"Never Again" Association is an independent anti-racism organization, based in Warsaw. The organization has its roots in an in-formal anti-Nazi youth group that was active since 1992, and was formally founded in 1996 at Bydgoszcz by. As of 2010, there were several hundred members in the organization, of which some 80% were in Poland and 20% were in other European countries. As of 2018, the organization is headed by Rafał Pankowski. "Never Again's" publications have been modeled after the British Searchlight publication, with which it cooperates. "Never Again" regularly cooperates with the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Publications
The organization publishes, since 1994, the "Never Again" magazine. The magazine is focused on countering intolerance, fascism, racism and xenophobia. A 2009 cover story on "Slavic Abuse", by Marcin Kornak, described groups that committed to the pagan Rodzimowierstwo beliefs coupled with right-wing leanings. Kornak described in the article the far-right, fascist, appropriation of neo-paganism with roots in Jan Stachniuk's pre-WWII Zadruga movement. Kornak asserted that fascist neo-paganism sees the role of paganism as "an ideological fist aimed the Judeo-Christian concept of charity, humility,..." saying this was a perversion of the original Slavic religion which certainly was not based on antisemitic complexes. Kornak's article elicited a response in Gniazdo periodical in which the writer noted that in his view Kornak's basic thesis was correct but complained that Kornak "sees "little Nazis" almost everywhere". The organization's Brown Book, compiles xenophobic, racist, and anti-gay incidents.
Activities
In 2003, "Never Again" organized a campaign with the slogan "Let's Kick Racism out of the Stadiums", imploring the Polish Football Association to act against racism in the sport. "Never Again" subsequently gave a presentation at a conference on stadium security organized by the football association. Among other endorsements, Poland's first black internationalplayerEmmanuel Olisadebe endorsed their work. In 2012, ahead of UEFA Euro2012 in Poland and Ukraine, "Never Again" launched one of the most extensive anti-racist campaigns in football, as part of the Fare network in which "Never Again" is a co-founder. In 2017, "Never Again's" Rafał Pankowski condemned the sale in the Parliament of Poland of "lucky Jew" figurines which depict Jews with money, as "deeply rooted in negative stereotypes". Following Pankowski's condemnation, the figurines were removed from sale. In 2018, after over a decade of lobbying, "Never Again" convinced the Allegro site to halt sales of item bearing Nazi symbols, A team of "Never Again" volunteers reported sales of over 1,000 such auctions to Allegro which then took them down. While such items are illegal in Poland and prohibited by Allegro's terms of use, prior to "Never Again's" activities the sale of such items on Allegro were widespread.
