-- 76TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE WARSAW GHETTO UPRISING.

-- GOVERNMENT OFFICIALLY SUPPORTS KUKIZ'S ANTI-CORRUPTION BILL - WE REPORT ON 300: “The government approves the anti-corruption bill authored by Kukiz’15 and, with remarks, recommends it for further work. Committee session after the holidays.” https://300polityka.pl/news/2019/04/19/rzad-aprobuje-projekt-ustawy-antykorupcyjnej-autorstwa-kukiz15-i-z-uwagami-rekomenduje-go-do-dalszych-prac-po-swietach-posiedzenie-komisji/

-- ECR LEADERS APPEAL TO THE GOVERNMENT REGARDING THE END OF THE TEACHERS' STRIKE - 300LIVE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2019/04/19/

-- ABW INVESTIGATES NEONAZIS - Jacek Harłukowicz in GW: “ABW officers entered several apartments and houses of individuals associated with the Polish neo-Nazi scene on Wednesday morning. Among those searched were the apartments of vocalists from bands popular among the far-right, Obłęd and Odwet – Robert O. and Przemysław K. Wednesday's operation is part of an investigation conducted jointly by ABW and the District Prosecutor's Office in Wałbrzych. It was this investigation that led to the dismantling of a neo-Nazi concert in Dzierżoniów a year ago, which was to feature bands from Poland and Germany on Adolf Hitler's birthday.” http://wroclaw.wyborcza.pl/wroclaw/7,35771,24679035,abw-rozpracowuje-neonazistow-przeszukanie-w-domu-lidera-zespolu.html

-- HAWKS WERE INVOLVED - THE ATTITUDE OF PO LEADERS TOWARDS BIEDROŃ HAS CHANGED - ANDRZEJ STANKIEWICZ ON ONET: “I must agree with Robert Biedroń – as long as he was a likable gay man drinking tap water and cycling around Słupsk, he was loved by circles close to Civic Platform. He was politically harmless and useful in terms of image. The trouble began when Biedroń believed he could be a leftist messiah – because that meant war with PO for a common electorate. From one day to the next, the attitude of PO leaders and the Platform lobby towards Biedroń changed drastically. On the one hand, it suddenly turned out that he wasn't as outstanding a mayor of Słupsk as he was previously presented – which is actually true. On the other hand, hawks were involved.”

-- BIEDROŃ OUTMANEUVERED PO'S ASSOCIATES - CONTINUES STANKIEWICZ: “I don't know if Platform's 'Great Patron' had a hand in the latest attack on Biedroń – bringing up his past criminal family matter. I know that Biedroń believes so. And I remember that the 'Great Patron' participated in similar actions in the past. Everything indicates that this time Biedroń outmaneuvered his opponents from the PO circles – he is said to be behind the materials preemptively describing this matter in the least harmful way for him. But this is not the end of the hawk war. I would like to write: 'Please grab your popcorn and settle in front of your screens.' Except such series are rather indigestible.” https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/tylko-w-onecie/newsletter-onetu-andrzej-stankiewicz-polowanie-na-biedronia/mhvcdmg

-- IN A NEW BOOK, DR TOMASZ KOZŁOWSKI, IPN HISTORIAN, TALKS ABOUT RAKOWSKI AND KISZCZAK'S OPERATION TO SAVE OLEKSY - ONET REPORTS: “The IPN historian has accessed documents indicating that during the 'Olin' affair in 1995, an attempt may have been made to blackmail Lech Wałęsa using Kiszczak's files. Dr. Tomasz Kozłowski refers to the unpublished diaries of Mieczysław Rakowski, who described meetings involving Leszek Miller, Czesław Kiszczak, and Wojciech Jaruzelski.”

-- RAKOWSKI AND JARUZELSKI VISIT KISZCZAK IN HOSPITAL AND DISCUSS STRATEGY TO DEFEND OLEKSY AND BLACKMAIL WAŁĘSA - DR KOZŁOWSKI TELLS ONET: “The diaries indicate that Rakowski and Jaruzelski visited Kiszczak in the hospital together. They discussed the defense strategy for Oleksy and the SLD circles. Kiszczak admits there is a lack of evidence of Zacharski or other officers collaborating with the KGB. However, he assures that nothing stands in the way of skillfully selling such information and suggesting not only that collaboration took place, but even that it was of an agentural nature. Kiszczak, however, believed that Wałęsa should be targeted, who, in his opinion, commissioned UOP to hunt left-wing politicians. Kiszczak says he knows where the original files of TW 'Bolek' are, proving Lech Wałęsa's cooperation with the SB in the 1970s. He was convinced that Wałęsa feared the disclosure of his cooperation and could be effectively blackmailed with this material.”

-- MILLER AND RAKOWSKI DECIDE TO TARGET WAŁĘSA - CONTINUES KOZŁOWSKI: “The diary contains a fragment concerning Miller's statement: 'Olek [Kwaśniewski] calls Milczanowski, but he doesn't want to talk to him. We have no access to them, so we need to find one [...] Wałęsa must know that the 'Bolek' file exists' – Rakowski noted. In any case, Miller and Rakowski ultimately decide to target Wałęsa. And it was Rakowski who began looking for access to Wałęsa.” https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/tylko-w-onecie/afera-olina-teczki-kiszczaka-i-atak-na-lecha-walese-historyk-ipn-dotarl-do/yxzpnek

-- I ALWAYS THOUGHT THE OLEKSY AFFAIR WAS AUTHENTIC - SŁAWOMIR CENCKIEWICZ FOR ONET: “With my unequivocally negative assessment of Wałęsa, both as a former SB collaborator, a leader of 'Solidarity,' and the President of the Republic of Poland, I have always believed that the Oleksy affair was authentic. That is, that the UOP operational group, led by Zacharski and Libera, stumbled upon and uncovered in 1994-1995 a real network of Russian connections, agents of influence, and spies linked by Russian intelligence even after 1991, i.e., after the fall of the Soviet Union. This does not preclude political maneuvering where these operational findings were used.”

