Polish authorities have charged European Parliament member and far-right politician Grzegorz Braun with denying Nazi crimes over remarks in which he questioned the existence of gas chambers at Auschwitz, Politico reported.
Braun, who heads the Confederation of the Polish Crown, pleaded not guilty when questioned as a suspect by prosecutors. He did not deny making the statements that prompted the case.
Prosecutor Robert Janicki said Braun was charged with publicly denying, “contrary to the facts," the genocide committed by Nazi Germany at Auschwitz-Birkenau. The offense carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison.
The case was brought by prosecutors at the Kraków branch of Poland’s Institute of National Remembrance, which has authority to investigate and prosecute crimes connected to the Nazi occupation and communist eras.
The charges concern two interviews Braun gave in July 2025. In one, he said that “Auschwitz with its gas chambers is unfortunately a fake." In another, he characterized accounts of the gas chambers as a “propaganda narrative" forming the basis of a “quasi-religious cult."
The existence and use of gas chambers at Auschwitz-Birkenau is extensively documented. Approximately one million Jews were murdered there, along with around 100,000 others.
Braun's European Parliament immunity was previously targeted by Polish authorities in connection with the remarks. The European Parliament voted in March to approve the request to lift his immunity.
The politician has a history of antisemitic rhetoric and is currently facing a separate trial over alleged offenses, including an incident in 2023 when he used a fire extinguisher to extinguish Hanukkah candles inside the Polish parliament.
Poland's parliament later voted to remove his immunity from prosecution in the wake of that incident.
Braun also ran for Poland's presidency last year, receiving more than 6% of the vote in the first round. His Confederation of the Polish Crown party is currently polling at around 10%, with the next parliamentary election more than a year away.