The recent resignation of Tomasz Greniuch raises fundamental questions about how one of the most critically important institutions in Poland, the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN), carries out its due diligence of potential staff and why it did not intervene sooner, as Greniuch’s links to the far-right are no secret.

As our investigation reveals, Greniuch’s links to the far-right, ultranationalist National Radical Camp (ONR) run as late as 2018.

Jewish and anti-racist groups raised their concerns, with some calling for his sacking. Now, two weeks later, his tenure ends not by firing but resignation.  What due diligence did the IPN carry out? We stress that none of Greniuch’s activities was a secret, found openly on various blogs, social media, and newspapers, including information he openly shared.

Greniuch offered a public apology, published in English on the IPN website.

Faith Matters details its original investigation below, having updated the story to reflect the above.

The appointment of a former far-right activist to a local branch of the IPN has caused shock across Poland, with one major anti-racism organisation calling for his resignation.

The appointment of Tomasz Greniuch, published in a press release on February 9, was combative, insisting that Greniuch had ‘apologised’ for his ‘past mistakes’ made in his ‘youth’.

Faith Matters, however, can reveal the links to the far-right are more recent, as three speaking events in 2018 had the sponsorship of, or included Mr Greniuch speaking in front of the flags of the ultranationalist, neo-fascist National Radical Camp (ONR), having founded a local branch in Opole.

On March 16, 2018, Civitas Christiania listed Greniuch as their keynote speaker in an event sponsored by the ONR (their logo appears on the official promotional poster).

Mr Greniuch promoted the Facebook event (the text of which referenced the ONR) on a promotional page for his book Śmiertelni – Historia oparta na faktach.

The second speaking event, uploaded to YouTube on May 21, 2018, features an introduction given by a woman wearing the ONR armband, and throughout the discussion, the ONR flags appear on either side of Greniuch.

The third event, dated (per the upload on YouTube), as of September 22, 2018, featured Greniuch and was co-sponsored by a local ONR chapter (their banners and flags appear in the background throughout).

Promotional materials for another speaking event from Greniuch in February 2018 included sponsorship from the nationalist clothing brand ProPatriae. The owner of this clothing brand, Jakub Sadowski, had links to the ONR leadership, according to Oko Press.

In 2016, ProPatriae publicly thanked Greniuch for wearing their clothing on Facebook.

Other sponsors included the website Kierunki (which has retweeted ONR accounts and Twitter and gives a platform for their propaganda).

The final sponsor is Marsz Niepodległości – which organises the Independence Day marches. Its founder, Robert Bąkiewicz, was described as being an ‘important’ member of the ONR.

Away from far-right-sponsored events and indeed activities within Poland, as in late 2017, Greniuch spoke at the now-infamous Slough book fare event, profiled by BBC Newsnight a year later, following revelations that funds from the Polish Embassy went towards the event.

The full Newsnight investigation includes quotes from Greniuch (but does not name him). One such quote includes reference to “ethnic transformation” being “a real biological time bomb.”

Credit: BBC Newsnight

Other photos of Greniuch at the Slough event appeared on subsequent social media posts.

Various reports about Greniuch and the ONR have appeared over the years in the Polish-language media.

Nor has he escaped the attention of the English-language media either. In November 2019, the Jewish Telegraph Agency reported his appointment within the Opole branch of the IPN.

Ronald S. Lauder, President of the World Jewish Congress and Chairman of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Foundation, discussed Greniuch’s appointment in a broader article which began: “I am deeply concerned for Poland. Something is changing, and I’m afraid a country I care about deeply is moving in a very dangerous direction.”

Both Notes from Poland and Polish News report that Greniuch is “mentioned as one of the originators of the first nationalist demonstration on the occasion of Independence Day in Warsaw in 2006.”

The vice-president of Wroclaw, Sebastian Lorenc, condemned the appointment on Facebook. The anger in Wroclaw has not gone away either, with protests and even a resignation occurring.

Other politicians called for his resignation.

On Twitter, the Israeli Embassy spoke of their ‘surprise’ at the appointment, urging Greniuch to visit the Auschwitz museum.

The anti-racism organisation Never Again said: “The Institute of National Memory is one of the most important and powerful institutions in Poland. The nomination of Tomasz Greniuch to one of its key positions is shocking and disgusting. It illustrates the current breakdown of democratic values in Polish society and the strength of far-right historical revisionism and Holocaust distortion. It spits on the graves of the victims of fascism. We call for his immediate dismissal.”

Faith Matters investigation of Greniuch’s historic ONR agitations in Opole included a notorious public eulogy of the convicted Holocaust denier Dariusz Ratajczaj in 2012.

Read more: Neo Fascist ONR, Oboz Naradowo-Radykalny, Offshoot in Manchester

An event for Polish families in Stafford on May 12 will feature a lecture by a controversial historian who has links to the neo-fascist National Radical Camp (ONR) group in Poland, a Faith Matters investigation has revealed.

The speaker, Leszek Żebrowski, was labelled an antisemite in a 2016 article published by Gazeta Wyborcza.

The event, hosted by the White Eagle Club, promises bouncy castles, a barbeque, and face painting, will also see an appearance from the controversial GROM Legion group.