-- OLEKSY BEHAVED LIKE A TRAINED AGENT, HE WAS SOMEONE IMPORTANT IN THE RUSSIAN RESOURCES - CONTINUES CENCKIEWICZ: “This is a vast topic, but I will attempt a synthesis. Oleksy behaved professionally – as a trained agent and spy caught in the act should. He denied everything, trivialized contacts, reducing them to insignificant occasional relations. He presented himself as a victim of the services, of the hatred and obsession of Milczanowski and Wałęsa, which was appropriately framed in the media. The reality, however, was quite different. I believe that Oleksy was someone truly important in the Soviet and Russian services, but not the only one. The transmission belt for his relations with Moscow, and simultaneously his protective shield, were always the military services of the PRL. The domestic unit of Directorate II, i.e., Agentural Intelligence Operations, of which Oleksy was an agent from 1969 to 1978, was under special protection by WSI after 1990, which in turn were the continuation of Directorate II (intelligence) and WSW (counterintelligence).”

-- PERHAPS THIS IS PROOF OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF BLACKMAIL AGAINST WAŁĘSA - CONTINUES CENCKIEWICZ: “Finally, in this context, it is worth recalling that after Oleksy's death, Wałęsa apologized to the deceased and discredited the entire UOP operation regarding the identification of 'Olin.' At that time, Milczanowski and his colleagues from UOP finally broke ties with Wałęsa. Could this be proof that the blackmail, even after years, turned out to be effective?” https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/tylko-w-onecie/lech-walesa-byl-szantazowany-podczas-afery-olina-slawomir-cenckiewicz-gdy-okazalo-sie/b3qrtkz

-- ABSURD HAPPENINGS, THE TEACHERS' STRIKE IS NOT FRIGHTENING FOR PIS - MICHAŁ SZUŁDRZYŃSKI IN RZ: “The idea seemed simple: social protests were supposed to harm the ruling party, which is why the opposition was supposed to support them so eagerly. But the teachers' strike showed that it's different. Poles seem increasingly irritated by the strike, public sympathy is definitely turning away from educators, and the risk of not conducting matura exams is beginning to be perceived as the anarchization of the state. In addition, the protesters have lost something that seems crucial in such an important strike – seriousness. A certain gravitas that makes them taken seriously. Dozens of absurd happenings, videos, and songs eagerly posted online by teachers are causing society to stop taking them seriously. And that's why polls show that PiS is holding strong, and the opposition has some problems.” https://www.rp.pl/Komentarze/304189875-Szuldrzynski-Strajk-PiS-owi-juz-niestraszny.html

-- SINGING TEACHERS ADORNED WITH THE ARROGANCE OF A WEAPON-OWNER - MARCIN FIJOŁEK ON TOPICS OF DISCUSSION FOR THE HOLIDAYS: “This is happening because the key tool by which this strike is judged is the well-being of children. Whether someone likes it or not, hindering the conduct of middle school and eighth-grade exams (plus the associated stress), adorned with great uncertainty about the matura exams, which should start soon, is a self-inflicted goal by the striking groups. These types of protests are also perceived through memorable images: a festival of singing teachers, adorned with the arrogance of Sławomir Broniarz, certainly do not help in the positive reception of this strike.” https://wpolityce.pl/m/polityka/443182-piec-tematow-politycznych-na-swiateczny-stol-i-na-majowke

-- GW POLL ON THE AUSTRIAN TAPES -- 44% DON'T KNOW THE MATTER: “The responses indicate that public opinion demands a full explanation of this matter. Only 15% of respondents considered Kaczyński's behavior to be 'not wrong.' 41% described it as 'inappropriate.' As many as 44% of respondents chose the answer 'I know little about this subject.'” http://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,24679581,sondaz-wyborczej-o-aferze-srebrnej-wiekszosc-chce-sledztwa.html

-- EWA SIEDLECKA ON THE NEXT AMENDMENT TO THE JUDICIAL LAW ACT - THERE WILL BE ANOTHER ROW: “The hearing before the CJEU is not the only problem that PiS wants to solve with this act. It amends the provisions concerning the lifting of immunity for judges and prosecutors. Currently, appellate courts, over whose rulings PiS has no control, do this. After the change, the Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court, entirely staffed by the neo-KRS, i.e., PiS people, will lift immunities. This part of the amendment can be called 'lex Łączewski.' The prosecutor's office, subordinate to the government, is attempting to charge Judge Wojciech Łączewski with filing a false report of a crime (it concerned the alleged attempt to conspire with Tomasz Lis; Judge Łączewski filed a report on suspicion of hacking into his internet account). To charge the judge, the prosecutor's office requested the lifting of his immunity. Two weeks ago, the disciplinary court in Krakow refused the prosecutor's office, stating that the request was filed by an 'unauthorized person' – the same prosecutor who handled the case based on Judge Łączewski's report. According to the court, he should have recused himself from the case against the judge.” https://www.polityka.pl/tygodnikpolityka/kraj/1790240,1,bedzie-kolejna-awantura-w-postepowaniu-przed-tsue-ws-krs.read?src=mt

-- BIRTHDAYS: Jan Szyszko, Małgorzata Sekuła-Szmajdzińska, Bożena Henczyca.