kornak’s contribution to the building of a modern, open and tolerant society was exceptional and will continue to be an inspiration for future generations of those who have the sensitivity and energy to act’, wrote the former Foreign Minister and Speaker of Parliament, Radoslaw Sikorski. Former President of Poland Aleksander Kwasniewski eulogized Marcin Kornak’s achievements: ‘He was a brave person with a big heart who devoted many years to creating a world without discrimination. He initiated many wonderful initiatives to promote tolerance and multiculturalism that have enriched our society.’
Marcin Kornak was the author of the monumental ‘Brunatna Ksiega’ [The Brownshirt Book], a multi-volume study documenting xenophobia, antisemitism, racism and acts of discrimination. This work is continued in the latest issue of ‘NIGDY WIECEJ’, which comprises a selection of hate crimes from 2014-2016 including: the assault on the Romani poet Edward Debicki in Gorzow Wielkopolski; an attack on a group of students from Turkey, Iraq and Kazakhstan by football hooligans in Lodz; racist threats towards a four-year-old child in Rzeszow; an antisemitic picket line by the NOP [National Rebirth of Poland] in front of the Israeli embassy; a joint ONR [National-Radical Camp] and MW [All-Polish Youth] demonstration during which participants chanted ‘Time for a clout round the Islamic snout’; an assault on an Indian couple in Wrzesnia as well as an attack on Ukrainians in Kutno; and vandalism of a plaque commemorating the Warsaw Ghetto.
The new issue of ‘NIGDY WIECEJ’ also contains articles about xenophobia and nationalist populism that escalated during the humanitarian crisis affecting refugees from North Africa and the Middle East. Wojciech Burszta, Aleksander Smolar and Marcin Czerwinski focus on how public reporting of the refugee crisis led to an exacerbation of xenophobic attitudes and violence in many European societies.
This special issue of ‘NIGDY WIECEJ’ magazine is published on a non-commercial basis and is available free of charge at the following site: www.nigdywiecej.org (the articles are in Polish).
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’.
Additional information:
www.nigdywiecej.org
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www.twitter.com/StowNIGDYWIECEJ