Kielce commemorates 1946 pogrom
Poland's southern city of Kielce on Tuesday commemorated the 1946 Kielce Pogrom, in which 37 Jews were killed by local Poles.
Present at the commemoration were members of the city's Jewish community, clergy, city and regional authorities and members of the local population.
The ceremony began at midday in front of a tenement house in which most of the Jews died at the hands of civilians, police and soldiers. Delegates from Poland's Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) and the Solidarity trade union laid flowers at the foot of a commemorative plaque mounted on the building.
At 3:00 p.m. a special prayer was said for the victims at Kielce's Jewish cemetery. Planned later in the afternoon was a commemorative march.
The Kielce pogrom took place on July 4, 1946, triggered by false rumours that Jews had abducted and ritually murdered a Christian child. According to IPN, 37 Jews and three Poles were killed and about 35 Jews were injured in the rioting.
Polish courts subsequently sentenced nine of the attackers to death.
