I came across this piece of graffito in January, on a wall in Ulica Bochenska, in fact on the wall of No 4, which used to be an Orthodox Jewish Prayer House. My assumption was that it was some sort of anti-Jewish logo; perhaps an illiterate attempt to draw the Star of David. Ruth and I came back
Not surprisingly, I assumed this to be some sort of anti-Semitic propoganda, so I consulted my good friend, Teresa Tociewic once I got back to England. The literal translation is:
Armia Bialez Gwiazdy - ‘White Star Army’. Straight away I thought of the Russian White Army, which was the right wing opposition to the communist Red Army
Nigdy Niezejdziemy Na Psy! - ‘We won’t sink to the level of dogs!’. I thought that this might equate to the ‘Never Surrender!’ that you can still see on house walls in Belfast, but Teresa reckoned that it was a lot milder than that.
Jude Gang - bit trickier, because, of course, ‘Jude’ is German for Jew - the Polish word is ‘Zyd’. ‘Gang’ just means ‘gang’
Anyway, it still all seemed straightforward to me; a right-wing gang of anti-Semitic hooligans - until Teresa did a bit more research. It turns out that White Star Army is the Krakovian equivalent of ‘Toon Army’ - here’s the link to the website of the local football team, Wisla Krakow
http://www.wislakrakow.com/www/
Incidentally, on the other side of the road, at No 7, is one of the old Jewish theatres. Such places were of vital importance in maintaining Jewish culture; this one is now private residences (with residents who are very suspicious of strangers photographing their apartments) but still retains traces of its theatrical past.
