The arrest of the activists took place during the annual far-right-led Independence March in Warsaw on Friday. Many liberal groups opposed to the march have accused the police for years of showing favoritism to nationalists while treating protesters at the event unfairly. Counter-protesters held white roses and a banner reading “Nationalism is not patriotism” before police removed them from a location near the march route. An opposition lawmaker, Michal Szczerba of the centrist Civic Platform party, accused the ruling Law and Justice party on Saturday of creating “an oppressive state” with its treatment of peaceful protesters. Get The Times of Israel Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories By signing up, you agree to the terms A Polish senator who is also a member of the political opposition, Krzysztof Brejza, tweeted a photo of the march of participants carrying a banner bearing the “Black Sun” symbol of Nazi Germany’s SS guards. Breza noted that the police did not intervene. Himmler’s “Black Sun” (SS). On the streets of Warsaw, where his subordinate, SS Obergruppenfuhrer Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski, was killed. The Butcher of Warsaw. Hundreds see it, no one reacts. It doesn’t offend anyone. The world has turned upside down. # SwastikaToNieSymbolSzkujeścia pic.twitter.com/jH7MSbjXQS — Krzysztof Brejza (@KrzysztofBrejza) November 12, 2022 Promoting totalitarian ideologies is illegal in Poland. “During the Warsaw Uprising in 1944, thousands of Poles died at the hands of Nazi Germans from the SS. I don’t know why the police did not respond to such criminal symbolism in Warsaw, which suffered so much in WWII. On the other hand, protesters with democratic views were violently removed,” Breza told The Associated Press. Also on Saturday, the American Jewish Committee condemned an anti-Semitic event that took place amid Independence Day events in the Polish city of Krakow, where speakers on Friday denounced Jews in a park. A speaker spoke of burning Jews and the crowd chanted, “Down with the Jewish occupation.” Another rally organized by the extreme right “Kamraci”. On #IndependenceDay, they spread anti-Semitic propaganda again. This anti-Semitic, pro-Kremlin group intends to establish a political party. If this isn’t a wake-up call, what will [email protected]@[email protected] — AJC Central Europe (@AJC_CE) November 12, 2022 A police spokesman, Sylwester Marczak, said the activists arrested Friday in Warsaw, some from the group Obywatele RP, which stands for Polish Citizens, were held for several hours because they had obstructed police work and refused to show identification documents them. “These are grounds for detention,” Marczak told TVN24, an independent news broadcaster in Poland. Hanna Machinska, the country’s deputy human rights commissioner, went to the scene on Friday night to intervene. A man is seen through smoke from flares as he holds a cross with a sign reading “God, Honor, Country” as participants take part in the country’s Independence Day march organized by nationalist groups in Warsaw on November 11, 2022 ( (Wojtek Radwanski/AFP) He said the protesters did not give their IDs because they were not given a legal reason to do so. Macinska told TVN24 that the protesters were standing on a grass and were not disturbing the march or the participants. She said the inmates included older adults and her first mission was to make sure they had a chance to use the restroom. Israeli policy said directly I joined the Times of Israel after many years covering US and Israeli politics for Jewish news outlets. 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