Sound of silence

The day after the funeral, when the mourning is formally over, though we have still not shaken off the distress, I am publishing translation of a note I posted on my profile on facebook hours after the decease of Mr Adamowicz. May my jumbled (I was stirred by emotions while writing it and with hindsight even it Polish some passages sound clumsy) thoughts on that tragic event be saved here posterity.

Beyond all doubt the public discourse in Poland is filled with evil emotions, manipulations, contempt, at worst with hatred. It is no secret as a society we are divided as never before (once again I was a prophet of doom), while the major divide line is the stance towards the ruling part and its vision of the world. Civilised, mentally healthy people like you and me may detest Mr Tusk, Mr Kaczynski, Mr Schetyna, Mr Brudzinski, Mr Petru, Mr Kukiz or any other politician. We may disapproved of them, if they irritate us, we may take to the streets to voice our protest, we may exercise the right to show our displeasure, but nobody will be harmed. Depending on the side of the divide line we are on, we may read either Gazeta Wyborcza or Gazeta Polska, watch TVN24 or TVPiS, to reinforce our views and pass judgements when the time to cast ballots comes.

Assassin of Mr Adamowicz by all accounts has been mentally ill, one could argue whether at the time of committing the felony he was out of his senses. The words he shouted out on stage after stabbing Mr Adamowicz seem to prove perception of the world of such people is simplified. The reasoning which drove the culprit. towards committing the crime, the causation that he had been imprisoned and tortured by Platforma Obywatelska, the why and wherefore Mr Adamowicz was meant to die, has come to his mind from the outside. Not accidental was also the choice of circumstances and venue of the crime.

Mere three days earlier the public TV had broadcasted a cartoon vilifying WOŚP. One and a half year earlier Młodzież Wszechpolska as part of a “happening” had issued a death certificate to Mr Adamowicz and several other mayors. The investigation on the happening has been discontinued. Another investigation, on nationalists who had hung portraits of European Parliament deputies is still under way, nobody has faced charges, despite the fact faces of criminals are visible on photos (prosecutors are looking for some eye witnesses in the United States). WOŚP and its commander-in-chief have repeatedly been victims of hatred, spilled by politicians of the ruling party and the allied media. Fortunately, the mud-slinging campaign has had the opposite effect and boosted donations to WOŚP.

Finally, Mr Adamowicz several times had been attacked by the media favouring his political opponents. Even on the day of his death „Wiadomości” overstepped boundaries of bad taste, by ignoring the request of Mr Adamowicz’s family and aired an abhorrent anti-PO footage.

I hope this senseless death will give food for thought to many of us, however I lack faith it has positive long-term impact on public discourse in Poland.

This year politicians will pay the bill for the last 4 years. Even if I were to crawl, to go on my knees to the police station, even if somebody was to carry me there, I will cast a ballot to fight for better Poland.