On the wall of the school in Suchowola (Podlaskie Voivodeship), where Fr. Jerzy Popiełuszko, a mural dedicated to him is being created. According to the visualization on the county office’s Facebook profile, you could also see PiS senator Mariusz Gromka, deputy minister of education Dariusz Piontkowski and the Kaczyński brothers. There was also the staroste of Sokółka, Piotr Rećko, who… denies that the project involves showing anyone’s faces.
– The post on the county office’s profile appeared on Tuesday around 22.30. The next day in the morning I had a lot of calls. The residents were outraged. Me too. Also as a parent of a child who goes there – says Michał Matyskiel, mayor of Suchowola, who was previously the director of a school complex in this town.
A mural is currently being created on this building commemorating the figure – born in Okopy in the Suchowola commune – Fr. Jerzy Popiełuszko, who attended this school in the 1960s.
In the visualization we see the faces of politiciansReader
Father Popiełuszko and politicians in the background
The reader sent us a screenshot of his mobile phone and a visualization he downloaded from the county office’s profile. We can see that among the people shown in the background of the mural are the faces of politicians. Specifically, a senator PIS Mariusz Gromko, Deputy Minister of Education Dariusz Piontkowski and the Kaczyński brothers in their youth.
There is also the face of the mayor Reader
– There is also the face of the mayor himself, Piotr Rećko, who in the post poses in a photo with the school building in the background, on which the building falls a visualization projected, it seems, from a projector. However, in the post we read – as I understand it is reported by the starosta himself – “the mural is being implemented in accordance with the idea and symbolism I proposed,” says the mayor.
Mayor: I suppose it’s an afterthought
He adds that the staroste must have heard voices of indignation, because on Wednesday, the original visualization was removed on the staroste’s profile and replaced by a new one – without the politicians’ faces.
Screenshot of the original post on the county office’s profileReader
– I suppose it was a reflection. And luckily. Although it is a pity that the mural, in one or another version, covers the inscription with the name of the school, which was there for many years – comments Michał Matyskiel.
The mayor denies this
Going into the change history of the post in question, we see that it was added on Tuesday (October 3) at 22.29. The next day at 9:28 a.m. one photo was deleted and at 11 a.m. one was added. This is the visualization that is currently visible and shows a mural without the politicians’ faces.
However, mayor Piotr Rećko claims that the mural design did not include showing any specific faces.
– These are only outlines of the crowd of people who listened to Fr.’s words. Popiełuszko. There are no faces in the mural that is already visible on the wall of the building, he points out.
This is what the visualization with politicians’ faces looks like Reader
When we say that we can send him a screenshot showing specific faces of politicians (including his own), he says that it makes no sense. And he repeats once again that the mural design did not include showing any specific faces.
Councilwoman: It’s unimaginable
Suchowola commune councilor Krystyna Gudel comments that when the visualization with politicians’ faces started circulating on social media late on Tuesday evening, people took screenshots of the starosty’s profile and sent it to each other.
This is a visualization that is currently visible on the starosty’s profile. Faceless politicians Reader
– It was a total surprise and a huge outrage. Especially since no one consulted us about it. The residents went to the mayor. And time was running out, because the outlines of figures were already visible on the wall. Fortunately, the visualization with politicians’ faces disappeared from the county office’s website, and this morning I was there and – looking at the wall – I noticed that the mural did not show any faces. It is unbelievable how one could even think that, against the background of Fr. Jerzy – and, moreover, on the school building – to present the faces of politicians – the councilor is outraged.
The deputy minister and senator claim they knew nothing about it
Deputy Minister of Education Dariusz Piontkowski tells us that if anyone thought about it at all, it wasn’t the happiest idea.
– But I haven’t heard about the case. I only know that the mural is being created and is to be dedicated to Fr. Jerzy Popiełuszko, which I consider a most praiseworthy idea, he notes.
PiS senator Mariusz Gromko is also surprised. – This is the first time I’ve heard about it. This must be some kind of joke. I can’t imagine such a situation, he tells us.
On Wednesday (October 4), outlines of figures were already appearing on the wallReader
When we notice that the mayor mentions him as one of the patrons of the mural, he confirms that he is actually the patron of the project.
– In the sense that I support the commemoration of people so important to Polish history, who come from our region, such as Fr. Popiełuszko – notes the senator.
From the “Niepodległa” program
The mural is being created as part of the “Niepodległa” subsidy program of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. As Wioletta Łabuda-Iwaniak, the spokeswoman for “Niepodległa”, informs us, the applicant was the County Cultural Center in Sokółka, which received two murals for preparatory work and the implementation of two murals (apart from Father Jerzy Popiełuszko, also a mural by the outstanding mathematician Józef Marcinkiewicz, which was already created in Sokółka). a total of 26.5 thousand zloty.
On Thursday (October 5) morning it turned out that no faces would be visibleReader
– An own contribution of 15 percent was required – he notes.
The director of PDK in Sokółka, Zbigniew Dębko, tells us that he has not seen a mural design with politicians’ faces, but there were several mural designs.
Main photo source: Reader