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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Poland’s security services have detained three teenagers accused of being part of online groups promoting neo-Nazism and violence. One of them has been charged with planning terrorist attacks on targets including a mosque and a school.
On Tuesday, the National Prosecutor’s Office announced that the main suspect, who can be named only as Paweł G. under Polish privacy law, had been detained last week by the Internal Security Agency (ABW) and charged by prosecutors with three alleged crimes.
Prokurator ze śląskiego wydziału PZ PK przedstawił 17-letniemu obywatelowi Polski zarzut przygotowania zamachu terrorystycznego, którego celem miało być zabójstwo wielu osób. ⬇️https://t.co/bYi6GY3BaR
— Prokuratura (@PK_GOV_PL) September 22, 2026
The most serious charge, carrying a potential prison sentence of up to 15 years, relates to undertaking preparations to kill a large number of people through a terrorist attack.
Prosecutors say that analysis of data from devices belonging to the suspect revealed correspondence concerning the planning of large-scale attacks, including on a school and a mosque, as well as surveillance of targets, acquisition of weapons, and the use of grenades and Molotov cocktails.
Poland has a small Muslim community, but one that has grown rapidly in recent years amid high levels of immigration, and now numbers in the tens of thousands. That has prompted protests from some far-right groups, especially in relation to the growth of Islamic places of worship.
Nationalists have protested against an Islamic centre in Kraków, saying they "do not consent to the spread of Islam in Poland".
However, the city's equality officer has criticised such groups for "artificially fueling fears and instigating conflicts" https://t.co/qNKJJxMQa5
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) July 6, 2026
Paweł G. is also charged with being part of a criminal group that aimed to “commit a terrorist offence, promote Nazi and fascist content, and incite hatred based on national, ethnic, racial and religious differences”. That crime is punishable by up to ten years in prison.
The final alleged offence is public incitement of hatred, promotion of a fascist and Nazi system of state, and possession of Nazi and fascist material with the intention to disseminate it through the internet. That crime carries a jail term of up to three years.
The suspect, who prosecutors have confirmed is a Polish citizen, has not pleaded guilty to the alleged offences. A court has accepted a request by prosecutors to keep him in detention for three months while the investigation continues.
The National Prosecutor’s Office noted that two additional individuals associated with Paweł G. have been transferred to juvenile courts, without providing further information on what offences they are alleged to have committed.
However, in a separate statement, the ABW confirmed that they are two 16-year-olds detained last week as part of an investigation into an online group associated with neo-Nazi propaganda and violence.
The ABW named the two suspects as Kacper K. and Wiktor Ś., saying that the pair had been in possession of materials relating to Hitler’s Third Reich, Nazism, racism and antisemitism, as well as terrorist attacks, mass killings and lone-wolf gunmen.
Kacper K. has been placed in a juvenile detention centre for three months, while Wiktor Ś. was placed in a police holding centre for children for an unspecified period of time.
🚨Zarzut przygotowywania zamachu terrorystycznego. 3⃣ miesiące aresztu. Kolejny zatrzymany przez @ABW_GOV_PL 🇵🇱
To ciąg dalszy sprawy młodych osób aktywnych w neonazistowskich i ekstremistycznych grupach w sieci.
W ostatnim wpisie pisaliśmy, że sprawa jest rozwojowa. I jest❗️… https://t.co/gxQmY1VTSQ
— ABW (@ABW_GOV_PL) September 22, 2026
In their statement, the ABW said that Paweł G., the suspect now charged by prosecutors, was active in the same neo-Nazi Telegram and Discord online messaging groups as Kacper K. and Wiktor Ś.
“Some conversations included elements about planning potential attacks,” wrote the agency. “Participants analysed the modus operandi of the perpetrators of terrorist attacks and viewed them as a source of inspiration.”
The ABW also revealed that Paweł G. belonged to an extremist group called Atomwaffen Polska and had co-founded another called Bierut Soldier ZNB. Both groups displayed neo-Nazi symbolism and content and discussed violence and attacks.
Six people who were filmed celebrating Hitler’s birthday in Poland while wearing Nazi uniforms and saluting in front of a burning swastika have been found guilty of promoting fascism https://t.co/SYPqn3nMd3
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) June 1, 2022
The agency said that its investigation into the Polish extremists had also led to identification of a German minor who had declared his readiness to carry out an armed attack motivated by racial and religious hatred.
The ABW forwarded the information to an unnamed foreign agency, which has launched legal proceedings against the suspect.
“Radicalisation does not begin with an attack. It begins much earlier – with the content, contacts, and environment that can lead to a real threat,” wrote the ABW. “The role of the ABW is to identify such processes before they escalate into action.”
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Main image credit: Służby specjalne (under CC BY-SA 4.0)
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
