A Polish community group which is organising an Independence Day rally in Peterborough tomorrow has previously called for the release of a notorious Polish white supremacist who murdered an anti-Apartheid activist in South Africa in 1993 in hopes of triggering a race war, a Faith Matters investigation can reveal.

We are concerned that Peterborough’s Mayor Chris Ash and Mayoress Doreen Roberts, who, according to organisers, will speak at the event but not attend the march, are unaware of the group’s underlying ideology and links to other far-right groups.

Kristof Jastrzembski, secretary of Komitet Obrony Polski UK, or the Committee for Defence of Poland UK, has given the police assurances that extremism will ‘not be tolerated’ at the march, according to the Peterborough Telegraph.

But there questions to ask as to why such a community group seeks the release of Janusz Waluś.

To seek to answer this question, and to draw attention to the issue, Faith Matters published a groundbreaking report into the rise of far-right sentiment in parts of Poland, and among a minority of diaspora groups in the UK.

A key concern raised in the report, and in our subsequent research, highlights how a minority of far-right groups and extremists are seeking to gain credence in mainstream Polish community groups through a form of entryism, by appealing to a form of Polish patriotism and nationalism by engaging in, or hosting, various community events.

Waluś murdered the anti-apartheid hero and SACP leader Chris Hani in the hope that his actions would trigger a race war in the final days of apartheid in South Africa. He was a member of South Africa’s notorious neo-Nazi group the Afrikaner Resistance Movement. He is still serving a life sentence for his crimes.

Komitet Obrony Polski UK organised a rally in support of Waluś outside of the South African embassy in September 2016.

Mariam Kowalski, a failed presidential candidate in 2015, who represents the far-right National Movement (Ruch Narodowy), attended the London event in support of Waluś. Pressure from the Polish community in Britain, Ealing Police and Ealing Council prevented Kowalski from speaking at a Polish restaurant in west London last year.

The Facebook page of Komitet Obrony Polski added photos of a t-shirt calling for Waluś’s release on October 6, 2016.

Months later, on March 28, 2017, their Facebook page directed supporters to an official support page for Janusz Waluś, where individuals were encouraged to purchase t-shirts.

The group also organised an event in 2016 which featured the controversial far-right Polish historian Leszek Żebrowski.

In January 2017, Komitet Obrony Polski was a signatory to a letter of co-operation alongside the neo-fascist ONR (Oboz Narodowo-Radykalny) and Ogniwo (The Link), groups profiled extensively by Faith Matters.

Trouble at a previous Independence Day rally in 2014 in Peterborough did not result in any arrests.

We have previously highlighted the group Ogniwo, and their links to far right activities. Associated with Ogniwo at certain events has been a military enthusiast group called the ‘Grom Legion’. 

We have received the following information about this group which has a penchant for military weaponry.

Here is a picture from their Facebook page dated early 2016. It shows a picture of a man in military regalia suggesting this is how they deal with the ‘Islamisation of Europe’.

Additionally, here are Grom Legion individuals meeting with well know far right extremist, Marian Kowalski. We have highlighted his activities and statements before and the posting was also made on their ‘official’ Facebook page. 

We were also notified of members of Grom Legion wearing Ogniwo tops. For those who are not aware of Ogniwo, here is information that we posted previously on the group. They are active in the United Kingdom and are of particular concern, given their activities that we have highlighted before. 

We are also aware of the fact that Grom shared Ogniwo’s Facebook post, inviting people to the infamous “Independence Day” march in Poland. The invitation below states, “Europe Rises Against Islamization” and both Grom and Ogniwo posted it with the slogan, ‘Tomorrow belongs to us’. The slogan ‘Tomorrow belongs to us’ has been co-opted by extremist far right groups.

Lastly, we are aware of the fact that some members of the British police service have posed with individuals from Grom Legion who host stands at community events and who pose in military regalia. Here is an example of this. We therefore urge police forces and those in statutory authorities to reflect carefully on such engagement and to conduct due diligence activities before engaging with groups.

A few days ago we highlighted the background to the Ogniwo group which has been active in the United Kingdom. The actions of some members of the group have been chilling and the far right symbolism so on show demonstrated how the group simply flouted their views quite openly.

It now seems that Tomasz Panfil, the historian at the Lublin Institute of National Remembrance has broken any ties and links with Ogniwo. ‘Gazeta Wyborcza’, the largest and longest-running Polish newspaper, (with its roots in the ‘Solidarity’ movement), printed the following.

Panfil’s break-up is a result as such individuals are usually used to legitimise such groups in the eyes of the public.

Faith Matters will continue to report on groups like Ogniwo in the future. The values that we hold so dear in our country, of being able to be who you want to be without fear or favour, are values that need to be defended against groups like Ogniwo.