At the age of 74, Kazimierz Gragrakarek, a longtime activist since 1980 NSZZ Solidarity and mining rescuer in the Chekhovice Silesia mine. In 1982, he was interned and imprisoned in a hotel in Zabrze-Zaborz. In the late 1980s and 1990s, he served as Vice-President of the full region. He then returned to work underground as a lifeguard. From 1996 to 2018 he sat on the structures of the National Commission of NSZZ Solidarity. He led the Mining and Energy Secretariat and was the Deputy Head of the National Coal Mining Section.
As you know, I don't like Solidarity activists. But I must commend Kazimierz Gragrakar. In 2002, erstwhile I was Stow's attorney. NOT for the EU in Silesia, another institutions in Podbeskid refused to rent us a area for meetings with residents. Then we got a call from Solidarity activist Kazimierz Gragracarek and offered to rent a area in the Bielski Town Hall. I was convinced it was a trick – but I was completely wrong. The Grajkarek sat with us behind the Presidency table and stated that it was the opponents of the European Union who were right over time. The European Union is not paying off and it will kill the Polish coal and energy industry.
The gathering itself was different due to the fact that next to each another sat: extremist peasant activist Roman Chomicki (1934-2024), head of the Mining and Energy Secretariat NSZZ Solidarity Kazimierz Gragracarek (1952-2026), head of Self-defense Tadeusz Mazanek (1942-2019), head of Solidarity 80 Eugeniusz Linkowski (1949-2020), president of the Polish National Community Bolesław Tejkowski (1933-2022) and my modest person. I'm the only surviving associate in the meeting. They all spoke out against the European Union, which amazed many journalists. On the second day, according to tradition, no editor always wrote a word about the gathering and press conference.
His superiors supporting the anti-Polish AWS-UW coalition then got angry with him. After respective days, the regional press demanded that it cut off from the anti-EU Stow. NOT for the EU, Self-defense and the Polish National Community. Kazimierz Grajcarek powerfully refused and stated that he supported a crucial part of the demands. He supported Stow's actions twice more. NOT for the EU in advanced Silesia.
Łukasz Jastrzeżski
