For those of you who are unaware, in 2015, the Prawo i Sprawiedliwość (PiS), or the Law and Justice Party (hmm, law and justice... sounds pretty authoritarian doesn’t it?), won the majority of Polish elections, taking control of virtually every branch of government in the Polish State. Immediately, this far-right nationalistic conservative party did everything in its power to distance itself from the Liberalism in Western Europe that many Poles spent their whole lives fighting for in the '70s and '80s when Poland was a communist satellite state of the Soviet Union. Over the past three years, PiS has taken control of the Polish Supreme court, taken over the Polish media, refused to take in Syrian refugees claiming that they are “diseased,” and has virtually pissed off the European Union (which Poland is a member of) in every way possible.

Most recently, PiS has created a new law in regards to the holocaust, which criminalizes any sort of speech that ties Poland to the holocaust in any way. This is extremely problematic. Unfortunately, during the holocaust, while some Poles sacrificed their lives to hide Jews in their cellars, there were many Poles who contributed to the holocaust by turning Jews into the Nazis or even flat-out murdering them themselves. Creating a holocaust law such as PiS’s new law basically works to erase that aspect of Polish history, which is flat-out disgusting, and a disgrace to many of the Polish Jews who were slaughtered during the war, as well as to those Poles who sacrificed their lives to save Jews.

This new law is outraging, and through it, Poland has begun to lose one of its allies, Israel. This law, however, is only one law in a series of events that have already been taking place, even since PiS came to power. I firmly believe that PiS is ruining the country. Poland has already lost its standing and respect in the EU and has slowly started to become a nationalistic authoritarian country. I do know, however, that PiS does not represent the opinion of all of Poland, and that there are many who are against peace. So here is an open letter to Poland, and more specifically, PiS.

Dear Poland, Dear PiS,

Please stop doing what you are doing. Your far-right conservatism, hyper-nationalism, and strong push to involve the Catholic Church in the political sphere hasn’t done anything good for Poland. Ever since you have come into to power, Poland, which was in the process of making a name for itself in the European Union as the economic hub and powerhouse of Eastern Europe, has lost virtually all respect of the European Union. Seriously, fuck you.

Your policies have stirred up a kind of ethnocentric nationalism that has bred sexism, racism, and homophobia. I, as an ethnic Pole and Polish citizen, was saddened and disgusted by the racism, anti-Semitism, and total ethnocentrism I experienced on my latest trip to Poland. I was thankful that most of my family members did not partake in such a culture, but I will say I witnessed those ideals in the form of offensive jokes, and anti-Western commentary coming from the media, or from people whom I met that I wasn’t too close with.

One of the most prevalent thoughts that came into my head, after experiencing this was “How can a nation that has lost so much, a nation that knows and understands suffering, a nation that was invaded by Germany because it was considered to be ethnically inferior, now bask in a culture which promotes the same ideals that have caused it so much harm?”

You have gained power in Poland through fear tactics, and by literally promoting baseless conspiracy theories, such as that of the plane crash of the former Polish President Lech Kaczynski. You have promoted the idea that his plane crash was set up by the Russians and you have gone even further into the claim that your former liberal and pro-EU prime minister Donald Tusk worked with the Russians to stage this plane crash. Read the last part over again. Yeah, that’s right, a pro-EU person worked with the Russians to try to destroy Poland? That sounds ridiculous! Do you seriously believe that?

You have also worked to promote the idea that Poland is a victim of the West. I will never forget reading the PiS flyers that my cousin showed me in which you flat-out claimed that the “Jews were working with the Germans to take over Europe.” I cannot believe that your disgusting party has spewed that kind of propaganda, and I am disgusted that somehow you have managed to come into power. Shame on you!

You have basically hijacked the Polish state. You have worked to diminish rule of law; you have taken control of the national justice system, and of the media. Over the last three years you have been in power, you have used propaganda to gain power and influence and have literally gone against all the checks and balances that were created to assert yourself and maintain that power. The European Union has tried to counter your disgusting power grabs, they have warned you and have imposed sanctions on you.

However, you have continued to use propaganda to victimize the Polish State against the “evils of Europe.” You claim that you are doing this for the Polish people, but I, as a Polish citizen, do not feel that is true. You have harmed the Polish nation and have isolated it from its allies. You have embarrassed the Polish people in Europe and around the world.

Your actions may also potentially lead to Poland being asked to leave the Union, which has brought economic prosperity to Poland and given Poles the right to travel, live, and work anywhere in the Schengen area (a right which I do not want to lose as a Polish citizen). Worst of all, you have brought disgrace to all those who have fought for freedom and democracy in Poland during the Solidarność movement. Many lost their lives to put an end to communism and bring democracy to Poland, and your actions have worked to undo that.

However, I do know that you will not be in power forever. There is a growing number of Polish individuals (usually educated) who are fighting your government and actively resisting it. I have seen the protests on the streets and have witnessed the waving of the Polish flag next the EU flag with the chants “wolność, równość, demokracia” (freedom, equality, democracy).

To those Poles, I commend you, and I firmly believe that you are the future of Poland. In the midst of all the injustices committed and promoted by PiS, I am comforted in at least knowing that you are there fighting for change and that you have not forgotten the commitment of those who fought for Polish democracy in Solidarność. As a foreign-born Polish citizen, I thank you for your sacrifice and commitment.

So, I leave with a final message for PiS and the Polish State: Please stop what you are doing. Just stop, step down from the government, and let those who are good for the country govern. You have not done anything good for Poland, so please just listen to the educated class of your citizens who are actively fighting and resisting you.

Yours truly,

A proud and liberal Polish-American.