Mateusz Fałkowski, deputy to Hanna Radziejowska at the Pilecki Institute, has been dismissed on disciplinary grounds – just like Radziejowska herself.
“The reason was his co-authorship of an article we published in Rzeczpospolita on August 8, and his loyalty and solidarity in the face of slander and lies,” Radziejowska wrote on X. She added that Fałkowski, too, had been granted whistleblower protection by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.
Radziejowska disclosed the matter on social media:
“Today I learned that my deputy, Mateusz Fałkowski, was dismissed from the Pilecki Institute on disciplinary grounds. The reason was our co-authorship of an article published in Rzeczpospolita on August 8, as well as his loyalty and solidarity in the face of slander and lies. Since April 3, 2025, Mateusz has been under whistleblower protection granted by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. Mateusz is a man of extraordinary courage, immense knowledge, and unshakable integrity—an erudite, an irreplaceable colleague, and a friend. From the very beginning he co-created the program and team of the Institute’s Berlin branch. For over six years we worked together with full commitment, building one of the best institutions in Poland. As Zbigniew Herbert once wrote: ‘And they will reward you with what they have at hand / the lash of laughter / murder on a garbage dump.’ Together with Mateusz, we will seek justice before both Polish and German courts.”
A Scandal at the Pilecki Institute
The scandal surrounding Radziejowska’s dismissal was first reported in mid-August by the portal wp.pl, which revealed a series of shocking details implicating the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage—specifically its new head, Marta Cienkowska, and Krzysztof Ruchniewicz, the director of the Pilecki Institute.
On April 3, 2025, Radziejowska had sent a confidential letter to the ministry reporting irregularities in the functioning of the Institute and requested protection under whistleblower laws. The Ministry of Culture assured her that she was covered by such protection and that her correspondence would remain confidential.
But following the government reshuffle, when Marta Cienkowska took over the ministry, Radziejowska’s letter—contrary to earlier assurances of confidentiality and in violation of data protection law—was handed directly to her superior, Krzysztof Ruchniewicz. Upon learning of her allegations, Ruchniewicz moved to dismiss her on disciplinary grounds.
Even more striking, he reportedly sought an opinion from Germany’s Ministry of Labor to back his decision, as revealed this week by wp.pl journalists.
The Ministry of Culture later attempted to explain that Radziejowska had been recognized as a whistleblower “by mistake,” claiming that the protective status had been granted by an employee who was not authorized to do so.