„I carry you, Poland, like a torch, like a flame; where I will carry you — I do not know. These are words from the underground, author unknown. After the 1980s we have carried Poland to our days."
Kornel Morawiecki · Speaker Senior · Sejm of the Republic of Poland, 12 November 2015
We cultivate the intellectual, scholarly and social legacy of Kornel Morawiecki — what he contributed to Polish political thought, public ethics and the heritage of independence.
The Kornel Morawiecki Institute of Thought is a workspace for ideas — not a monument.
We were founded in the conviction that the legacy of Kornel Morawiecki — Doctor of theoretical physics, lecturer at Wrocław University of Technology, founder of Fighting Solidarity (Solidarność Walcząca), and Speaker Senior of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland — belongs not to the biography of one man, but to a shared resource that can be drawn upon today.
We focus on thought: on what Kornel Morawiecki said about freedom and solidarity, social justice and the common good of the nation, the role of law and the responsibility of generations. The motto „Free and in Solidarity" was his since 1979 — first in Biuletyn Dolnośląski, then as the motto of Fighting Solidarity, finally as the name of his last party. That is forty-seven years of continuous work on a single formula.
We are not a branch of any party. We are a research and educational institution. We work with texts, sources, documents. We organize debates. We support researchers and students. We collaborate with the Lex Nostra Review think tank.
Freedom that knows its source and its limits — freedom of choice, of conscience, of will. Not economic liberalism, not anarchy. Freedom as responsibility.
Solidarity as a way of life: empathy, common action, support and help for one another. Living not only for oneself — but also for others.
A state built on its own tradition: the Solidarity movement, Christian ethics, local self-government. A model for the nations of the Three Seas region — not a copy of foreign models.
Each generation lays its own step. „Fighting Solidarity has been forgotten — I consider this a wrong done to the young generation," said Kornel Morawiecki.
A synthesis of his intellectual legacy — drawn from a dossier prepared on the basis of primary sources, Institute of National Remembrance archives, parliamentary records and journalistic writings.
Two complementary values: „freedom without solidarity leads to atomization and the domination of the strong over the weak; solidarity without freedom — to totalitarianism." The synthesis of these two principles was the axiological foundation of the entire thought of Kornel Morawiecki.
A continuation of the tradition of Prof. Leopold Caro of Lwów Polytechnic. Natural community of interests across class divisions. A critique of the „crony capitalism" that grew from the privatized communist nomenklatura.
The programmatic goal of Fighting Solidarity since 1981: „a free and independent Republic in Solidarity". A state built on its own heritage — Solidarity, Christian ethics, self-government.
Communism as a fundamentally evil system — degrading consciences and social bonds. A critique of the „thick line" doctrine and unfinished decommunization. The memory of priests Niedzielak, Suchowolec and Zych as part of the moral reckoning of the Third Republic.
A vision of Central and Eastern Europe from the Baltic to the Black Sea as a space of free, mutually supportive nations. A reference to Józef Piłsudski's Intermarium concept. The independence of the former Soviet republics as a precondition for Polish security.
From the parliamentary rostrum on 12 November 2015: „A constitution not only of rights and duties, not only of liberties, but a constitution of meaning." Law as service to the nation, not as the sacred. Direct democracy, juries, self-government.
All from verified sources: parliamentary stenographs, press interviews, Institute of National Remembrance publications.
For whom is Poland? We live not only for ourselves; we live and die for others. Together we are more important than each of us alone.Sejm of the Republic of Poland, 12 November 2015 · inscribed on his tombstone at Powązki Cemetery
I dream that in this parliament we shall propose to Poland and Europe a new, great constitution — a constitution not only of rights and duties, not only of liberties, but a constitution of meaning.Sejm of the Republic of Poland, 12 November 2015
Law is an important thing, but law is not sacred. Above the law stands the good of the nation. A law that does not serve the nation is lawlessness.Sejm of the Republic of Poland, 25 November 2015
Do that from which communism will fall.motto of Fighting Solidarity, 1982
I believe the entire thought of Fighting Solidarity has been forgotten over the past twenty years. This thought was absent from the public sphere — from schools, from textbooks. I consider this a wrong done to the young generation.statement to PAP
The Round Table squandered the great idea of solidarity. It pushed Poland into the embrace of the nomenklatura, into a corrupt capitalism. It brought immeasurable moral losses.Rzeczpospolita, 5 February 2009
We carry you, Poland, like a torch, like a flame. Where shall we carry you? Lead us, Poland!words from the underground, author unknown · cited in the Sejm, 12 November 2015
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A selection of key titles with active links to Polish bookstores. The full catalogue, including e-books and antiquarian editions, is available in the Institute's library.
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Kornel Morawiecki
Institute of Thought
c/o Lex Nostra Foundation
Warsaw, Poland
E-mail: contact@imkm.pl
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