The presidential candidate backed by Poland’s main right-wing opposition party gave a television interview under an alias, with his voice and face disguised, in which he praised his own historical research.
Karol Nawrocki, who is supported by Law and Justice, the biggest opposition party, created the pseudonym Tadeusz Batyr for his 2018 book entitled “‘Spowiedź Nikosia zza grobu’” (“‘Nikoś's Confession from Beyond the Grave’”).
The book explored the life of Nikodem “Nikoś” Skotarczak, a notorious gangster who primarily operated in Poland’s northern tri-city region comprising Gdańsk, Gdynia and Sopot.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Skotarczak ran a criminal network smuggling cars from Germany and Austria. He was murdered in Gdynia in 1998.
However, it has now been revealed that Batyr was in fact Nawrocki.
The first reports that the true author of the book was Nawrocki came from the conservative portal wPolityce and its affiliated television channel wPolsce24 last week. On Monday, the news portal Onet also reported on the matter, pointing out that “Tadeusz” is in fact Nawrocki’s middle name and that “batyr” means “warrior” or “hero” in several Turkic languages.
On Tuesday, Nawrocki, who at the time of the book’s release was the director of the state-run Museum of the Second World War in Gdańsk, admitted to using the alias. He argued that he wanted to keep his role as an author separate from his professional position, saying: “I admit it, I have no major issues with it. It was a professional necessity at the time.”
Despite this admission, Nawrocki had previously gone to great lengths to conceal his authorship. In a 2018 social media post, he claimed to have met Batyr personally and even suggested that the supposed author had sought his expertise while researching the book. The post, which is still visible, reads: “I spent several years studying organized crime in the Polish People’s Republic, so Tadeusz Batyr reached out to me for some guidance on Nikoś’s entanglements.
“He thanked me for my help with an interesting book, which I recommend.”
Furthermore, Nawrocki also gave several media interviews as Batyr, disguising his voice and obscuring his face during his televised appearances.
In one such interview for public broadcaster TVP3 Gdańsk, Nawrocki commended his own historical research, saying: “Yes. He [Karol Nawrocki] is actually the historian who inspired my work, the first to study organized crime in the Polish People’s Republic.”
Nawrocki, who serves as the head of the Institute of National Remembrance, a state body tasked with documenting crimes against the Polish people, is a historian by profession.
In another interview for state broadcaster Polish Radio, Nawrocki, appearing as Batyr, said that two historians from the Institute of National Remembrance, Daniel Wicenty and Karol Nawrocki, had conducted in-depth research on criminal networks.
He added: “My book is an attempt to complement this academic research with accounts and a different category of sources.”
Nawrocki, who submitted his presidential nomination to the National Electoral Commission (PKW), the state electoral body, on Tuesday, was asked whether he had used his real name or his alias when filing the paperwork.
He responded: “As you know, literary pseudonyms are nothing new in Polish journalism, literature and academia.”
Nawrocki added that “he is and has been a scholar and the first historian to study organized crime in communist Poland, so this is a natural thing.”
“If there was only one historian in Poland who had the courage to study organized crime during the communist era—and I was that historian—then Tadeusz Batyr had no other academic research or sources to refer to, and that’s how it was.”
Nawrocki is running in Poland’s presidential election with the backing of the nationalist-populist Law and Justice (PiS) party, the country’s main right-wing opposition group.
The latest poll puts him in second spot, with 19.5% support, trailing Rafał Trzaskowski, the liberal mayor of Warsaw and candidate of the Civic Coalition, the largest group in Poland’s governing coalition, who leads with 32% support.
The presidential election will take place on May 18, with a possible run-off on June 1.
The book explored the life of Nikodem “Nikoś” Skotarczak, a notorious gangster who primarily operated in Poland’s northern tri-city region comprising Gdańsk, Gdynia and Sopot.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Skotarczak ran a criminal network smuggling cars from Germany and Austria. He was murdered in Gdynia in 1998.
However, it has now been revealed that Batyr was in fact Nawrocki.
The first reports that the true author of the book was Nawrocki came from the conservative portal wPolityce and its affiliated television channel wPolsce24 last week. On Monday, the news portal Onet also reported on the matter, pointing out that “Tadeusz” is in fact Nawrocki’s middle name and that “batyr” means “warrior” or “hero” in several Turkic languages.
On Tuesday, Nawrocki, who at the time of the book’s release was the director of the state-run Museum of the Second World War in Gdańsk, admitted to using the alias. He argued that he wanted to keep his role as an author separate from his professional position, saying: “I admit it, I have no major issues with it. It was a professional necessity at the time.”
Despite this admission, Nawrocki had previously gone to great lengths to conceal his authorship. In a 2018 social media post, he claimed to have met Batyr personally and even suggested that the supposed author had sought his expertise while researching the book. The post, which is still visible, reads: “I spent several years studying organized crime in the Polish People’s Republic, so Tadeusz Batyr reached out to me for some guidance on Nikoś’s entanglements.
“He thanked me for my help with an interesting book, which I recommend.”
Praising his own work
Furthermore, Nawrocki also gave several media interviews as Batyr, disguising his voice and obscuring his face during his televised appearances.
In one such interview for public broadcaster TVP3 Gdańsk, Nawrocki commended his own historical research, saying: “Yes. He [Karol Nawrocki] is actually the historian who inspired my work, the first to study organized crime in the Polish People’s Republic.”
Nawrocki, who serves as the head of the Institute of National Remembrance, a state body tasked with documenting crimes against the Polish people, is a historian by profession.
In another interview for state broadcaster Polish Radio, Nawrocki, appearing as Batyr, said that two historians from the Institute of National Remembrance, Daniel Wicenty and Karol Nawrocki, had conducted in-depth research on criminal networks.
He added: “My book is an attempt to complement this academic research with accounts and a different category of sources.”
‘A natural thing’
Nawrocki, who submitted his presidential nomination to the National Electoral Commission (PKW), the state electoral body, on Tuesday, was asked whether he had used his real name or his alias when filing the paperwork.
He responded: “As you know, literary pseudonyms are nothing new in Polish journalism, literature and academia.”
Nawrocki added that “he is and has been a scholar and the first historian to study organized crime in communist Poland, so this is a natural thing.”
“If there was only one historian in Poland who had the courage to study organized crime during the communist era—and I was that historian—then Tadeusz Batyr had no other academic research or sources to refer to, and that’s how it was.”
Nawrocki is running in Poland’s presidential election with the backing of the nationalist-populist Law and Justice (PiS) party, the country’s main right-wing opposition group.
The latest poll puts him in second spot, with 19.5% support, trailing Rafał Trzaskowski, the liberal mayor of Warsaw and candidate of the Civic Coalition, the largest group in Poland’s governing coalition, who leads with 32% support.
The presidential election will take place on May 18, with a possible run-off on June 1.
More In Politics MORE...
