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Non-jewish Deputies in Poland Introduce Bill to Curb Anti-semitic Propaganda

October 7, 1946
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A group of non-Jewish deputies, including members of the League to Combat Anti-Semitism and Racism, have introduced in the National Council a bill to suppress anti-Jewish propaganda. The legislation was referred to the appropriate Parliamentary commission which will report on it at the next session.

Adoption of similar legislation was urged by the Jewish deputy, Dr. Adolph Berman, who said anti-Semitic propaganda should be legally outlawed since measures against actual violence were insufficient.

Speaking in the debate on the electoral law, Dr. Berman warned that the coming elections will be used by reactionary elements to resume violent anti-Jewish propaganda, which subsided after the Kielce pogroms. He pointed out that local anti-Semitic incidents were continuing, disclosing that a Jew named Shtajnberg was murdered recently in a village near Siedlce.

Dr. Berman appealed to the Church to use its influence in ensuring peaceful elections. He voiced the apprehension of the Jewish population at the utterances of Cardinal Hlond and other members of the clergy, especially Bishop Wysznski in Lublin, who allegedly told a Jewish delegation that the question of ritual murder had not been clarified.

Meanwhile, the government has not yet replied to Dr. Berman’s appeal urging punishment for all those guilty of incitement leading to the Kielce pogrom. He had asked whether further trials could be held in addition to the first trial of the Kielce pogromists and what measures the government intended to take to liquidate the fascist centers to prevent further pogroms.

The literary monthly “Odrodzenis” carries a letter in its current issue from the well-known critic J.A. Szczepanski, in which he reveals that a painting showing four bearded Jews stabbing a small girl is still hanging in the Kalwaria Zebrzydowska monastery and is being shown by the monks to thousands of visitors. He points out that reproductions of the painting were widely circulated by the Nazis during the occupation.

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