Pictured Above: Saturday's Polish Independence Day march. Credit: YouTube.

(JNS.org) Tens of thousands of far-right nationalists chanted calls for a “Jew-free” Poland as they marched through the streets of Warsaw on Saturday to mark 99 years since the country was re-established as an independent nation.

During the march—the largest Polish Independence Day event in years—far-right demonstrators were heard chanting “Pure Poland, Jew-free Poland,” and “Jews out of Poland,” while carrying banners with slogans such as “White Europe of brotherly nations.”

The annual nationalist march was met with smaller counter-protests. 

Israel’s Foreign Ministry urged the Polish government to “take action against the organizers” of the march.

“This is a dangerous march instigated by extremists and racists….History teaches us that we must act against hatred and racism as quickly and as determinedly as possibly,” the ministry stated.

In mid-September, the head of Poland’s right-wing nationalist Law and Justice party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, denounced anti-Semitism and lauded the “great state” of Israel during a ceremony commemorating Polish citizens who protected the country’s Jews during the Holocaust.

In his remarks, Kaczynski characterized anti-Semitism as “very dangerous” and commended Israel for its “power of spirit, power of the mind, determination and courage.” Kaczynski’s statements came after Polish-Jewish leaders called on the politician to denounce rising anti-Semitism within the country.

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