Politician douses Hanukkah candles in Polish parliament

A shocking video shows the moment a far-right Polish lawmaker grabbed a fire extinguisher and doused a large Hanukkah candle display in the middle of a celebration for Jewish families at the country’s parliament in Warsaw Tuesday.

Grzegorz Braun, of the nationalist and anti-immigrant Confederation party, could be seen in footage posted by news outlet TVN24 removing a red fire extinguisher from a wall, before walking across the parliament’s lobby and smothering the menorah on the sixth night of the Jewish “Festival of Lights.”

A cloud of smoke and white powder filled the air, forcing security guards to evacuate revelers, including children, who had come to attend the annual Hanukkah festivities at the invitation of Parliament Speaker Szymon Holownia.

Magdalena Gudzinska-Adamczyk, a member of the Jewish community, tried to stop Braun from extinguishing the flames and was blasted in the face with white powder.

“I feel very short of breath and have trouble speaking,” she later told TVN24. “I have stopped feeling safe in this country.”

After his hateful stunt, Braun brazenly took the stage in the chamber, describing Hanukkah as “satanic” and arguing that he was restoring “normality.”

Asked if he was ashamed of his actions, a defiant Braun shot back: “Those who take part in acts of satanic worship should be ashamed.”

Braun, who previously claimed that there was a plot to turn Poland into a “Jewish state” and called for the criminalization of homosexuality, then stomped out of the room, after shaking hands with other fringe lawmakers.

The unprecedented act was widely denounced by other members of parliament, with Speaker Holownia proclaiming that there would be no tolerance for antisemitic and xenophobic behavior in Poland’s governing body.

A furious Holownia booted Braun from the day’s parliamentary session, expressing hope that “he will not return soon” – and vowed to report the incident to prosecutors.

The parliament also slapped the maximum financial penalty on the rogue lawmaker, forcing him to lose half of his salary for three months and all expenses for six months.

Braun’s own political party quickly sought to distance itself from him, writing on X that it condemned the MP’s behavior.

The incident came a short time after Poland’s newly elected Prime Minister Donald Tusk delivered his inaugural speech, in which he pledged support for Ukraine and promised that Poland would be a reliable ally to the US and NATO.

Tusk later publicly decried Braun’s antisemitic display as “unacceptable” and a disgrace that must never be repeated.

Poland’s Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich told Reuters that Braun’s actions were not representative of the country and that he was “embarrassed” by them.

“Someone extinguished the Hanukkah candles and a few minutes later we relit them,” he said. “For thousands of years our enemies have been trying to extinguish us, from the time of the Maccabees right through to Hamas. But our enemies should learn, they cannot extinguish us.”

Cardinal Grzegorz Rys of Poland’s Catholic church said in a statement posted on X that he was ashamed of Braun’s actions.

“[I] apologize to the entire Jewish community in Poland,” he wrote

With Post wires