Daniel Pawłowiec
/The author was a minister in Polish government in 2005-2006, a Secretary of State in the Chancellery of the
Prime Minister Jarosław Kaczyński, and then in 2006-2007, a president of the Office of the Committee for
European Integration and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs/
Poland - a
country of miracles? (Part I)
The genesis of pathology
The dramatic story of Mr. Adam Kierczyński is not an exception in Poland.
There are much more miracles in that country
and the sums of money lost by the Polish citizens are much higher. For
the
average citizen from the western country such enormous scale of that
phenomena
is confusing and the prevalence of affairs is hard to believe. A
similar
surprise is the omnipresent power and being "above the law" of the
former communist nomenclature. To understand why this is happening, we
need to
go back in time. About twenty years ago when "Solidarity" won in Poland
and the people expected that everything would be
better, fair and equitable.
All the major economic and political affairs of contemporary Poland
are caused by historical event known as the "Round
Table". The meeting of the "opposition" representatives with
representatives of the communist government led to a sort of entent cordial. The
"opposition" received its share in governance and communists got
guarantees of impunity and freedom in the field of economy. The
communist
nomenclature earned a fortune on the rapid (and above all - cheap)
privatization of the state enterprise. The proposal of the
affranchisement of crews
and staff of these companies was consistently rejected. The concept of
a "thick
line" meant amnesia of Polish administration of justice,
the amnesia of Solidarity’s ruling elites,
who suddenly forgot that communists had been destroying this country
over the
last fifty years. Instead of fair processes, leaders and authorities of
Solidarity drank vodka with communist nomenclature. At the same time,
they
laughed and mocked at the real heroes who struggled for independence.
The lack
of an equitable end of the communist era in Poland
and not drawing criminal liability against the
communists became a big mistake with fatal consequences for Poland.
Mr. Adam Kierczyński is one of the victims of
that agreement.
Just quietly, quietly, quietly ...
The media very often do not
show the incredibly corrupted nature of the lower-level administration.
Former
communist judges and members of their families are still a part of the
Polish administration
of justice. Mr. Kierczyński’s case proves what is actually happening in
Poland. The series of six articles in a Polish
newspaper in Chicago called “It is hard to believe” reflects the
essence of the matter perfectly. All major media in Poland,
especially the so-called electronic (e.g.
commercial television stations), belong to the former communist secret
service
officers and so claimed Prime Minister Jarosław Kaczyński who had a
chance to
change the status quo who. During the first months of his office he
actually
worked in that direction. pass over in silence Many shocking examples
of pathology are omitted by the Polish
media at
the stage of "dissemination of information". This is an old practice
of communist times: do not talk and do not write about it so the world
is not
aware of the truth. Let us pretend Democrats and liberals.
Give me the money - otherwise you will
have a case in the prosecutor's office!
The lack of decommunization in Poland
caused the excess of pathology. In 2000 Polish
weekly "Wprost" published an excellent material about political
cliques: "Sitwokracja". Two subsequent articles described extensive
corruption at the level of local government and the operations of the
local
prosecutor's offices, which were violating the law. They were
excellent, supported
by compelling facts and showed that corrupted prosecutor offices and
fiscal
control authorities act as mafia’s hit men. In Polish reality criminals
can
threaten honest citizens and involve prosecutors.
One day in 2002 the
extortionist called Roman Kluska, one of the biggest Polish
entrepreneurs, and
during that phone call he demanded paying five million for his account.
He also
threatened Mr. Kluska and said that if he did not pay, he will proceed
the case
to the prosecutor's office, will be arrested and "destroyed". Mr.
Kluska ignored the blackmail and after a few weeks he was arrested in Cracow. The
innocent man was imprisoned for more than
six months. He was accused of donating the computers and the equipment
for schools,
which he should have taxed first. The point is that he should not,
because
these computers had been assembled in his factory in Slovakia.
