Dictatorship against Communism

Although the combination of these words in such context may seem ridiculous, it is perfectly justified as the Lithuanian band Diktatūra will be performing in Vilnius.

The whole gig will be held under a meaningful title “Rock against Communism” and it will take place next Saturday in the Vilnius club “Metro”. The German band Lunikoff (previously known as Landser) will give a guest performance. The both bands have in common not only the alleged aversion to the Communism but they share also the same attitude towards other nations, including Poles. A year and a half ago, the activities of Diktatūra and Lunikoff were particularly followed by media in Lithuania, Poland and Germany. This interest aroused due to the scandalous lyrics of the songs “Šalčininkų rajonas” (“Šalčininkų region”) by Diktatūra and “Polacken Tango” (“Polish Tango”) by Lunikoff.

Although the bands dissociate from the songs, the tracks can be still found on the internet, but they have limited accessibility. When the mass media started to distribute information about the subject, the administration of the Youtube service, which belongs to the Google Co., has banned the “Polacken Tango” song on Polish servers. Yet, the song can be found on foreign servers. The “Šalčininkų rajonas” song is also available but the access to them is limited by the user’s verification.

“I see red aurora / Šalčininkų region is on fire / Fiery plague rages / Polish age comes to an end.” These are the least offensive words addressed to the Poles in the “Šalčininkų rajonas” song. The more drastic ones include incitements to the extermination of not only the Poles, but also the Russians and the Jews. The image of this extermination makes the authors “glad”.

Landser presented in his song “Polacken Tango” the vision of the Wermacht being restored to Wrocław and Malbork. The Poles are called “shitty nation”: When the Polish navy sinks near Gdańsk. And a German song resounds in Malbork. Then the Wermacht with tank corps will invade Wrocław. And finally the Eastern Germany will return to motherland.

The Polish Internal Security Agency (ABW) which has investigated the activity of the Landser (Lunikoff) claimed that the song violates the Polish law and it recommended the initiation of an investigation. The case has been referred to the General Prosecutor’s Office but its examination was obstructed by the change of band’s name to Lunikoff (made by the vocalist Michael Regener, stage name “Luni”) resulting from the fact that a sentence for inheritance to a criminal group was imposed to a couple of members of the band.

The Lithuanian General Prosecutor’s Office Similar used similar arguments in the case of the Diktatūra’s song, but Lithuanian band did not change its name and its line-up remains the same as it was when the song “Šalčininkų rajonas” was launched. A group of deputies for Sejm with Jarosław Narkiewicz have filed a motion to General Prosecutor’s Office in this case.

As we have written before, Darius Karmaza (stage name “Pinčiukas”), bandleader and author of lyrics, argued that the present line-up has nothing in common with the song “Šalčininkų rajonas”, which was launched in the middle 90s of last century. “This song was written a couple of years ago and was played by the previous line-up of the band. Today’s line-up, which changed many times, dissociated from the past output. We have nothing in common with this song and that case does not concern us”, said Pinčiukas who, as he claims, joined the band after 2000. It does not comply with the truth because we managed to establish that Pinčiukas was a co-creator of the album “Tuzinas”, launched in 1998. Therefore, after 2000, Darius Karmaza did not join the band but he returned. Meanwhile, the vocalist, guitarist and the creator of the band, Adomas Puišys (stage name Kaminas) knows well the chords of the “Šalčininkų rajonas” scandalous song. What is more, according to the portal antifa.lt, the band has performed “Šalčininkų rajonas” and other nationalist songs during its jubilee concert in New York in November 2010.

However, Lithuanian Prosecutors believed more in what Pinčiukas and his friend Kaminas said. During the hearing, Kaminas renounced the song “Šalčininkų rajonas” saying that “the Diktatūra band has never created, has never sung and has never launched it”. Before it, the Diktatūra had released a press statement claiming that any kind of connection between the band and the song “Šalčininkų rajonas” is a sheer calumny. Edita Ignatavičiūtė, the Prosecutor conducting proceedings from Vilnius District Prosecutor’s Office claimed the explanations of Pinčiukas and Kaminas sufficient and she suspended the inquiry due to the lack of other suspects in this case. We can only hope that the Prosecutor Ignatavičiūtė will take the trouble in coming to the Diktatūra and Lunikoff concerts in order to convince herself of the fairness of the decision.

Source: http://kurierwilenski.lt/2013/01/08/dyktatura-przeciwko-komunizmowi/

Tłumaczenie Bartłomiej Cichoń w ramach praktyk w Europejskiej Fundacji Praw Człowieka, www.efhr.eu. Translated by Bartłomiej Cichoń the framework of a traineeship programme of the European Foundation of Human Rights, www.efhr.eu.