Poland Apologizes To Rabbi After Attack

Poland's president expressed solidarity with the country's chief rabbi, who was attacked over the weekend, assuring the Jewish leader he would do everything in his power to oppose anti-Semitism.

President Lech Kaczynski invited Rabbi Michael Schudrich to his palace, where he expressed regret over the attack and said Poland will not tolerate anti-Semitism, said the presidential undersecretary of state, Ewa Junczyk-Ziomecka. "The purpose was to say 'I'm sorry for what happened,"' Junczyk-Ziomecka, who was present during the nearly one-hour meeting, said.

She said Kaczynski also told Schudrich that "Poland is an open society, a democratic society. It is open for everyone who wants to be here."

Schudrich said he was "very moved" by Kaczynski's invitation and words of solidarity. "It was a very clear reaction and very important in showing that there is no place in Poland for anti-Semitism," Schudrich said.