Polish authorities have officially opened a criminal investigation into far-right lawmaker Grzegorz Braun after he publicly denied Nazi crimes committed at the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp, Politico reported Monday.
The probe, initially announced late last week, was initiated by the Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes Against the Polish Nation in Kraków, following remarks Braun made during a live radio interview on July 10.
According to the prosecutor’s office, Braun denied “in public and contrary to established facts” the genocide carried out by the Nazis at Auschwitz between 1941 and 1944. This included the murder of Jews and other victims in gas chambers. Approximately 1.1 million people were killed at the camp.
The investigation is being conducted under Article 55 of the Act on the Institute of National Remembrance, which makes Holocaust denial a crime punishable by up to three years in prison. The decision to launch the probe followed formal complaints from various public figures and institutions, including Auschwitz Museum Director Piotr Cywiński.
During the July 10 broadcast on Radio Wnet, Braun referred to Auschwitz’s gas chambers as “a fake” and accused the state-run museum of suppressing research while promoting a “pseudo-historical narrative.” The show’s host, Łukasz Jankowski, ended the interview, stating that Braun had gone too far.
Braun’s comments were made while he was attending an event in the village of Jedwabne, commemorating the anniversary of a 1941 pogrom.
This incident is not the first time that Braun has been involved in antisemitic controversy. In 2023, he garnered international attention for extinguishing Hanukkah candles in the Polish parliament with a fire extinguisher.
Poland's parliament later voted to remove his immunity from prosecution in the wake of the incident.
In April of last year, Braun was charged with crimes including insulting people on religious grounds.
Despite his history, Braun was elected to the European Parliament in last year’s election. He also ran for president earlier this year, securing over 6% of the votes in the initial round.
