He is noted for his characterization of Auschwitz as a "labour camp", attracting allegations of Holocaust denial.

[3] In January 2000, Bender took part in a show on Radio Maryja — a socially conservative radio station — to defend Dariusz Ratajczak, a Polish historian, who was convicted of the denial of Holocaust for arguing that the Auschwitz Gas Chambers were meant to disinfect the Jews than to kill them among other things.

[6] The remarks attracted immediate ire from various quarters including Catholic Bishops who demanded an unconditional apology, his university which initiated disciplinary proceedings, and survivors of concentration camps; in what was a "national scandal", he was accused of engaging in antisemitism and Holocaust denial.

[8] In response, Bender complained about the legal provisions on Holocaust denial being weaponized by fundamentalist Jews to appropriate the Auschwitz only for their own; he also cited the sacrosanctity of academic freedom.

[2] Brian Porter-Szucs, a historian of Polish nationalism at University of Michigan, notes that Bender advocated an ahistorical about view about how the Nazis did not intend to particularly target the Jews but rather assault Poland and God.