A Facebook event page has already attracted interested.

The event poster also sees sponsorship from the Ogniwo (The Link) which promotes itself as a self-styled ‘patriotic group’ but whose membership attracts neo-Nazis.

Rafal Pankowski, an academic who works for the Polish anti-hate charity Never Again, noted that Żebrowski continues to deny Polish involvement in the anti-Jewish pogroms in Jedwabne and Kielce.

Żebrowski appeared in a photograph of the Irish chapter of the ONR following a brief speaking tour in May last year which included events in Dublin, Cork, and Limerick.

He appeared in an ONR promotional video concerning the March 1 march to commemorate the ‘cursed soldiers’ and by organising such rallies, allows the extreme right to posit themselves as torch-bearers for this form of Polish patriotism, according to the historian Rafał Wnuk. Żebrowski was also photographed at an ONR rally last year. 

Commemorations for this event in Slough, London in February 2017, included an event where the extremist former priest, Jacek Międlar, infamous for his antisemitic and anti-Muslim views, was listed alongside Żebrowski as guest speakers. Międlar has twice failed to enter the UK to attend two Britain First rallies in February and June and remains banned due to his extreme views.

A video of the Slough event, uploaded by Piotr Szlachtowicz to YouTube, confirms Żebrowski’s presence, at the timestamp of 7:21.

The views of Szlachtowicz do also appear in the Faith Matters report.

Razem Londyn, the London branch of the left-wing Polish political party Razem (Together), condemned the potential presence of Żebrowski and Międlar in Slough in a Facebook post on February 22, 2017.

Leszek Żebrowski shared a flyer for the same commemorative event in Slough a year earlier.

On Facebook, Żebrowski promotes the Holocaust revisionism of Jan Peczkis, who writes long screeds on Amazon and other obscure blogs. In one example Peczkis  wrote: “All attention is focused on the suffering of Jews and almost completely ignores crimes committed on the Slavic nations like Poles, treating them as second-class victims.”

Nor does this view exist in insolation, our report into contemporary and historical forms of antisemitism and anti-Muslim hatred and racism in Poland highlights how parts of the Polish right attempt to use historiography to reshape a collective memory which favours and exceptionalities Polish suffering collectively under Nazism. This form of revisionism also serves to erase discussions about how some Poles were complicit in antisemitism and antisemitic violence before, during, and after the Second World War.

This view has found ground in more mainstream circles, including in the works of Richard Lukas, who is not without controversy and has been accused by one eminent Holocaust scholar of publishing a book which ‘borders’ on antisemitism.

Peczkis has made various antisemitic comments in his Amazon reviews, including “THE USA AND EUROPEAN UNION AS TOOLS FOR PROMOTING JEWISH INTERESTS AT POLAND’S EXPENSE.” It is, therefore, no surprise to see Żebrowski promoting such views to his large Facebook audience.

Oboz Narodowo-Radykalny, (ONR), is also known as the National Radical Camp. It is a fascist and far right organisation which considers itself to be a legacy of the antisemitic movement of the same name which existed during the Second World War.

Three days ago, members of the ONR celebrated an anniversary of the organisation in Gdansk, the heartland of the ‘Solidarnosc’ or Solidarity movement. It was the 84th anniversary of the movement and hosting the march with uniform clad individuals in the heart of Gdansk was a chilling message sent out to others in the nation. Gdansk holds a special place in the heart of many Poles as it was the start of the liberation movement from Communism. By marching in Gdansk, the message was clear, that far right groups were part of Poland. 

Speaking at the event held in a historic hall in Gdansk, the former ONR chairman Artur Zienkiewicz said,

“Poland must remain uniformly culturally and homogeneously ethnic. We will defend our frontiers against immigrants.”

According to Gazeta Wyborcza, a march took place in the streets of Gdansk with several hundred uniformed marchers shouting slogans which included, “we will fight for the Homeland” and “Great Poland, we will defend our holy faith”.

This is a menacing video of ONR members walking through the streets of Gdansk.

In response to this march, the legendary Solidarnosc leader and former President of Poland, Lech Walesa, waded in with the following tweets:

https://twitter.com/PresidentWalesa/status/985394318751002624

Walesa’s Twitter comment highlighted the threat that he saw coming from the ONR. 

“Are these the “values” Poles fought in December 1970 and August 1980 in Gdańsk? I ask when will PiS delegalise them? What do we all wait until they occupy (the) authorities?”

Tentacles to Manchester

In the UK, ONR go by the name of “Narodowa Emigracja” or ‘Nationalist Emigration’. Whilst they are limited to a Facebook group, their activist base is small and based in and around Manchester. About a week ago, activists held a gathering to commemorate the Katyn massacre, the mass execution of Polish military officers by the Soviets in April 1940. The commemoration was held at the Southern Cemetery in Manchester. 

What is particularly worrying is that children can be seen at this memorial meeting and there are potential safeguarding risks here. The arm-bands of ONR are clearly visible as are flags of the neo-fascist group, this in Manchester in the United Kingdom. 

This information will be passed onto the authorities within the UK given the potential of safeguarding risks to children.