Poland - Anti-Semitic Attacks in 2008

This page is part of a section on "2008 List of Anti-Semitic Attacks" maintained by PaulaSays. This is only a partial list. If you know of an attack not reported on these pages, please send a note to .

• In March, a large firecracker was thrown at the Jewish community building in Warsaw (adjacent to the great synagogue – Nozyk). The firecracker exploded 1 meter behind the security guard without causing any damage.
• In March, the grave of one of Poland's most famous Chasidic leaders was desecrated. Police discovered the desecration at the grave of Elimelech Weisblum of Lezajsk, who is buried in the Jewish cemetery in Lezajsk in southern Poland. The grave was covered with swastikas, anti-Semitic slogans and a Star of David in a noose. Thousands of Chasidic Jews from around the world flock to Elimelech's grave each year on the anniversary of his death.
• In May, an Orthodox American Jew was attacked by a group of teenagers in Warka, a city located 60 km from Warsaw. The 19-year-old Asa Yitzhak Beich, from Anarbour, near Detroit, US, arrived in Poland two weeks ago and was visiting the “Ohel” or mausoleum commemorating Rabbbi Yitzhak Kalish, a well-known Hassidic rabbi, at the local Jewish cemetery. Beich told EJP: "I was by myself when I arrived at the cemetery. There, I met a group of twenty teenagers – aged between 11 and 16- to whom I asked the direction of the Ohel. When I arrived at the Ohel, located on the top of a hill, the teenagers started laughing at me, asking me for money and shouting “Jew” in Polish before they punched me in the face." The young man, who was lightly wounded, managed to escape and was later helped by Polish policemen who tried to identify the teenagers.