Council for War Veterans and Victims of Oppression
The Council for War Veterans and Victims of Oppression is an advisory body, that cooperates with the Head of the Office for War Veterans and Victims of Oppression.
Members of the Council are appointed by the Head of the Office from Veterans and Victims of Oppression, concerning the correct representation of all organisations. The Council consists of 12 to 15 members, who perform their functions voluntarily and elect among themselves a chairman, his deputies and a secretary.
The Council is entitled to:
- evaluate the legislative initiatives udertaken by the Office,
- support proposals regarding issues important for Veterans and Victims of Oppression.
The Council can also address appeals and requests to the society, Veterans organisations as well as the national and local authorities.
The Council for War Veterans and Victims of Oppression
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Mr. Kordian Borejko President of the Executive Board of the Association of Siberian Deportees (Związek Sybiraków) |
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Lt. Col. Zbigniew Galperyn Vice President of the Association of Warsaw Insurgents (Związek Powstańców Warszawskich) |
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Ms. Janina Greenfield-Żbikowska Representing the Association of War Disabled Persons of the Republic of Poland (Związek Inwalidów Wojennych RP) |
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Mrs. President Karolina Kaczorowska Former First Lady of the Republic of Poland in exile, representing Polish emigrants |
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Maj. Maria Kowalewska Member of the World Association of Home Army Soldiers (Światowy Związek Żołnierzy Armii Krajowej)
and the Association of Soldiers of the National Armed Forces (Związek Żołnierzy Narodowych Sił Zbrojnych) |
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Lt. Col. Waldemar Kruszyński President of Warsaw District of the Freedom and Independence Veterans' Association (Zrzeszenie Wolność i Niezawisłość Stowarzyszenie Społeczno-Kombatanckie) |
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Mr. Janusz Maksymowicz Vice President of the Polish Society of War Veterans and Former Political Prisoners (Związek Kombatantów RP i Byłych Więźniów Politycznych) |
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Mr. Bogusław Nizieński Soldier of the Home Army, Polish lawyer, judge, in 1999-2004 Speaker of Public Interest, Knight of the Order of the White Eagle |
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Maj. Jadwiga Obrembalska President of the Executive Board of the Association of Former Political Prisoners of the Stalin Era (Związek Więźniów Politycznych Okresu Stalinowskiego) |
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Capt. Jerzy Pruszyński President of the Executive Board of the Association of Young Political Prisoners 1944-1956 „Jaworzniacy” (Związek Młodocianych Więźniów Politycznych lat 1944 – 1956 „Jaworzniacy”) |
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Ms. Anna Stupnicka-Bando President of the Polish Association of the Righteous Among the Nations (Polskie Towarzystwo Sprawiedliwych Wśród Narodów Świata) |
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Prof. Wojciech Wolski Association of members of the "Gray Ranks" WW2 scouting organisation (Stowarzyszenie Szarych Szeregów) |
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Col. Zbigniew Zaborowski PhD President of the Polish Association of Peasants' Battalions Soldiers (Ogólnopolski Związek Żołnierzy Batalionów Chłopskich) |
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Mr. Stanisław Zalewski President of the Executive Board of the Polish Association of the Former Political Prisoners of Nazi Prisons and Concentration Camps (Związek Byłych Więźniów Politycznych Hitlerowskich Więzień i Obozów Koncentracyjnych) |
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Maj. Prof. Leszek Żukowski President of the Executive Board of the World Association of Home Army Soldiers (Światowy Związek Żołnierzy Armii Krajowej) |
Head of the Office
Lech Parell
Head of the Office for War Veterans and Victims of Oppression
The Head of the Office for War Veterans and Victims of Oppression reports to the Minister of Family, Labor and Social Policy. His main tasks consist of:
- defining the main directions of activity of the Office aimed at securing to war veterans and victims of oppression the required assistance and care provided by state authorities and also the respect and remembrance due to such persons,
- awarding the rights of War Veteran, Victim of Oppression, and person deported to perform forced labor,
- awarding the Office's honorary decorations,
- appointing and dismissing members of the Council for War Veterans and Victims of Oppression,
- cooperating with foreign governments' institutions for War Veterans and Victims of Oppresion an with veteran's organisations.
Lech Parell is a native of Gdańsk, a community activist, journalist, and former opposition member during the Polish People's Republic era. As a student at High School No. 1 in Gdańsk, he became a member of a clandestine school organisation centred around the publication “Jedynka”. In the latter half of the 1980s, he became associated with the “Freedom and Peace” Movement. He participated in campaigns advocating for the right to conscientious objection: the right to refuse military service and protested against the construction of a nuclear power plant in Żarnowiec. During the strikes of 1988, he was a member of strike support groups. He faced persecution from the authorities for these activities.
In post-communist Poland, he primarily worked as a journalist. He served as the first editor-in-chief of the monthly magazine “30 Dni” and later as deputy editor-in-chief and head of the opinion section for “Dziennik Bałtycki”. From 2011 to 2016, he held the position of CEO and editor-in-chief of the public Radio Gdańsk. In subsequent years, he headed the Gdańsk Multimedia Centre, which publishes the municipal portal gdansk.pl. During this time, he co-organised anniversary commemorations of the outbreak of World War II at Westerplatte and at the Polish Post Office building in Gdańsk, as well as anniversary observances of August 1980, December 1970, and memorial ceremonies for Paweł Adamowicz, the assassinated Mayor of Gdańsk.
He is actively involved in community work. From 2003 to 2024, he served as the president of the SUM Association, which organises the “Independence Parade” in Gdańsk. This event constitutes a civic celebration of Independence Day on 11 November and annually attracts 20,000-30,000 participants. For these efforts, the Association was awarded the Mściwoj II Medal by the Gdańsk City Council.
In 2015, he became a member of the Gdańsk Cultural Council and was honoured with the Artistic Award of the Gdańsk Society of Friends of Art in the field of journalism.
For his opposition activities during the Polish People's Republic era, he was decorated with the Cross of Freedom and Solidarity, and for his contributions to media in Poland, he received the Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta.
In his free time, he is an avid sailor.
