President Karol Nawrocki was not officially welcomed at the ceremonies in Auschwitz. Speaking on Radio Wnet, Wojciech Kolarski, a minister in the Presidential Chancellery, described in detail what happened in Oświęcim. He bluntly called the situation a “scandal.”
On Tuesday, the 81st anniversary of the liberation of prisoners from the German Nazi concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau was commemorated. President of the Republic of Poland Karol Nawrocki took part in the remembrance ceremonies and delivered a strong speech.
He directly reminded the audience that Germany has still not paid reparations to Poland for the crimes of World War II.
“The German state has still not paid reparations to Poland for the crimes of World War II. This is not how a world of peace is built – for every crime and every war, one must simply pay and apologize. Only then will we be able to feel that we have fulfilled our contemporary duty,” he said.
A scandal before the speech
Several days after the ceremonies, Wojciech Kolarski, a minister in the Presidential Chancellery, revealed the scandal that took place in Oświęcim. The organizers were responsible. Karol Nawrocki was not mentioned among the official guests of the commemoration.
“The President of the Republic, the head of state, President Karol Nawrocki, who took part in this ceremony, was not noticed by the host. This is a bizarre situation, and please believe me, as a presidential minister who has served for eleven years, I have never encountered such a situation,” Kolarski reported on Radio Wnet.
He pointed out that “at every ceremony attended by the president, the organizers always emphasized this, because it is a great honor. This is the first time I have encountered a situation in which the president was not mentioned.”
Importantly, it is the President of the Republic of Poland who is the patron of the ceremonies held on International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
“The president came to the site of the former German Nazi concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau to pay tribute to the victims of the Holocaust on this day. And it is completely incomprehensible, surprising, and scandalous that he was not welcomed, as if his presence were unnecessary. One could get that impression,” the presidential minister continued.
Organizers did not want the president to speak
It turns out that the failure to welcome the president was not the only scandal that occurred on Tuesday. Kolarski admitted that the organizers refused to allow the Polish head of state to speak during the ceremony. Why? Because they allegedly “did not wish to have public speeches.”
“The very fact that the President of the Republic, that the head of state, at a state institution, a state museum, cannot speak, also raises great astonishment for me,” the politician noted.
Surprisingly, such situations had not occurred in the past, as Minister Kolarski, who has worked in the Presidential Chancellery for years, also recalled. “When I represented the president many times during these ceremonies, I spoke on the president’s behalf. So this is a new custom. Is it a good one? I have my doubts,” he emphasized.