– I would like you to remember that Lech Kaczyński was the president of the Republic of Poland, Minister of Justice and president of NIK, but he was besides associated with the University of Gdańsk,” says Nawrocki. The president of IPN and the candidate for president of the Republic of Poland referred to the plans of the city authorities to remove the name of Kaczyński Street in Gdańsk.
The Gdańsk authorities initiated a public consultation in the form of a resolution on the change of the name of Lech Kaczyński Street. On this issue, the president of the IPN, Karol Nawrocki, spoke. His message focused on the importance of Lech Kaczyński as a historical figure whose heritage should be combined alternatively than dividing Poles.
The president of the IPN stressed that Kaczyński is simply a symbol of Polish independency and 1 of the heroes of Solidarity. His tragic death in the Smolensk disaster added to his permanent history. According to Nawrocki, rejecting his commemoration in Gdańsk is simply a deficiency of respect for the common history.
I would like you to remember that Lech Kaczyński was the president of the Republic of Poland, Minister of Justice and president of NIK, but he was besides associated with the University of Gdańsk,” says Nawrocki.
Read more: Nawrocki: “The end of ideological wars is crucial”
Polarization around historical memory and Kaczyński Street
The president of the IPN noted that conflicts around decisions specified as changing street names are a manifestation of deeper divisions in society.
He cited a individual example from Gdańsk, where – despite differences with Paul Adamowicz – he did not imagine opposing the name of the street. Nawrocki called for the abandonment of emotional disputes for “decentness and historical truth”.
Should Lech Kaczyński Street be in the capital?
Nawrocki expressed his concern that in Gdańsk – a city symbolic of Polish past – there should be no shortage of a street dedicated to Lech Kaczyński, as it is in Warsaw. He hoped that akin decisions in the future would consequence from the concern for building a national community.
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