I wonder how politicians supporting the governing coalition cope with the information regarding the circumstances surrounding the interrogation of the late Barbara Skrzypek, or the recent reports about a Chancellery of the Prime Minister (KPRM) official brought in for questioning in handcuffs on both hands and feet—during which time her son, deprived of his mother, attempted to take his own life. How did they process the accounts of Ministry of Justice employees who were humiliated in the most despicable manner while in detention?
Naturally, there are regimes in the world that commit even worse atrocities, and those who remember the communist era are well aware that repression can be far more widespread. But the issue is that thousands of people in Poland once willingly accepted the risk of imprisonment—sometimes even the loss of life—to ensure that such situations would never recur. Yet we have now, in some measure of reality, returned to a totalitarian state, where the decisions of courts and prosecutors depend directly on the will of those in power, and where the law and the constitution pose no obstacle to the government’s malfeasance.
It seems that many politicians within the ruling coalition have yet to fully grasp the nature of their complicity—or at the very least, the moral and political responsibility they bear for violations of human rights. The psychology of self-deception is a fascinating field and helps explain why individuals can live in such stark contradiction to their proclaimed values.
Even more interesting is the phenomenon involving millions of citizens who, though decreasing in number, still declare themselves supporters of the governing coalition.
Some have already quietly withdrawn their support for the [ruling – ed.] party, though I believe very few have truly grasped the full extent of the current government’s conduct. Others will continue to tolerate it for a time under the logic of the “lesser evil”—after all, PiS [Law and Justice party] was also said to have committed terrible acts. While it’s difficult to identify comparably drastic cases from the eight years of right-wing rule, inflating select facts is sufficient to produce a false sense of “equivalence.” A significant segment of our fellow citizens has yet to fully comprehend what is happening in our country.
During communism, everyone was allowed to know about the Katyn massacre. There were Radio Free Europe and the Voice of America, and tens of thousands of family members of the victims usually did not keep the matter secret. Yet I remember moments in school or at university when bringing up the topic would provoke surprise, and for many classmates, it was seen as a sign of radicalism. They probably only changed their minds once the Russians themselves admitted to the crime. Still, people like me remained “radicals” in their eyes, even though on fundamental issues they came to realize we had been telling the truth all along.
Despite these phenomena, the truth is gradually beginning to reach the majority of Poles, and it will influence their decisions at the ballot box. The cost of such conduct by those in power will continue to rise. So why do they persist? There are simply too many incidents to attribute them to mere loss of control over overzealous subordinates. What is at play here is a chilling effect—a deliberate effort to instil fear. This government possesses a handful of tools to stay afloat, and fear turns out to be one of the most important among them.
Under communism, people were even more afraid. How was that fear overcome? Through solidarity. Solidarity resistance and solidarity support for those organizing the resistance let people count themselves and stop being afraid. We must act in solidarity. We must support one another—and the evil that has taken hold of Poland will soon come to an end.
Above all, each of us must contribute something of ourselves. In this situation, indifference means accepting evil.