Smolensk Crash Investigation Expert Biographies
The Honorable Antoni Macierewicz
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The Honorable Antoni Macierewicz. PHOTO by freepl.info

Honorable Antoni Macierewicz is Vice Chairman of the Law and Justice Party (PiS), a member of the Lower House (Sejm) of the Polish Parliament, and Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for the Investigation of the Crash of Polish Air Force One in Smolensk, Russia, on April 10, 2010. The Law and Justice Party led by Jaroslaw Kaczynski, a twin brother of President Lech Kaczynski killed in the crash, stands in opposition to the current government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk formed by the Civic Platform (PO)¹.

Honorable Antoni Macierewicz is one of the key figures on the Polish political scene of the last half a century. A historian by education, Macierewicz served as Minister of Internal Affairs in the 1992 Government of Jan Olszewski. He also served as Poland's Chief of the Military Counterintelligence and Chief Liquidator of the Communist Military Intelligence Services (WSI) during the Presidency of Lech Kaczynski. He also served as a member of the Parliamentary Commission overlooking the intelligence services, where he disclosed illegal arms trade carried out by the WSI. As a member of the so-called "Orlen Commission," he blocked the sale of Gdansk's Petrochemical Plant to the Russians. In the Parliament, Macierewicz represents the Piotrkow Trybunalski district.

Active in the anti-communist resistance since his teens², Macierewicz is the founding father of the Workers’ Defense Committee - the historic Komitet Obrony Robotnikow (“KOR”) formed in 1976 to provide support to persecuted anticommunist activists in large manufacturing plants. Macierewicz built KOR together with other activist well known in the West such as Kuron and Michnik. The work of KOR led to the formation of the Solidarity Movement.

KOR operated effectively only a short period of time. By 1979 an ideological split between the atheists and Catholics emerged within KOR. The atheist left received much support from the West and ultimately won the power struggle. It was the atheist left led by Kuron and Michnik that became the key player in negotiating a power sharing agreement with the communist government of Wojciech Jaruzelski. At the 1989 roundtable negotiations, the Polish communists received assurances of immunity for communist crimes and the guarantee of power sharing from representatives of the Solidarity Movement dominated by the atheist KOR. Thus, a political realignment that followed cemented the cooperation of the selected representatives of the Solidarity Movement led by atheist KOR with Polish communists. The Civic Platform led by Donald Tusk derives from the political wing of the Solidarity Movement that guaranteed protection to the Polish communists. Consequently, KOR leaders who were against offering immunity to communists were pushed aside together with many Solidarity leaders who opposed the collaboration with the communists. Among those who were pushed aside was also Anna Walentynowicz, the founding mother of the Solidarity Movement, who perished in the Smolensk Crash on April 10, 2010 together with President Lech Kaczynski. Late President Lech Kaczynski was the co-founder of the Law and Justice Party.

Antoni Macierewicz was born on August 3, 1948 into the family of Polish intellectuals. His grand-grandfather was an officer during the 1792 war with Russia, and his grandfather was a co-founder of Liga Narodowa and a colleague of the Polish patriot Roman Dmowski. Antoni’s father - Zdzislaw - was an activist in Stronnictwo Narodowe, and a member in the Home Army [AK - Armia Krajowa]. After WWII, Zdzislaw worked at the Warsaw University as a Doctor of Chemistry and served as treasurer of Stronnictwo Pracy, conservative workers party. The night of November 11, 1949, Zdzislaw was found dead in his office. Most likely, he was murdered by the Polish secret police UB (Urząd Bezpieczeństwa).

Antoni’s mother, Maria, had a doctorate in biology and worked for the Państwowy Zakład Higieny. Antoni was the youngest of three siblings. His older sister Barbara (b. 1938) was a chemist at University of Warsaw while his brother Wojciech (b. 1945) worked as a furniture carpenter.

