As representatives of civil society organisations, we object to the hostile takeover of the office of Ombudsman by the ruling parliamentary majority. We do not accept the de facto settlement of our rights and freedoms by Julia Przyłębska’s politically dependent tribunal, the disregard of the fundamental principles of fair trial, including the independence and impartiality of judges,in its work.

The view taken yesterday by the tribunal is yet another example of the appropriation of the state by the party in power, the undermining of the foundations of democracy and the circumvention of the provisions of the Constitution in accordance with the principle: “when I am dead the deluge may come for aught I care”.

Statement and list of signatures of the organisations

The annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices – the Human Rights Reports – cover internationally recognized individual, civil, political, and worker rights, as set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international agreements. The U.S. Department of State submits reports on all countries receiving assistance and all United Nations member states to the U.S. Congress in accordance with the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and the Trade Act of 1974.

Poland 2020 Human Rights Report

22 February 2021

Freedom of speech and thought – fundamental human and civil rights – are now threatened in Poland by de facto political and ideological censorship.

Imposing constraints on this freedom has been taking place for some time now byway of small steps, by training journalists, civil servants, activists or teachers prone to bend under pressure how to eagerly embark on censorship. One spectacular example of this eagerness was the recent cancellation of the photographic exhibition of the world-famous photographer Chris Niedenthal in the gallery of the Complex of Arts Schools in Rzeszów. The exhibition was cancelled for political reasons. We are witnessing the return of censorship which deletes people and names – what it is capable of, can be seen in the destruction of Programme III of public Polish Radio, not to mention a number of earlier cases. We see also the return of censorship standing in defence of the propaganda picture of an ideologically infused reality. Mythomania calls for a monopoly in authoritarian fiction.

During the increasingly numerous proceedings, investigations, civil and criminal lawsuits, the blurred hazy concepts of offending religious feelings and offending the Polish nation are becoming tools of ideological censorship. These concepts and criminal sanctions connected with them should be removed immediately from the legal Codes and from court practice. They are not only unclear, randomly applied and the nature of allegations based on them usually are in the form of smears and defamation, but their presence in the legal Codes assigns prosecutors and judges with the duty of propagandists.

Open Republic Association against Anti-Semitism and Xenophobia expresses deep concern and protest regarding the trial against professors Barbara Engelking and Jan Grabowski, editors and co-authors of the work NIGHT without an END. Fate of Jews in selected counties of occupied Poland.

The defendants are recognized scholars, who in their works give a close view to the multi-plot and complicated history of the Holocaust of Jews in the territory of occupied Poland – both, heinous and heroic events, e.g. activities of the Righteous. The claimant is a relative of one of the persons, whose actions from the war time – based on the sources researched by the scholars – were described in the book. It was not a clear-cut activity: on the one hand it was help granted to a Jewish woman in her escape from death threatening her from the Nazis, and on the other – suspicions formulated by a witness about handing over to the Germans several dozen Jews hiding in the forest. The authors of the publications are charged with infringement of personal rights of the claimant, violation of the right to memory cult of the dead person and offence against the right to pride and national identity.

The Open Republic Association reminds that the Constitutional Act of the Republic of Poland  guarantees freedom of scientific research. In a democratic state the court cannot be the place of sorting out disputes related to the results of research and interpretation thereof. Scientific publications being the effect of many-year-long work and archival queries may be a starting point for discussions and polemics, but not the subject of court dispute.

The Open Republic Association expresses its respect and appreciation of the work of professors Barbara Engelking and Jan Grabowski.

On behalf of Open Republic Association against Anti-Semitism and Xenophobia

Paula Sawicka – Chairwoman of the Programme Board

 Marek Gumkowski – President of the Board

One of the commanders of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, an outstanding heart surgeon, and an activist, Edelman, was born on 1Janury 1919 in Homel (in today’s Belarus).

Let’s remind his words:

“Regardless of who the victim is, we must be on their side. We must shelter them. Hide them in the cellar. And not to be afraid of doing that. In general, we stand against the oppressors.”

The Jewish Historical Institute was founded just after World War II and is the oldest institution in the world whose mission is to conduct research on the Holocaust and the history of Polish Jews. For several dozen years it operated within the framework of the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute of Poland. Our main goals were to document the Holocaust and the history of Polish Jews, to build collections, conduct academic research and popularize the findings. These activities were possible because the Institute was always headed by outstanding scholars of Jewish history in Poland, including Bernard Mark, Szymon Datner and Maurycy Horn. It was thanks to their work that a collection was created, which today is used by the researchers and staff of the Institute as well as by visiting scholars from all over the world.

Human Rights Day is observed every year on 10 December — the day the United Nations General Assembly adopted, in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The UDHR is a milestone document that proclaims the inalienable rights which everyone is entitled to as a human being – regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.

Paweł Kulig has been named the laureate of 2020 POLIN Award Competition. For the past eight years, he has been looking after the New Jewish Cemetery in Łódź. He is also Chair of the Guardians of Remembrance Association whose goal is to preserve the Jewish cultural and historic heritage of the City of Łódź. The laureate receives a financial prize of 20,000 PLN. During the POLIN Award competition finale which was streamed through the POLIN Museum social media, two honourable mentions were presented to Justyna Biernat from Tomaszów Mazowiecki and the Krotochwile Association from the Wielkopolska Region.