Demolished Soviet monuments, participated in fights. 5 facts about Karol Navrotsky

Karol Nawrocki, supported by the right-wing populist Law and Justice Party, has been elected the new president of Poland. Before winning the election, he was the head of the state body responsible for the decommunization of Poland, and took part in the demolition of monuments to the Red Army. In his youth, Navrotsky was engaged in boxing and participated in fan scuffles, and once posed as the author of a book about a criminal boss. What else is remarkable about Navrotsky's biography is in the Izvestia material.

Fact 1. He is wanted

• In February 2024, it turned out that Navrotsky was in the search database of the Russian Interior Ministry. At that time, he served as the head of the Institute of National Memory (INP), a state historical and archival institution that implements a policy of denazification and decommunization in Poland. What exactly was the reason for declaring Navrotsky wanted in Russia was not reported in the database.

• It later became clear that Navrotsky was suspected of involvement in the demolition of monuments to the Red Army in Poland. In particular, on May 5, 2023, Navrotsky took part in the dismantling of a monument perpetuating the memory of 676 soldiers of the 1st Ukrainian Front who died in the battles for the city of Hlubchytsia. He stated that the Institute of National Remembrance is the initiator of the demolition of the monument. In 2022, an institution led by Navrotsky ordered local authorities to remove any communist symbols from public places.

Fact 2. He spoke out against Ukraine

• During the election campaign, Navrotsky repeatedly made it clear that he would review Poland's current relations with Ukraine. He made several claims against Kiev on a variety of occasions. One of them was a reminder of the Volyn massacre, a series of pogroms in 1943-1945, during which Ukrainian nationalists killed the Polish population of Western Ukraine. Navrotsky demanded permission from Ukraine to carry out exhumations at the site of mass graves and called it one of the conditions for the development of bilateral relations. Under his leadership, the INP regularly sent requests for exhumation to the Ukrainian side, but was invariably refused.

Navrotsky also mentioned that until Ukraine recognizes responsibility for the Volyn massacre, it will not allow Kiev to join the European Union and NATO. Shortly before the second round of the presidential election, Navrotsky confirmed his position when he met with right-wing politician Slavomir Mentzen, who took third place in the election, and signed a declaration at his request, in which he pledged not to allow Ukraine to join NATO and send Polish troops to its territory.

• Navrotsky also spoke negatively about the President of Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky. The politician accused the head of the neighboring state of "behaving indecently towards Poland." Navrotsky noted that Zelensky underestimates the assistance provided by the Polish authorities and behaves unworthily towards the allies.

Fact 3. Portrayed another person on television

• During the presidential campaign, Navrotsky was reminded of a curious episode from his biography. In 2018, the book "Confession of Nicosia from the Grave" was published by a writer named Tadeusz Batyr. The book's cover stated that it was "the first biography of Nicodemus Skotarchak, the godfather of the Trigorodian agglomeration of Gdansk—Sopot—Gdynia. — Ed.) mafia". It told about the life of a gangster in socialist Poland in the 1980s.

• In the same year, 2018, the Gdansk TV channel TVP3 Gdansk aired a story in which two presenters interviewed a Batyr. The author of the book appeared in a cap, with a blurred face and an altered voice. The writer spoke about his book and at the same time praised Nawrocki for his research on the Polish underworld, calling him the first historian to address this issue. Navrotsky himself also said on his social networks that he helped Batyr write a book and recommended buying it.

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However, it soon became clear that Navrotsky posed as a Batyr and it was he who appeared on television, praising himself. The future politician confirmed this, and during the presidential campaign this fact was used as a mockery of him. In response, Navrotsky claimed that he saw nothing wrong with using a literary pseudonym.

Fact 4. I was engaged in boxing and participated in fights

In his youth, Navrotsky was actively engaged in boxing under the guidance of his uncle. The future president of Poland won youth competitions and called Muhammad Ali his idol. However, he was unable to combine sports with studies and eventually focused on the latter. However, Navrotsky retained his love for boxing and during the election campaign he published videos showing his fighting skills. At the same time, back in 2010, he founded his own martial arts section in Gdansk.

• Navrotsky was also involved in an unsportsmanlike version of boxing — he admitted that in 2009 he participated in a mass brawl between football fans of Gdansk Lech and Poznan Lech. He himself called such fist fights a real sport and referred to them as a noble occupation. At the same time, the journalists learned that dozens of people took part in that fight, who were later convicted of various crimes. This became the reason for the latest accusations of Navrotsky in connection with the criminal world, which the Polish media often wrote about during the election campaign.

Fact 5. Caused a scandal by buying an apartment from a disabled person

• Another scandal surrounding Navrotsky was related to the real estate owned by him. Once, during a TV debate, he stated that he supported the introduction of a tax for owners of several real estate properties, especially since he himself owns only one apartment. However, the journalists found out that Navrotsky owns another studio apartment in his native Gdansk. It was reported that the politician allegedly bought housing from an elderly disabled person at an undervalued price, pledging to take care of him, but in 2024, the man was kept at public expense in a nursing home.

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• The Law and Justice party said that in 2011, pensioner Jerzy Zhivitsky actually bought this apartment in social housing for 10% of its value. Soon he signed an agreement with Navrotsky that he would buy the apartment for full value by 2017. The deal did not include an obligation to take care of the pensioner, but Navrotsky claimed that he continued to visit him and provide all possible assistance, while allowing him to live in the apartment. Zhivitsky himself wrote in his social networks in 2020 that he did not even have enough money for food.

The scandal led to the fact that Navrotsky's opponents began to accuse him of fraud and immoral behavior towards a disabled person. Then it turned out that he and his sister owned another apartment. For a while, Navrotsky lost 2% of support in social polls, but eventually this scandal was hushed up when the politician promised to donate the studio in Gdansk to charity.

• And during President-elect Navrotsky's speech, his daughter attracted the attention of viewers and social media users. During the speech of the politician who won the election, the girl stood on the stage behind him and made faces, showed "hearts" with her hands, and smiled broadly at the audience. In the end, she got embarrassed and hugged her mother.