Antoni Macierewicz was a product of his family life, studying Henryk Sienkiewicz's "Trilogy" early in his childhood [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henryk_Sienkiewicz], watching his sister's involvement in the Girl Scouts and her participation in helping their countrymen repatriated from the Poland's eastern territories annexed by the Soviet Union after the war. He is married to Hanna, maiden name Natora (b. 1948), graduate of the History Department at the University of Warsaw. They have one daughter who is a geneticist, and three grandchildren.

In 1966, along with prominent opposition member M. Barański, A. Celiński, Kijowski and P. Naimski, Macierewicz became a member of Romuald Traugutt Memorial "Black One" ("Czarna Jedynka") Boys Scout Troop attached to the Warsaw's VI Tadeusz Reytan High School, cultivating the legacy of pre-war scouting. Among their activities were meetings with former members of Home Army and Freedom & Independence Organization.

In 1966, along with Barański, Celiński and Naimski, Macierewicz established a senior scouts group “Gromada Włóczęgów" (troop of vagabonds). The primary goal of the group was to conduct discussions. On December 11, 1971, while listening to a lecture by Rev. Jerzy Chowańcza of St. Michael Parish in a private resort house belonging to Professor Witold Doroszewski (grandfather of one of the participants named Urszula) in Zalesie Dolne, the place was raided by Polish secret police - the SB - all present were arrested. Five years later, the secret police "Bezpieka" dispersed a gathering related to the educational reforms organized in the apartment Paweł Bąkowski. This action marked the end of activities of “Gromada Włóczęgów". Individuals linked to this group became active participants in anticommunist resistance - among them 1975 protests triggered by the proposed constitutional amendments. In March 1976, they promoted boycott of parliamentary elections, and election commissions that falsified the numbers of those participating in these elections. After the 1976 strikes, they were among the first groups to aid the workers form ZM "Ursus" plant repressed by the communist regime.

During 1959-1960, Macierewicz was a student at the Salezjani Order in Rummia, near Gdynia. He completed Elementary School Number 25 in Warsaw on Ogrodowa Street, and thereafter attended the XVII Andrzej Frycz-Modrzewski High School form which he was expelled - he refused to condemn the "Appeal of the Polish bishops to their German counterparts". He completed his baccalaureate exams at XLII Maria Konopnicka High School. In 1966 began studies at the Humanities Department of the University of Warsaw and joined the ZSP (Polish Students Association). In 1967, Macierewicz signed a petition calling for reinstatement of Adam Michnik, who was expelled from the university. At the History Department he was a founder of "Liga Niepodległościowa" (Independence League), from which an independent Student Committee emerged in 1968. After a poster of Adam Mickiewicz "Dziady" play directed by Kazimierz Dejmek, was removed by the university administration, he collected signatures protesting this decision. He also signed an appeal to the administration to explain the issue of anti-Semitic publications that found their way onto the university’s premises in February and March 1968. Beginning on March 8th, he took active role in student meetings and publications, organized the so-called "Chinese-copier"³ (pol. Chinski Powielacz), He was detained on March 28th, arrested, and released on August 3rd (Prosecutor's Office discontinued the investigation). He was interrogated at least 20 times - at first at the Mostowski Palace, and them at the Investigative Jail, Warsaw-Mokotow on Rakowiecka Street. He was held in the same cell with Jakub Karpiński.) There were four disciplinary proceedings brought against him. On April 6, 1969, Macierewicz was suspended from the University by Professor Zygmunt Rybicki, who started disciplinary proceedings against him. Macierewicz continued education (sophomore year) having been reinstated on October 29th. In December 1970, after the workers massacres, along with Kijowski, he organized a blood donations drive for the wounded.

