Right-Wing Extremism in Poland

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Right-Wing Extremism in Poland INTERNATIONAL POLICY ANALYSIS Right-Wing Extremism in Poland RAFAL PANKOWSKI October 2012 n While the Polish extreme right does not have its own representation on the level of a parliamentary political party, the mainstream populist conservative party, Law and Justice (PiS) absorbed a big portion of the radical nationalist ideology and cadres during the last years. The far-right impact on mainstream politics could be recently observed in Warsaw, when in September 2012 a mass street demonstration was organized jointly by the PiS, Solidarity trade union and the far-right Radio Maryja movement. n The extreme right places decidedly more emphasis on symbolic and identity politics than on economic and social policy. Although issues such as unemployment provide an important context to extreme-right activities, cultural factors remain decisive for right-wing groups. n The majority of the Polish extreme-right groups subscribes to a Catholic fundamen- talist ideology combined with a strongly radical ethnic version of nationalism in- cluding antisemitism. Their ideology is accompanied by a very traditionalist view on family and gender roles and concerning foreign policy marked by an opposition to the EU. RAFAL PANKOWSKI | RIGHT-WING EXTREMISM IN POLAND Contents 1. Introductory Remarks ...................................................3 2. Main Extreme-Right Groups Today ........................................3 3. Orientations, Narratives and Influence of Polish Right-Wing Extremism .........6 4. Countermeasures .......................................................9 1 RAFAL PANKOWSKI | RIGHT-WING EXTREMISM IN POLAND List of Abbreviations and Acronyms FNS National Socialist Front (Front Narodowo-Socjalistyczny) HP The Polish Regiments (Hufce Polskie) INR National-Radical Institute (Instytut Narodowo-Radykalny) LPR League of Polish Families (Liga Polskich Rodzin) MW All-Polish Youth (Młodzież Wszechpolska) NOP National Rebirth of Poland (Narodowe Odrodzenie Polski) NSBM Polish National-Socialist Black Metal ONR National-Radical Camp (Obóz Narodowo-Radykalny) PiS Law and Justice (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość) PO Civic Platform (Platforma Obywatelska) PPP Polish Labour Party (Polska Partia Pracy) RSA Alternative Social Movement (Ruch Społeczny Alternatywa) SP Solidary Poland (Solidarna Polska) SN National Party (Stronnictwo Narodowe) SNS New Forces Alliance (Sojusz Nowych Sił) 2 RAFAL PANKOWSKI | RIGHT-WING EXTREMISM IN POLAND 1. Introductory Remarks viding into two rival factions, it continued its activity for several years in the mid- to late 1930s. Both ONR factions There is no clear demarcation line between the Polish ex- campaigned against Jews, socialists and democrats. treme right, the populist right and the mainstream right. They frequently engaged in violent actions, shoot-outs The notion of a cordon sanitaire against the far right does and street fights against members of »enemy« groups not seem to have been accepted in Polish politics and the and occasionally against each other. The ONR tradition media. In reality, there are many overlaps between ex- was directly inspired by the Italian and German fascist treme-right and mainstream right circles in terms of both movements in the mid-1930s. The 1930s ONR serves as ideas and organisational connections. This lack of clear an important model for contemporary extremist groups. boundaries makes research on the far right problematic and hinders practical steps to counter the influence of The present ONR was formed as a loose organisation extreme-right groups and ideologies in contemporary composed of racist skinheads active in several cities in Poland. There is no doubt, however, that the significance the south of Poland in the early 2000s. By the late 2000s of the extreme nationalist set of ideas spreads far beyond it had grown into a national youth movement, and it a narrow margin of the political spectrum. gained notoriety through organising provocative street marches using the original fascist-style uniforms and the While far-right groups occupied a generally marginal po- Nazi (»Roman«) salute. The ONR adopted a swastika- sition in Polish politics throughout the 1990s, their influ- style symbol, »the hand with the sword«, also known ence grew in the next decade. In 2006–2007 extremist as the »Phalange«. One of its branches – in the town groups gained direct access to the mainstream through of Brzeg – was banned by the local court in 2009, but the government formed by populist right-wing parties. the other branches have been allowed to operate un- Many members of extreme-right and racist skinhead hindered. groups were rewarded with high-level appointments in government-controlled institutions in that period. This For several years the ONR has organised marches in War- extraordinary situation ended with the 2007 general saw on Polish Independence Day (11 November). Initially, election, but the extreme right has retained some size- they attracted several hundred participants, mostly racist able pockets of influence in terms of its cultural and or- skinheads chanting anti-Semitic slogans. However, since ganisational resources. 