Poles unite in grief over murder of Gdansk mayor
GDANSK, Poland — Thousands of people joined marches across Poland to pay tribute to the centrist mayor of Gdansk who died on Monday, a day after being stabbed in the heart at a charity event.
Pawel Adamowicz died in the hospital after a daylong fight by doctors to save him. “Despite all our efforts, we failed to save him,” said Doctor Tomasz Stefaniak, director of Gdansk University hospital.
There were marches in a dozen cities around Poland, the PAP news agency reported.
Thousands marched in Gdansk, the Baltic city Adamowicz ran for two decades, with many carrying candles or the city’s flag.
European Council President Donald Tusk flew to his hometown to attend the march in memory of his friend and former political ally.
In a message of remembrance to Adamowicz, he told the crowd, “you were always there whenever there was the need to be good and courageous and to take a stand against evil.”
Thousands more turned out in the capital Warsaw, where that city’s mayor Rafal Trzaskowski spoke to the crowd under a banner reading: “Stop the hatred!”
Sunday’s attack on Adamowicz, known for his liberal views and opposition to Poland’s governing right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party, has shocked the nation.
Polish President Andrzej Duda honored the “great politician” and announced a day of national mourning to coincide with Adamowicz’s funeral, the date of which has yet to be decided.
The European Parliament held a minute of silence.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker expressed “great sadness” in a message on social media, offering “deepest condolences” from the organization.
The doctors who battled to save him in surgery said 53-year-old Adamowicz had suffered a serious wound to the heart and cuts to his diaphragm and abdominal organs.
Video footage showed the attacker, who police said was wearing a press badge, bursting on to the stage and launching himself at Adamowicz, as the mayor stood with others waving sparklers toward the end of a fundraiser.
After knifing the mayor several times, the man turned to the crowd with his arms raised triumphantly before being tackled to the ground by security guards and arrested.
Paramedics resuscitated Adamowicz at the scene before rushing him to the hospital. Gdansk residents rushed to blood donation centers. “We will miss him a lot,” 35-year-old teacher Agnieszka Naruszewicz said, describing the mayor was kind and friendly. “The spiral of violence has gone too far in Poland.”