The President of the Republic of Poland, Andrzej Duda, has stripped Jolanta Małgorzata Lange (primo voto Gontarczyk) of the Silver Cross of Merit, according to an official statement on the website of the Presidential Chancellery. The petition on this matter, initiated by Piotr Woyciechowski, reached the President’s desk in April of this year. It was signed by numerous journalists from the Free Speech Zone media, including the program director of Telewizja Republika Michał Rachoń, Prof. Sławomir Cenckiewicz, Gen. Andrzej Kowalski, editor Cezary Gmyz, editor Adrian Stankowski, and editor-in-chief of Niezalezna.pl Grzegorz Wierzchołowski.
“Jolanta Lange has been stripped of her decoration,” the Presidential Chancellery announced in a statement dated July 29.
“The President of the Republic of Poland, Andrzej Duda, by a decision dated July 29, 2025, based on Article 36(1)(2) of the Act of October 16, 1992, on orders and decorations, has stripped Jolanta Małgorzata Lange (primo voto Gontarczyk) of the Silver Cross of Merit,” the short note reads.
Jolanta Lange, formerly Gontarczyk, had been awarded the decoration in 1997 by then-President Aleksander Kwaśniewski. She and her husband were registered collaborators of the communist-era Security Service (SB) and were the last people to have seen Father Franciszek Blachnicki alive.
The long-running investigation into the priest’s death gained new momentum in recent years following his exhumation. The analysis suggested that he may have been murdered.
After years out of the public eye, the woman re-emerged in political circles under her new surname, Lange, working on initiatives for the local governments of Warsaw and the Mazovian region. Most recently, she conducted training sessions for the Kraków City Hall.
Signatories include Prof. Sławomir Cenckiewicz, Cezary Gmyz, Dorota Kania, Gen. Andrzej Kowalski, Jan Pospieszalski, Sabina Treffler (niezalezna.pl), Michał Rachoń, Adrian Stankowski, Grzegorz Wierzchołowski (editor-in-chief of niezalezna.pl), Piotr Woyciechowski, and Krzysztof Wyszkowski.