In December 1971, Macierewicz received his Master’s Degree in history and started working at  "Pracownia Dziejów Ameryki Łacińskiej i Afryki" ("Workshop on Latin America & Africa History") at the Institute for Humanities, Polish Academy of Sciences (“PAN”). In 1972, he passed his doctoral exam, but the Advisory Board, disapproving of his political activities, prevented him from continuing his doctoral studies, so he became a teacher. One year later, he approached PAN to obtain a research position, but was denied because of his political stance.  On February 15, 1974, he agreed to become a librarian, instead, but ultimately declined this position.  With the help of Dr. J. Kieniewicz, in 1975 he received a position in Latin American Studies, where he though history of Latin America.   He published ten scholarly articles in "Polish Ethnography", and mastered Quechua, the ancient language of the Incas. On January 22, 1976, he began work on his doctoral thesis with the desired subject matter/title being "The birth of the Habsburgh's Tahuantinsuyu - Social-Economics of the Inka state and the formation of the colonial society") under the guidance of Prof. Tadeusz Łepkowski.

This was a difficult time for Macierewicz. Polish Secret police communist informer code-named "Ranek" reported about Macierewicz during the mid 70s: "If earlier […] he walked around in ragged clothes looking like a homeless man, now he began to take care of himself. Having a little money, he bought himself a new suit, shoes, and a coat". On orders of Professor Rybicki, Macierewicz was fired on October 16, 1976 from the university for his involvement in KOR.

Blackballed by the communist regime, he was unable to find employment in the years that followed.  Only on May 1, 1981 was he able to get his dream job with the Polish Academy of Sciences.  Due to the support of the Independent Zrzeszenie Studentów [Independent Students' Union] he found employment at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow.

The difficulties in obtaining employment were caused by two undercurrents: on the one hand it was because of Prof. Jaremy Maciszewski, and on the other, it was because of the SB, who, for example, derailed the publication of his book entitled "Latin America in a skewed mirror" ("Ameryka Łacińska w krzywym zwierciadle").  In 1974 he was denied a passport to travel to Argentina to conduct archival research.

Macierewicz's activities during the 1970s aren't limited to the "Gromada" alone. Initially, with the help of Barański, through photographic duplication methods, they created and distributed samizdat publications, among other places on the trains, and on train stations.  In time, other individuals joined them, but around 1972, they discontinued this activity.  Along with Kazimierz Wóycicki, he established a discussion group.  In December 1975, Macierewicz became one of the signatories of the protest letter regarding changes to the constitution, and made a public appeal. In spring 1976, he became active in the defense of Stanisław Kruszyński, dismissed from the Catholic University of Lublin, and Jacek Smykała from the Pomeranian Medical Academy, both of whom were arrested.  Disregarding the advice of others, including that of Jan Józef Lipski, who thought that it was a provocation, Macierewicz, along with inter-faculty student circles, began to collect signatures in support of the arrested students. It is during this time that he proposed to establish the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights, the famous KOR, to  Jacek Kuroń, Adam Michnik and Jan Olszewski.

In July 1976, Macierewicz signed a letter responding to the June Strikes. (The letter was read by Radio Free Europe on July 19th.) On July 17, Macierewicz went to the court building in Warsaw-Leszno, where the trial of the ZM "Ursus" workers was held.  He was successful in making initial contact with the families of the accused, ultimately beginning formal support for the accused and their families.  Macierewicz employed both boy scouts and scouting instructors from "Czarna Jedynka” to provide material help, performing everyday chores, like baby-sitting, etc. to the families of persecuted workers.  His friend Jan Lityński recalled: "Antek [nickname for Antoni] had both an optimistic and a militant attitude, and Jacek [Kuroń] a lot less […] He had a grand idea of hitting it hard, traveling and meeting students, collecting money; he had envisioned a grand-scale activity. Jacek [Kuroń] and the rest of us thought that it was too early for such action, that it should begin in September, and should be more gradual, because it would not work."

This trend of though proved to be wrong:  the reach of this initiative was gaining broader acceptance, and Macierewicz began to consider institutionalizing it. He thought that open participation of individuals with high social standing would provide a safety net to the young participants against beatings, detentions, and interrogations.  It should provide credibility to this undertaking.   The innovative nature of this approach was such, however, that it began to bear fruit only when Macierewicz, Naimski and Onyszkiewicz decided on their own, and through their example, to carry out these activities.

