News related to Poland
Statement from 30 September 2026
Termination of Beit Polska’s Membership
The European Union for Progressive Judaism (EUPJ) has terminated the membership of Beit Polska with immediate effect.
Following our statement of 15 September 2026, Beit Polska was invited to respond to the EUPJ’s concerns. Its reply, signed by its chair Bolesław Szenicer, denied the participation of local perpetrators in the massacre at Jedwabne on 10 July 1941; gave the number of victims as 160, against the finding of the Institute of National Remembrance that at least 340 were murdered; declared support for the “Alternative Commemorations” associated with Wojciech Sumliński; and asserted that the findings of the Institute, and the statements of Presidents of the Republic of Poland, were procured by foreign pressure in the service of Jewish financial interests. Having considered that reply, the Management Committee determined that it would not exercise any discretion available to it to allow Beit Polska’s membership to continue.
The EUPJ condemns these positions, and the conduct of Mr Szenicer in advancing them — in Beit Polska’s name, and over many years in his own. He has publicly disparaged Rabbi Michael Schudrich and the World Jewish Congress, and has characterised the historians Jan Tomasz Gross, Alina Cała, Jan Grabowski and Barbara Engelking, and Father Wojciech Lemański, as falsifiers of the historical record. The claim that Jewish suffering is exploited for financial gain is an antisemitic trope of long standing, and it is not lessened by being advanced under a Jewish name.
A number of Beit Polska’s own congregants have resigned rather than remain associated with its leadership. Beit Polska is no longer recognisable to the EUPJ as a Jewish religious community, and it is not a community of Progressive Judaism.
The EUPJ stands in solidarity with Rabbi Stas Wojciechowicz of Ec Chaim, the Progressive synagogue in Warsaw; with Rabbi Michael Schudrich; with the scholars whose work has been attacked; and with the Jewish communities of Poland, several of which are our own member communities. Progressive Judaism is founded on integrity, accountability, and a commitment to confronting history honestly. We will not lend our name to those who set themselves against it.
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Statement from 15 September 2026
The European Union for Progressive Judaism (EUPJ) is aware of recent public activities and statements associated with Beit Polska concerning the commemoration of the massacre of Jews in Jedwabne on 10 July 1941. Publicly available reports indicate participation by representatives of Beit Polska in events promoting interpretations of these events that are rejected by the mainstream historical consensus and by much of the organised Jewish community.
The EUPJ reaffirms its commitment to historical truth, responsible remembrance, and the dignity of those who were murdered. The overwhelming body of historical research, including findings accepted by leading scholars and public institutions, has concluded that the massacre in Jedwabne was carried out by local Poles under German occupation.
The positions recently advanced by Beit Polska do not reflect the views of the EUPJ and should not be understood as representing Progressive Judaism in Europe.
The EUPJ further notes that Beit Polska’s status within our organisational structures is currently subject to governance review. Pending completion of that process, no public statement or activity undertaken by Beit Polska should be regarded as carrying the endorsement of the EUPJ.
Progressive Judaism is founded on integrity, accountability, and a commitment to confronting history honestly, even when doing so is difficult. We stand in solidarity with those who seek to preserve the memory of the victims of Jedwabne and to ensure that this history is neither distorted nor denied.
