During a ceremony at the Belvedere, the President of the Republic of Poland, Andrzej Duda, will present the highest state decoration, the Order of the White Eagle, to the founders and activists of the Workers’ Defence Committee (KOR): Mirosław Chojecki, Antoni Macierewicz and Piotr Naimski.
The President’s website gives the following profiles of the decorated:
Mirosław CHOJECKI
Anti-communist opposition activist, co-organiser of the Workers’ Defence Committee (Polish: Komitet Obrony Robotników), responsible for the reproduction of the first independent periodicals – “Biuletyn informacyjny” and “Komunkat KOR”. Co-founder of the Independent Publishing House “NOWa,” the largest publishing house operating outside censorship. Expat, member of the Foreign Office of “Solidarity.”
Antoni MACIEREWICZ
One of the leaders of the anti-communist opposition, arrested after the events of March ’68, co-founder of the Workers’ Defence Committee and the Social Self-Defence Committee “KOR.” Founder of the underground magazine “Głos,” one of the first independent publications in the People’s Republic of Poland. He also was a political prisoner arrested more than twenty times.
Piotr NAIMSKI
Anti-communist opposition activist, co-founder of the Workers’ Defence Committee and the Social Self-Defence Committee “KOR.”
Dziś (23.09), w dniu 46. rocznicy powstania Komitetu Obrony Robotników, podczas uroczystości w Belwederze, Prezydent @AndrzejDuda wręczy najwyższe odznaczenia państwowe, Ordery Orła Białego, założycielom i działaczom KOR.
Więcej: https://t.co/Fzu9cTGJCH pic.twitter.com/xNnkcRfnlk
— Kancelaria Prezydenta (@prezydentpl) September 23, 2022
On September 23, 1976, the Workers’ Defence Committee was founded – one of the most important opposition groups in the People’s Republic of Poland. It became the intellectual and organisational basis for the Independent Self-Governing Trade Union “Solidarity,” the first independent trade union “behind the Iron Curtain.”
The Order of the White Eagle (Polish: Order Orła Białego) is Poland’s highest order awarded to both civilians and the military for their merits. It was officially instituted on 1 November 1705 by king Augustus II the Strong of Poland and elector of Saxony and bestowed on eight of his closest diplomatic and political supporters. It is one of the oldest distinctions in the world still in use.
It is awarded to the most distinguished Poles and the highest-ranking representatives of foreign countries. The Order of the White Eagle is attached to a purple ribbon slung over the left shoulder to the right side. The star of the Order, once embroidered, is worn on the left side of the chest.