In addition, the procedure for donations of
the computers assembled in Slovakia
had been previously agreed with the Ministry
of Education. Mr. Kluska was one of the richest Poles. Supported by
good
lawyers he was finally set free on a really big bail. After dismissing
the nonsensical
allegations he gained extremely low compensation. The businessman whose
opinion
was ruined and who earned at least several hundred thousand zlotys per
month was
considered to be the victim of a minor crime and although the law in Poland
requires compensation to cover losses
(earnings of at least six months) plus a compensation of moral injury
he
received a symbolic zloty. Roman Kluska’a case is described in an
interview
with him on the web portal www.bankier.pl.
His lawyers were denied access to documents from the investigation,
arguing
that this was a "top secret" (what was of course a nonsense).
"Everything is like in the communism" - as Roman Kluska says in that
interview.
Less lucky was Mr.
Krzysztof Olewnik. Kidnapped for ransom and murdered despite his father
paid 300
thousand euro (about half a million dollars at that time). It appeared
that the
police and the prosecutor knew all the time where Krzysztof Olewnik was
detained. Moreover, they were even certain who was the kidnapper and
did literally
nothing! We can explain that phenomena logically using only two
scenarios. Either
the prosecutor and the police since the beginning cooperated with the
criminals
and had a share in ransom or they organized the kidnap.
Please note that such cases - kidnapping which ended with a murder took
place
in Poland in recent years more than 400 times. An objective
examination would find a similar role of the police and prosecutor's
offices,
as in Mr. Olewnik’s case.
Recent cases and the first ones
The political, economical and social situation in Poland
has its cause in so-called compromise between
the "democratic opposition" and the communist criminals. Such persons
as Walesa, Michnik, Geremek and Mazowiecki not only allowed, but also
helped communists
in getting the huge assets. The nomenclature influenced the further
development
of our homeland. Mr Kierczyński’s case is not as an isolated case. It
is also a
logical consequence of to the agreement from 1989.
Prelude to the great swindles
after 1989 was affair called "Iron", which broke out in the mid 80s of
the last century. Actually the dirty business began in the 70's. First
Department of Ministry of the Interior in western Europe began a
special
operation in which it got involved with the criminal structures and the
criminal activities (thievery, robbery and even murders or drug
trafficking),
acquisition of money, gold, works of art, as well as cars. The
documents from
the Ministry of the Interior suggested that the acquired wealth was
used to
finance the activities of communist intelligence. However, a large
proportion
of prey remained in the hands of the officers involved in the Ministry
of the
Interior who supervised the operations. During the 70s in the building
of the
Ministry existed the secret shop, where you could have bought robbed
valuables.
Ministry’s employees very often got it in the form of bonus to the
salary. The
secret service officers organized the entire operation for their own
profits. A
similar scenario and the actors will appear in subsequent scenes of
communist swindles.
Smuggling drugs from the countries of Latin
America
to Europe on Polish vessels echoed even in the western
press.
The real El Dorado
for the communist secret services began in the eighties, after the
imposition
of the state of war. Communist dictator, General Jaruzelski, using
president
Regan’s sanctions as a pretext introduced martial law in Poland
and ceased to repay any debts. Soon, the
so-called value of Polish debts on the world stock markets decreased to
5 cents
per one dollar. Then the communist military intelligence (WSI)
cooperating with
the secret political militia (SB) used fake companies and began buying
the debts.
One Dollar from the Polish debt bought for 5 cents already had costed
the
treasury 55 c - 50c - half a dollar, which landed in “intermediaries”
pocket. Foreign
Debt Service Fund created in the summer of 1989, aimed to collect on
the open
market Polish debt on substantially reduced prices resulting from low
quotations of debt. This operation was incompatible with existing
international
law and therefore carried out secretly. It was in fact deliberate
underestimating
the value of Polish debt and then
collecting
the debts taking the advantage of difficult situation of the creditors.
During
the 90’s Supreme Audit Office revealed numerous irregularities (taken
possession of millions zlotys and mismanagement), and initiated the
investigation and prosecution against several people. According to
experts, the
Treasury has lost because of FOZZ affair: 119.5 million dollars, 9.6
million
German marks, 16.8 million French francs, 125 million Belgian francs
and 35.9 billion
old Polish zlotys (3.59 million dollars). The total losses amounted to
334
million new zlotys (according to the rate of currency exchange form 31 December 1995 - 2.4680
zloty per 1 dollar). A large part of FOZZ’s foreign exchange operations
was
conducted by the Commercial Bank. In the years 1991-1992 Supreme Audit
Office
revealed numerous irregularities during the control of that bank. The
Commercial
Bank conducted foreign exchange business to the detriment of the Polish
economy
and Supreme Audit Office estimated losses during those two years to
5-10
billion dollars. Independent experts argue that during the FOZZ and
bank
affairs the budget of the Polish state lost even 40-45 billion dollars.
