We present a fragment of the book “The Secrets of the Presidential Palace” by Dominika Długosz, which premiered on 12 February.
I am talking to Paul Rabey, co-author of the book “Who Are You, Mr. Wachowski?” which was published in 1993.
– In retrospect, it seems to me that Wachowski was a grey eminence in a political sense, and on the another hand he was a smart guy who decided to stick to Wałęsa and make money out of it. – he says.
– Not just financially. His full life was a scope of smartness and catching different winds. He thus found himself at Wałęsa as president of Solidarity, then mysteriously disappeared for a time and returned during the presidency period. Belveder, then the presidential palace was the place where in the early 1990s, at the beginning of the state building, the most crucial decisions were made. Nobody truly knew how things were gonna work out. president Wałęsa with his large ego, with a personality that did not let compromises, with attempts to impose his decisions on everyone, with average ability to talk, formed a dynamic arrangement with Wachowski, in which a lot was happening.
And everything happened in Belvedere. The president and his surroundings were the center of political life. The tiny constitution gave him much more power than the present. The president fought the government with "presidential ministries" or alleged "forceful ministries". The name itself was a sign of the strength of Wales. He de facto ruled the military, cast the Home Office, and could dissolve the Sejm. And if Wałęsa couldn't do anything, he did everything he could.
Jan Morek / PAPWarsaw 08.06.1991. Pope John Paul II's 4th pilgrimage to Poland. gathering of the Holy Father with Lech Walesa and his wife Danuta in Belvedere. On the second stage, the individual secretary of the Pope, Fr.
At Wachowski's, the whisky was dripping. Belvedere balls
Paweł Rabej: – In order to be politically meaningful, then 1 had to deal with Wales, and so it was. It was a center of hard power, not just a chandelier. But it was besides a center of large business decisions. Let us remember that these are times erstwhile no 1 verified anything, there were no cells, no Internet, and the state was very young and many institutions had people who had never dealt with specified matters before. So it was very hard to get to the president on the 1 hand, and on the other, it was rather simple. It was adequate to know what to say to interest Wachowski. We, writing a book, made specified a provocation. My friend called Wachowski and said he had a file on Kaczyński. And even though they never wanted to connect us to Wachowski before, he got the connection instantly. Wachowski was very curious in details of what is in these receipts. And from what the people who were at Wachowski's home at the night in Belvedere told me, that was a lively place.
— The generals who wanted to re-establish themselves came, the business came, the frequent guest was Kulczyk, but not only him. Different deals were included there. There were besides people who simply wanted to warm up in the sun of power, and Wachowski was all very beautiful due to the fact that Wałęsa was not curious in seeing everyone. In addition, at Wachowski's, the whisky was flooded with streams.
In the late 1970 ’ s, Wachowski was told to take a vow of abstinence. But possibly it wasn't whiskey. It was raining streams not only in Belvedere, but besides outside it. To specified an degree that, as Jarosław Kaczyński told Teresa of Toranska, respective times the “captive” was brought from the city.
The book “The Secrets of the Presidential Palace” You can order here
Press material / press mat“The Secrets of the Presidential Palace”
"Wałęsa, somewhere in the beginning of July 1991, erstwhile Wachowski was brought to Belvedere in the night, drunk, unconscious at all, told him: either you halt drinking or you're fired. due to the fact that Wachowski was drinking and how I sometimes went to his office, due to the fact that at first I tried to talk to him, he immediately opened the fridge – he had the full battery of the best whisky, of which he was very arrogant – and wanted to drink with him. I don't like whisky, I like wine, so I didn't drink, and he drank whiskey with Coke, like tea literally, in a rude way, erstwhile overtook a bottle with me, and then – imagine – he usually got up and went somewhere.”
That's why Wałęsa was to get free of Wachowski.
Wachowski and Wałęsa truly liked each other. Wachowski had an different sense of humor. He could even make Mazowieckie or Geremek laugh. He mocked the way Wałęsa spoke, which everyone laughed at. The celebrated “I am behind and even against” was invented by Wachowski. It was that Geremek was late for any meeting, he asks Wachowski what Lech is saying, and Wachowski: as he is always for and even against. He liked his joke. In 1 of the fewer public statements, Wachowski himself admitted: “I found myself telling an anecdote or a joke, amusing him and making him laugh. He can laugh. And he besides laughed at the jokes about him.”
He spent all day in the company of Wachowski. People watching this relation said that Wachowski was the perfect tool that Wałęsa utilized in his games. But Wachowski was smart and intelligent. He could turn into a quarterback with a tool.
