The militia stood up and looked at the skinheads. “They grabbed my legs and pulled me off the stage”

• A few minutes after the riots began on the 13th, a group of skinheads approached the stage where an African band was performing. “After a while, the banner with the anti-racism slogan ‘No Apartheid’ and the portrait of Nelson Mandela was shattered,” Duży Format reported.
• There was a fight and they were all injured. Photos from the day show the wounds being treated in the street
• The militia watched the event. She only reacted after the call of activist Władysław Frasyniuk and began hunting down the skinheads.
• More important information can be found on the Onet homepage

In Tadeusz Władysław Bąk’s book “Skinheads in Poland” we read: “The ideas of National Socialism were initiated among the skinheads by the now legendary Wrocław group Konkwista 88.” In 1992 they released the tape “The Blood of Our Race”.

The group was founded in Wroclaw in 1990. There are many extreme right-wing organizations in the capital of Lower Silesia.

The same year that the band Konkwista 88 was formed, skinheads beat up African students in Wrocław’s Market Square.

“This is the warmest winter of the 20th century.”

The incident was included in the “Brown Book” of racist, fascist and xenophobic incidents and crimes, which has been created by the “Never Again” association since the late 1980s.

On February 24, local Nazi skinheads, coming out of the environment of the neo-Nazi Aryan Survival Front, the political wing of the Nazi rock group – Honor and Konkwista 88 (the number 88 is a disguised “Heil Hitler” salute, from the letter H in the eighth position of the alphabet) – attacked black students who were celebrating the release of Nelson Mandela by the South African authorities after many years. Due to the complete passivity of the police (they watched everything from their cars), the Polish students stood up and resisted. Those who defended the beaten became victims of further attacks,” we read.

Journalists Jakub Michalak and Cezary Marszewski of “Duży format” also wrote about racists in Wrocław: “It was the warmest winter day of the 20th century in Wrocław – 24 degrees in the shade, Saturday, February 24, 1990. The African Students’ Union started its event on the Market Square to celebrate the release of the legendary leader of the African National Congress, Nelson Mandela.

They described that the riot started a few minutes later. On the 13th, about 20 skinheads walked out of the gate next to the Moda Polska store. They approached the stage where the African band was performing. “After a while, the banner with the anti-racism slogan ‘No Apartheid’ and the portrait of Nelson Mandela was broken,” the reporter reported.

“Bald-headed youth attacks students”

The weekly Przegląd described the event as “an initiatory act of Wrocław nationalists”. “Skinheaded youths attacked students, a fight broke out, and the militia stood by and watched. Fortunately, activists of the Wrocław Solidarity trade union were rallying nearby. Only after a strong call from Wladysław Vlasiniuk did the militia take action. Action”, we read.

The famous activist shared his memories in the 2005 TVP2 film “We shouted: ‘Apartheid'”. – This skin action took me by surprise. In a city without aggression, (…) in a city where no one is held accountable for wearing earrings or dyeing their hair, in a most tolerant and open city (…), suddenly a group of young people organized themselves and wanted to beat up black people, said Władysław Vlasyniuk.

The African students expected the skinheads to scream and leave. But something happened differently. There was a fight and they were all injured. — Godwin Bwire Ekonjo, who was shown in the film organizing a peaceful demonstration in Wroclaw, said, “What I was worried about was that the group was small but quite brave.” “I just remember them grabbing my legs and pulling me off the stage, which was quite high,” he said.

The police simply stood by and did nothing until Wladyslaw Vlasiniuk made a sharp appeal, at which point the police responded. “The Blues stood expressionless and motionless,” he said.

At some point, the police left, only to return some time later and start chasing the skinheads. Leszek Budrewicz, a journalist and Solidarity activist who witnessed the incident, recalled it as a “very strange picture” – three policemen chasing a dozen skinheads.

“The spiritual remnants of martial law were still there, the police could kill him with a baton, but no one would do anything against him,” he said. It was then, in his opinion, that “the private violence that today dominates the streets and trams took the first steps to gain an advantage over state violence”.

Hate attacks followed in Wroclaw. “Those who did not fit the nationalist vision of Poland were attacked: Africans, anarchists, Roma, Russians, foreign students with an exotic character,” the OKO.press portal wrote.

The “Brown Book” describes the years 2020-2023 and includes about 50 incidents related to Wroclaw. Among others, there are: During the match against Sandja, when Maissa El Hadji Fall from Senegal took a penalty kick, Wroclaw Slask fans imitated the sound of monkeys.