From the Liveblog of
Thursday, April 16, 2026
Auschwitz Jewish Center files complaint against Polish lawmaker after anti-Israel tirade
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleZev Stub is the Times of Israel's Diaspora Affairs correspondent.
The Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation (AJCF) filed a criminal complaint yesterday against far-right Polish lawmaker Konrad Berkowicz after he called Israel the “new Third Reich” and displayed an Israeli flag defaced with a Nazi swastika inside parliament.
Speaking in parliament hours before the annual March of the Living at Auschwitz-Birkenau on Tuesday, Berkowicz alleged that Israel is committing “genocide” in Gaza and made unverified claims about the use of phosphorus munitions against civilians. He compared the number of children killed in Gaza to the war in Ukraine and described graphic scenes of suffering before unveiling the modified flag.
The AJCF said the act distorted Holocaust history and risked inciting hatred. Polish law strictly prohibits Nazi symbolism, and legal experts say the parliamentary context may influence prosecutors’ assessment of the case, AJCF noted.
The complaint, submitted to prosecutors in Warsaw, alleges violations of Polish laws banning the promotion of totalitarian ideologies and incitement to hatred. The foundation also lodged an ethics complaint with parliament, calling for disciplinary action.
“When [Holocaust] history is inverted and its symbols are weaponized to incite new hatred, it is not only an offense against the dead. It is a direct assault on everything this institution stands for,” said AJCF director Tomasz Kuncewicz.
Polish MP Konrad Berkowicz compares Israel’s crimes against humanity to those of the Third Reich and displays an Israeli flag with a swastika.
Israel is the new Third Reich! pic.twitter.com/Uo8GBcgQcc
— Sławomir Mentzen (@SlawomirMentzen) April 14, 2026
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