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As in most countries racism has existed also in Poland in a variety of forms and to various extents over the course of its history. Poles were also victims of racism in their own country, see "Anti-Polish sentiment" for more details.

Ethnic Poles

When part of Poland was part of the Russian Empire, language, religion and culture of ethnic Poles and non-Russified Ukrainians and Belarusians were under severe repression, see "Russian Partition" for details. Similar persecution happened in the parts of Poland annexed by Germany, see "Expulsion of Poles by Germany" for details.

In the early 20th century Poland was under the German and Soviet occupation. During this period Polish people were discriminated against in their own country. The Nazi German regime had seen Poles "subhumans" (untermenschen) that weren't part of Aryan race.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).</ref> Poles were the victims of Nazi crimes against humanity. Approximately 2 million ethnic Poles were exterminated during the World War II. Poles were also the subject of ethnic cleansing during massacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia, then the territory of Poland.

Polish forced laborers in Nazi Germany were forced to wear identifying red tags with "P"s sewn to their clothing; sexual relations with Germans (rassenschande or "racial defilement") were punishable by death.

Black Africans

The most common word in Polish for a black person is Murzyn. It is generally seen as a neutral word which was used for centuries to describe a person of Black African ancestry, but nowadays some consider it to have pejorative connotations.

One of the most high-profile events regarding blacks in Poland in recent years was the death of Maxwell Itoya in 2010. He was a Nigerian, who was killed in a police raid on a market in Warsaw. His death sparked a "riot" and the mass arrest of non-whites at the scene of Itoya's death. The event led to a widespread debate in the Polish media regarding policing and racism.

Another significant event was the case of false political refugee Simon Mol, who infected a number of Polish women with AIDS, while denying that he was a carrier, and then accused his victims of racism. He later died of AIDS in police custody after having refused treatment for his disease.

Jews

Roma

The Mława pogrom was a series of violent incidents in June 1991 when a rioting mob attacked Roma residents of the Polish town of Mława causing hundreds to flee in terror. The violence, described as motivated by racism and jealousy, was condemned by Polish and international media.

Attitudes towards minorities and level of tolerance

An analysis based on the European Values Survey (EVS) done in 2008 showed that compared to other European nations, Poland had very high levels of political tolerance (lack of extremist political attitudes), relatively high level of ethnic tolerance (based on attitudes towards Muslims, immigrants, people of another race, Roma, and Jews) and at the same time low levels of personal tolerance (based on attitudes towards people considered "deviant" or "threatening"). From 1998 to 2008, there was a marked increase in political and ethnic tolerance but a decrease in personal tolerance.

In terms of trends over time, at the beginning of the 1990s, due partly to the political euphoria accompanying the fall of Communism, Poland was the most tolerant nation in Central and Eastern Europe. Over the course of the nineties however, tolerance decreased so that by 1999 the country was recorded by the EVS as having one of the highest rates of xenophobia in Europe. Antisemitism increased during this time as well. The factors behind these decreases in tolerance and some of the radicalization in attitudes towards other ethnic groups during this time likely included the country's economic problems associated with a costly transition from communism (for example, high unemployment), ineffectual government, and possibly an increase in immigration from outside.

However, these attitudes began to change after 2000, possibly due to Poland's entry into the European Union, increased travel abroad and more frequent encounters with people of other races. By 2008 the EVS showed Poland as one of the least xenophobic countries in Central and Eastern Europe. The negative attitudes towards Jews have likewise returned to their lower 1990 level, although they do remain somewhat above the European average. During the same time period, ethnic tolerance and political tolerance increased in Southern Europe (Spain, Greece) and decreased in other parts of Northern Europe (Netherlands).

While the Roma were the group which was listed as most rejected, the level of exclusion was still lower than elsewhere in Europe, most likely due the long history of Roma (see Polska Roma) and their relatively low numbers in the country.

According to the European Jewish Congress while the number of anti-Semitic attacks and incidents of vandalism in Western Europe is on the rise, in Poland there has been a dramatic decrease in these.

