Majchrowski gives back Kraków. After the longest rule in the history of the city
Photo: Jakub Wlodek / Agencja Wyborcza.pl
The office of the mayor of Krakow has been filled with cigar smoke for almost 22 years, constituting a sad symbol of Krakow's smog. And yet it was Jacek Majchrowski who was the first in Poland to air his city to a large extent. Now the city hall will be ventilated. How to evaluate the long presidency of a former SLD activist in the pope's city?
– We will talk about him as great presidents: Leo and Dietl – says Ewa Całus, Majchrowski's representative for education.
– Its flaws will fade in 50 years – comments Konrad Myślik, publicist, author, popularizer of the history of Krakow.
– He is an extremely competent, understanding and warm person – says Marta Nowak, director of the municipality.
– He smashed his monument, erected by the hands of his acolytes – mocks councilor Łukasz Maślona.
– There will be no such president anymore – predicts Marta Witkowicz, director of the treasury department in the Krakow city hall.
– And that's good – we hear from Jacek Majchrowski's opponents.
– The way Krakow has changed is the success of President Majchrowski – says Lesław Fijał, former city treasurer.
– These changes took place in the city, especially in the second period of the long presidency, despite Jacek Majchrowski – replies Małgorzata Tomczak, editor-in-chief of the monthly “Architektura & Biznes”.
He stopped the protests and moved the graves
During his studies, in 1965, Jacek Majchrowski joined the Polish United Workers' Party.
“Why? I have always had a leftist inclination. My grandmother taught me social sensitivity, back in Sosnowiec,” he explained in an interview for “Gazeta Wyborcza” in 2002. He threw his ID card after martial law was introduced. And he told students to learn history from a textbook banned in the Polish People's Republic.
In the 1990s, he taught law and wrote books. He often returned to “The Adventures of the Good Soldier Švejk”. He expanded his collection of badges and medals by searching for them, among others, at the marketplace at the Market Hall. He was passionate about the interwar period.
In the Third Polish Republic, he missed politics – although he would later repeat many times that he was not a politician. He joined the SLD, and in February 1996, the coalition of the left and peasants offered him the position of voivode of Krakow. It was a time when Alliance activists were cursed. “SLD-KGB” – people shouted at public ceremonies.
Majchrowski accepted the offer. Already then, one of his most important political traits became apparent: the ability to talk to anyone. It quickly turned out to be bearable even for Solidarity activists who were hostile to post-communists. – Steelworks, employment reductions. I brought this to the voivode. At first I didn't believe that the SLD official would do anything, but I changed my mind. He talked to me like he was his own. He did what he could, said Stefan Jurczak, associated with Solidarity, who was deputy speaker of the Senate during Majchrowski's term in office at the beginning of the 21st century.
– He respected all employees. I remember from the times when he was a voivode how great an impression it made that when he first appeared at the office, he greeted everyone; porters, a driver, a cleaning lady – recalls Marta Witkowicz, today director of the treasury department at the Krakow City Hall (UMK), working at the district office in an interview with tvn24.pl.
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