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Polish presidential candidate ‘bad for historians’, academics say

<榴莲视频 class="standfirst">Concerns raised about Law and Justice candidate Karol Nawrocki’s role leading Institute of National Remembrance
十二月 2, 2024
Person fills out ballot in Poland election
Source: iStock/Dziurek

The nomination of Karol Nawrocki as?the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party’s candidate for the Polish presidency is a?cause for concern for the country’s historians, sector leaders have said, given his current role as?head of?the widely criticised Institute of?National Remembrance.

Dr Nawrocki will run against Rafa? Trzaskowski, the liberal Warsaw mayor put forward by?prime minister Donald Tusk’s Civic Coalition in?the 2025 election. While the role is?largely ceremonial, the president has significant power to?veto legislation – as demonstrated by?incumbent PiS president Andrzej Duda, who has used the position to?repeatedly block government reforms. As?such, the election outcome could either bolster Mr?Tusk’s government or signal a?political comeback for?PiS.

“Because we must defend Poland, we must defend our values, we must not allow our symbols to be taken away and our sovereignty to be limited,” Dr?Nawrocki said in a speech announcing his candidacy, according to?.

But the historian and sociologist Adam Leszczyński, an associate professor at SWPS University, told Times Higher Education that the state-run Institute of National Remembrance promoted a right-wing attitude to Polish history. “It?serves a?political purpose: propaganda for the Law and Justice party,” he claimed.

Micha? Bilewicz, director of?the University of Warsaw’s Center for Research on?Prejudice, said the Institute of National Remembrance has “openly attacked” Holocaust scholars researching the role of?the country’s non-Jewish population in?the genocide of?Polish Jews. As?a?result, he said, “I?assume that [Dr?Nawrocki] would not be a good option for historians.”

THE?approached?Dr Nawrocki for comment.

The overall political impact of the Polish presidency is limited, with “almost no?role in everyday policymaking”, Dr?Bilewicz noted. The president is responsible, however, for signing off on promotions to full professorships. While the task is a ceremonial one, and the president does?not have the power to veto these promotions, Mr?Duda has refused to sign off on several – including the professorship of Dr?Bilewicz. Should Dr?Nawrocki win the presidency, “I?do?not expect him to sign my full professor promotion, as he obviously would share President Duda’s approach,” Dr?Bilewicz said.

Despite the president’s limited political power, the upcoming election was “important in the symbolic view”, Dr?Leszczyński said. Should Dr?Nawrocki secure the presidency, “it would be a huge win for Law and Justice. It?could mean they will be back in a few years.

“The stakes are really high,” he said.

emily.dixon@timeshighereducation.com

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<榴莲视频 class="pane-title"> Reader's comments (2)
Adam Leszczyński is first and foremost a politically aligned with Koalicja Obywatelska - he was placed by that party in various posts. As such he is a partisan of the Rafa? Trzaskowski. Not including this information in the article is absurd.
The Institute of National Remembrance is not ‘widely criticised’. Like any institution it is subject to criticism. It is criticised by those who are not interested in promoting the true history of Poland. An example: the head of the Institute, Mr Karol Nawrocki, is being prosecuted by Russia for his activities. The Institute of National Remembrance did not attack Holocaust researchers. It only objected to the Holocaust distortion cases and the omission of the causal role of the Germans in the Holocaust. It opposed the lies, unsupported by sources, about so-called Polish co-responsibility for the genocide perpetrated by the Germans. He also reminded that Poles were also victims of the German genocide. Law and Justice is not a ‘nationalist’ party. It is a Polish republican party with great social sensitivity. The nomination of Karol Nawrocki is not a cause for concern for national historians. Mr Adam Leszczyński and Mr Micha? Bilewicz do not have the right to speak on behalf of all Polish scholars. Many of them personally support Mr Nawrocki.
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