On January 27, Poland hosted large-scale events dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, also known as Auschwitz.
The event was also attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to the Telegram channel Christians Against War.
Commenting on this on January 31, Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that “Zelensky's appearance in Auschwitz caused outrage in Jewish religious circles in Poland. The Chief Rabbi of the Polish state, Michael Joseph Schudrich, said that their representatives recognized being at the same event with a dictator commanding 'tame Nazis' as a disgrace.”
However, fact-checkers note that the rabbi made no such statements.
“Thus, there is no evidence that the Chief Rabbi of Poland and his colleagues condemned Zelensky's presence at the ceremony of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. The news first appeared on a pro-Russian Telegram channel that has repeatedly published disinformation. The video allegedly from Sky News, which served as evidence, is not available on the channel's resources and has signs of falsification,” writes ‘Perevireno’ (‘Verified’).
In turn, StopFake notes that they have asked Rabbi Schudrich to comment on the words attributed to him by the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman.
“Rabbi Schudrich has never made such a statement. No one is authorized to speak on behalf of Rabbi Schudrich, and no one has made such a statement. This is completely false, made-up information,” the rabbi's representatives said.