For people who distribute anti-Semitic publications, 23 percent supported legal punishment, 52 percent supported denouncement and 16 percent said there should be no sanctions.
Stanislaw Krajewski, a leader of the Warsaw Jewish community, said the responses are “relatively optimistic,” as more than three-fourths of Poles disapprove of anti-Semitic expression. Younger respondents, he said, were more likely to disapprove of anti-Semitic behavior.
“The positive change is clear and rightly attributed to the recent activities of Pope John Paul II,” Krajewski said.
The pope apologized for Catholic anti-Semitism before he visited Israel in March.
Krajewski noted, however, that several marginal candidates in Poland’s presidential campaign were using “the Jewish threat” as an element of their campaign.