Jewish organizations condemn Czech President's silence on publicist's anti-Semitism

The European Shoah Legacy Institute and other Jewish organizations are objecting to the fact that Czech President Václav Klaus and others have not yet distanced themselves from the “anti-Jewish obsessions” of online publicist Adam B. Bartoš. The Institute says that Bartoš, who at one time was a member of the conservative association Mladá pravice (“The Young Right”), has been photographed together with Klaus, presidential staffer Petr Hájek, and Mladá pravice representatives, as well as others. Some of the photos are posted to Bartoš’s website.

The European Shoah Legacy Institute, the Federation of Jewish Communities in the Czech Republic, the Terezín Initiative and the Jewish Museum in Prague have issued a joint statement of outrage about Bartoš’s anti-Jewish statements. The organizations say he disseminates those views through his blog.

“It seems that those whose affinities Mr. Bartoš flaunts are perhaps not well informed about his activities, even though his blog has been scrutinized in nearly all media. Be that as it may, keeping silent in this case shifts the border of tolerance toward a dangerous and primitive extremist demagoguery, no matter if what is being alluded to is nationality, race, religion, political, or something else. If such silence is meant to show respect for civil liberties, which surely gives one the right to endorse conservatism and tradition, then it is also incumbent on us to remember how such values were abused in the past and what the consequences were,” the joint statement reads in part.

Journalists previously objected to Klaus’s acceptance of Bartoš’s creations after the Czech President called one of Bartoš’s texts a work of “genius” in an interview for the Czech daily Lidové noviny (LN) in December 2010. Czech Green Party chair Ondřej Liška has also filed a criminal complaint against Bartoš over his statements. Bartoš also got attention by compiling a list of “pravdoláskaři” [“Love-and-Truthers”, a cynical reference to the motto of the late Czech President Václav Havel, “Truth and love must prevail over lies and hate.”].

The European Shoah Legacy Institute, based in the Czech Republic, was created in January 2010 on the basis of the Terezín Declaration signed by European Union representatives during the Czech Republic’s EU Presidency in 2009. The entire text of the declaration by the European Shoah Legacy Institute, the Federation of Jewish Communities in the Czech Republic, the Terezín Initiative and the Jewish Museum in Prague can be read here: http://www.shoahlegacy.org/focus/joint-statement .