A bronze statue showing German philosopher Karl Marx was unveiled on occasion of the 200th birthday of Marx in Trier, Germany, Saturday, May 5, 2018. The statue was created bY Chinese artist Wu Weishan and is a present of China. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

A bronze statue showing German philosopher Karl Marx was unveiled on occasion of the 200th birthday of Marx in Trier, Germany, Saturday, May 5, 2018. The statue was created bY Chinese artist Wu Weishan and is a present of China. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s interior minister has apologized after Polish police entered an academic conference devoted to Karl Marx to check if anyone was propagating “totalitarianism” or engaging in “anti-national activity.”

Interior Minister Joachim Brudzinski apologized Monday for the incident Friday at a University of Szczecin conference center in Pobierowo, in western Poland.

A conference organizer, Tymoteusz Kochan, said three police officers acting on prosecutors’ orders questioned organizers and photographed scholarly publications. Prosecutors confirmed that they ordered the police check.

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Kochan, a doctoral candidate in philosophy, said the incident left participants shaken. He said he believed it was an attempt by Poland’s right-wing authorities to intimidate them.

Marx was a 19th-century socialist whose views guided the development of communist theory.

Poland’s current government is staunchly anti-communist.