This is another photo taken in the area of Litzmannstadt Ghetto, however the building that is shown is a modern one and the graffiti (or mural) is a typical example of one of the biggest Polish taboos, anti-Semitism. It is the real Irony of Fate that Baluty district of Lodz - former Litzmannstadt Ghetto - haven’t changed from the 2nd World War and seems to be ghetto even now. There is only one big difference - the population, in some places - the lowest part of the society. The Irony of Fate - walls of Baluty and entire city is spotted with David’s Stars - the symbol of Jew, and the “Jew” is the offence among many Poles, especially the football supporters of two football clubs in the city. However, the anti-Semitism is not limited to the hooligans and the troublemakers (some parts of the old Baluty and Lodz are full of them). Nationwide Catholic radio station - Radio Maryja (donated by the state and the church) officially broadcasts anti-Semitic ideology. The pogroms during the war and after, 1968 (when the communist regime forced the rest of the Jewish population to leave Poland), are the taboo, the scar on the picture of Polish nation - The Christ of the nations, as we used to call ourselves. Did you know, that in Lodz we have a special fair called “Coloured tolerance” which is the big action of painting out the anti-Semitic murals, but every year there is almost the same number of the murals to be painted out. I am really ashamed.
That is indeed sad and stupid. There is no words to describe how dumb and narrow minded these people are who paint David’s Stars on building and walls.
I’m a Holocaust survivor of Lodz-ghetto and I visited my native city just a week ago. The former ghetto is inhabited by a kind of Lumpenproletariat and hooligans. Stars of David are mainly there and young boys gathered at the corner of the streets often with bats in their hands. I feared them as I feared the Nazis during the war and felt unsafe again,65 years after the war. The toxicity of anti-Semitism is reinforced by radio Mariya, but I found Lodz mostly infected. Warsaw was different, the Warsovians helped us to find the remnants of the Warsaw ghetto,they were helpful in every aspect, we found unforgetable people who became friends. And as in the Polish anthem “Poland is not lost yet ” in the mud of hatred and the ugly face of Lodz doesn’t represent my native country.
Lodz is really hard, it is full of scum, but anti-semitism is not an attitude here, it is some kind of slogan. You have to know that in Lodz for many years was the strongest anifascist, antiracist and anti-anti semitic crew in Poland. Belive that neo-nazi hate this city as the others, they can’t live here, they are always in trouble. People from Lodz hated fascism more than in Danzig, Cracow, Warsaw and Wroclaw and they were more radical. Maybe it is hard to belive it but it is a fact.