Poland's Independence Day dominated by nationalist march

Thousands of fascists and other far-right extremists marched through Warsaw on Saturday 11 November, dominating Poland’s Independence Day with one of the largest gatherings in Europe, a rally where banners of white supremacy and red-and-white Polish flags were waved, alongside signs equating Islam with terrorism and signs denouncing same-sex marriage.

The crowd at a counterdemonstration, with the slogan “For our freedom and yours,” was greatly outnumbered. Some participants held umbrellas that spelled out “Stop Facism” and others carried a banner that read “Rainbow is the new black.”

The slogan for this year’s event was “We Want God,” words from an old religious Polish song that President Trump quoted in July while visiting Warsaw. Mr. Trump praised Poland for what he described as the country’s defense of Western civilization.

Mr Pankowski says that despite the reference to God, the march shouldn’t be viewed as inspired by religious beliefs. Far-right “neo-pagans” plan to take part along with Roman Catholic groups.

“We know that Donald Trump is not the most religious man, and I think that most of the organizers are not very religious, either,” Mr. Pankowski, a sociologist, said. “But they use Christianity as a kind of identity marker, which is mostly about being anti-Islam now.”