An anti-Israel banner from the late 1960s, found in the basement corridor of a tenement building in Muranów.
At the beginning of the second decade of the 21st century, the administration of the house at 12 Nalewki Street, in advance of the routine cleaning of the underground areas, appealed to residents to put unwanted items in front of their cellars. The tenement was built in 1953, its cellars are extensive, two story deep and intended to double as anti-nuclear shelters. The banner was found among many discarded items. It was discovered by Małgorzata Rittersschild, who recognised its historical value and donated it to the collection of the POLIN Museum (see statement by the donor from the filmCollectiondirected by Małgorzata Kozera, 10-11 minute mark: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prTVKdqFHLI, accessed 24.12.2023).
In June 1967, Israel attacked Egypt, Syria and Jordan in response to the Arab closure of the Gulf of Aqaba. This was the third Israeli-Arab war, known as the Six-Day War, which ended in an instant Israeli victory. The UN Security Council in the autumn of 1967 passed a resolution calling on Israel to withdraw from the conquered lands, and the Soviet satellite states of Eastern Europe, including People's Republic of Poland, severed diplomatic relations with Israel (only resumed in the late 1980s and early 1990s). In workplaces all over Poland, the authorities organised rallies in June, and the conflict has been referenced to also later. In the collection of the Karta Centre there is a photograph of Romuald Broniarek from the Warsaw march on 1 May 1968 (signature: BRONIAREK_630-06, https://foto.karta.org.pl/nasze-zbiory/kolekcje/ok_0600_broniarek_romuald,118858,zdjecie.html, accessed 24.12.2023), the banner visible there comes from the same series as the present object (identical lettering, similar dimensions; banners of this type, also hand-painted, were made in bulk). Moreover, in another photo from the same march - by Wojciech Laski (link:https://wydarzenia.interia.pl/galerie/kraj/zdjecie,iId,980502,iAId,69962, accessed 24.12.2023) - not only is the banner from this series visible, but also two similar ones: one starting with the slogan “Potępiamy!” (“We condemn!”) can be seen. (POTĘPIAMY! | REWIZJONISTÓW | I SYJONISTÓW) | REVISIONISTS | AND SYJONISTS), the other beginning with "Down with!" (PRECZ! | Z PROWOKACJAMI | SYJONISTYCZNYMI) (DOWN WITH! | ZIONIST | PROVOCATIONS), meaning that there was a peculiar set of banners with slogans starting with exclamation marks (probably larger than the three known from the photos), intended to 'correspond' and complement each other during the marches, creating 'anti-Zionist' and anti-Israeli messages.
The plywood of the banner in the collection of the POLIN Museum, on which the printed paper was pasted, was reused: there are visible markings and stamps on the back.
edited by Przemyslaw Kaniecki
