Nazis, Catholics, patriots and politicians
How Polish neonazi bike gang members, hooligans, priest, politicians and criminals are all friends in a warped patriotic coalition against progressive forces
What do a Catholic priest, a criminal, a biker gang, MMA-fighters, neonazi hooligans and a politician have in common in Poland? This sounds like the start of a bad joke but sadly it is far from funny. The last two decades have shown that this coalition of the far-right may seem strange to outsiders but is a very logical team-up in a Poland of groups that feel under attack from the Left, the Globalists, the LGBTQ-community and the Muslim immigrants that have fled their war-torn lands to start a new life in Europe.
With key-words like patriotism, nationalist pride and “the defense of traditional family values” the religious conservatives and the extreme-right have truly found each other and have formed a coalition to make sure that “their Poland” stays the way it is “supposed to be”. And if that means that a politician running for parliament or even president has to be close friends to a convicted pimp and neonazi…then so be it.
With the arrest of a man called Olgierd L. in December 2024 the true expanse of the coalition of the patriotic right seemed to finally come to light. Olgierd, a known pimp, drug criminal, biker gang member and neonazi was arrested with others of his criminal organization for planning violent attacks on rival gangs and their assets. It wasn’t the first time Olgierd was arrested. The man, described by police and others familiar with his past as ultra-violent, has seen the inside of a jail cell many times in the last two and a half decades. The Lechia Gdansk hooligan never hid his admiration for Hitler and made racist and anti-semitic remarks to anyone within sight. As a member of the far-right motorcycle gang Bad Company MC he quickly rose to power in the criminal underground by violently getting rid of rivals. Olgierd and his men love using machetes, knives and brass-knuckles to put any rival into the hospital, a coma or even the morgue. Olgierd’s connection to PiS presidential candidate Karol Nawrocki so far has not had any negative effect on Nawrocki’s candidature.
But Karol Nawrocki has been a strong proponent of restoring pride in Polish nationalist history. His anti-communist views and strong patriotic beliefs have cemented him into a position of political and social strength in conservative and far-right circles in Poland. As the director of the Museum of the Second World War in Gdansk he has pushed for expositions showing pride in nationalist and patriotic events in Polish history, especially in opposition to the USSR. His campaign to rid Poland of statues commemorating Red Army heroes has put him on a arrest-warrant list in Russia where it is a crime to vandalize Red Army monuments. His nationalist beliefs have also led him to become friends with openly professed neonazis and the Bad Company MC, of which Olgierd L. is a leader.
Bad Company, and the Gdansk chapter in general, is known to be the main chapter of the biker gang which has dozens of chapters across the country. The symbol of the gang is a skull wearing a nazi helmet with red and white stripes adorning the helmet. And even though the gang openly states that they are not neonazis it has a surprisingly large group of neonazis as members. Nazi tattoos, necklaces and other adornments are a staple of Bad Company members. They openly profess to be patriotic, anti-gay and pro-tradition and are fervently anti-left. The gang makes money trafficking drugs and by performing acts of violence for other criminal organization. The gang also hosts concerts in cooperation with the infamous neonazi organization Blood&Honour, which has been banned in many countries across Europe for their terrorist and criminal activities. Popular neonazi bands like the far-right Polish band Obled perform at their gatherings. The president of Bad Company, Marcin Rozalski, does not hide his contempt for the left, the LGBTQ-community and other percieved enemies of the patriotic right. In television appearances Rozalski, easily recognizable by the numerous tattoos featured on his face, has openly said that the LGBTQ community is un-Polish and not natural and he sees gay people as people who have a disorder. As a fervent Mixed Martial Arts fighter Rozalski has gained the admiration of the international neonazi combat sports crowd and he has helped organize MMA tournaments in Poland and across Europe with German, French and Hungarian neonazi combat sports groups. He is also a spokesperson and brand-model for the German, but Indian owned, neonazi clothes brand Thor Steinar.
Due to the close relationship of Bad Company with Nawrocki the biker gang has organized several “historical” events where they celebrate Polish nationalists who died fighting the Soviets or the actual nazis during World War 2. In a video on Youtube a large group of Bad Company can be seen laying a wreath inside Auschwitz for Polish nationalists who were killed there. No mention of the deaths of millions of Jews, Roma, Communists, LGBT-people or leftie intellectuals of course.
This cross-polonation of different strands of the far-right has also led to a coalition with extreme conservative Catholics. It is not unusual for Oglied or Rozalski to quote Polish Catholic priest Tadeusz Rydzyk. The priest, who is connected to the Catholic radio station Maryja, has openly spoken about his disdain and hatred for Jews, Communists and gay people and has been fined by the Polish justice department for his anti-semitic views. Rydzyk also rails against Protestants in a manner reminiscient of the times of the Reformation. His anti-LGBTQ, anti-EU standpoints and anti-immigrant rhetoric made him a staple of the far-right in Poland.
The most curious part of the broad far-right coalition is that their opinions on Russia and its war on Ukraine can differ extremely. Apparently being patriotic and fiercely nationalistic does not stop some on the Polish far-right from supporting Putin and his expansionist war and threats across Europe. The hatred towards the “wokeness” of the European Union that threatens Polish traditional life gives way to a pro-Russian point of view. In the eyes of the Polish far-right Putin stands for the protection of traditional values and he is the only one challenging the left, Jewish, LGBTQ and globalist take over of European society. Polish neonazis frequently mingle with Russian neonazis at MMA tournaments and nazi concerts as biker gangs and criminals have close ties to their Russian counterparts. Far-right politicians rage against the EU and praise Putin for defending his homeland against NATO and EU expansion.
But at the same time there are also several of these same Polish far-right groups who stand for a strong and independent Poland and call for a strong and large army to protect Poland from foreign interference. This standpoint would pit the Polish far-right against any Russian expansionist moves, including election interference through disinformation and other forms of corruption. It is unclear how the several branches of the far-right stay so interconnected when strongly divided on these issues. Their shared hatred of the European Union and anything that can be seen as anti-traditional or anti-Catholic/Christian seems to be of more importance than taking a stance against or for Russian expansionism and interference.
The Polish political landscape is strewn with right-wing and far-right groups, coalitions and individuals. And with large right-wing political parties having close ties to media corporations on side and neonazi biker gangs and hooligans on the other Polish society seems to be more and more swerving to the extreme-right. Polish resistance against the Communists of the Soviet Union during the Cold War and the revival of the Catholic Church after the fall of the Berlin Wall is much more prevalent and important than any lessons that can be learned from the Nazi occupation during World War 2. And it seems that the European Union and NATO have decided that a militarily strong Poland is of more importance than taking a harder stance against the radicalization of Polish society.
Poland is on a course of becoming a bigger military power in Europe than its neighbor Germany and this will keep Putin at bay for now. But if Poland, or the EU and NATO, does not address this far-right coalition of strange bedfellows there might come a moment where Poland will step out of the EU and it will leave NATO behind. It will then be up to the strongest part of the patriotic coalition to decide whether or not they will stand for a strong Poland against Russia or with Russia.
That day may not be here yet, but the lack of action of Polish and EU authorities against this marriage of politics with crime and neonazism is troubling. It sets an example for similar groups in Germany, Hungary, Czechia and other countries. The stability of civil society and democracy across Europe depends on vigilance on the part of pro-democratic forces. Having tunnel-vision towards Russia and its expansionism might keep them from seeing the internal threat that looms over the democratic institutions they are trying to protect from Putin.