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ADL Feels That European Governments Are Doing Too Little in the Struggle against Anti-Semitism
39% of Poles feel that Jews are responsible for the death of Jesus. A majority state that “there is too much talk about the Holocaust.” The Anti-Defamation League, which carried out the survey, says this is proof that anti-Semitism is “deeply rooted in Polish society.”
The survey was carried out in the five largest countries in continental Europe: Italy, France, Germany, Spain, and Poland. The American ADL organization regards the results as indicating that “a large number of Europeans continue to be infected with anti-Jewish attitudes, holding on to the classical anti-Semitic canards and conspiracy theories that have dogged Jews through the centuries”.
Proof of this is allegedly found in responses to the question: “Do you agree with the statement that Jews are responsible for the death of Jesus?” Among the 500 Poles to whom survey-takers employed by the ADL made telephone calls, 39% answered “yes.” This is far higher than in the other countries, where only between 10 and 20% replied in the affirmative.
However, experts object to accusing Poles of anti-Semitism on these grounds. “There are two ways of interpreting that answer—as holding all Jews responsible for the death of Jesus, which is inadmissible, or holding responsible the individual Jewish priests who lived 2 thousand years ago,” said Michał Barcikowski of the History Institute at the Polish Academy of Sciences. “In the latter case, the statement is simply true, and has nothing to do with anti-Semitism,” Barcikowski told Rzeczpospolita. He feels that the majority of the Poles surveyed understood the question in precisely this way, and responded “logically.”
The ADL is also troubled by the way Poles answered other questions: “Are Jews more loyal to Israel than to the countries they live in?” (59% answered yes); and “Do Jews have too much power in the business world?” (49% answered yes). In both cases, only Spain did worse than Poland.
Poles also agreed more frequently than people in the other countries surveyed the “Jews still talk too much about what happened during the Holocaust.” No fewer than 58% of Poles agreed.
The survey-takers also asked whether the government of the respondents’ country is doing enough to ensure the security of Jewish citizens. 47% of Poles agreed, while 37% answered in the negative.
Nevertheless, the ADL laid serious accusations at the door of the Polish government. “Due to the fact that the LPR [League of Polish Families] and Samoobrona [Self-Defense Party] are in [the government], there is a very unfavorable attitude surrounding Jews in Poland,” Michael Salberg, director of the ADL international department, told Rzeczpospolita. The organization points out that “anti-Semitic attitudes” are increasing in Poland, and that responses antagonistic to Jews appeared most frequently among respondents aged 65 or over.
The director of the ADL, Abraham H. Foxman, regards the survey results as highly disturbing and feels that both the European Union and the governments of member countries should do more to combat anti-Jewish attitudes. “We are not surprised to find that a high percentage of the respondents in Spain and Poland hold negative views of Jews. Given each country's history of animus towards Jews, it appears that anti-Semitism is ingrained in the fabric of each society,” wrote Foxman in a statement.
“Comparing the two countries is, to put it delicately, inappropriate. Because when Spain expelled the Jews in the 15th century, Poland opened them with open arms,” noted Michał Barcikowski.
