Polish football fans burn Jewish effigies, perform Nazi salutes in anti-Semitic outburst - World Jewish Congress

Polish football fans burn Jewish effigies, perform Nazi salutes in anti-Semitic outburst

Polish football fans burn Jewish effigies, perform Nazi salutes in anti-Semitic outburst

Z q kibole widzewa

Around 50 supporters of a Polish soccer team burned Jewish effigies and performed Nazi salutes before a game last Friday.

The fans of Widzew Łódź had gathered at a train station prior to a clash with local rivals ŁKS Łódź, a team which is often derisively referred to by rival clubs as having large amounts of Jewish support.

The Widzew fans burned effigies which appeared to depict caricatures of Orthodox Jews. Some of the fans also appeared to be performing Nazi salutes, according to local media reports.

The rally took place at a local train station in the central Polish city that used to boast a large Jewish population prior to World War II. 

According to a report by the Coordination Forum for Countering Anti-Semitism, the demonstrators unfurled a banner printed with the slogan "19.08, today the Jews were named," in reference to the year ŁKS Łódź was established. Let them burn, motherf***ers," continued the banner's message.