When the right-wing conservative party "Law and Justice" (PiS) publicly announced the name of its candidate for president of Poland on November 25, 2024, it was not only the media that were astonished. Many PiS politicians also did not know Karol Nawrocki, head of the Institute of National Remembrance. His first appearances did not bode well - the candidate seemed stiff, his rhetoric was weak, he read his speeches from a piece of paper, and his artificial smile was repulsive.
For the liberal-conservative camp around Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, victory seemed a foregone conclusion, even before the election campaign had begun. Trzaskowski's initial lead was over 10 percentage points.
Nevertheless, PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński's move proved to be the right one. Nawrocki won. The historian, who himself says he was created by Kaczyński, was presented as a "civic candidate", supported by PiS - non-partisan and independent. This ploy was intended to mislead voters who had not forgotten the violations of the law and the chaos in the tax system during the eight years that Kaczyński's party was in power.
"Nawrocki has developed enormously in terms of rhetoric. He learns quickly from his own mistakes. That is why he is so dangerous," says political scientist Antoni Dudek.
A man of humble origins
The 42-year-old Nawrocki comes from a humble family in Gdańsk. He studied history in his hometown and is defending his doctorate there on the anti-communist opposition in northeastern Poland. In 2017, he was tasked with renovating the World War II Museum in Gdańsk, created by experts close to current Prime Minister Donald Tusk, in line with PiS's nationalist-Catholic history policy. The renovation was followed by a purge of employees and a "polonization" of the permanent exhibition, which Kaczyński did not find patriotic enough.
In 2021, PiS appointed Nawrocki as the head of the Institute of National Remembrance. The influential institution that Poland's new president has until recently led plays an important role in the dispute over the interpretation of the past and has been used as a propaganda tool by Poland's right-wing conservatives.
"Poland first"
Nawrocki is running his election campaign under the slogan "Poland first, Poles first". He presents himself as a man "of flesh and blood" who has made his own way to the top. "I am one of you, I am your voice," he has said more than once at his rallies.
The new Polish head of state is a staunch supporter of US President Donald Trump. In early May, he visited Washington to have his picture taken with the US president in the Oval Office. Like his mentor Kaczynski, Nawrocki sees the European Union as a threat to Polish sovereignty, although he does not speak of Warsaw leaving the EU. He opposes the Green Pact and the EU's migration pact. During the election campaign, he also made anti-German comments, accusing Tusk of being "Germany's valet". The historian is also skeptical about continuing aid to Ukraine.
Contacts with the hooligan scene and the underworld?
Nawrocki is a passionate amateur boxer. In his youth, he achieved some success in the heavyweight division. The media accuse him of having had contacts with the hooligan scene and the underworld in the past. He himself admits to having participated in at least one pre-arranged fight between ultras from two football teams. Several participants were convicted, but Nawrocki remained unindicted.
According to the Polish platform Onet, Nawrocki, who worked for a private security company during his student years, was involved in escorting prostitutes to a luxury hotel in the resort town of Sopot. He is also alleged to have obtained municipal housing through fraud. The future president is unimpressed by the accusations, which he describes as slander.
"Nawrocki has neither the moral qualities nor the professional experience to be a head of state," says political scientist Antoni Dudek, who was chairman of the Council of the Institute of National Remembrance from 2010 to 2016.
Author: Jacek Lepiarc