On September 23rd, an "Appeal to the Citizens and to the Government of the PRL [Polish People's Republic]" was sent to the Polish parliament (Sejm) - ultimately, it was signed by 14 individuals. On this very day, Macierewicz was held in jail in Radom, the city where he went to observe the ongoing political trials.

Macierewicz was the individual who coined the name "Komitet Obrony Robotników" KOR - Workers' Defense Committee.  Another name considered was Committee to Aid Polish Workers (Komitet Pomocy Robotnikom Polskim - KPRP), but since it resembled the name of the pre-war communist Polish Workers Party, it was abandoned.  He also authored the "Appeal" itself, and only during its final phases of completion was joined by Naimski and Onyszkiewicz, and later, Lipski and Olszewski. Together with Mirosław Chojecki, he prepared the report (dated July 25, 1976) entitled, "Description of Repressive Activities Against Employees of ZM Ursus, and Other Workplaces"; several dozen of these were published.  He felt it was imperative to establish a press unit within KOR. That is how the publication "Komunikat" ("Communique") was born. It was published by Macierewicz until fall, 1977. There was a short interval when the publication was suspended due to his arrest.  He was among the few who argued the necessity of obtaining copier machines, as it was not feasible for workers among whom samizdat publications were circulated to copy it by hand and than surreptitiously distribute it further.  Towards the end of the year and as a result of Macierewicz's contact with Janusz Krupski, the KOR Communiques were printed in Lublin.⁴

On April 30 - May 1, 1977, Macierewicz along with other leaders from Warsaw took part in the gathering of anti-communist students from Jagiellonian University atop the Gorce Mountains, introducing them to KOR.  After the murder of Stanisław Pyjas he traveled to Krakow and led the boycotting of the Student Festival, a very large annual social youth event in Krakow. On May 12th Macierewicz was in the apartment of Józef Ruszar, to discuss the strategy.  On May 14, he was in the Saint Anna Church and taught young students how to surreptitiously distribute samizdat publications and how to resist interrogations after being detained by the secret police.  Macierewicz was apprehended on May 14, while plastering the city with notices about Stanisław Pyjas’ martyrial death. He was transferred to the police and formally arrested May 16 and released four days later.  While being released, Macierewicz only asked "if continuation of activities, of which he was accused, would reopen the investigation".

Macierewicz was a signatory of the "Deklaracja Ruchu Demokratycznego" (Democratic Movement Declaration) of September 18, 1977 calling for the establishment of an independent, self-governing institution overseeing the lawful treatment of citizens, and adherence to human rights. It was a part of the KOR Program, signed by some 110 individuals. Around this time, he became editor-in-chief of the independent, monthly underground publication entitled, "Głos" [Voice], appearing continuously from October 1977, until Spring 1990.  On August 6, and September 2, 1978, he took part in the meeting with the Czech dissidents in the Karkonosze Mountains on the Czech-Polish border.  He was among the 500 signatories of the "Letter to the Episcopate of Czechoslovakia and Moravia" from July 5, 1979.  On the 4th, or the 5th of October, Macierewicz took part in the hunger strike at the Holy Cross Church in Warsaw to support the arrested members of the Karta 77 (eng. Charter 77).  On October 22, the day when the court proceedings against the Czech freedom fighters were to begin, he planned a protest in front of the communist Czech embassy.  The plan was thwarted by the Polish secret police, the SB, and didn't take place.

At this time, a noticeable divide already existed in KOR. Proponents of Macierewicz and Naimski ( "Głos" periodical circles), described their outlook as democratic and pro-independence, and those representing the far-left, and had in their ranks individuals from the communist elite, who during the 60s took part in revisionist [nonetheless, still communist] activities.

These differences concerned the ideology, perception of reality, and future strategies.  Macierewicz put the issue of sovereignty on the table as non-negotiable, refusing any negotiations with the communist regime; (even with the liberal wing of the Communist United Workers Party, the PZPR). Hence, he was a proponent of public marches, demonstrations. His program was spelled out in the second edition of "Głos" (November 1977), the fourth, entitled, "Political Traditions [or Legacy] in PRL" (Jan/Feb 1978) in which he acknowledged the differences that existed within the opposition, but didn't turn down the cooperation with "all those who strive for Freedom and Sovereignty".  In contrast with the KOR's Left, Macierewicz didn't exclude the idea of coming to an agreement with the members of ROPCiO (abbr: Movement for the Defense of Human and Civic Rights).  In December 1979 along with Andrzej Czuma and Naimski, Macierewicz prepared an anti-government observance of the December 1970 Workers’ Massacre.  He was detained on December 13, and formally arrested the next day. He was released after four days, but remained a suspect in the "organization calling itself 'Komitet Samoobrony Społecznej KOR' whose aims are criminal activities, among them distribution of illegal publications". Because of the fashion in which this "illegal" observance was organized, on December 22, Michnik asked Macierewicz and Naimski to relinquish their membership in KOR.

In 1980, Macierewicz made an appeal to boycott elections to the Communist Sejm (Parilament) and local governing bodies, the Rady Narodowe; and an extensive campaign of distributing illegal samizdat/leaflets was carried out. In July, he became active in the strike at the Miejskie Przedsiębiorstwo Oczyszczania.  He led the information center, gathering news brought by couriers from Gdansk, and until August 18 he remained in hiding.  He was instrumental in creating and distributing the "Głos" leaflets (some of these were distributed by Jaroslaw Kaczyński, the late President Lech Kaczyński's brother) and they found their way to Wrocław.  Emphasizing the necessity of fighting for the free and self-governing trade unions, he once again opposed Adam Michnik and Jacek Kuroń, who were aiming to dissuade the striking workers from their demands. In Jan Olszewski's apartment that he frequented often, he took part in creating the “Solidarity” Trade Union manifesto.

During these years he was under considerable scrutiny of the communist secret police, among them Warsaw’s Section III, then III-2.  At first, as “SOS Special Operations Matter”, and from January 5, 1976, as “SOR”, loosely translated as Subject of Operational Surveilance, code-name "Macek".   From January 25, 1972 to November 25, 1976 and from November 25, 1975 to November 25, 1988, he was not allowed to travel outside of Poland.   According to the archival materials deposited at IPN (Institute of National Remembrance), from 1976 to 1978 he was sentenced six times by the communist courts for, among other things: refusal to appear before the conscription board, conducting illegal collection of money for the arrested and their families, illegal assembly, public menace, loitering - all that in essence was the distribution and affixing of anti-communist literature in public places, inciting others to resist the regime, or to participate in “illegal” meetings. During 1976-1980 he was detained at least twenty- three times, detained overnight for 48 hours, but he always said: "these detentions are only a school of hard knocks for all of us".  His apartment was searched at least 13 times.  In January 1977 in order to discredit him in his new apartment, the SB (secret police) distributed a leaflet among his neighbors claiming that he was a pervert.  They also told him that they would kidnap his daughter.

After the August Agreements, or Gdansk Agreements in 1980, on September 2, along with the "Głos" group, Macierewicz opened a consulting aid office for the workers at 9/25 Bednarska Street in Warsaw, where he advised them how to establish local "Solidarity" branches.  He took part not only in the crucial constitutional meetings of the Solidarity Trade Union, but also its local branches as well.  In November, he co-founded MKZ/ZR Mazowsze Center for Public Research, which he headed (formally holding the office of its secretary).  In December 1980, he began to publish the first - and beginning in March - the only uncensored by the Communists - trade union publication entitled "Wiadomości Dnia" ("Daily News").  Macierewicz was active in the establishment and activities of the Service for Independent Poland Clubs, formally established on November 27, 1981, during the “I National Gathering of the Delegates of the NSZZ Solidarność” (Solidarity Trade Union).  He conducted lectures on the contemporary history of Poland throughout the country.

Beginning in October 1980, Macierewicz was a member of the Experts' Group with the National Coordinating Commission, and beginning in January 1981, the Consulting Commission for the Employment Research attached to the National Coordinating Commission.  During the conflicts within Solidarity, among them the so-called Bydgoszcz Provocation concerning Lech Walesa, he took his side, and voted to oppose the nationwide general strike.

Macierewicz took part in the last meeting of the National Executive Commission in Gdansk (Dec. 11 - Dec. 12), and given the SB-inspired radicalization activities within the Union, he opposed voting in the new by-laws that were favorable to the communists.  When it became apparent that the communist regime would strike, he appealed to all to remain inside the Shipyard.  When Martial Law was declared, as a member of the Central Striking Committee, he took part in the occupation strike at the Shipyard.  He was detained on December 16, and was interned in the Detention Center in Iława, thereafter in Kielce-Piaski, then in Załęże near Rzeszów, and finally in Nowy Łupków. Sent for medical observation to Sanok, he escaped 9 days later and remained in hiding for the next several years.  He was given shelter by factory workers and members of the medical services.  The "Decision to Intern" Macierewicz was formally withdrawn on December 23, 1982.  He rejoined the "Głos" publication once again. During the time when he was in hiding, Ludwik Dorn oversaw the publication of “Głos”. Macierewicz also took an active part in publishing "Wiadomości" (eng. News). The "Głos" has nearly 100 books and other publications to its credit.

On December 19, 1981, his wife Hanna was interned as well; which led to the absence of both parents in the life of their young child.  At the time when Martial Law was declared, Hanna was in London, but decided to return to Poland anyway.  She was detained at the airport, and transported to the Olszynka Grochowska detention center, and, thereafter, to Gołdapia.   In April she was released.

In 1983, "Głos" circles began to promote the concept of unifying the church, Solidarity, and the army against the communists; this idea was being promoted until 1985.  As if it were to be an answer, in November, 1987, Celiński proposed an agreement between the Church, Solidarity, and "Bezpieka" (secret police), as this could become a reality. In 1984 Macierewicz, who at this time was the co-founder of the "Archdiocesan Pastoral Care of the Working People", found himself among the members of the founding committee.   In 1987, he established an independent "Freedom and Solidarity" ("Wolność i Solidarność") organization, officially registered at Warsaw's Voivodeship Court on July 25, 1989, and was collaborating with opposing the Lech Walesa, National Committee's Working Group. Among its demands were that the National Coordinating Body, of what earlier was Solidarity, would reconvene in its pre-Martial Law form.  In 1988, both Macierewwicz and his other close collaborators joined the so-called Klub Myśli Politycznej, ("Dziekania").  He left this organization when he became actively involved in the preparations for the so-called Round-Table Negotiations. Maierewicz was a stanch opponent of negotiating with the communist government, having felt that it was nothing more than a wholesale betrayal of Solidarity's interests, and treason. "We were part of a bigger game … That is, regardless if we left the Round Table [negotiations], or not, the communists would have to concede […] Had it not been for a nervous process of expediting it by the revisionist [neo-communist] elites, we would have had [genuinely] free elections two years earlier" - said Macierewicz.  Until the end of 1980s, he was under surveillance by the Section III-2 of SB (Warsaw), and at the same time the SB's Bureau of Studies.  After 1990 he was subject to the surveillance operation led by Col. Jan Lesiak (SB), aiming at invigilation and disintegration of Poland's conservative opposition.

Macierewicz chose to be involved in politics, because only through such involvement did he see the possibility of truly freeing Poland from the Communist, and, similarly, freeing it from the ever-present Soviet influence.  On November 28, 1989, he became the founding member, and deputy head of the Zjednoczenie Chrześcijańsko-Narodowe, roughly translated as the National Christian Unity - created through the junction of "Wolnośc i Solidarnośc", the Political Club "Ład i Wolność" (Order & Freedom), and the Catholic Academic Associations Groups (Katolicki Nurt Stowarzyszeń Akademickich).

In 1990 he joined the Lech Wałęsa's Citizens Committee (Komitet Obywatelski), and on February 16, 1991, the President's Advisory Committee.  From 1991 to 1993 he was a Member of Parliament representing the Catholic Electoral Action (Wyborcza Akcja Katolicka).   On December 23, 1991 was nominated for the post of the Minister of Internal Affairs in the Government of Jan Olszewski, tasked with carrying out Parliamentary directive from May 28, 1992, directing him to inform Parliament before June 6 which government officials, beginning with the Vojewoda (vojewoda is the equivalent of our governor), and up, senators, and representatives, were registered as Secret Collaborators (abbr. TW) of the secret police between 1945-1990.  Two days before the deadline, a list containing 64 names of parliamentarians, government employees implicated as secret police TWs, (Secret Collaborator, or informer) was provided to the President, the Marshal of the Sejm, the Senate, the Prime Minister, the (Supreme Court) Chief Judge, and the head of the Constitutional Tribunal.  An additional list containing two names, the first, of Lech Wałęsa, and the second, that of the Marshal of the Sejm (Parliament), Wiesław Chrzanowski, both implicated as Communist informers and collaborators was also submitted by Macierewicz. Despite an official pronouncement made by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Tomasz Tywonek, in which he stated that Macierewicz "Does not feel authorized to state who was, or who wasn't a UB and SB collaborator" and only informs about the information/evidence being "in possession of the MSW [abbr. Ministerstwo Spraw Wewnętrznych - Ministry of Internal Affairs]", a debate about the "lists of [communist] agents" swept through Poland.   Michnik's left-leaning "Gazeta Wyborcza", and following in its footsteps, other publications ran a number of articles concerning an alleged coup d'état in the making, but no evidence of such was ever presented.

The desire to carry out the program of cleaning up the Polish political scene from former Communists was the proverbial nail in the coffin of the Olszewski government.  What it also triggered were personal attacks against Macierewicz who dared to open this "lustration Pandora's box", and who from this point on, will be depicted by his communist foes as one who is obsessed with hatred, who has a diminished mental capacity, who "decided to destroy the nation because he is sick" as Jacek Kuron said.  On June 11th, Walesa said to Macierewicz: "Dear former Minister, I still have couple of aces up my sleeve.  When I show these aces to you, you'll end up in the hospital".

Kicked out form the National Christian Union on July 19, 1992, along with Mariusz Marasek and Piotr Walerych, he established the National Christian Movement "Polish Action" (Ruch Chrześcijańsko-Narodowy "Akcja Polska") with its first Congress on February 27, 1993.  On June 6, 1993, this party became part of the Olszewski's Ruch dla Rzeczypospolitej (Movement for Poland).  After loosing in parliamentary elections, having gained only  2.7% of the votes, and failing to gain the necessary 5% to be eligible to sit in Parliament), on November 30th, Macierewicz reactivated the "Polish Action", which formally existed until 1998.  During the presidential elections in 1995, Macierewicz supported Olszewski, and became part of the Movement for the Reconstruction of Poland ( abbr. ROP Ruch Odbudowy Polski) in 1996, becoming the deputy-head of its Governing Council. After one year, running on the ROP ticket, he was elected to the Parliament.  In 2002 Macierewicz ran for the Major of Warsaw, finishing eighth among fourteen candidates.

