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The Guardian
31-05-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Polish presidential candidates neck and neck on eve of runoff vote
Poles will cast their votes on Sunday in the closest presidential runoff since the fall of communism, in an election that pits two different visions of the nation against each other. In Poland's previous election in 2020, the conservative populist incumbent Andrzej Duda narrowly won the second-round vote against the pro-Europe mayor of Warsaw, Rafał Trzaskowski, by 51% to 49%. This time it could be even closer. Polls show the difference between Trzaskowski and the nationalist rightwing historian Karol Nawrocki, who is backed by the Law and Justice party (PiS), which ruled Poland from 2015 to 2023, to be within the margin of error. At stake is whether the coalition government led by Donald Tusk, Trzaskowski's political patron, will be able to pursue its progressive agenda or see it further blocked by a critical opposition president armed with the power to veto laws. In Siekierczyn, a rural municipality with 4,265 residents across eight villages in the south-west of Poland, the first round was decided by a single vote, catapulting the hitherto unknown area into the spotlight. 'You probably often heard 'my vote won't change anything'. But look at Siekierczyn,' the winner, Trzaskowski, said in a social media video, rallying voters before the runoff. Noticeboards in the village are plastered with posters of candidates, and the mayor, Dariusz Furdykoń, 48, cherishes the attention that comes with the close result. The area faces challenges with rural revitalisation and energy transition, he says. In 2023, he turned a neglected bathing pond into a colourful outdoor playground; a new sports hall is to open this year. But he worries about depopulation as more people died (46) than were born (26) last year, and younger people leave for cities or seek work in Germany or the Czech Republic. Emotions are running high, he admits. 'These differences come out at the dining table, during first communion, Christmas or Easter. The rift is between older, often less-educated people, and younger ones, who have been out and about,' he says. 'Some are voters, others are believers. But what can you do? You need to talk with them, try to find a way forward.' In the first round, about 60% of residents cast votes. 'But the weather was awful,' Furdykoń says. On Sunday, he hopes to see more come out; the municipality will even run a special bus service to polling stations. In the early afternoon, the sleepy village turns into a hive of political campaigning as a group of Nawrocki voters meet to chat to the conservative TV channel Republika. Standing by their pickup emblazoned with Nawrocki's poster, Henryk, a former councillor, and Janina Wójcik say they want 'a candidate who, however lofty it sounds, serves Poland's interests best'. They feel that 'someone wants to take our freedom, our statehood,' as they worry about plans to create 'a European army' and EU green policies. In contrast, the Donald Trump-backed Nawrocki is a Catholic and will guarantee their state pension payments and free prescriptions, they say. Others rush to point out that Trzaskowski only came first because of a polling station inside a prison, where he won by 77 votes. 'People in the village didn't vote for him; prisoners did. Not something to brag about, is it?' says Teresa Zembik, 62. Her husband, Wojciech, 63, is head of the local PiS branch and he doesn't mince words. Political conflict 'runs through families here', he says. 'These are not just political views, it's a continuation of the war, and Poland is at stake. One group wants to fight for Poland, the other to destroy it in the interests of Russia and Germany.' Sign up to Headlines Europe A digest of the morning's main headlines from the Europe edition emailed direct to you every week day after newsletter promotion As the group crosses the road from the parish church, another man splits from it and tears down a Trzaskowski banner on a nearby house. Its resident Monika misses the drama. When told about the incident by children, she pulls her phone out. 'I will get another one up,' she laughs. She wants a 'tolerant, clean and peaceful Poland' and rejects the dismissive tone about prison voters. 'Folks make mistakes but then make amends. People are people.' Her daughter got her dad to vote for the first time this year. Maybe that won the first round, she wonders. She is not the only one to stake that claim. Picking up children from school, Mariola says her son turned 18 recently and voted for the first time, so it's his vote that swung it for Trzaskowski. 'I want to get reforms going,' she says, pointing to women's rights – 'the right to choose' – in particular. At a local supermarket, two Nawrocki voters, Dominik and Janusz, joke about another neighbour who also says he decided the vote. But they are tired of 'dirty campaign tricks' against their candidate. They shrug off that Nawrocki took part in an organised fight between 140 football hooligans20 years ago (he called it an act of 'noble combat'), and distrust reports he was allegedly involved in procuring sex workers while working as a student security guard at a hotel (a claim he strongly denies). Instead, they focus on the here and now, and want Nawrocki to lower national insurance payments for entrepreneurs. As president he could propose legislation, but he wouldn't have a majority in parliament – at least for now. Despite the fevered atmosphere, there are still some voters who are yet to make up their minds. Wioletta, 44, voted in the first round for the libertarian far-right candidate Sławomir Mentzen, who came third, and she doesn't like the remaining candidates. 'But I have to go. I'll decide at the polling station,' she says. Adam, 40, says: 'None of them convinced me yet.' He plans to watch YouTube and read up over the weekend. Aleks Szczerbiak, a professor of politics at the University of Sussex, said it was 'very, very close,' with 5% yet to pick a side. It 'might mean you get … disillusioned government supporters coming out in spite of everything' for Trzaskowski, or older voters who skipped the first round mobilise to back Nawrocki, or see another minor movement that could ultimately decide the result, he said. The diaspora vote could play a role, too, with about 700,000 registered voters abroad, including 185,000 in the UK. Ben Stanley, an associate professor at SWPS University in Warsaw, said: 'The outcome is impossible to predict. There are too many moving parts, and even the slightest change on the day could tip the balance.' For what it's worth, it is expected to rain again in Siekierczyn on Sunday.
