Far-right MEP Grzegorz Braun erects cross with antisemitic plaque at Jedwabne pogrom memorial on 85th anniversary

The cross and its inscription

On the night before the official 85th anniversary commemorations of the 1941 Jedwabne pogrom, a cross was erected near the memorial to the victims. The unveiling was the centrepiece of a two-day event led by far-right MEP Grzegorz Braun of Konfederacja Korony Polskiej, held on a plot close to the memorial site. Beneath the cross, a plaque covered earlier with a white-and-red flag carried an inscription read aloud by Braun: "R.I.P. Passer-by, sigh in prayer for the souls of the persecuted, murdered, imprisoned, tortured and deported from this area during the Second World War and after its end, victims of two criminal totalitarianisms: German Nazism and Russian-Jewish Sovietism." The event drew dozens, possibly hundreds, of people carrying Polish flags by Friday morning, despite heavy rain across north-eastern Poland.

Reactions from Jewish community leaders

Professor Dariusz Stola, director of the Polin Museum of the History of Polish Jews, was present at the site and condemned the action. "It pains me that the sign of Christianity is used to spread hatred. The inscription under the cross blames innocent Jewish victims for some crimes. It is very sad. This is an insult to memory. And it is happening several dozen metres from a mass grave where the elderly, women and children lie, defenceless, murdered in 1941," Stola said. He noted that in the quarter-century since Jan Tomasz Gross's book "Neighbours" about the Jedwabne crime, Polish authorities, scholars, artists and people of goodwill had made great progress in working through the difficult past. "Not everyone wants to accept it. Some choose easier stories. That is nothing strange. It is so in all societies," he added. Anna Bikont, author of "My z Jedwabnego," observed the plaque and remarked with bitter irony: "That is what awaits us in the new Poland."

It pains me that the sign of Christianity is used to spread hatred. The inscription under the cross blames innocent Jewish victims for some crimes.

Official commemorations under tension

The official ceremony, organised by the Warsaw Jewish Religious Community, took place under a marquee tent with metal barriers and a security presence. A prayer for the dead was led at the monument, with Poland's Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich in attendance. Also present were Sejm Marshal Włodzimierz Czarzasty, Senate Marshal Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska, Secretary of State in the Chancellery of the President Wojciech Kolarski, and deputy head of the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) Dr Mateusz Szpytma. Schudrich told journalists: "The memory of the Jedwabne crime should unite. This is an opportunity for us: to mourn together and to remember. When we remember, there is a chance we can build a better world for our children and grandchildren."

The memory of the Jedwabne crime should unite. This is an opportunity for us: to mourn together and to remember.

Political response

Prime Minister Donald Tusk addressed the anniversary at his own press conference, saying: "The pogrom of Jews in Jedwabne is a lesson in our national self-awareness. Poland was a nation in solidarity with Jews during the occupation, but things happened of which we should still be ashamed today." Tusk expressed his wish that Grzegorz Braun and "his thugs" would not appear at the Jedwabne commemorations. "I would like all Poles to take responsibility for what we are proud of, but also that we could solidarily take responsibility for what does not bring us glory," he added. Braun's supporters, meanwhile, displayed effigies of Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich, historian Jan T. Gross, and former presidents Lech Kaczyński, Bronisław Komorowski and Aleksander Kwaśniewski under the label "Jedwabne liar."

The pogrom of Jews in Jedwabne is a lesson in our national self-awareness. Poland was a nation in solidarity with Jews during the occupation, but things happened of which we should still be ashamed today.

What the IPN investigation established

The Institute of National Remembrance concluded its investigation in 2003, finding that on 10 July 1941 a group of local Polish civilians, inspired by German forces, murdered at least 340 Jews in Jedwabne. The IPN determined that Poles played a "decisive role" in the crime while noting that it "can be assumed" the instigators were Germans. At least 300 victims were burned alive in a barn, and a further 40 were killed elsewhere in the town. The new cross now stands metres from that mass grave.