Warsaw Mayor Signs Declaration on Countering Antisemitism
On July 28, Jewish Community leaders, officials, and media gathered in the Warsaw City Hall for an exceptional event: Rafał Trzaskowski, the Mayor of Warsaw, signed a Declaration on Countering Antisemitism.
Warsaw is the first big Polish city to adopt this kind of declaration and by the same token send a clear message to its inhabitants and the whole country: antisemitism will not be condoned.
The declaration was signed in the City Hall in the presence of i.a. Israeli Ambassador, Dr. Yacov Livne, Chief Rabbi of Poland, Michael Schudrich, President of the Union of Jewish Religious Communities in Poland, Klara Kołodziejska, President of the Jewish Religious Community in Warsaw, Sylwia Kędzierska-Jasik, and Dr. Sebastian Rejak, Director of American Jewish Committee Central Europe.
In his speech, Dr. Rejak thanked the Warsaw authorities for their commitment to counteracting hatred and prejudice against minorities and emphasized the importance of the Working Definition of Antisemitism: “Unfortunately, anti-Jewish sentiment is still a noticeable phenomenon in the Polish cultural landscape – and in order to effectively identify this phenomenon, an appropriate instrument is needed, such as a thermometer when diagnosing a medical condition. This definition is intended to perform such a function. As a Varsovian, I am proud of the fact that my city is sending such a clear signal that here, on the Vistula, Oder and Bug rivers, hatred against Jews, discrimination against anyone because of his or her identity, can have no place.”
Text of the Declaration:
