Antoni Macierewicz
Employing nonviolent civil disobedience, Macierewicz was one of the founders in 1976 of the Workers' Defense Committee, a major anti-communist opposition organization that was a forerunner of Solidarity.His father, a noted researcher in chemistry, a soldier in the Home Army during World War II, and a member of the Christian democratic Labor Party, committed suicide in 1949.“Macierewicz, more than anyone else, was responsible for the formation of KOR”, notes David Ost, a Professor of Political Science at Hobart and William Smith Colleges.[1] In September 1976 he co-authored the organization's first appeal and began publishing the Komunikat „KOR”, working closely with Piotr Naimski and Jan Olszewski.[10][11][12][13][14] As the crisis had been unfolding, prior to the lists' presentation, on 29 May 1992, the opposition parties submitted a motion of no confidence, asking for a vote on the fate of Olszewski's government.Following the 2005 Polish parliamentary election, Macierewicz was selected by Prime Minister Jarosław Kaczyński for the post of Secretary of State in the Ministry of National Defence.In its analysis, global intelligence company Stratfor noted:[20] The move both removes Soviet influence and consolidates the twins' power in the government.The crash, which killed President of Poland Lech Kaczyński and his wife Maria, and 94 other dignitaries en route to the 70th anniversary commemorations of the Katyń massacre, has already been analyzed and documented by Committee for Investigation of National Aviation Accidents.As the state investigation moved to exhumation of President Kaczyński's and others' bodies in late 2016, the New York Times summarized that "Macierewicz claimed over the years to have 'irrefutable evidence' of explosives [having caused the crash, but] his experts have yet to produce it.[23] In October 2016 Macierewicz was condemned by Gazeta Wyborcza for his association with a leading champion of the fight to restore assets from Swiss banks to Holocaust survivors."[27] In a radio interview in 2002 Macierewicz said, in response to a caller's question, that he had read the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and that while there are doubts on authenticity that "Experience shows that there are such groups in Jewish circles."[32] In July 2016, Macierewicz said that the "real enemy", Russia, shares responsibility for the massacres of Poles and Jews in German-occupied Volhynia and Eastern Galicia by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA).[27] Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that "the Polish government is moving from Russophobia to inciting national hatred," and asked Macierewicz if "there are any historical events and natural disasters for which Russia is not the one to blame.[27] In the comical webseries The Chairman's Ear (2017), implicit references are made to an alleged homosexual relationship between "Minister of War" Antoni and a younger man.In October 2024, a special commission investigating Russian and Belarusian influences in Poland accused Macierewicz of undertaking decisions as defence minister that weakened Poland's defence capability, including canceling plans to purchase tanker aircraft for the country's F-16 fighter jet fleet without analysis or consultation, which the commission attributed to Macierewicz's "personal aversion to partners in the EU".
Senior Marshal of the SejmElżbieta WitekKornel MorawieckiMarek SawickiMinister of National DefenceBeata SzydłoMateusz MorawieckiTomasz SiemoniakMariusz BłaszczakLaw and JusticeIncumbentJarosław KaczyńskiMinister of Internal AffairsJan OlszewskiMilitary Counterintelligence ServiceLech KaczyńskiMinister of StateMinistry of National DefenceMember of the European ParliamentWarsawPolandChristian National UnionMovement for Reconstruction of PolandCatholic-National MovementAlma materUniversity of WarsawPolish Academy of SciencesPoliticianAcademicHistorianHuman rights activistnonviolentcivil disobedienceWorkers' Defense CommitteeSolidaritypolitical prisonerParliament of PolandPiotrków TrybunalskichemistryHome ArmyWorld War IIChristian democraticLabor PartyAndrzej Frycz ModrzewskiLetter of Reconciliation of the Polish Bishops to the German BishopsMaria Konopnickascout troop1968 Polish political crisisPolish 1970 protestsmaster's degreedoctoral studentPolish People's Republichistory of Latin AmericaQuechuan languagesArgentinaWorkers' Defence CommitteeHobart and William Smith CollegesPiotr NaimskiHoly Cross ChurchJagiellonian Universitymartial law in PolandGdańsk ShipyardvoivodesLech WałęsaWiesław Chrzanowskimotion of no confidenceNocna zmianaLeague of Polish FamiliesPresident of Warsawfifth termCommittee on Development and Cooperation2005 Polish parliamentary electionSecretary of StateVerification CommissionMilitary Information Servicesglobal intelligenceStratforAfghanistanAustriaKuwaitTurkeyWorld Youth Day 2016Kraków2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crashPresident of PolandKatyń massacreCommittee for Investigation of National Aviation AccidentsSecretary of DefenseJames MattisIsraelMoshe Ya'alon2016 Warsaw summitdefense industry of IsraelGazeta WyborczaHolocaustRyszard KaczorowskiOrder of Polonia RestitutaordersGazeta PolskaOrder of the White Eagleanti-SemitismAnti Defamation LeagueKielce pogromJedwabneProtocols of the Elders of ZionCouncil of The Union of Jewish CommunitiesJewish Americanlegislative assistantstudent leaderRutgers Universitymassacres of Poles and JewsUkrainian Insurgent ArmyMaria ZakharovaFederation of Jewish Communities of RussiaThe Chairman's EarThe EconomistJewish Telegraphic AgencyThe Jewish ChronicleThe Jerusalem PostWprostABC NewsAssociated PressMinisters of National Defence of PolandPiotr KołodziejczykJan ParysJanusz Onyszkiewicz