“Despite the passage of time, neither the architects of Jaruzelski’s junta nor the direct perpetrators of political murders have, in the vast majority of cases, been punished. (…) This is the reality we live in 44 years after the introduction of martial law. It is not the victims who matter, but the comfortable lives of their executioners. Perhaps one day we will see justice,” writes Fr. Jarosław Wąsowicz SDB—chaplain to supporter communities and chaplain to the President of the Republic of Poland—in a column for Gazeta Polska Codziennie.
For many years, supporters of Lechia Gdańsk marked successive anniversaries of the introduction of martial law on December 13 by organizing demonstrations under the slogan “Nuremberg for the Communists.” They demanded punishment for those responsible for crimes committed against the Polish nation. At that time, Jaruzelski and Kiszczak were still alive. On the night of December 12–13, pickets were held outside the former’s home, recalling the figures of the victims of martial law. Despite the passage of time, neither the architects of Jaruzelski’s junta nor the direct perpetrators of political murders have, in the vast majority of cases, been punished. The currently governing coalition—which, paradoxically, also took power on December 13—restored pension privileges to former Security Service officers and pays them enormous compensation for the period in which the PiS government stripped them of those privileges. As can be seen, they remain faithful to the post–Round Table tradition: no “harm” may be done to the post-communists. Nor can they be held accountable for their crimes or for their loyal service in the apparatus of repression. This is the state we live in in 2025.
Patriotic circles every year on this tragic date demand justice for the victims of martial law. During the recent Lechia–Górnik match, a powerful stadium display appeared, aimed at the architects of martial law and at Michnik, who referred to them as “people of honor.”
In Gdańsk, on December 13, we have for several years gathered by the monument to Tolek Browarczyk, who was the first person murdered during the street demonstrations that, in the first days of the war against the nation, took place en masse on the streets of Gdańsk. He is also one of the youngest victims of martial law in Poland. On December 16, he took part in street fighting in Gdańsk. On December 17, he was fatally shot in the head by an officer of the Citizens’ Militia. He is a deeply symbolic figure for us, because in his story we find many important dimensions that marked our path to freedom in the 1980s. Tolek attended academic chaplaincy meetings, was a young worker connected with the Independent Self-Governing Trade Union “Solidarity,” and was also a supporter of Lechia Gdańsk. It was the white-and-green fans who, more than two decades after his death, restored the memory of their murdered friend. In 2016, through the efforts of several groups, a monument was erected at the place where Browarczyk was shot. In the city of Solidarity, it took as many as five years for this initiative to materialize. In a city governed by allies of today’s government, there was a major problem with it.
This is the reality we live in 44 years after the introduction of martial law. It is not the victims who matter, but the comfortable lives of their executioners. Perhaps one day we will see justice. Despite all difficulties, we must demand it. Nuremberg for the Communists!