Around a fifth of people polled in central and eastern European countries say they do not accept Jews as fellow citizens and do not want Jewish neighbors.
Some 32% of Armenians, 23% of Lithuanians, 22% of Romanians, 19% of Czechs, 18% of Poles, 16% of Greeks and 14% of Russians do not accept Jews as fellow citizens, according to a Pew Research Center survey of 18 central and eastern European countries conducted in 2015-2016 and published last week.
While 18% of Poles do not accept Jews as fellow citizens, an even higher percentage do not accept Jews as neighbors (20%) or as members of their families (30%).
Poland's recently passed libel law, which criminalizes the attribution of Nazi crimes to Poland, has raised concerns that it will serve to whitewash Poland's history of anti-Semitism and racism.
Most Poles, 57%, say it is better for a society to be composed of people with the same background. Sixty-four percent of Poles say it is important to be Catholic to be "truly Polish."
Also according to the survey, 55% of Poles agree with the statement, "Our people are not perfect, but our culture is superior to others." The poll found that people who adhere to such nationalistic positions are more likely to express negative views about other minorities.
According to the survey although a sizeable percentage of Poles does not accept Jews, Jews are more favorably viewed than other minorities, such as Muslims and Roma.
While 30% of Poles say they would not be willing to accept Jews as members of their family, 55% would not accept Muslims in their families and 49% say the same of Roma.
While 20% of Poles say they would not accept Jews as neighbors, 43% say they would not accept Muslims and 38% say they would not accept Roma as neighbors.
While 18% of Poles say they would not accept Jews as fellow citizens, while 41% say the same of Muslims and 30% of Roma.
