Polish prosecutors open probe into beating, burning of hook-nosed Judas effigy

The attorney general of the Polish province of Jaroslaw has reportedly opened a criminal investigation over an Easter ceremony last Friday in which a crowd in the local town of Pruchnik beat, hanged, beheaded and burned an effigy of Judas Iscariot — Jesus’ betrayer — who was depicted with a hooked nose and a hat and sidecurls typical of ultra-Orthodox Jews.

“Based on the videos I’ve seen, I decided there is a basis for the initiation of an investigation on suspicion that a hate crime occurred there,” Agnieszka Kaczorowska says, according to Israeli public broadcaster Kan.

“We need to collect all the video material distributed online, determine who was involved in organizing the ritual and identify the people in the videos, and then we will try to determine who shouted and beat the doll,” she tells Kan.

“The prosecution will also investigate what was the children’s role in the ritual — whether they beat the doll at their parents’ directions or others’ and whether they were aware of what they were doing.”

בסרטון רואים בבירור כיצד ילדי העיירה מתאספים על מנת להכות את הבובה בעלת הסממנים היהודיים @kann_news pic.twitter.com/ze4NJjAL3m

— Antonia Yamin אנטוניה ימין (@antonia_yamin) April 21, 2019