A far-right Polish politician denied the existence of gas chambers at Auschwitz in a radio interview this week.
MEP Grzegorz Braun said in a radio interview that gas chambers at concentration camps were “fake” and that the Auschwitz museum was promoting “pseudo-history".
He stated that “ritual murder is a fact,” alleging that Jews committed blood-libelous killings.
Later, a left-wing MP filed a complaint against him; prosecutors then secured evidence and gave the case to Poland’s Institute of National Remembrance.
The Auschwitz Museum has said that it will pursue legal action.
In Poland, acts of Holocaust denial can be punishable by up to three years in prison.
Condemnation of the rhetoric
The US Embassy in Warsaw condemned his actions that distorted the realities of the Holocaust in a Friday post.
“The most important lesson of the Holocaust is that the deprivation of humanity and hatred can lead to cruelties that overwhelm entire nations,” the statement read.
“The United States is deeply committed to confronting antisemitism, promoting Holocaust education, and defending the truth against distortion. We condemn actions that distort history, desecrate memory, or spread antisemitism.”
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski also said that Braun is “doing work that harms Poland.”
“If he were a Russian agent, he could not perform his task any better,” Sikorski said.
“I don’t understand why there was no intervention when he was caught in the act,” he added. “This is a man who attacked a religious ceremony in Parliament, during which bodily integrity was violated. He physically destroys people’s property and damages exhibitions in the Sejm. When someone is caught red-handed, even if they are a member of parliament, they can be detained.
Braun has been known to engage in public antisemitic stunts in Poland.
On Thursday, he blocked Polish Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich from leaving the commemoration ceremony for the 1941 massacre in Jedwabne.
He interrupted a Holocaust moment of silence in the European Parliment "for the victims of the Jewish genocide in Gaza."
In 2023, he used a fire extinguisher to put out the flames of a menorah during a national ceremony for Hanukkah.
He has also previously targeted Polish rallies for Ukraine and LGBTQ+ community events.