Madonna's world tour has been surrounded by
controversy and the latest involved Catholic and veterans' groups in Poland
protesting against a concert by Madonna because it falls on the anniversary of
the Warsaw Uprising. The group argued
that it was inappropriate for Madonna to perform during the Polish capital’s
annual remembrance of the doomed 63-day uprising against Nazi occupiers, in
which an estimated 200,000 civilians died.
Responding to critics, Madonna showed a World War
II-era newsreel about the Warsaw Uprising against the Nazis during her concert
in the city on the anniversary of that 1944 revolt before the performance. Agence France-Presse reported that thousands
of fans applauded as the two-and-a-half minute film played.
Every year, Poles commemorate the
lives lost during the uprising. One Catholic group – Krucjata Młodych (Youth Crusade), had started an online campaign
urging people not to attend the concert. The group also held anti-Madonna Mass services and street prayer
sessions. Billboards around the capital
promoting the concert had been defaced with the sign of the Polish Home Army,
the largest underground army in Nazi-occupied Europe.
