Since the beginning of the Third Polish Republic, there has been a tacit acceptance among liberal elites of German – and also Russian – narratives about Poland. This was usually presented as stemming from a desire for reconciliation and the need for good-neighbourly relations. The example of Prof. Krzysztof Ruchniewicz shows that the context is far more troubling.
The former head of the Pilecki Institute, Krzysztof Ruchniewicz, has once again made headlines. This time it is due to an article published by Wirtualna Polska about his dangerous connections with a lobbyist cooperating with the Wagner Group. It is worth noting that Ruchniewicz has for decades belonged to influential and prestigious Polish-German circles, as well as groups shaping historical policy in the Third Republic. He has been an academic at the Institute of History at the University of Wrocław since the very beginning of Poland’s political transformation. He also served as director of the Willy Brandt Center for German and European Studies, was a member of the Committee for the “Award for Special Merits in the Development of Polish-German Relations”, a member of the presidium of the Polish-German Textbook Commission, of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Association of German-Polish Societies, and for many years of the Krzyżowa Foundation for Mutual Understanding in Europe. A few years ago, he was also admitted as a member of the Kashubian Institute in Gdańsk. To this should be added his membership in numerous German organizations focused on Mitteleuropa, as well as positions on scientific boards and editorial boards of German-, English- and Polish-language journals.
One Success Too Many
In November 2024, Krzysztof Ruchniewicz was appointed director of the Witold Pilecki Institute of Solidarity and Valor in Warsaw. He quickly reached for an iron broom and set about a harsh “deform” of the distinguished institution. At first, critical voices were downplayed, but public opinion soon became interested in the direction of changes and Ruchniewicz’s statements.
He was criticized for poor personnel decisions concerning the Berlin branch of the Pilecki Institute, including the dismissal of whistleblower Hanna Radziejowska – later reinstated – as well as disastrous moves regarding the Rafał Lemkin Center. Even Gazeta Wyborcza voiced criticism, reproaching the scholar that “as head of the Institute, he decided to suspend work related to documenting Russian crimes in Ukraine, carried out by the Rafał Lemkin Center for Documenting Russian Crimes in Ukraine, established during Magdalena Gawin’s tenure”.
Ruchniewicz’s actions were also difficult to understand for Piotr Cywiński, director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, who would hardly be suspected of siding with the right wing.
The generally government-friendly Rzeczpospolita reported indignantly at the time: “The head of the Pilecki Institute, Prof. Krzysztof Ruchniewicz, wanted to organize a seminar on the restitution of cultural property by Poland to Germany. This action by the plenipotentiary for Polish-German relations runs counter to the policy of the Polish state”.
The atmosphere around the Wrocław-based scholar – until then regarded by liberal salons as an unquestioned authority on Polish-German relations – grew denser month by month. In August 2025, Marta Cienkowska, minister responsible for culture, dismissed him from the post of head of the Pilecki Institute, explaining that the main reason was his failure to ensure the institution’s statutory functioning due to flawed program plans, a faulty communication policy and poor managerial decisions.
The Salons’ Admiration
The matter might have ended there, and more serious questions about Ruchniewicz’s role at the Pilecki Institute might have been dismissed by public opinion as conspiracy theories and gossip, were it not for the latest media reports. It turns out that counterintelligence had taken an interest in him: “The reason was his acquaintance with an influential sympathizer of the Wagner Group in Germany, who together with it observed referenda and elections manipulated by Russia in African countries”.
That man is Urs Unkauf – a protean figure. On the one hand, he appears as an analyst and lobbyist interested in energy policy; on the other, he presents himself as a historian and sociologist.
As managing director of the German Federal Association for Economic Development and Foreign Trade (BWA), Unkauf commented in German media on Poland’s migration strategy toward Ukrainians. He is also co-author of the book Deutschland und Polen. Die Geschichte der amtlichen Beziehungen (“Germany and Poland. The History of Official Relations”), officially launched in 2025 at the German Embassy in Warsaw.
The media coverage adopted a strikingly favorable tone: “In the presence of many individuals interested in historical and current Polish-German relations, the ambassador, Polish Germanists and experts on Germany, journalists, as well as the authors of the work, the launch of this important and extraordinary book FOR THE FUTURE of Polish-German relations, both bilateral and within the EU, took place” (original spelling, quoted after PrzeglądDziennikarski.pl). The note’s author added that the book was also presented by “two distinguished experts on Germany and international relations – Janusz Reiter (former Polish ambassador, including to Germany), Prof. Krzysztof Ruchniewicz (an outstanding expert on Polish-German issues, especially in the field of the joint Polish-German history textbook)”.
Unkauf – The German-Russian Nexus
The picture would be almost idyllic, were it not for one disturbing detail: for years Urs Unkauf has allegedly taken an active part in Russian influence operations in both Europe and Africa. He has cooperated with organizations that built the conceptual background for the Wagner Group and for structures created on the basis of this “private army” serving the Kremlin after the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin. The death of “Putin’s chef” was most likely punishment for his 2023 rebellion against the Kremlin.
The Polish context is more important here. At the beginning of 2023, the Berlin branch of the Pilecki Institute received a proposal to cooperate within a discussion titled “4Ukraine – migration challenges, lessons from Poland and Germany”, organized by the Eastern Studies Institute Foundation in cooperation with the Bundesverband für Wirtschaftsförderung und Außenwirtschaft – the Federal Association for Economic Development and Foreign Trade. A year earlier, Urs Unkauf had become director general of that institution. At the time, the Pilecki Institute refused cooperation with BWA, explaining that this was due to verification procedures and knowledge of unclear ties between Unkauf’s organization and Russia.
Two years later, already as head of the Pilecki Institute, Ruchniewicz not only took part in the promotion of the book by the influential Wagner Group sympathizer at the German Embassy in Warsaw, but also wrote its foreword. An indignant Ruchniewicz explained in Gazeta Wyborcza: “This is madness. I have written forewords to many books and catalogues without ever having seen their authors. It was similar in this case. The proposal came from the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, with which I have cooperated for many years”.
How should one comment on this? So many dots must be connected when examining the zones of influence operating in Poland.
The vicissitudes of Prof. Ruchniewicz provide a unique opportunity to take a somewhat deeper look at how liberal salons, opinion-shaping circles and influence groups function. It is an opportunity to see how much weight is carried there by systems of mutual recommendations and networking, remaining beyond any public knowledge.
Since the beginning of the Third Polish Republic, there has been tacit acceptance among liberal elites of German – and Russian – narratives about Poland. This was usually presented as stemming from a desire for reconciliation and good-neighbourly relations. The example of Krzysztof Ruchniewicz shows that the context is far more troubling.
It is clear that if not for the “foreign bodies” within this system – a handful of people constantly accused by Gazeta Wyborcza of “PiS dependencies” – Ruchniewicz would most likely still be head of the Pilecki Institute and would be doing whatever he pleased with the institution. People like Urs Unkauf would probably be receiving awards from him or being recommended for Polish decorations. And if politicians of Civic Platform (PO) held full power in Poland today – if they had their own president – the scope of action for Ruchniewicz and Unkauf would be even broader, especially since the majority of Polish-language media, particularly those with foreign capital, would have no interest in publicizing such matters.
The next time you hear that Polish-German or Polish-Russian relations are safest in the hands of liberal elites, remember this story. And think about what else you may not know about it.