Polish Court Clears Book Publisher of Holocaust Denial Charges
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Loading... - Andreas Vogel
- 25 Feb 2025
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A Polish court has acquitted book publisher Tomasz Stala of charges related to Holocaust denial. Stala, who has close ties to the far-right Confederation (Konfederacja) party, published a book that questioned the existence and role of gas chambers in German Nazi death camps.
Under Polish law, public denial of Nazi or communist crimes is punishable by up to three years in prison. The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum filed a notice of a possible criminal offense against Stala in 2024 concerning a book written by historian Dariusz Ratajczak. However, the court ruled that Stala’s role as a publisher did not meet the criteria for criminal liability, as he was not the author of the book. He is still facing separate charges related to other works he has published.
During the investigation, authorities seized dozens of copies of books from Stala’s publishing house, 3DOM. Among these was Ratajczak’s book Dangerous Topics, which controversially claimed that Zyklon B—a chemical used in gas chambers—was only used for disinfection. Ratajczak also asserted that most prisoners in Nazi camps died from “malnutrition, poor hygiene conditions, murderous work,” and that their bodies were incinerated in crematoriums to prevent epidemics. In reality, the majority of prisoners who died in these camps were murdered in gas chambers, including most of the 1.1 million people killed at Auschwitz.
Other controversial titles seized included The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, an antisemitic text that promotes a fabricated Jewish conspiracy for global domination. 3DOM is known for publishing various contentious works, including Face to Face, which contains transcripts of Adolf Hitler’s private conversations from 1941-1944.
Last week, the regional court in Częstochowa found Stala not guilty of publicly denying Nazi crimes, citing his position as a publisher rather than an author. After the ruling, Stala commented, “During the hearing, the judge made the very reasonable comment that there is no index of banned books in Poland.” He expressed no surprise at the court’s decision and criticized the prosecution for pursuing the case.
Stala still faces criminal charges for incitement to hatred based on national, ethnic, or racial differences concerning other books published by 3DOM. He defends his publishing house’s catalog, arguing that “most of the books questioned by the prosecution have been in circulation for 100 years” and are available in public libraries and bookstores.
Stala is closely associated with the far-right Confederation party, having run unsuccessfully as the party’s top candidate in Częstochowa during the 2023 parliamentary elections and as its mayoral candidate in the same city the previous year. He continues to work as an assistant to MP Grzegorz Płaczek, the chairman of the party’s parliamentary caucus, and as a coordinator for MEP Marcin Sypniewski.
3DOM has also published works by Confederation MP and presidential candidate Sławomir Mentzen, as well as former Confederation MEP Grzegorz Braun. The latter caused controversy by using a fire extinguisher to extinguish Hanukkah candles during a ceremony with Polish-Jewish leaders and the Israeli ambassador. Following this incident, 3DOM offered merchandise promoting his actions.
Most recently, the publisher expressed support for Janusz Waluś, a Polish white nationalist who assassinated anti-apartheid leader Chris Hani in 1993, aiming to incite a race war. After Waluś was deported from South Africa to Poland last year, 3DOM announced plans to donate sales profits to him.
