October 7 & today · Poland · 2023–present
Religious nationalism and the communist state’s anti-Zionist purge left different routes to making Polish Jews outsiders again.
Explore PolandPublished by WTJPublication updated
2023–present
October 7 & today · October 7 & today
Religious nationalism and the communist state’s anti-Zionist purge left different routes to making Polish Jews outsiders again.
A fire extinguisher in parliament
On December 12, 2023, MP Grzegorz Braun used a fire extinguisher to disrupt a Hanukkah observance inside Poland’s parliament. He then defended his hostility in the chamber and was excluded from the proceedings.
The ceremony was a Jewish presence within a national institution. Attacking it made that presence seem open to challenge. The episode was especially stark because the act came from an elected representative: the place meant to represent citizens had become the setting for intimidation of a minority.
Opposing traditions can make the same accusation
Polish nationalism had portrayed Jews as alien to the nation. The communist state arrived at exclusion through another route: in 1968 it branded Jews Zionists and drove thousands out. Anti-imperialist language made a campaign against Polish Jews appear to concern Israel. The political mask changed the justification while preserving collective blame.
After October 7, researchers found renewed Israel-related hostility drawing on established conspiracies. Braun’s attack on parliament’s Hanukkah observance exposed the religious-nationalist current openly; online accusations offered another route. This country’s mixture is rooted especially in national belonging, Holocaust memory and the communist loyalty test. The connection is not that today’s camps share one organization, but that supposedly opposing traditions can both make Jewish citizenship conditional on repudiating an identity or foreign allegiance assigned by others.
Who belongs inside the national story?
Jewish life had long been part of Poland before the Holocaust destroyed most of its communities. Remembrance now sits alongside a living Jewish presence, including the Hanukkah ceremony Braun attacked.
The aftermath of October 7 brought renewed online conspiracy and a highly visible act of parliamentary hostility. It also brought a decision to remove Braun from the proceedings. The struggle was therefore over more than a ceremony: whether public institutions would protect Jewish participation or allow an old outsider story to decide whose presence was legitimate.