The communist
secret agents robbed as much as they can to provide themselves an
easier start
in capitalism.
A state governed by the communist
criminals - why?
The most astonishing is the fact that Western democracies knew about
Polish swindles
such as FOZZ, Iron and the others. They may not be aware of the fact
that the
so-called democracy in Poland
since 1989 is only a propaganda and fiction. The
communist criminals actually kept the
essential
positions in the economy, finance and media. The Western intelligence
must have
known for example who was Bronislaw Geremek. Nowadays respected and
famous in
the European Union, during the 60s the director of the regime Polish Culture Center in Paris. Such
centers were almost non-confidential under
covers for the communist military intelligence. Betrayal of "leaders"
of the democratic opposition, such as Bronislaw Geremek is less
surprising in the
light of their past. They had the possibility to wait and force the
ruling
communists to far greater concessions for the benefit of Polish
society. That
option required a lot of courage and strong nerves but it was not
unrealistic. One
thing remains a puzzle. Why Western governments have agreed to a
"postcommunist circus" in Poland
after 1989? The old proverb says that, “if you
do not know what's going on, then it comes to money”.
Imagine what would happen if in Poland
a year later (in 1990 or in 1991) came to
power a really democratic government honestly caring for the interests
of the
country. Poland is an incredibly rich country and it is not only for
deposits of copper
or gold, but above all because of the
energy
resources. We can only argue whether Canada
has the second or third natural gas deposits in
the world of - but it is comparable with the Russian deposits.
Confirmed one
billion million tons of coal, and at least half of that coal is almost
100%, highest
purity. The geothermal resources and petroleum, which as oil always
coexists
with natural gas. Why is it important? The
communist criminals agree on everything,
even the most unfavorable conditions for the country. The Polish
political
elites are blackmailed and controlled by former
soviet elites. They will participate in
every political
"action", send troops, sign every piece of legislation or
international agreement etc. The United States and the interests of their companies will be
deceived just like the Polish people in 1989. The whole Polish nation
with a
well known pro-American attitude is a real American ally and at least
in the
energy would be an ideal ally for the U.S.
The
Each fair Polish
government would raise the issue of money. The actual amount of
compensation
due for the destruction of Poland
during World War II is really huge. To sum up
there is about 600 billion dollars on the German side and about 300
billion
dollars from the Soviets. In addition, 50 years of communism and the
amount of money
which Poland may request from Russia
as the legal heir of CCCP for economic
exploitation is another very serious
issue.
Potentially possible claims against the Western countries, mainly Great Britain and the U.S. (the betrayal of an ally in Yalta, despite
the existence of the Polish legal government
and signed treaties of alliance with him) - are hard to calculate
precisely but
history has known cases of claims for compensation in less important
matters. Postcommunist
criminals ruling in Poland
certainly will never demand any claims for
damages from anyone.
What comes next?
If the United
States for
example involved in an unfortunate war
anywhere in the world or some kind of a mass disaster paralyzed
potential of America the Western democracies and the United States would lose the most on such a policy. Perhaps
the U.S. political leaders are not aware of this basic,
geopolitical truth, that the concept of so-called Central Europe do not
exist. Poland counts only as the only big country in the region,
in addition because of its unique importance of transit. Who has Poland
on its side is really influential in the whole
central Europe. Speaking briefly independent Europe without Poland
can not exist. Poland with its wealth, such as natural gas, under
the control of Russia, equals the whole Europe driven by
Russians.
I am pleased that Mr. Adam Kierczyński’s case goes to an American
court. I hope
that the land of Washington and Lincoln finally sees who actually has the power in one
of the most important countries in the world and will fix its own
mistake at the
same time. Defending the rights of its own citizens may be a wonderful
beginning.
Daniel Pawłowiec