New Propaganda Campaign in Poland Could Trigger Wave of Anti-semitism Official Media Cites Bonn-jeru

The Communist controlled official Polish media is linking West Germany and Israel as “anti-Polish, reactionary allies” in a new propaganda campaign that could trigger a wave of anti-Semitism in Poland, a country now almost devoid of Jews.

The West German press cited as an example articles in the Polish political journal, “Perspektywy” alleging the existence of a Bonn-Jerusalem “axis” portrayed as “imperialist, revanchist and expansionist.” The magazine, which reflects the thinking of Poland’s Communist ruling elite, accused West Germany of seeking to change the borders of Europe and Israel, of failing to respect the sovereignty and integrity of its neighbors and violating their territory.

SEEN AS DIVERSIONARY TACTIC

West German observers familiar with Poland’s problems see the propaganda campaign as an attempt to divert attention from the government’s economic and political difficulties. Along with other Eastern bloc countries, Poland is also waging a vigorous propaganda campaign against a possible rapprochement between East and West Germany.

But, according to observers here, the Polish authorities themselves fear the campaign may get out of hand and revive long standing anti-Semitic sentiments in the public with the distinct possibility of violence against the tiny surviving Jewish community.

That possibility was evident recently when soccer fans in Cracow displayed anti-Semitic banners against a competing team from Lodz, not because the team was Jewish but because a few Jews still live in that city. There have been several unconfirmed reports of violence against Jews in Poland, West German newspapers report.

CAMPAIGN AGAINST WEST GERMAN POLITICIAN

Jews also were caught in a virulent Polish media campaign against a West German politician, Herbert Hupka, a Christian Democratic member of the Bundestag who visited Israel recently. Hupka is the long-time leader of an association of refugees and expellees from Schlesien, once German territory, now part of Poland.

Hupka was described as a fascist and revanchist who dreams of a new German Reich incorporating areas of Poland. The Polish media played up the fact that, while in Jerusalem, he met with former refugees from Schlesien who now live in the Jewish State. The implication was that Israelis support West German territorial expansion at Poland’s expense.

Whatever the immediate effects of this campaign, there is absolutely no chance that Poland and Israel will renew diplomatic ties in the foreseeable future, according to West German observers.