< Back to Compendium

1. Source of the legal provision

Article 55 of the Act on the Institute of National Remembrance – Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation (Dz.U.2023.102) [Ustawy o Instytucie Pamięci Narodowej – Komisji Ścigania Zbrodni przeciwko Narodowi Polskiemu] of December 18, 1998 (Dz.U.2023.102) Available in the original language via: Sejm <https://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/DocDetails.xsp?id=wdu19981551016>.

2. Legal Provision in English

Article. 55. Whoever publicly and contrary to the facts denies the crimes referred to in Article 1 point 1 is subject to a fine or imprisonment for up to 3 years. The judgment is made public.   Article 1. The Act regulates: 1) recording, collecting, storing, processing, securing, making available and publishing documents of the state security organs, produced and collected from 22 July 1944 to 31 July1990, as well as of the security organs of the German Third Reich and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, regarding:
  1. a) crimes committed against persons of Polish nationality or Polish citizens of other nationalities in the period from 8 November1917 to 31 July 1990:
– Nazi crimes, – communist crimes, – crimes of Ukrainian nationalists and members of Ukrainian formations collaborating with the Third Reich German, – other crimes constituting crimes against peace, humanity or war crimes, […].  

3. Legal Provision in the original language

Art. 55. Kto publicznie i wbrew faktom zaprzecza zbrodniom, o których mowa w art. 1 pkt 1, podlega grzywnie lub karze pozbawienia wolności do lat 3. Wyrok podawany jest do publicznej wiadomości.   Art. 1. Ustawa reguluje: 1) ewidencjonowanie, gromadzenie, przechowywanie, opracowywanie, zabezpieczenie, udostępnianie i publikowanie dokumentów organów bezpieczeństwa państwa, wytworzonych oraz gromadzonych od dnia 22 lipca 1944 r. do dnia 31 lipca 1990 r., a także organów bezpieczeństwa Trzeciej Rzeszy Niemieckiej i Związku Socjalistycznych Republik Radzieckich, dotyczących:
  1. a) popełnionych na osobach narodowości polskiej lub obywatelach polskich innych narodowości w okresie od dnia 8 listopada 1917 r. do dnia 31 lipca 1990 r.:
– zbrodni nazistowskich, – zbrodni komunistycznych, – zbrodni ukraińskich nacjonalistów i członków ukraińskich formacji kolaborujących z TrzeciąRzeszą Niemiecką, – innych przestępstw stanowiących zbrodnie przeciwko pokojowi, ludzkości lub zbrodnie wojenne, […].  

4. Key Points

  • The Polish law penalising negationism prohibits the denial of not only the Holocaust and other Nazi crimes, but also communist crimes, crimes committed by Ukrainian nationalists, as well as other crimes constituting crimes against peace, humanity or war crimes, provided that they were committed against Poles or Polish citizens of other nationalities in the period from 8 November 1917 to 31 July 1990.
  • Possible sanctions for such conduct may include a fine or imprisonment for up to 3 years.
  • It is not necessary that the statement is likely to incite to hatred or violence.
  • At the same time, the limited personal scope of the (concerning only Poles and Polish citizens) law needs to be noted, as denying crimes and atrocities committed on other peoples could not be punished.
  • A further limitation stems from the restriction of the protection of memory to only those events established as facts.
  • In 2021, the EU Commission initiated an infringement procedure against Poland for failing to fully transpose the EU Framework Decision on Racism and Xenophobia 2008/913/JHA (hereinafter ‘EU FD 2008’) by omitting the penalisation of gross trivialization of the Holocaust, and restricting the criminalization of its denial and condoning to cases to only those involving Polish citizens. The process is still ongoing.

5. Background

The Polish law penalising negationism (known in the country as the Oświęcim – Auschwitz – lie) was introduced in 1998, as a part not of the Criminal Code – as it is often the case in other European countries – but rather as a part of the law on the National Institute of Memory (also known as the Institute of National Remembrance). It is a state institution tasked with not only the establishment and protection of the official narrative regarding the past, but also lustration, archival and research work, and the prosecution of those responsible for atrocities committed against Poles and Polish citizens under Nazism and communism.[1] The inclusion of the law on negationism in the law on the National Institute of Memory lends the penalisation of the “Auschwitz lie” to a broader dimension. Importantly, according to Article 45a of the act, it is the prosecutor of the local commission of the Institute of National Remembrance that initiates the prosecution.[2] It should also be noted that in 2021, the EU Commission initiated an infringement procedure against Poland for incorrectly transposing the criminalization of specific forms of hate speech under the EU FD 2008 by omitting penalisation of the gross trivialization of the Holocaust, and restricting the criminalization of its denial and condoning to cases involving only Polish citizens.[3] The process is still ongoing.

6. Application

Established in 1998, Article 55 was most famously employed only once, soon after its introduction, in a case against a historian, Dariusz Ratajczak, who self-published a revisionist pamphlet questioning the existence of the gas chambers in Nazi concentration camps. The district attorney’s office brought a criminal case against him, and he was ultimately found to have denied the Nazi crimes by the court in 2002. However, the case was discontinued due to low levels of social harm; the pamphlet had only reached a limited audience, and in the second edition, the author distanced himself from Holocaust deniers.[4] Nevertheless, he was dismissed from his position at a  university in 2000, and banned from entering teaching positions for three years. He never worked in academia again.[5]

7. Controversies

While the penalisation of negationism in Poland is not controversial per se, the 2018 amendment of the Law on the Institute of National Memory led to major perturbances on both the national and international level. Triggered by the proliferation of the factually inaccurate phrase ‘Polish death camps’ (rather than ‘Nazi German death camps in occupied Poland’) globally in the 2010s, first, a number of civil suits – most notably by World War II veterans – followed on the basis of their personal interests’ protection afforded under Articles 23 and 24 of the Polish Civil Code.[6] Then, in 2018, the parliament passed an amendment adding Chapter 6c to the Law on the Institute of National Memory,[7] introducing the previously unknown concept of the civil protection of the ‘good name’ of the Polish nation (still in place). It also introduced the soon-repealed Articles 55a and 55b of the Act on the Institute of National Remembrance.[8] These proved particularly controversial given that they extended Polish criminal jurisdiction beyond Polish borders, giving the authorities potential capacities to charge and try foreigners who committed prohibited acts outside of the country.[9] It needs to be also noted that in 2024 the European Commission launched infringement proceedings against Poland for failing to notify measures transposing the EU FD into national law. This process remains ongoing.

