Who will become the president of the Institute of National Remembrance after Karol Nawrocki? There were three names
Karol Nawrocki, who was elected president of the Institute of National Remembrance in 2021, will have to give way to this position due to the fact that after winning the election he would be sworn in in August as president of the Republic of Poland. Here is a list of candidates and a description of their professional history:
Jan Józef Kasprzyk He has been an adviser to the President of the Institute of National Remembrance since 2024, and earlier for seven years he was the head of the Office for War Veterans and Victims. He is associated with PiS. In the local elections from 2002, he started from the list of this group to the Ochota District Council in Warsaw (for the last time in 2024). He graduated from the Faculty of History of the University of Warsaw.
He was a journalist on the Catholic Radio Warsaw and the editor in “Historical and Military Review”. He also published in “Nasz Dziennik”, the weekly “Niedziela”, “Gazeta Polska”, and historical magazines: “Polish armed” and “say ages”. He specializes in the history of the Second Polish Republic. He also organized historical shows, including dedicated to Józef Piłsudski (in 1998 he became the president of the Piłsudski Association and several times he was the commander of the trail march and the HR company). He is 50 years old.
Mateusz Szetma
The peer of Jan Józef Kasprzyk is Mateusz Szetma. He has been associated with the Institute of National Remembrance since the beginning of this institution. He took the position of vice president nine years ago (when Jarosław Szarek became the head of the Institute). Earlier, he was an expert in the Departmental Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation in Krakow, assistant and deputy director of the secretariat of President Janusz Kurtyka.
In the years 2015–2016 he managed the Museum of Poles saving Jews during World War II Ulma family in Markowa. He devoted several scientific publications to the rescue of Jews by Poles during the German occupation. He also wrote about the history of the Polish People's Movement after World War II. Even during his studies (history at the Jagiellonian University), he was a participant and co -organizer of expeditions to Ukraine, during which inventory was carried out in the inscription and coats of arms (including in churches, palaces and on monuments) made by 1945.
Mateusz Szytma is valued by employees of the Institute of National Remembrance. He has the opinion of a competent researcher and a person who learned from the inside out the functioning of this institution. The candidacy of Mateusz Szpata, according to PAP interlocutors, could count on the support of the influential PiS parliamentarians and the acceptance of PSL.
Karol Polejowski
According to some interlocutors, he also has the chances for the position of president Karol Polejowskiclosely associated with Karol Nawrocki since he managed the Museum of the Second World War in Gdańsk. Karol Polejowski was a researcher of this institution, and in 2021 he became the vice president of the Institute of National Remembrance.
He specializes in the history of the Middle Ages (he obtained habilitation based on the trial regarding the times of the Crusades) and for a short time he worked at the Castle Museum in Malbork. He has recently dealt with the Polish underground after World War II and the Polish armed forces in the West. He is 56 years old.
Competition immediately after swearing
Prof. Wojciech Polak, chairman of the College of the Institute of National Remembrance, said that the competition for the new president of the Institute of National Remembrance would be announced “immediately after the President-Elekt Karol Nawrocki's resignation from the function of the President of the Institute of National Remembrance”. In his opinion, “there are always important and special tasks before the President of the Institute of National Remembrance, because it is an institution of great importance.”
– Dr. Karol Nawrocki perfectly fulfilled his duties, I hope that the new president will be equally competent. Personally, I especially count on the continuation of activities taken by President Karol Nawrocki to use modern methods of historical education of society, especially young people – said prof. Pole.
According to him, a situation is possible in which the Sejm would reject the candidacy submitted by the College of the Institute of National Remembrance. – Then the next competition will be announced – added the chairman of the College of the Institute of National Remembrance.
Pursuant to the Act on the Institute of National Remembrance, its president appoints and dismisses the Sejm of the Republic of Poland with the consent of the Senate. Candidates for this position are submitted by the College of the Institute of National Remembrance, outside his group. The competition for the position of president of the Institute of National Remembrance is announced by the chairman of the College of the Institute of National Remembrance – currently it is prof. Wojciech Polak. In the next step of the College of the Institute of National Remembrance, he adopts a resolution on the selection of a candidate for the position of the President of the Institute of National Remembrance in a secret ballot. If in votes none of the candidates receive the required majority of votes, the College of the Institute of National Remembrance, by way of a resolution, he considers the competition unresolved, and its chairman again announces the competition.
The condition for submitting to the competition are: having only Polish citizenship, no criminal record, distinguishing with high moral values and knowledge useful in the work of the Institute, having scientific melting: doctor, habilitated doctor or professor. The act indicates that the President of the Institute of National Remembrance cannot be appointed a person who served, worked or was a collaborator of state security authorities and a judge who, by deciding, failed to do the office of the office.
The President of the Institute of National Remembrance may not belong to the political partya trade union or conduct public activities not reconciled with the dignity of his office. The position of this You cannot combine with the mandate of a deputy or senator.