2010 the marches have attracted a much bigger turnout through cooperation with other extreme-right and na- tionalist organisations gathered under the label of the 2. Main Extreme-Right Groups Today »March of Independence« Association (Stowarzyszenie Marsz Niepodległości). It is estimated that some 20,000 As of 2012, the extreme right no longer has its own rep- people took part in the march in 2011, many of them resentation on the level of a parliamentary political party, supporters of football clubs from across Poland. The which it did have in the form of the League of Polish Fam- march was accompanied by civil society protests and ilies (Liga Polskich Rodzin, LPR) and, to a degree, in Self- marred by violence (attacks by extreme-right marchers Defence (Samoobrona) until the autumn of 2007. How- on the police and journalists). ever, it is clear that the mainstream populist conservative party, Law and Justice (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość, PiS), Among the ONR allies engaged in co-organising the and its offshoot, Solidarity Poland (Solidarna Polska, SP) marches, All-Polish Youth (Młodzież Wszechpolska, MW) absorbed a big portion of the radical nationalist ideol- occupies a key position. Like the ONR, it also draws on ogy and cadres. a tradition of an extreme nationalist organisation of the same name active in the pre-war period. The original The National-Radical Camp (Obóz Narodowo-Radykalny, MW was responsible for numerous attacks on Jewish ONR) is arguably the most active right-wing extremist or- students in the years before the Second World War. It ganisation currently active at the street level and among was re-launched by Roman Giertych in December 1989 youth. Its name goes back to 1934 when a radical anti- and soon came to serve as a youth group for the re- Semitic movement was formed under the same name. formed National Party (Stronnictwo Narodowe, SN) and, The latter was banned after a few months but, after di- since 2001, for the LPR. 3 RAFAL PANKOWSKI | RIGHT-WING EXTREMISM IN POLAND The latter-day MW was composed largely of skinheads litical party since 1994. In the 1990s the NOP was argu- and also tended to use violence against political oppo- ably the most dynamic extreme-right organisation in the nents. Its websites and publications proudly featured country. It has received minimal electoral support (e. g. the historic anti-Semitic declarations of its pre-war pre- 0.06 percent of the national vote in the parliamentary decessors. The anti-Semitic culture was discernable in election of 2005) but it has made its mark by influencing MW ranks in the 2000s, too. For example, anti-Semitic a generation of extreme-right subculture. books, such as Henry Ford’s The International Jew, were used by the MW to educate its members. MW also or- In 1994 the party was officially reorganised along au- ganised white power concerts, such as that of the anti- thoritarian lines, granting supreme power to Adam Semitic skinhead band Twierdza (The Fortress), and skin- Gmurczyk as its chairman. NOP leaders took over a head cultural codes permeated the ranks. It also tended nationalist journal Szczerbiec and transformed it into a to use violence against political opponents and minori- radical party organ. In the course of the early 1990s the ties. MW strong-arm squads intimidated opponents and NOP underwent a process of rapid radicalisation, earn- sought to physically dominate public spaces. ing it a reputation as one of the most extreme nationalist and neo-fascist groups in Europe, despite its legal status. By 2005, the MW clearly dominated the spectrum of At that time it began to infiltrate skinhead groups, en- youth-oriented right-wing extremist organisations. In couraging them to attack political enemies. The notori- the mid-2000s, through its involvement with the LPR, ous attack of an NOP skinhead squad on the Warsaw it gained temporary access to the political mainstream, office of a Polish Socialist Party faction in 1989 is fre- and several of its members were appointed to high- quently quoted as the first instance of extreme right- level government posts, with the MW founder and LPR wing political terror in post-communist Poland. leader Roman Giertych becoming minister of education and deputy prime minister, which provoked a series of The NOP recruited several hundred activists nationally, protests by civil society. mostly from the neo-Nazi skinhead scene. The major- ity of
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