Incidents during sports events

In 2011, the Never Again Association published a report into Racism in football in the two countries due to host the 2012 European Football Championship, Poland and Ukraine. It covered an 18-month period lasting from September 2009 until March 2011, during which it noted 195 racial incidents in both Poland and Ukraine. Of these, 133 took place in Poland. Of the total 195, 105 concerned the use of fascist and far-right symbols, 36 were anti-Semitic and 20 were anti-black. Nevertheless, racism in Poland is aimed against Jews to a remarkably higher extent than against people of colour. One instance of racism in Polish football came in 2011 in Rzeszów, where a huge banner was unfurled declaring "Death to the hook-nosed ones", with a picture of a Jewish man with a large, crooked nose. "There were no Jews in that stadium", according to Rafal Pankowski, of Never Again, "Neither the club stewards nor the police asked the fans to take the sign down. In the case of the stewards it might be insensitivity Antisemitic expression is against the law in Poland." Jan Olaszek, from the Institute of National Remembrance, has described this as "antisemitism without Jews" since there are so few Jews in modern-day Poland; "People don't know history. They know stereotypes."

In May 2012 a BBC Panorama programme was broadcast showing football matches in Poland before the UEFA Euro 2012 tournament. Journalist Chris Rogers recorded "a chorus of anti-Semitic chanting" and witnessed "black football players enduring monkey chants from the terraces". The Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, responded to the Panorama programme by saying: "Nobody who comes to Poland will be in any danger because of his race. This is not our custom, as is not pointing out similar incidents in other countries, although we know they take place. In Poland, they're a rarity." Stan Collymore responded to the programme on Twitter, asking "Will BBC be showing London riot videos pre Olympics? Highlighting racist Twitter abuse to black Britons? Showing "Paki/BNP" on estate walls?". Aviram Baruchyan, an Israeli player who plays as a midfielder for Polonia Warsaw was interviewed and told the programme that he had never been insulted for his ethnicity. His statement was cut from the show, as were the statistics provided by Polish police which showed that the number of racist incidence at matches has fallen over the last decade. Polish sports journalist Rafał Stec suggested filming a similar documentary about racism in British football, which would highlight the alleged racist comments made in 2011 and 2012 by British-based footballers, as well as Arsenal fans' chants about Auschwitz directed at Tottenham Hotspur fans and players.

References

1. "Poles: Victims of the Nazi Era". United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Retrieved January 25, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
2. Helen Boak. "Nazi policies on German women during the Second World War - Lessons learned from the First World War?". pp. 4–5.
3. "Murzynek Bambo w Afryce mieszka", czyli jak polska kultura stworzyła swojego "Murzyna", '"Murzyn", który zdaniem wielu Polaków, w tym także naukowców, nie jest obraźliwy, uznawany jest przez osoby czarnoskóre za dyskryminujący i uwłaczający.'
4. Joanna, Podgorska. "Wdowa po Nigeryjczyku". Polityka. W tym roku miał dostać polski paszport. {{cite web}}: no-break space character in |quote= at position 2 (help)
5. "Poland: Reflections on the death of a street vendor". No Racism.net. Retrieved April 8, 2012.
6. Na tropie oszusta Simona Mola, „Rzeczpospolita”, 6 March 2007, Bertold Kittel, Maja Narbutt; with help from Anna Machowska (TVN)
7. http://fakty.interia.pl/fakty_dnia/news/simon-mol-nie-zyje,1192982,2943 http://www.dziennik.pl/wydarzenia/article250189/Simon_Mol_nie_zyje.html.
8. Emigh, Rebecca Jean; Szelényi, Iván (2001). Poverty, ethnicity, and gender in Eastern Europe during the market transition. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 101–102. ISBN 9780275968816. Retrieved 2011-01-24. {{cite book}}: C1 control character in |pages= at position 5 (help)
10. "Poles Vent Their Economic Rage on Gypsies". The New York Times. July 25, 1991. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
11. "Hooligans and the Neighbors' Cow". New York Times. July 29, 1991. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
12. ^
14. "Report Highlights Levels of Racism in Polish and Ukrainian Football". Poland2012.net. Retrieved April 8, 2012.
15. ^ "Euro 2012: antisemitic echoes that threaten celebration of football". The Guardian. Retrieved June 3, 2012.
16. "Sol Campbell warns fans to stay away from Euro 2012". BBC. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
17. The Guardian, Euro 2012: Poland and Ukraine hit back at racism accusations, accessed 6/2/2012.
18. "Dziennikarze BBC wycięli polskie statystyki z filmu". Gazeta Wyborcza. Map, Pap. 2012-05-29. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
19. "Oburzenie po materiale BBC: Pokażcie zamieszki w Londynie!". gadu-gadu.pl Sport. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
20. Stec, Rafal (2012-05-30). "Dzicz w każdym mieście, poza Londynem". Gazeta Wyborcza. Retrieved June 2, 2012.

• Racism in Poland