Neo-Nazis came to a meeting at the city hall in Poznań. The men paraded around the building for an hour with symbols of white supremacy. The journalists who were present seemed to have more problems. Recently, in Poznań, neo-Nazis organized a march and played anti-Semitic songs.
Neo-Nazis came to the office for a meeting and were given passes without a problem. Only journalists stood in their way, asking embarrassing questions. Journalists were not allowed to the meeting between neo-Nazis and officials. Neo-Nazis wanted to complain because they were denied the honorary patronage of the president for their event. Officials explain that dialogue is the basis.
– The meeting itself had to take place because they are residents of Poznań – informs Patryk Pawełczak, director of the office of the mayor of Poznań. – The meeting was very short, lasting only a minute, there was no shaking of hands. This neo-Nazi was asked to leave the room, but the fact that he crossed the threshold of the office is already quite symbolic – assesses Piotr Żytnicki from “Gazeta Wyborcza”.
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It was calculated as a provocation. – What is bizarre in this case is that the city authorities tolerated such a situation, or even invited, arranged with neo-fascists – says Prof. Rafał Pankowski from Collegium Civitas, a member of the “NEVER AGAIN” Association.
The men paraded around the office for an hour with symbols of white supremacy. Meanwhile, the guards in the office made it clear that only journalists were unwelcome, asking them to leave the building. – The municipal guards brought water to the neo-Nazis, and called the police to the journalists who did not want to leave the office – reports Piotr Żytnicki.
Neo-Nazis active in Poznań
On Wednesday morning, police officers entered the homes of neo-Nazis and took flags and T-shirts with banned symbols. “They could have violated the regulations concerning the propagation of Nazi content,” says Junior Inspector Andrzej Borowiak, spokesman for the Provincial Police Headquarters in Poznań.
Recently, neo-Nazis organized an illegal march in the city center, and they also played anti-Semitic songs. One of the police officers present at the scene said that “they have a reported gathering and are expressing their views. We do not evaluate it.” – The police collected materials and gave them to us for evaluation, and we have now made such an evaluation. There is a decision to initiate criminal proceedings – informs Łukasz Wawrzyniak, spokesman for the District Prosecutor's Office in Poznań.
Earlier, the neo-Nazis were not stopped from spreading hatred, and in the end they were allowed into the office. – We are conducting our internal investigations in this regard. All of these symbols that these gentlemen displayed were shown and their meanings were described, unfortunately, in 2016, during the PiS government, these trainings in the police were abandoned – says Patryk Pawełczak, director of the office of the mayor of Poznań.
Propagating Nazism is punishable by up to three years in prison.
Main image source: “Gazeta Wyborcza”