Poland's government has formally requested the European Parliament strip far-right MEP Grzegorz Braun of his immunity to face criminal charges for publicly denying the Holocaust, in a case that tests both Warsaw's commitment to democratic renewal and Brussels' willingness to hold extremists accountable.
Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek submitted the request on Friday, seeking to prosecute Braun for statements calling the gas chambers at Auschwitz and Majdanek "fake" and describing them as "a dark, monstrous fantasy that has no satisfactory historical or academic support," according to Notes from Poland.
The charges carry potential imprisonment of up to three years under Polish law criminalizing the denial of Nazi and communist crimes. "There is and will be no consent to distorting history and breaking the law," Żurek said in a statement. "This concerns historical truth, respect for the victims, and accountability."
In Poland, as across Central Europe, history is never far from the surface—and neither is the memory of occupation. The case against Braun, leader of the radical-right Confederation of the Polish Crown party, represents a significant test of Prime Minister Donald Tusk's government commitment to confronting extremism after years of democratic backsliding under the previous Law and Justice administration.
Braun, whose party currently polls around 8% nationally, has a history of provocative actions that have shocked even Poland's hardened political establishment. In December 2023, he used a fire extinguisher to spray a Hanukkah celebration in the Polish parliament—an incident that drew international condemnation and crystallized concerns about rising antisemitism in European politics.
At his trial for that incident, Braun declared: "I am standing before this court because I dared to defend myself against oppression and the ritual manifestation of Jewish supremacy." He has also disrupted a Holocaust scholar's lecture, vandalized an LGBT+ exhibition, and assaulted a doctor involved in late-term abortion procedures.
The European Parliament now faces a decision about whether to lift Braun's immunity through a majority vote among MEPs. Poland previously submitted a similar request in September 2025, which has remained pending. The parallel requests reflect the government's determination to pursue accountability on multiple fronts.
The case carries broader implications for how the European Union confronts extremism within its own institutions. Braun claimed in his Holocaust denial statements that the gas chamber narrative was "propaganda and black PR operations conducted by the Soviet and Anglo-Saxon security services"—rhetoric that echoes conspiracy theories circulating in far-right circles across Europe.
For Poland's government, the prosecution represents more than legal enforcement. It signals a return to democratic norms and rule of law after the PiS era, when critics accused the government of tolerating nationalist extremism while simultaneously claiming to defend Polish historical memory.
The request to strip immunity also tests whether European institutions will apply the same standards to extremism that they demanded Poland uphold during its rule-of-law crisis. Warsaw's actions now put Brussels in a position to demonstrate whether its commitment to European values extends to holding its own members accountable—or whether parliamentary immunity will shield those who deny documented genocide.
Poland, which lost approximately six million citizens during World War II—including three million Jews murdered in the Holocaust—has among Europe's strictest laws protecting historical memory. The prosecution of Braun will determine whether those laws apply equally to political provocateurs who exploit Poland's painful history for electoral advantage.
