The iconic image of Che Guevara, which adorns the walls and t-shirts of students worldwide, could be banned in Poland under a government proposal aimed at prohibiting materials that incite “fascism and totalitarian systems”.
By Matthew Day in Warsaw
Last updated: 5:27 p.m. BST April 23, 2009
The Minister of Equality in Poland, Elzbieta Radziszewska, wants to expand an existing Polish law that prohibits the production of fascist and totalitarian propaganda to include clothing and any other items that could convey an image related to an authoritarian system.
Anyone found guilty could face a two-year prison sentence. Mrs. Radziszewska stated that the proposed amendment to current legislation “would assist organizations fighting against racism”.
This proposal, which might result in the faces of some major figures from communist history like Lenin and Trotsky being removed from t-shirts and flags, reflects a Polish view of communism that is very different from the romantic and rosy images often found in the West.
After enduring four difficult decades of communism and the horrors of Nazi occupation, few Poles are hesitant to equate the inequalities of Nazism and communism in the eyes of the law.
“Communism was a terrible and murderous system that claimed millions of lives,” said Professor Wojciech Roszkowski, a prominent Polish historian and member of the European Parliament.
“It was very similar to National Socialism, and there is no reason to treat those two systems and their symbols differently. Their glorification should be prohibited.”
He added that communism was responsible for the massacre of thousands of Poles in the Katyn Massacre, while its gulags consumed countless millions of victims.
The proposed changes, which have already reached the committee stage in the Polish parliament, also demonstrate the Polish determination to ensure that, over time, no one begins to view the communist past of the country with nostalgia.
Moreover, the Polish government hopes that stricter legislation will take a firm stance against the trade of materials featuring Nazi emblems.
Markets in western Poland have benefited from German neofascists purchasing memorabilia from the Third Reich, such as swastikas and photographs of Hitler, which are banned by the strict regulations of their own country.