Poland marks 85th anniversary of Jedwabne pogrom amid far-right protests

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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Polish and Jewish leaders, as well as diplomats from various countries, have today taken part in commemorations of the 85th anniversary of the Jedwabne pogrom, in which hundreds of Jews were killed by their Polish neighbours under the watch of the Nazi-German occupiers.

The events were met with a protest by nationalist activists – led by Grzegorz Braun, a prominent far-right leader – who displayed a banner calling the official findings regarding the pogrom “Jewish lies”. They argue that Poles are falsely blamed for Nazi-German crimes.

On the 85th anniversary of the Jedwabne atrocity, we pay tribute to all its victims – the Jewish citizens of Poland from Jedwabne, who were murdered by a group of Poles. The circumstances of this atrocity were examined in an investigation conducted by prosecutors from the… pic.twitter.com/WsCAvDlSnk

— Ministry of Foreign Affairs 🇵🇱 (@PolandMFA) July 10, 2026

Among those to attend today’s official commemorations were the speakers of both houses of Poland’s parliament, Włodzimierz Czarzasty from the Sejm and Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska from the Senate, as well as a representative of President Karol Nawrocki, Wojciech Kolarski, who laid a wreath.

Members of Poland’s Jewish community, including chief rabbi Michael Schudrich, were also present, along with diplomats from various countries, including the ambassadors of Israel, Yaakov Finkelstein, the United Kingdom, Melinda Simmons, and Rwanda, Anastase Shyaka.

“This is an opportunity for us to mourn together and to remember,” said Schudrich, quoted by news website Onet. “When we remember, there is a chance that we can build a better world for our children and grandchildren.”

This morning, I stood in Jedwabne and laid a wreath on behalf of Yad Vashem in memory of the hundreds of Jewish men, women, and children murdered here 85 years ago. Their memory obliges us all to confront the past with honesty and preserve the historical truth. https://t.co/7PsZTV1SDn pic.twitter.com/jCpYPdHxpm

— Dani Dayan (@AmbDaniDayan) July 10, 2026

Speaking ahead of the commemoration, the US ambassador to Poland, Thomas Rose, said that “ hundreds of Polish Jews were murdered by their fellow Poles” in Jedwabne. But he added that “Jedwabne was the exception, not the rule in occupied Poland”, where “ thousands of Poles risked, and often gave, their lives to help Polish Jews”.

His message was shared by Polish foreign minister Radosław Sikorski, who said that it is “Our duty to the victims of the past is to make sure atrocities never happen again”.

Noting that tomorrow Poland will also mark the anniversary of the Volhynia massacres , in which Ukrainian nationalists killed around 100,000 Polish civilians during World War Two, Sikorski called on “every nation [to] take stock of its conscience in such a way that the crimes of the past may never be repeated”.

Poland is currently embroiled in a diplomatic dispute with Ukraine after President Volodymyr Zelensky named a military unit after a group that led the Volhynia massacres. Poland has recognised the episode as a genocide, but Ukraine strenuously rejects that label .

Dziś rocznica mordu w Jedwabnem, jutro krwawej niedzieli podczas Rzezi Wołyńskiej.

Niech każdy naród zrobi swój rachunek sumienia tak, aby zbrodnie przeszłości już nigdy się nie powtórzyły. https://t.co/SzEXkWGWwD

— Radosław Sikorski 🇵🇱🇪🇺 (@sikorskiradek) July 10, 2026

The Jedwabne pogrom took place on 10 July 1941, when Poland was under brutal Nazi-German occupation . Though the precise death toll is not known, at least 340 Jews were killed, most of them burned alive after being herded into a locked barn that was then deliberately set on fire.

Official findings by Poland’s state Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) have established that the direct perpetrators of the massacre were ethnic Poles who lived in the area. But the IPN also concluded that broader responsibility for the crime rested with the German occupiers.

In 2001, Poland’s then president, Aleksander Kwaśniewski, apologised for the pogrom, saying that “ one cannot be proud of the greatness of Polish history without also feeling pain and shame for the evil that Poles have inflicted on others”.

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However, many in Poland – in particular on the political right – question the IPN’s findings, arguing that the pogrom was entirely the work of the Germans and claiming that the tragedy has been used as part of efforts to falsely shift blame onto Poles for Holocaust crimes.

As a result, commemorations of the pogrom are often protested by far-right groups , including followers of Braun. This year, his Confederation of the Polish Crown (KKP) party erected a large banner saying “Enough of Jewish lies. Germans committed the crimes in Jedwabne”.

Braun, who finished fourth in last year’s presidential election, is currently on trial for attacking a Jewish religious celebration in parliament. Prosecutors are also seeking to charge him with Holocaust denial for calling the gas chambers at Auschwitz “fake”.

W Jedwabnem uroczyste odsłonięcie tablicy pamiątkowej w Jedwabnem pic.twitter.com/GKsAaiYO97

— Marek Skalski (@marek_skalski1) July 10, 2026

Speaking today in Jedwabne, Braun called Schudrich, the chief rabbi, a “fraud” who should be prosecuted, imprisoned and arrested, and after serving his sentence, expelled from Poland, reports the Gazeta Wyborcza daily.

He unveiled a plaque and commemorative cross dedicated to the “souls of those persecuted, murdered, imprisoned, tortured and deported from this area during World War Two and after its end [who were] victims of two criminal totalitarian regimes: German Nazism and Russian-Jewish Sovietism”.

Other far-right groups were also present at the protest, including representatives of the Border Defence Movement (ROG) led by Robert Bąkiewicz , a prominent nationalist leader who has close ties to the national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS), Poland’s main opposition party.

“Jedwabne is a place synonymous with lies, with accusations against Poles [about] alleged Polish antisemitism,” declared Bąkiewicz. “We are here to fight for the truth, for memory, for the dignity of our ancestors, but also for the dignity of those murdered here, those Jews who have become a tool for anti-Polish politics.”

Jesteśmy dziś w Jedwabnem – w imię prawdy, pamięci i sprawiedliwości.

Nie ma zgody na kłamliwą politykę na grobach i wykorzystywanie ludzkiej tragedii do oskarżania narodu polskiego o zbrodnie niemieckiego okupanta.

Ofiarom należy się modlitwa.

Polakom należy się prawda. 🇵🇱 pic.twitter.com/bBKPT8x16J

— Robert Bąkiewicz (@RBakiewicz) July 10, 2026

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: Agnieszka Sadowska/ Agencja Wyborcza.pl