Hundreds of Poles march in support of Israel, against antisemitism

Around 500 people marched to celebrate the 70th year of the Jewish state during a solidarity march with Israel.

By HAGAY HACOHEN
Updated: MAY 7, 2018 19:11
Pro Israeli march in Wroclaw Poland (photo credit: TSKZ WROCLAW)
Pro Israeli march in Wroclaw Poland
(photo credit: TSKZ WROCLAW)
Around 500 Polish citizens marched in support of Israel to honor the 70th anniversary of the Jewish state Monday in the city of Wroclaw in Western Poland (Breslau in German).
Organized by the Association for Cultural and Social Jewish Life in Poland (TSKZ), the march featured Israeli Ambassador to Poland Anna Azari who spoke about how Israel was able to grow from roughly 600,000 citizens to nearly nine million people and to become a world leader in innovation and technology.
Those marching held posters with a map of Poland and the caption "My home is your home" and "Israel, we stand with you."
Wroclaw Mayor Rafał Dutkiewicz said that the Monday march is not only about supporting Israel but also about standing up to modern antisemitism in Poland, reported Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza.  
Director of the Polish Cultural Institute in Tel Aviv Joanna Hofman told the Jerusalem Post that she "would like to be sure that our Israeli friends know that there is no acceptance in Poland, and in the whole world, to antisemitism."   
TSKZ was created after WW2 to promote non-religious Jewish life in socialist Poland. At the time, it focused on Yiddish language activities and providing social support for Jews wishing to rebuild their lives in Poland.
Though greatly reduced in scope after March 1968 when Jewish citizens of Poland were expelled from the country, it has remained active and is still a major factor in Polish-Jewish life today.
When Wroclaw was called Breslau under Prussian rule the Jewish community there was the third largest Jewish community in what was then Germany.
Such noted people as Jewish historian Heinrich Graetz and Reform Jewish leader and Rabbi Abraham Geiger lived and worked there, and their legacy is part of modern Wroclaw.