A far-right Polish lawmaker has caused a major controversy after displaying a modified Israeli flag. It carried the swastika symbol, referring to Nazi Germany under Hitler.
Konrad Berkowicz did this during a debate in the Polish Parliament. The deputy’s action provoked sharp criticism from both Polish and Israeli representatives.
Berkowicz, a Confederate lawmaker, performed the feat on April 14 while speaking about the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. He stood on the parliamentary podium and accused Israel of committing war crimes by allegedly using white phosphorus munitions in Gaza and Lebanon.
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He then called Israel the “new Third Reich” and displayed a banner. The flag had a swastika in place of the Star of David. He said, “His flag should look exactly like this.”
What is the “Third Reich”?
“Third Reich” was the name used by Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945 under Adolf Hitler. It means “Third Reich”. It was presented as the successor to earlier German empires such as the Holy Roman Empire and the German Empire.
The term was first used in 1922 by the writer Arthur Moeller van den Bruck. The Nazis later adopted it to promote their idea of a powerful, unified Germany.
The Third Reich was a totalitarian state with strict control over people’s lives. Democracy was removed and opposition was not allowed.
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The regime followed a racial ideology that led to the Holocaust, where millions of Jews and other minorities were killed.
Hitler claimed that his rule would last for “a thousand years”. It ended after 12 years.
Reaction
The incident took place on Yom Hashoah. On the same day, thousands of people, including Holocaust survivors, marched between the former Nazi German camps of Auschwitz and Birkenau in southern Poland.
The Israeli embassy in Poland described the incident as an “anti-Semitic horror”. He called on the Polish authorities to take action against Berkowicz, who has been an MP since 2019.
Poland’s foreign ministry said the act was “deeply offensive” and “reprehensible”. Criticism of Israeli policy does not justify such a gesture, she noted.
The Speaker of the Sejm, Włodzimierz Czarzasty, called it “a blatant violation of the dignity of the Sejm”. He announced plans to fine Berkowicz under parliamentary disciplinary rules.
Possible legal action
Officials are also prepared to inform legal authorities of possible violations. Such offenses include publicly insulting the flag of a foreign country and promoting Nazism. Public display of Nazi symbols in Poland is punishable by up to three years in prison.
Section 256 of the Polish Criminal Code states: “Whoever publicly promotes a Nazi, communist, fascist or other totalitarian state system or incites hatred on the basis of national, ethnic, racial or religious differences or on the grounds of the absence of any religious belief shall be punished by imprisonment for up to three years.”
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“The same penalty applies to anyone who publicly promotes Nazi, communist, fascist ideology or an ideology calling for the use of violence to influence political or social life.”
The law goes further to include activities such as the production, storage, sale or distribution of materials that contain such content or symbols, if the intention is to spread these ideas.
However, there are exceptions. If such conduct is part of an artistic, educational, scientific or collecting activity, it is not considered a crime.