The Sun
13-05-2025
- The Sun
Nazi gold train hunters make breakthrough as they uncover letter ‘revealing location of Hitler's treasure haul'
HOPE has been reignited in the hunt for the legendary Nazi gold train, believed to be laden with treasures from the Amber Room and to have vanished in the final months of WWII. A detailed letter has been sent to Polish authorities claiming to finally reveal the alleged train's long-lost location. 3 3 A man, who asked to remain anonymous, sent a detailed letter dated April 23 to Polish authorities. The tipper claims they have uncovered train wagons hidden in a tunnel near Wałbrzych, in southwestern Poland. The letter wrote: "Three railway wagons from the period of World War II, are hidden in a camouflaged tunnel. "Each wagon is approximately 12 metres long, four metres wide and four metres high. "The wagons are hidden behind a closed, sliding steel gate at the entrance to the tunnel." It added: "The wagons contain valuable precious metals, including gold. "Precise geodetic data will be made available to the mayor of Wałbrzych or his deputy in the form of attachments." City spokesperson Kamila Świerczyńska said: "A certain man, whose details I cannot disclose, made a procedural report of the discovery, referred to by the press as the gold train. "The letter looks factual and specific. The letter indicates four attachments, such as a tunnel with a train inside." She added that the letter included a "table with geodetic data, terrain profile, including the tunnel layout, a map with track simulation and tunnel course, and account of a witness who lived in Wałbrzych during the war." Anna Nowakowska, head of the Wałbrzych branch of the Provincial Office for the Protection of Monuments, said: "After analysing various sources and documents, the man came to the conclusion that he had located a tunnel with the so-called golden train inside." The legend dates back to the final months of WWII, when an armoured Nazi train is believed to have departed from the city of Wroclaw - then Breslau and part of Germany - loaded with looted treasures. But the train never reached its reported destination of Wałbrzych. It was rumoured to have vanished into a secret underground tunnels built by the Nazis in the Owl Mountains region. This fresh tip, filled with technical data, maps and even a witness statement, has reignited hope. Local authorities say the anonymous man behind the claim has not yet applied for a permit to conduct an official search. Officials are currently considering whether to launch an investigation. It comes as the alleged train was brought back into the spotlight in 2015 after two amateur treasure hunters, Piotr Koper and Andreas Richter, claimed they had found it using ground-penetrating radar. Nothing came of these investigations. Meanwhile, in 2023, the Jaćwież Historical and Exploratory Association discovered a hidden railway and a pair of train wheels near the Mamerki bunker in northwestern Poland. The tracks were discovered five feet below the surface in the Warmia and Mazury province, which was the headquarters of Hitler's German Army Supreme Command, just a few miles from Hitler's Wolf's Lair bunker complex. The discovery of the hidden railway near the Mamerki bunker complex in Poland could be loosely connected to the famous gold train legend. The legend of the Nazi gold train THERE is an enduring urban legend that hidden deep beneath the mountains of southwest Poland lies a Nazi gold train - also known as the Wałbrzych gold train. According to the legend, the train was loaded with precious jewels, gold and amber from the Amber Room of the Czars. The Amber Room, built for Russian Tsar Peter the Great in the 1700s, was looted by the Nazis during the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. It is considered the crown jewel of the missing Nazi treasure haul, dubbed the "Eighth Wonder of the World" after it was stolen from Catherine Palace near St Petersburg. The Nazi gold train is believed to have vanished into a sealed rail tunnel or mine somewhere in the Central Sudetes. Since 1945, numerous searches - including operations by the Polish Army during the Cold War - have failed to uncover any trace of the train. Interest in the legend surged again between 2015 and 2018, when two Polish treasure hunters claimed they had discovered the train using ground-penetrating radar. This claim led to a high-profile excavation effort involving the Polish military, government officials and private backers. But the dig was eventually abandoned after the so-called anomaly turned out to be a natural geological formation. The legend lives on - a group of enthusiasts has even built a full-scale replica of a Nazi armoured train, hoping to turn it into a tourist attraction.