8. Further Reading

  • Baranowska, Grażyna. 2023. 19:4 European Constitutional Law Review 623 – 641.
  • Belavusau, Uladzislau. 2014. Historical revisionism in CEE. In Uladzislau Belavusau. Freedom of Speech. Importing European and US Constitutional Models in Transitional Democracies. Oxon/New York, NY: Routledge 190.
  • Gliszczyńska-Grabias, Aleksandra, Grażyna Baranowska, Anna Wójcik, Mirosław M. Sadowski and Anastasiia Vorobiova. 2023. Memory Laws in Poland and Hungary. Report by the research consortium ‘The Challenges of Populist Memory Politics and Militant Memory Laws (MEMOCRACY)’. Reports ILS PAS (2023).
  • Pohl, Łukasz and Konrad Burdziak. Holocaust Denial and the Polish Penal Law – Legal Considerations. In Patrycja Grzebyk (ed.). Responsibility for Negation of International Crimes. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Instytutu Wymiaru Sprawiedliwości 123.
[1] Rafał Reczek, ‘Rola Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej w procesie przywracania pamięci’(2015) 3 Środkowoeuropejskie Studia Polityczne 221, 222. [2] Article 45a of the 1998 Act on Institute of National Remembrance. “The prosecutor of the branch commission initiates investigations into cases concerning offenses specified in Article 54 and Article 55.” [3] European Commission, Letters of formal notice, Combatting racism and xenophobia: The Commission calls on BELGIUM, BULGARIA, FINLAND, POLAND, and SWEDEN to fully transpose EU law criminalising hate speech and hate crimes, 18.2.21 <https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/inf_21_441> accessed 10.02.25. [4] Aushwitz.org, ‘First Polish Holocaust Denial Case Dismissed’ <https://www.auschwitz.org/en/museum/news/first-polish-holocaust-denial-case-dismissed,134.html> accessed 4.07.2024. [5] Agnieszka Rybak, ‘Historia doktora Ratajczaka’ <https://www.rp.pl/plus-minus/art15121221-historia-doktora-ratajczaka> accessed 4.07.2024. [6] Polish Civil Code (1964) Art. 23: “Protection of personal interests. The personal interests of a human being, in particular health, freedom, dignity, freedom of conscience, name or pseudonym, image, privacy of correspondence, inviolability of home, and scientific, artistic, inventive or improvement achievements are protected by civil law, independently of protection under other regulations.” Art. 24: Means of protection. § 1. Any person whose personal interests are threatened by another person’s actions may demand that the actions be ceased unless they are not unlawful. In the case of infringement he may also demand that the person committing the infringement perform the actions necessary to remove its effects, in particular that the person make a declaration of the appropriate form and substance. On the terms provided for in this Code, he may also demand monetary recompense or that an appropriate amount of money be paid to a specific public cause.” [7] Chapter 6c of the 1998 Act on Institute of National Remembrance (2018 amendment) Article 53o: “The provisions of the Act of 23 April 1964 – Civil Code (Journal of Laws of 2017, item 459, 933 and 1132) on the protection of personal interests shall apply accordingly to the protection of the reputation of the Republic of Poland and the Polish Nation. Action for the protection of the reputation of the Republic of Poland or the Polish Nation may be brought by a non-governmental organisation acting within the scope of its statutory goals. Any damages or compensation awarded shall be due to the State Treasury.” Art. 53p: “Action for the protection of the reputation of the Republic of Poland or the Polish Nation may also be brought by the Institute of National Remembrance. In such cases, the Institute of National Remembrance shall have the capacity to be a party to court proceedings.” Art. 53q: “The provisions of art. 53o and art. 53p shall apply irrespective of the governing law”. [8] Article 55a of the 1998 Act on Institute of National Remembrance (2018 amendment) Article 55a. “1. Whoever publicly and contrary to the facts attributes to the Polish Nation or to the Polish State responsibility or co-responsibility for the Nazi crimes committed by the German Third Reich, as specified in Article 6 of the Charter of the International Military Tribunal – Annex to the Agreement for the prosecution and punishment of the major war criminals of the European Axis, executed in London on 8 August 1945 (Journal of Laws of 1947, item 367), or for any other offences constituting crimes against peace, humanity or war crimes, or otherwise grossly diminishes the responsibility of the actual perpetrators of these crimes, shall be liable to a fine or deprivation of liberty for up to 3 years. The judgment shall be communicated to the public. 2. If the perpetrator of the act specified in section 1 above acts unintentionally, they shall be liable to a fine or restriction of liberty. 3. An offence is not committed if the perpetrator of a prohibited act set out in sections 1 and 2 above acted within the framework of artistic or scientific activity. Article 55b. Irrespective of the law applicable at the place of commission of the prohibited act, this Act shall be applicable to a Polish citizen as well as a foreigner in the event of commission of the offences set out in art. 55 and art. 55a”. [9] Mirosław M. Sadowski, Intersections of Law and Memory. Influencing Perceptions of the Past (Routledge 2024) 276-282.
Scroll to Top