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Reader Question Of The Day: Polish Nazis?
This disturbing query comes courtesy of a chap name Frankie. He writes:
Long-time listener, first-time caller. As someone who has read your blog and lived in the neighborhood for a while now, I thought I’d ask you about something that’s been troubling me recently. I’ve noticed an increase in neo-Nazi/white power skinhead types in Greenpoint, mostly younger teens (I remember that there was more of a visible presence a long time ago, but it seemed to have mostly died out). I’ve seen kids wearing swastika pins, and last night I saw some kids wearing white power shirts. As someone who spends a lot of time out and about in Greenpoint, have you noticed anything similar? I don’t mean to sound paranoid, but this is really upsetting.
PS – I’m not one of those people who sees a shaved head and assumes the worst. I know the diff between classic skins, SHARPs, etc.
Speaking for myself I have not seen this. It should be noted, however, that I live in the far north part of Greenpoint (which is largely Hispanic and as such would take a dim view of such stuff). The previous having been said (and in light of a video one of my neighbors shot a couple years ago) I would not rule it out. Thoughts, anyone?
Miss Heather
UPDATE, 7:55 p.m.: A reader forwarded me this news story from twenty years ago. Go just past the eight minute mark. Very interesting.
Comments
6 Comments on Reader Question Of The Day: Polish Nazis?
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JarredG on
Fri, 13th Feb 2009 2:53 pm
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gubatron on
Fri, 13th Feb 2009 6:29 pm
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SpillConspirator on
Fri, 13th Feb 2009 7:18 pm
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missheather on
Fri, 13th Feb 2009 7:25 pm
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d on
Fri, 13th Feb 2009 9:28 pm
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elvacilando on
Sat, 14th Feb 2009 10:12 am
I live on Franklin BTW Green and Huron and haven’t noticed anything, though I will admit to being pretty oblivious to things/people while walking. Also I never go past Manhattan Ave.
I haven’t seen anything (and I’m paranoid as fuck for my personal safety, I lived in Caracas for many years, I still have the habit of eyeballing everyone on the street in front and behind me, never spotted a swastika in greenpoint)
Unfortunately, there IS a group of young people that are into this crap. I’m not sure if they actually live in this community or not. But over the years, we’ve experienced them coming around to start in with the young Hispanics in N. Greenpoint. On McGuiness Blvd right off of Dupont St. they had painted a large swastika on the wall several times. The owner, a real nice guy actually keeps a bucket of paint just to keep painting them over. The REALLY ironic part of this is that most of those guys look and sound Polish. I wonder if they know that the Pols were victims of the same types of actions.
I remember that swastika on Dupont Street. That was 2002 or 2003 if I remember correctly.
I grew up in a very large Polish community and I honestly never met anyone who was anti-semitic. My first exposure to the Holocaust was the elderly Polish Catholic gentleman next door, who was my best friend’s grandfather and a holocaust survivor – he still had a brand on his arm from having been in a concentration camp. I will never, ever forget that to my dying days.
Nice clip from the 80s of skinheads. I was a teenager back then, knew real skinheads, not the Nazi assholes…I remember when that stuff happened and how pissed off the classic skinheads were to have their look appropriated in such a way.
I live on russell between nassau and norman. there is one cat across the street from me, probably around 18, that is a neo-nazi skinhead. i see him every day, but he only rocks the full attire when he is with his crew. last winter, i saw his full team of misguided youth on my block, having a snowball fight. it was surreal.
thomas
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