CZESŁAW NOWAK’S BIO STORY

He was born on 11 January 1938 in Smyków in the Świętokrzyskie province. Since 1960, he worked as an equipment operator and foreman at the Gdansk Port Authority. In 1960-1980 he was a member of the Seafarers’ and Harbor Workers’ Union.

Participated in strikes on the Port of Gdansk in December 1970, August 1980 and December 1981. Co-organizer of the NSZZ “Solidarity” Founding Committee and member of the Working Committee on the Port of Gdansk. One of the founders and chief editor of the independent magazine “Portowiec”.

Since 1980, he has been a member of the “Solidarity” of the Independent Self-Governing Trade Unions. Following the imposition of martial law, he was arrested and sentenced by the Naval Court to 4.5 years in prison and 4 years of public deprivation. He served prison time in detention centers in Gdańsk and Potulice. Released from prison under amnesty at the end of April 1983, in 1988 he was arrested again and sentenced to 6 weeks in prison. After being laid off from work at the Port, in 1983-1988 he worked as a stoker and mechanic in the “Przyszłość” Labor Cooperative, and at the same time was an activist for the Secret Work Committee “Solidarity” at the Port of Gdańsk. Since July 1988, he has been chairman of the Public Works Committee of the Port of Gdansk. In April 1989 he was reinstated.

From February to September 1982, he was investigated by Department V Provincial Police Headquarters in Gdańsk as part of the Crypts Operational Examination Case. “Bernard”; and in 1983-1989 by the 5th Department of the Voivodship Office of Internal Affairs in Gdańsk as part of the Operational Discovery Case of Crypts. “Shadow”.

In the elections to the Sejm on 4 June 1989, he won the MP’s mandate on behalf of the Committee of Citizens in Gdynia. Two years later, he was re-elected to the Sejm, this time on the initiative of the Central Agreement. In Parliament, he worked on the Committee on Foreign Economic Relations and Maritime Economy and the Committee on Social Policy. After ending his parliamentary activities in 1993, he returned to work in the Port Authority of Gdansk and started managing the Duty Free Zone.

Since 1994, he has been president of the “Dignity” Association, of which he is one of the founders. The association defends the ideals of “Solidarity”, seeking to punish those guilty of communist crimes and to remove judges and prosecutors who have ruled or been accused in political trials in the People’s Republic of Poland from their posts. In addition, the association, led by Czesław Nowak, carried out initiatives to commemorate the heroes and spread knowledge about Poland’s recent history, including: restoring crosses in Westerplatte soldiers’ graves, erecting plaques commemorating Pope John Paul II’s meeting with youths in Westerplatte, erected monuments to Józef Piłsudski, John Paul II and Ronald Reagan or Anna Walentynowicz, as well as a plaque commemorating m.in. massacre of coastal workers in December 1970, participant of the prayer for the liberation of Poland, General Ryszard Kuklinski. The initiator of naming the Gdańsk street after General August Fieldorf “Nil”, Anastazy Wiki-Czarnowski and Jaworzniaków.

He was awarded among others the Officer’s Cross (2006) and Commander’s Cross (2022) of the Order of Polonia Restituta, as well as the Gold Medal of Merit for National Defense (2007), Cross of Freedom and Solidarity (2015), Badge of Honor of Anti-Communist Opposition Activist or Suppressed Person ( 2016), “Historical Witness” Honorary Award (2016) and “National Commemorative Custos” Award (2021).

Bartosz Stracewski/am