Włodzimierz Czarzasty, the Speaker of the Sejm, Poland’s lower house of parliament, condemned Konrad Berkowicz of the Confederation party for what he called a scandalous act that invoked Nazi symbolism.
He said he would ask the chamber’s leadership body to impose a financial penalty, while legal services at the parliament's office examine whether further legal action is possible.
The incident took place at the start of Tuesday’s sitting. Speaking during formal motions, Berkowicz referred to the conflict in the Middle East and accused Israel of committing genocide, Polish state news agency PAP reported. He then held up a printout of a modified Israeli flag in which the Star of David had been replaced with a swastika.
In a statement published on the parliament's website, Czarzasty said there is no place in the Polish parliament for symbols or messages linked to Nazism or antisemitism.
He said the act was a serious violation of the dignity of the chamber and of the rules of parliamentary debate.
The statement said the Polish parliament must remain a place of democratic debate based on responsibility, respect, and regard for historical memory.
The Speaker’s office said lawyers were analyzing whether the case should be reported to prosecutors. It cited provisions of Poland’s Criminal Code concerning the public insult of a foreign state’s flag and the promotion of Nazism or other totalitarian systems.
The statement said Berkowicz’s action was especially offensive as it came on Yom HaShoah, Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day, which commemorates the millions of Jewish victims of German Nazism.
In Poland, where Nazi Germany built and operated death camps during World War II, public use of such imagery carries particular historical weight.
Under Polish law, publicly promoting Nazism or inciting hatred on national, ethnic, racial or religious grounds can carry a prison sentence of up to three years.
The controversy quickly drew an international reaction. The US ambassador to Poland, Tom Rose, responded on X with a sharply worded post condemning the display.
(rt/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP