On July 10, 2017, Warsaw’s Krakowskie Przedmieście once again became the site of parallel gatherings marking the 87th monthly commemoration of the 2010 Smolensk air crash. The official ceremony, attended by government representatives and families of the victims, was accompanied by a counter-demonstration organized by the civic movement Obywatele RP (Citizens of Poland). Among those who joined the protest was former Solidarity activist Władysław Frasyniuk. While government supporters marched...
The New Nationalism at the Heart of Europe is a large photo and video-art project, in which Tomáš Rafa maps the public manifestations of nationalism, extreme right, racism and lack of tolerance in different countries. Since 2009, the artist documents meetings of radical and revolutionary groups, but also the anti-government and anti-extremist demonstrations, marches and supporting events for the rights of the minorities or clashes of anti-Fascists with supporters of ultra right movements. read more
On October 13th, 2018, Lublin, a city in eastern Poland, held its first-ever LGBTQ+ Pride parade. The event, organized by Lublin Equality Parade, was intended to promote tolerance and acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community and celebrate diversity. Despite the parade being a peaceful demonstration, it was met with hostility from anti-LGBTQ+ protesters. An estimated 200 counter-demonstrators showed up to disrupt the celebrations, throwing bottles, bricks, and stones, as well as lighting flames at the...
Berlin Wedding, Germany, 30th April 2012 7,000 police officers were deployed on Monday and Tuesday to keep the demonstrations under control. Traditionally, the violent “anticapitalist Walpurgis Night demo” has passed through Friedrichshain and Prenzlauer Berg. This time, it was unexpectedly relocated to the Sprengelkiez and Brüsseler Kiez in Wedding, an area between the Wedding S-Bahn station, the northern shore of the Berlin-Spandauer Shipping Canal, and See- and Müllerstraße. This...
The Idomeni refugee camp in Greece has become an emblematic symbol of the ongoing refugee crisis in Europe. Located on the Greek-Macedonian border, the camp was initially designed to accommodate around 1,500 people but quickly became overcrowded as the influx of refugees and migrants continued. At its peak, the camp housed over 8,500 individuals, leading to dire conditions and a severe lack of resources. Life in Idomeni was marked by constant struggle and uncertainty. With limited access to...
Germany/Austria, Refugees
V33: “Refugees Are Welcome Here” Demonstration for Solidarity and Human Dignity in Berlin
On 21 June 2015, thousands of people gathered in the centre of Berlin to mark World Refugee Day with a peaceful march under the slogan “Refugees Are Welcome Here.” The demonstration began in the multicultural district of Kreuzberg and continued toward the Brandenburg Gate, filling the streets with banners, music, and messages of support for people fleeing war, violence, and poverty. Participants called for open borders, the protection of human rights, and an end to deportations. The march...
This video captures the civilian population caught in the middle of the ongoing war in Ukraine, which started with the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014. The conflict has been fueled by a hybrid war, involving not only military operations, but also propaganda, cyber attacks, and the support of separatist movements. Despite several ceasefires, the fighting has continued, and the conflict has caused the largest refugee crisis in Europe since World War II. In 2022, the situation in Ukraine...
On April 29, 2017, the far-right nationalist group Obóz Narodowo-Radykalny (ONR, or National Radical Camp) held a controversial march in Warsaw, Poland. The event marked the anniversary of the ONR’s founding in the 1930s, an era when the group was known for its xenophobic, anti-Semitic, and ultra-nationalist agenda. The march was met with widespread criticism from human rights organizations, left-wing activists, and civic groups. Opponents accused the ONR of promoting hate speech and extremist...
The first scenes of The Cross (Krzyż) unfold in the aftermath of the 10 April 2010 Smolensk plane crash, which killed President Lech Kaczyński, his wife Maria, and 94 members of the Polish political and military elite. In the shock that followed, a symbolic wooden cross was erected outside the Presidential Palace on Krakowskie Przedmieście in Warsaw. Intended initially as a temporary memorial, the cross quickly became the centre of a heated national dispute. What began as an improvised shrine...
Bratislava, the capital city of Slovakia, was the site of historical first Pride Parade for the rights of LGBTQ individuals on May 22, 2010. The event was marred by violent clashes with members of the far-right extremist group, the Slovak Solidarity, who threw stones and tear gas grenades at the participants of the parade. Many of the LGBTQ individuals suffered injuries in these confrontations. The march, which began at Hviezdoslav Square in the city center, had to be rerouted to the other side...
On August 29, 2009, approximately 200 Roma residents of Turzovka, a town in the Kysuce region of Slovakia, left their homes a day before a planned anti-Roma protest by the extremist organization Slovenská Pospolitosť (Slovak Brotherhood). Local residents and the town’s mayor confirmed the exodus, with some Roma unable to fit on buses to Ostrava and resorting to taxis and cars. In anticipation of the protest, dozens of police vehicles and hundreds of officers were dispatched to Turzovka. A...
On 30 April 2025, several hundred people gathered in front of the Slovak National Theatre (SND) in Bratislava for the protest Netreba nám Netrebko (“We Don’t Need Netrebko”), organised by the platform Otvorená kultúra! (Open Culture!). The demonstration took place shortly before a gala concert by Russian soprano Anna Netrebko and expressed opposition to the theatre’s decision to invite an artist whose past relationship with Vladimir Putin and support for pro-Russian separatists had generated...
Poland
V28: “Czarny Protest” and the “Conference of Polish Women Bishops” Along Krakowskie Przedmieście
On 24 October 2016, in Warsaw the women’s rights movement organised a day of action under the banner of Czarny Protest (Black Protest), building on earlier mobilisations in September and October. On this day, a procession called the Konferencja Episkopatu Polek (Conference of Polish Women Bishops) walked along the Royal Route (Trakt Królewski) and stopped at several churches, including St. Krzyż, Visitation, Seminary, St. Anna and St. John’s Cathedral. The participants carried banners saying...