Leaders from the Polish, Catholic and Jewish communities have denounced an anti-Semitic ritual on Good Friday in the small southeastern Polish town of Pruchnik, where residents hanged, burned and beaten a dummy of the apostle Judas, stereotypically described as a Jew.
Polish Interior Minister Joachim Brudzinski condemned the act by those he called “satans” as “idiotic, pseudo-religious chutzpah.”
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“Jews are deeply disturbed by this ghastly revival of medieval anti-Semitism that led to unimaginable violence and suffering,” Jewish congress CEO Robert Singer said in a statement. “We can only hope that the Church and other institutions will do their best to overcome these frightful prejudices, which are a blot on Poland’s good name.”
Bishop Rafal Markowski of the Polish Catholic Church said on Monday that in the “context of the events that took place in Pruchnik on Good Friday, April 19, the Church clearly expresses her disapproval of practices that harm human dignity.”
Markowski added that the “Catholic Church will never tolerate signs of contempt for members of any nation, including the Jewish people.”
In related news, U.S. Ambassador to Poland Georgette Mosbacher wished Jews a happy Passover in Polish, sparking a flurry of hostile responses on Twitter.
About 10 percent, or roughly 350,000, out of 3.3 million Polish Jews survived the Holocaust.