Marcin Bogdan: What to do with traitors?

On 9 July 2025, journalists of the “Open Conservatory” hosted the Presidential Palace by having a conversation with president Andrzej Duda, who had already completed his office. During this meeting, the outgoing president said: “Recently, 1 man said to me very brutally: do you know why there is so much betrayal and brawl in Poland? due to the fact that no one's been hanged for treason. This is terrible, but in these words there is truth.” These are fundamental words spoken by president Andrzej Duda. Fundamental words due to the fact that they relate to the foundations of statehood, the foundations of the national community, the foundations on which it was built, on which it survived the storms of past and on which Poland inactive exists. We can be very different, we can be conservatives or liberals, we can have right-wing or left-wing views, we can disagree almost everything, everything but 1 thing, loyalty to Poland, our Homeland. Without loyalty to the Homeland, in the face of betrayal and in the face of approval to betray there is no community, there is no statehood, there is no binder that unites people. There's no common denominator in math.

What is betrayal? To realize the President's words, to realize the intentions of the column writer, 1 must remember the encyclopedic definition of betrayal: "Betrayal of the state, besides called Main Betrayal, isoffence, crime harming the most crucial interests of the State, specified as participation in activities aimed at depriving the State Independence, the depletion of the territory (either to make a fresh state existence, or to include it in the territory of another already existing country) or to overthrow the existing political system States, in peculiar with the participation of an enemy State or organisation. This offence is traditionally referred to as "betrayals"understanded as a citizen's participation in actions against his own country". There is no doubt, then, that there should be the highest punishment for treason. This should be the foundation, this must be the foundation on which the national community is built, despite various kinds of differences and divisions, colors and shades. Without this foundation there would be no Poland, without this foundation there will be no Poland. It's the foundation but besides the limit, the limit of all divisions.

Our great-grandfathers had no uncertainty about this, erstwhile during the Kosciuszko Insurrection in 1794, on the initiative and approval of the leaders of the uprising, they hanged traitors in Warsaw, i.e. co-workers of Russians and marketers. These events were described by Jarosław Marek Rymkiewicz in a book entitled “The Hanging”. A man with German roots, who chose and loved Poland. A prominent poet, essayist, playwright, prof. of humanities and literary critic, a large Polish patriot, writing about the Kościuszkowski Uprising did not avoid the allusion to contemporary Poland, to the III Polish Republic built on the unparalleled and uncounted legacy of communism. He wrote about the community, wrote about Poland, wrote about betrayal in a clear way:

‘Poland is where traitors are hanged.’

‘W In 1794 the Polish nation rose from the dead – and the first thing it did was hang its traitors. A nation that hangs – a nation that lives.’

"It was not a chaotic crowd – it was a sovereign people. It was a nation that understood that it would only last if it cut out the cancer of betrayal.”

"A nation does not be without violence. No execution. No retaliation.

A nation that does not kill traitors – does not exist.’

The question of punishment for treason must be combined, cannot divide. You must be a binder, the foundation of the national community. Without this there is no Poland. Therefore, it seemed to me that it was impossible for anyone in his right head to object to the words of president Andrzej Duda quoted at the outset, so that anyone might have the nerve to challenge the necessity of severe punishment for betraying Poland. But how incorrect I was. Part of government coalition politicians and part of government-friendly commentators raised a veritable rave by judging the president for this message from reverence and faith. As usual, in fresh months, no 1 another than Roman Gierty led the attacks. Giertych published on social media the following comment on president Duda's statement: "The words of Andrzej Duda that his political opponents should be hanged are, in my opinion, moving another border in the public debate. These words will end in any kind of political killing, due to the fact that that is what they are going to do. They are a call to crime”.

Giertych's comment can be interpreted in 2 ways. It may be that Roman Giertych believes that all political opponents of Andrzej Duda, or more strictly speaking, all opponents of the political imagination pursued by Andrzej Duda, are traitors of Poland. After all, Duda did not say, nor did he even propose that his political opponents should be hanged, he spoke only of Polish traitors. I think that's clear and clear. But possibly this is besides the second explanation of Gierty's comment that Roman Gierty can't read or perceive with understanding. Reading or listening with knowing is the ability to absorb, interpret and reflect on the text. It involves not only recognizing words, but besides knowing their meaning. And the word traitor is not the same as a political opponent. This second explanation of Giertych's comment is very likely. In favour of this, there are explanations regarding the dismissal of the charges against Gierty in the investigation conducted by the Public Prosecutor's Office. The investigation concerns Gierty's abuse of trust and the acquisition of more than PLN 70 million by members of the Management Board. In the letter of resignation presented by the spokesperson for the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Lublin, Prosecutor Beata Syk-Jankowska stated that "the alleged fraud of trust is simply a alleged individual crime and can only be committed by a individual with circumstantial qualifications. In this case, it would should be a individual entitled to deal with the assets of Polnord and Roman G. did not have specified powers.”.

The D.A. doesn't deny committing a crime to get immense money out of Polnord. However, as is to be seen from the revealed leaks from the investigation, the individual who had the essential "qualifications" to commit the crime was a bodyguard and besides a driver of Roman Gierty. However, unlike his employer, he most likely has the ability to read and perceive with understanding, for any mysterious reason he has not publically commented on the statements of president Andrzej Duda about hanging traitors. Roman Gierty did it himself. Is it actual that the well-known proverb “hit the table and the knives will speak” is true?

Mr Bogdan