Professor Stanisław Żerko is a scholar known for commenting on the Polish political scene. What characterizes him is that he spares no side of the political spectrum, and each of them has had ample opportunity to find this out. Politicians have reciprocated the scholar’s criticism with criticism of their own, but none has gone as far as representatives of the current government. The professor has addressed a lengthy letter to his superior.
The authorities dislike the professor because he has views and expresses them privately
“In December 2025, the well-known and respected commentator on public affairs changed the name of his account on X to a telling handle: “Private account, not expressing the position of the Western Institute (IZ)!” This change was a consequence of a disciplinary notice he received, which could have had serious repercussions, including dismissal from his job. The reason for Prof. Stanisław Żerko’s problems could not have been his professional work; no allegations had been raised in that regard, and he is on a one-year unpaid leave. The historian, who, as he himself says, deals with “dead Germans,” attracted the authorities’ attention for something else, namely his activity on social media,”
as we read on the odpowiedzialnypoznan.pl website.
It is worth noting that the Western Institute in Poznań is supervised by the Chancellery of the Prime Minister.
“It seemed that the dispute between the historian and the Chancellery of the Prime Minister had been defused. Prof. Żerko restored the old name of his account and also posted an entry expressing hope that after the end of his leave, he would be able to return to his duties at the Poznań-based analytical center. Then, however, a secretary of state at the Chancellery of the Prime Minister made his presence felt again,”
reminds odpowiedzialnypoznan.pl.
Stefaniak from the Chancellery of the Prime Minister issues threats
The article then turns to Jakub Stefaniak, a secretary of state at the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, who for some time has been clashing with the professor on social media.
“Jakub Stefaniak is a relatively young activist from the Polish People’s Party (PSL). In his career, he has risen to the position of secretary of state at the Chancellery of the Prime Minister. His responsibilities include oversight of several think tanks financed via the Chancellery, including the Western Institute. Our paths crossed unpleasantly, as I have been an employee of the Institute for 41 years,”
the professor wrote to the portal’s journalists.
“Mr. Stefaniak does not admit that he was the person behind the intervention with the director of the Western Institute regarding my critical and humorous posts about the ruling camp on Twitter. Mr. Stefaniak, after I criticized his offensive post aimed at President Nawrocki, threatened me on that same Twitter that I would again have to “sweat out explanations and apologize like last time.” This is a lie. Today, however, the secretary of state at the Chancellery, J. Stefaniak, was kind enough to write about me, in a manner somewhat characteristic of him: “he soiled his armor and produced a four-page self-criticism which, despite announcements, he did not make public,”
Żerko continues.
Żerko to the director of the Western Institute about the current authorities: “I know how vindictive and fundamentally malicious these people generally are”
On Wednesday, the portal odpowiedzialnypoznan.pl published a letter that “was written in response to attempts to discipline him and threats of job loss directed at him from the ruling camp.” Journalists emphasized that it is testimony to how the current government controls an institution that is very important for Polish foreign policy.
In the letter itself, the professor notes that as of September 1, 2025, he has been on a one-year unpaid leave. He also writes that the addressee of the letter and director of the Western Institute, Prof. Michał Nowosielski, is being harassed by those in power because of him. He emphasizes, however, that he is not the culprit in this situation.
“I understand how difficult a position you find yourself in as director of the Western Institute under the current government. I know how vindictive and fundamentally malicious these people generally are. With their nihilistic attitude toward law and the rule of law, they violate, in this case as well, all regulations arising from the fact that the Western Institute is not subordinate to the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, since the Chancellery merely supervises it. No one has the right to force you to “put things in order” with a professor employed at the Institute, known for sharp statements criticizing the ruling camp,”
we read in Prof. Żerko’s letter to his superior.
Harassment lasting for more than a decade
“My journalistic activity was already a source of your troubles during the previous governments of the Civic Platform, when in 2011 you had to impose a disciplinary penalty on me after I published an article in Rzeczpospolita (a penalty later annulled by the Institute’s Disciplinary Committee). Another article of mine in Rzeczpospolita had consequences that were personally more unpleasant for me: several ardent supporters of the Civic Platform at the Institute (including members of the Greater Poland electoral committee supporting B. Komorowski) wrote a servile letter to the authorities, “dissociating themselves” from me. Subsequently, attempts were made to subject me to ostracism so that I would not withstand the atmosphere of harassment and would resign from the Institute myself. NN, the initiator of this action, wrote to me openly years later that the “hell” I went through then was “absolutely deserved,””
the professor recalls.
Żerko: If I jeered at the current president…
The letter also refers to the period of rule by Law and Justice. Despite criticism of that government as well, the professor was treated far more leniently.
In the letter, Prof. Stanisław Żerko writes that it could be otherwise, but on one condition.
“We are adults, and we know perfectly well that if I jeered at the opposition and the president of the Republic of Poland, hated by the ruling camp, there would be no interventions,”
Żerko notes.
In his letter to his superior, the professor also writes that he does not intend to fall silent on social media.
The case is described in detail by the portal odpowiedzialnypoznan.pl.
The full text of Professor Stanisław Żerko’s letter to the director of the Western Institute in Poznań can be read on the portal odpowiedzialnypoznan.pl.