On July 22, 2006 he was appointed to the position of Deputy Minister of National Defense in the Jaroslaw Kaczyński [the late president's brother] government, tasked with the liquidation of the Soviet communist GRU trained and controlled Wojskowe Służby Informacyjne (abbr. WSI - Military Information/Intelligence Services), and to serve as an envoy to organize Poland's Military Counterintelligence Services. He held these assignments until October 4, 2006, the date on which he became the head of the SKW (abbr. Służba Kontrwywiadu Wojskowego - Military Counterintelligence Service).  He resigned from this post on November 4, 2007, having been elected a Senator), and was appointed with the task of leading the WSI Verification Committee by the President of Poland, the late Lech Kaczyński.  He was instrumental in overseeing the research and publication of the "Liquidation Report".  This document, made public on February 16, 2007, disclosed the symbiotic relationship between the Wojskowe Służby Wewnętrzne, WSI's precursor, with Soviet GRU, and KGB, and their criminal activities, including, but not limited to: illegal arms trade, fraud, fraudulent extortion and theft of inheritance left behind by the deceased Polish nationals overseas, and others.  The "Report" disclosed the modus operandi, and names of public officials involved in unlawful activities, and their connection with the Communist intelligence services, secret police, and the communist regime in general.  The virulent response to Macierewicz's Report coming from many corners of Poland, in particular from the former members of WSI, from many sitting politicians with dubious pasts, and from the communist-leaning media, had affirmed that Minister Macierewicz had performed his task well.

Between October 31 and November 2007, Macierewicz was an Undersecretary for Defense in the Ministry of Defense (abbr. MON - Ministerstwo Obrony Narodowej), but was dismissed by Bogdan Klich, the new head of MON in Donald Tusk's government, to whom many attribute the dismemberment of the Polish military. Klich played a pivotal role in undermining the Smolensk crash investigation. Between November 2007 and January 2008, Macierewicz was sabotaged and prevented from joining the commission overseeing the Intelligence Services. In retaliation for Macierewicz's treatment, the Law and Justice Party boycotted it.

On the morning of April 10, 2010, Antoni Macierewicz was at the Katyn Cemetery near Smolensk in Russia, awaiting the arrival of the President of Poland for the official commemoration ceremony on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Katyn crime.

It was in the Katyn Forest where he learned that the plane carrying the President of Poland and the Central Command of the Polish Armed Forces crashed near Smolensk. Shortly thereafter, he was notified that no one survived the crash.

The Russian report from the investigation of the Smolensk crash was announced on January 12, 2011 and blamed the Polish pilots for the crash. The Polish report announced in July 2011 by the so-called Miller Commission was based on the Russian report. Having no access to the key evidence, the Miller Commission merely repeated the Russian findings.  After the announcement of the Miller Commission confirming the pilot error scenario, representatives of Law and Justice formed the Parliamentary Committee for the Investigation of the Smolensk Crash and chose Antoni Macierewicz as its Chairman to lead an independent parliamentary investigation into this unprecedented tragedy.

The Commission for the Investigation of the Smolensk Crash had issued Technical Report that invalidate the Russian conclusions. These reports as well as findings presented at several scientific conferences on the Smolensk Crash also invalidate conclusions of the Miller’s Commission formed by the Government led by Donald Tusk of Civic Platform. In its efforts to determine the cause of the Smolensk Crash, the Commission is supported by preeminent independent scientists from all over the world including National Institute for Aviation Research NIAR.

Written by Justyna Błażejowska

Article Sources:

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Footnotes:

¹ According to the opinion poll conducted in Poland on November 5, 2013, Law and Justice (PiS) lead the governing Civic Platform (PO) by 11 percent.

² Active in the Boy Scouts’ famous "Czarna Jedynka" and publisher of "Głos"

³ This method was used for creating and signing hand-written petitions.

⁴ Ultimately, an alcohol-based duplicator was transported by KUL’s [Katolicki Universytet Lubelski - Catholic University of Lublin] students to Warsaw where it was manned by Macierewicz, Bogusława Blajfer and Chojecki.