A individual from the president's surroundings: – They had specified a regular that they would come down all night and play ping-pong. too fishing, it was the president's favourite entertainment.. Only at 1 point, Wałęsa realized that Wachowski had let him win. Lechu was offended and that was the last time they played together. Do you know why Wachowski actually flew? Why did they yet break up? due to the fact that Wałęsa didn't go home erstwhile on fresh Year's Eve. He sat in Belvedere and watched Wolski's fresh Year's Show on TV, then a very popular show. There, Kryszak played Wachowski and sang a song in which the words "I just have power." Then abruptly he realized it was true. It was a very unpleasant discovery for him, due to the fact that Mietta always treated with a wink, a bit inactive like a driver, a bit like a secretary, an adjutant.
Maciej Belina Brzozowski / PAPWarsaw 09.03.1993. Belveder, Mass in the chapel of the Queen of Poland. The presidential chaplain Fr Franciszek Cybula grants Holy Communion in 2 forms to the Undersecretary of State and the Head of the Cabinet of president Mieczysław Wachowski
Aleksandra Kwasniewski's associate: erstwhile we entered the palace, we found 1 very unusual room
Wachowski had to go through everything. Initially, any meetings could have taken place with the president alone. At the end of the presidency Wachowski was already present with the president always.
The individual around the president: – I remember erstwhile Lech called me in alternatively urgent mode, due to the fact that there was a visit to discuss. I came to the office, which is shared with the president and the chief of the firm, there's a guy already sitting, but the secretary says the president will see me soon. I'm in. I did possibly half an hour, possibly forty minutes. I'm going out there, and there Mietek goes around the office all the time. He jumps to me and immediately, without a good morning even, attacks me: “What the president wanted, why did you come.” I tell him, "Meet, come in and ask what he wanted from me." due to the fact that it took a short time with the Sword. He was always so slippery.
In addition, he moved to Belvedere and the surroundings of Wałęsa a customized he had since the early 1980s. He recorded all the calls. He usually had a tiny tape recorder hidden in his pocket. This communicative was described in his book Paweł Rabej: “Wachowski’s weird work exposed the fresh secretary of Wałęsa, Iwona Kuczyńska, in mid-81. During 1 journey with the president and Wachowski, she noted that a microphone was sticking out from behind the flap of the driver's jacket. erstwhile she asked Wachowski what was going on, he clearly freaked out and tried to make the situation a joke. Among another things, he stated that he made recordings for his own needs. The president's secretary shared her insight with the household and surroundings of Wałęsa, which possibly later became the origin of Miet's dislike of her. When after the war state of Iwona Kuczyńska left the country, Wachowski told that she was a safety plug in the vicinity of Wałęsa. His comments on the subject reached erstwhile Wałęsa co-workers, and he shared them with erstwhile friends."
Wa3ęsa's young secretary was targeted not only due to the fact that she discovered his recordings. In a relationship, it was rumored that she had an affair with Walesa, who began to choose her company alternatively of Mietka.
His opponents at Wałęsa Wachowski were removed 1 by one. Whether it was the 20 - year - old Iwonka or many years later the Styrofoam companions. One by one, they lost to Wachowski. But they were actually losing to Wałęsa due to the fact that many of them think that Wachowski did nothing without the cognition and approval of Wałęsa.
Member of the Sejm of the 1st term: – First, Lech gave Wachowski everything he didn't want to do himself. These meetings he did not want to go to, those decisions he did not want to make, and Miecio took all the problems out of his head with a serviceful joy. And Mietek always had an approach to Wałęsa. Much earlier, he understood that Wales must be worshipped, carried on his hands, worshipped. He feels like a hero and that's how he's expected to be treated. And Wachowski gave it to him. And honestly.
About Wachowski, his enemies say that he fouled Wales, swept him, and locked him in a golden cage, cutting off all who could regulation over Wales.
Former co-worker of the President: – At 1 point all the people who could say to him, “Lechu, it is not so, think, cool off.” All that's left is the sociers and followers. Lech didn't believe that he might be incorrect that individual might disagree with him. He got free of people due to the fact that he suspected they were plotting against him, that they were doing his job, that they would betray him. Or that they're blocking him to weaken him.
Wachowski was with Wałęsa almost to the end. He did not leave until the 1995 election campaign.
Aleksandra Kwasniewski's associate: – erstwhile we entered the palace, we found 1 very unusual room. He looked a small like a Grave Shop, a small like a retention room. There was a desk, any paperwork, and a dirty sheet. individual told us this was Wachowski's room. By the way, do you know that Wachowski was inactive with Kwasniewski for a year or two? He got his vacations and his layoffs, and he was inactive on wage from a presidential law firm.
READ MORE: Secret of Andrzej Duda and Marta Kaczyńska. “Jarosław was terribly annoyed”
