“Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen, receiving such a high state decoration, I feel truly humbled. The point is that I do not feel like a hero. For me, the heroes of this story are above all the soldiers and commanders of the Home Army – the very people whose glorification I was accused of,” said Andrzej Poczobut during the ceremony at the Royal Castle, where he was awarded the Order of the White Eagle.
Today at the Royal Castle, the President of the Republic of Poland presented Andrzej Poczobut with the Order of the White Eagle, which had been awarded to him on Independence Day in 2025.
Andrzej Poczobut is a hero and a man of unwavering principles. He is someone who, for the sake of Polish identity, for his attachment to historical truth, for the truth about the soldiers of the Home Army, for the fight for human rights and democracy under Lukashenko’s regime, was ready to go to prison – he did not flee. He went to prison, spent years there, and returned as a victor, as someone who shows that the suffering he experienced has deep meaning and also builds the strength of the national community,” said President of the Republic of Poland Karol Nawrocki during the ceremony.
Poczobut: “I do not feel like a hero…”
After the president, Andrzej Poczobut took the floor.
“Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen, receiving such a high state decoration, I feel truly humbled. The point is that I do not feel like a hero. For me, the heroes of this story are above all the soldiers and commanders of the Home Army – the very people whose glorification I was accused of. This includes, among others, the creator of Polish special forces units – Major Maciej Kalenkiewicz, nom de guerre ‘Kotwicz’,” he began.
He continued: “this includes, among others, the legendary ‘Silent Unseen’ operative, Major Jan Piwnik, nom de guerre ‘Ponury’. It also includes Zygmunt Szendzielarz, nom de guerre ‘Łupaszka’. It also includes commanders of the post-Home Army underground in the Grodno region – Second Lieutenant Anatol Radziwonik, nom de guerre ‘Olech’, and Second Lieutenant Mieczysław Niedziński, nom de guerre ‘Niemen’.”
“These are people who, until the very last moment of their lives, with weapons in hand, defended the independence and freedom of the country. They died, and their memory is still being tarnished to this day. Against this background, I am simply an ordinary man – because that is who I am – a man living in indecent times, trying to behave decently. That is all, and yet so much,” said Poczobut.
As he pointed out, “therefore I accept this decoration as a symbolic recognition of the activities of all members of the Union of Poles in Belarus – an organization I have the honor to belong to – who, after 2005, that is after the organization was outlawed by the Belarusian Ministry of Justice, have continued their social work. This work is aimed at preserving Polish national education in Belarus, nurturing Polish culture, and protecting sites of national remembrance. This activity is carried out under conditions of repression.”
“Since 2005, members of the Union of Poles have faced harassment and repression. The peak of these repressions came in 2001, when criminal proceedings were initiated against me. I want to stress very clearly that people are not persecuted for political activity. People are persecuted for wanting their children to learn in Polish, to know their native language. People are persecuted for visiting the graves of heroes. And that is the essence of this matter. It is also the reason why the issue of the Union of Poles in Belarus has, for years, been unequivocally assessed by various political circles in Poland,” Poczobut said at the Royal Castle in Warsaw.
He then thanked, among others, President Karol Nawrocki and the former head of state, Andrzej Duda.
“I am proud to be able to thank President Karol Nawrocki for his efforts toward my release. I am equally proud to thank your predecessor – President Andrzej Duda – for similar actions. I am proud to thank the government of Donald Tusk for its efforts toward my release. I am proud to thank the government of Mateusz Morawiecki for its efforts toward my release. There is something that unites us all – and that is Polishness. It is something beautiful. For that, I thank you all very sincerely,” Poczobut emphasized.