Mława pogrom

The Mława pogrom^[1] was a series of violent incidents in June 1991 when a rioting mob attacked Roma residents of the Polish town of Mława causing hundreds to flee in terror. The violence, described as motivated by racism and jealousy, received editorial condemnation from international media.^[2][3]

Prelude

On 23 June 1991, seventeen-year old Roman Packowski hit and seriously injured two young pedestrians while driving. Unlike both of the victims, the driver of the car was of Romani ethnicity. Soon after the accident the local radio station claimed the driver had fled the scene. This claim was in fact true;^[4] however, the driver only fled after people who witnessed the scene indicated that they wanted to "administer justice" there and then.[1]

Two weeks later 21-year old Jaroslaw Pinczewski would die from his injuries. The other victim, seventeen-year old Katarzyna Zakrzewska, suffered permanent physical incapacitation.^[5]

Events of June 26

Two days later some sixty Mława youths targeted and destroyed the house of a local Roma leader. The assailants quickly grew in number and began burning other Roma homes. Estimates put the number of participants in the violence from one hundred to two hundred.^[6] Some Roma found protection at the local police station. The pogrom lasted five days. A total of 17 Roma houses were destroyed and further 4 houses and 9 apartments were vandalized, and some members of the Roma community severely hurt. The crowd apparently targeted wealthier Roma and their estates. It was stopped when police brought additional forces and imposed a curfew.^[7]

Legacy

Polish media has been heavily criticised^{[by whom?]} for its poor reporting of the attacks and for failing to present the issues in a wider societal context. A notable exception was former political dissident Adam Michnik, who writing in Gazeta Wyborcza castigated the police and political authorities for their inaction. The paper also demanded 'official action against ethnic hatred'. As a result, a number of political parties and academic institutions belatedly condemned the pogrom.^[8]

The eruption of ethnic violence at Mława in 1991 has been described as 'the renewal of anti-Gypsy racism in Poland'. It was directly linked to a significant rise in Polish Roma asylum applications in the United Kingdom^[9] and Sweden,^[10] shortly after.

Afterwards, 21 persons were brought to court, and 17 were sentenced for up to 30 months in prison.

External links

• Information about the event European Roma Rights Center

References

1. ^ Emigh, Rebecca Jean; Szelényi, Iván (2001). Poverty, ethnicity, and gender in Eastern Europe during the market transition. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 101–102. ISBN 9780275968816. http://books.google.ie/books?id=O_tXHTK2kQUC&pg=PA101&dq=%22were+a+few+pogroms+and+attacks+against+Roma+in+Poland%22&hl=en&ei=0AA-Tf-3J4OYhQfK1pGeCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCQQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22were%20a%20few%20pogroms%20and%20attacks%20against%20Roma%20in%20Poland%22&f=false. Retrieved 2011-01-24. 
2. ^ "Poles Vent Their Economic Rage on Gypsies". The New York Times. July 25, 1991. http://www.nytimes.com/1991/07/25/world/poles-vent-their-economic-rage-on-gypsies.html?src=pm. Retrieved 26 January 2011. 
3. ^ "Hooligans and the Neighbors' Cow". New York Times. July 29, 1991. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20610FD3C5D0C7A8EDDAE0894D9494D81. Retrieved 26 January 2011. 
4. ^ Anna Giza-Poleszczuk i Jan Poleszczuk, "Cyganie i Polacy w Mławie konflikt etniczny czy społeczny?" prepared for CBOS, Warszawa, December 1992, pages 24 to 29
5. ^ Cahn, Claude (2002). Claude Cahn. ed. Roma rights: race, justice, and strategies for equality. Sourcebook on contemporary controversies. IDEA. p. 119. ISBN 9780970213068. http://books.google.ie/books?id=y8E9u2aD4fYC&pg=PA119&dq=%22in+the+Polish+town+of+Mlawa%22&hl=en&ei=nZVATeGCHImChQeCo9DzCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22in%20the%20Polish%20town%20of%20Mlawa%22&f=false. Retrieved 2011-01-26. 
6. ^ EU Accession Monitoring Program (2001). Monitoring the EU accession process: minority protection : country reports. Monitoring the EU accession process. 1. Budapest: Central European University Press. p. 380. ISBN 9781891385193. http://books.google.ie/books?ei=LVZATdD3JqSShAfnvpCSCA&ct=result&id=8-IVAQAAIAAJ&dq=MLAWA+poland+romanies&q=MLAWA+#search_anchor. Retrieved 2011-01-27. 
7. ^ Klimkiewicz, Beata (7 July 2004). "When the media make a difference: Comparing two European race crimes". European Roma Rights Centre. pp. The pogrom in Mlawa, Poland: no media influence on justice. http://www.errc.org/cikk.php?cikk=1127. Retrieved 27 January 2011. 
8. ^ Cahn (2002) p120
9. ^ Acton, Thomas Alan (1997). Gypsy politics and Traveller identity. Univ of Hertfordshire Press. p. 109. ISBN 9780900458750. http://books.google.ie/books?id=Qr3pF8qyS_AC&pg=PA109&dq=%22In+1991+a+pogrom+at+Mlawa%22&hl=en&ei=CqFATeP6IIKyhAfk19ynBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCQQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22In%201991%20a%20pogrom%20at%20Mlawa%22&f=false. Retrieved 2011-01-27. 
10. ^ Drobizheva, L. M. (1996). Ethnic conflict in the post-Soviet world: case studies and analysis. Armenian Research Center collection. M.E. Sharpe. p. 316. ISBN 9781563247408. http://books.google.ie/books?id=KjXvqzUyZ1cC&pg=PA316&dq=MLAWA+poland+romanies&hl=en&ei=LVZATdD3JqSShAfnvpCSCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCkQ6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q=mlawa&f=false. Retrieved 2011-01-27.