A public act of hate disguised as political protest
On November 18, 2015, during an anti-refugee demonstration in Wrocław’s main square, a nationalist activist, Piotr Rybak, set fire to an effigy representing an Orthodox Jew holding a European Union flag. The demonstration, attended by several hundred people, was ostensibly organized to protest against the “Islamification of Europe” but quickly turned into a display of antisemitic and xenophobic hatred. The act provoked national and international outrage and became one of the most infamous antisemitic incidents in contemporary Poland.
When nationalist propaganda revives medieval antisemitic imagery
The event was organized by far-right groups and local nationalist activists. Participants chanted slogans against refugees, the European Union, and alleged “foreign influence,” echoing conspiracy theories about Jews controlling global politics. The effigy, wearing traditional Orthodox Jewish clothing and carrying an EU flag, was doused in fuel and burned before a cheering crowd.
Local and national authorities condemned the act. The Mayor of Wrocław, Rafał Dutkiewicz, denounced it as an unacceptable manifestation of hatred. The courts later sentenced Piotr Rybak to ten months in prison without suspension for inciting hatred on the basis of nationality and religion. Despite his defense claiming that the effigy symbolized George Soros rather than Jews in general, the incident underscored how old antisemitic symbols and myths were being repurposed within the rhetoric of modern nationalist movements.
“Yesterday we were involuntary witnesses to a demonstration by a group of several dozen xenophobes and nationalists. I unequivocally and as strongly as possible oppose such manifestations.”
Rafał Dutkiewicz
Mayor of Wrocław