Israeli soccer club's 'murderers' banner described as 'scandalous' by Polish president [View all]

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6555174/2025/08/15/maccabi-haifa-israel-banner-poland/

https://archive.ph/oU57E



Polish President Karol Nawrocki says a “scandalous” banner from fans of Israeli soccer club Maccabi Haifa insulted his nation’s victims of the Second World War. Maccabi Haifa fans unveiled a banner reading “Murderers since 1939” in their Conference League match against Polish club Rakow Czestochowa on Thursday.

“The scandalous banner displayed by Maccabi Haifa fans insults the memory of Polish citizens — victims of World War Two, including three million Jews,” Nawrocki, a historian who previously headed the state’s Institute of National Remembrance, posted on X. “Stupidity that no words can justify.”



Poland was occupied by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union following an invasion in September 1939. Around six million Poles — roughly a fifth of the nation’s pre-war population — died during World War Two, including approximately 3.2 million Polish Jews killed in The Holocaust. The nation’s Jewish population was the largest in Europe at the start of the war and almost all were killed during the atrocities, many of them in Nazi death camps.

Thursday’s match, designated as the ‘home’ game for Maccabi Haifa, was played in Debrecen, Hungary, for security reasons due to the ongoing Israel-Gaza war. No matches in UEFA competitions can be held in Israel due to the situation.



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