Poland Protests Against Times of Israel Over Holocaust Denial Label on New President Nawrotzki

The Polish diplomacy announced today (03.06.2025) that it protested against the Israeli news outlet, The Times of Israel, for labeling newly-elected Polish president, nationalist Karol Nawrotzki, as a ‘Holocaust denier.’ On Monday (02.06.2025), the Israeli newspaper used the term ‘Holocaust denier’ in an article headline about Nawrotzki’s victory in Poland, accusing him of making this denialism part of his election campaign. Historian Nawrotzki, candidate for the opposition nationalist party PiS, received 50.89% of the votes against 49.11% for pro-European Rafal Traskofski in the second round of the presidential elections on Sunday. In a letter sent to the Israeli outlet, the Polish embassy in Tel Aviv stated: ‘we request this term not be used, we protest its usage,’ said a representative from the pro-European Polish government’s foreign ministry. ‘We recognize the author’s right to express criticism, but this specific criticism using this particular term creates very dangerous associations – especially in Poland,’ emphasized Pavel Bronski, according to the Polish news agency PAP. The Times of Israel strongly criticized Nawrotzki’s remarks against historians researching Polish involvement in crimes against Jews during WWII. Seeking electoral support from supporters of a small party with ultra-nationalist, anti-Ukrainian, and antisemitic views, Nawrotzki reportedly intended to continue defending Poland’s good name against hostile attacks by individuals like Grabovski, Gross, or Engelking. Barbara Engelking, president of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum Council, Jan Grabowski of the University of Ottawa, and American historian Jan Tomasz Gross had been accused in Poland of defaming the Polish nation but courts dismissed these charges. A Ph.D. in History, Nawrotzki served as director of the World War II Museum in Gdansk from 2017 to 2021. Since 2021, he has headed the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN), which investigates Nazi and communist crimes.