When the right-wing conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party announced on November 25 whom it was backing in this year's presidential election, it wasn't just the media that were taken completely by surprise.

Many members of the party itself knew nothing about Karol Nawrocki, president of Poland's Institute of National Remembrance (IPN).

Nawrocki's first appearances on the campaign trail did not bode well: His demeanor was stiff, he was rhetorically weak, he read his speeches from a sheet of paper and irritated many with artificial smiles.

The liberal-conservative camp backing Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski seemed to have victory in the bag before the campaign had even got properly underway.

Indeed, in the early days of the campaign, Trzaskowski was 10% and more ahead of his rival. 

Jaroslaw Kaczynski's choice

But as it turned out, in backing Nawrocki, PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski hit the bull's eye.

PiS presented Nawrocki — who himself admitted that he was "Kaczynski's creature"  — as an independent, non-partisan "citizens' candidate" whom it was just backing.

It was a way of making Nawrocki more palatable to voters who had not yet forgotten the breaches of the law and the chaos in the tax system during the eight years of PiS rule (2015–2023).

Humble background in Gdansk

Forty-two-year-old Nawrocki was born in Gdansk and comes from a humble background. He studied History in his native city and wrote his doctoral thesis on the anti-communist opposition in northeastern Poland.

In 2017, he was tasked with reorganizing the Museum of the Second of World War in Gdansk, which had been set up by experts close to current Prime Minister Donald Tusk, to bring it into line with PiS's national-Catholic history policy.

Staff changes and a "polonization" of the permanent exhibition, which Kaczynski deemed insufficiently patriotic, followed. 

In 2021, PiS got its way and Nawrocki was appointed president of the IPN. He continued to run the institute until recently.

The IPN is an influential institute that plays an important role in the debate about who shapes the interpretation of history and was used by Poland's right-wing conservatives as a propaganda tool.

'Poland first, Poles first'

Nawrocki's campaign motto was "Poland first, Poles first."

He portrayed himself as a man "of flesh and blood" who had fought his way to the top on his own steam. "I am one of you; I am your voice," he repeatedly said at campaign events.

Nawrocki is an open fan of US President Donald Trump and even traveled to Washington to have a photo taken with him in the Oval Office.

Just like his mentor Jaroslaw Kaczynski, Nawrocki sees the EU as a threat to Polish sovereignty, although the word "Polexit" never crosses his lips. He regularly rails against the bloc's Green Deal and migration pact.

During the election campaign, he resorted to anti-German rhetoric and accused Tusk of being "Germany's valet."

He is also skeptical about aid for Ukraine. 

Media allegations

Nawrocki is an enthusiastic amateur boxer and notched up a number of successes as a heavyweight in his youth.

Polish media have accused him of having had ties to the hooligan scene and the criminal underworld.

Nawrocki himself has admitted taking part in a pre-arranged brawl between the fans of two soccer teams. While others who were involved were sentenced in court, Nawrocki was not at the time recognized.

According to the Internet platform ONET, Nawrocki was involved in escorting prostitutes into the Grand Hotel in Sopot while working for a private security company as a student.

It is also alleged that he acquired a social housing apartment by irregular means.

The president-elect seems unimpressed by these allegations, which he says are defamatory.

This article was originally published in German.