Andrzej Kern was one of the most popular politicians during the Polish People’s Republic. By education, he has completed many successfully completed political trials. He co-founded the Independent Self-Governing Trade Union “Solidarity” in Łódź, and in the years 1989-1991 he was a member of the Sejm of the 10th term on behalf of the Citizens’ Committee and held the position of deputy marshal. He was also successful in his private life. From his relationship with Zofia Pstrągowska, he had an only daughter, Monika. It was the scandal involving her that began the end of his dynamically developing career.
They were like forbidden fruit to each other. Andrzej Kern was firmly against his daughter’s relationship
It all started on New Year’s Eve 1991, which Monika spent with her high school friends. At a party organized at a friend’s house, one of the guests was a boy 5 years older than me, Maciej Malisiewicz. Even though he came from a lower class and worked in the family pizzeria, she fell head over heels in love with him, and it was mutual. They started dating and quickly became a couple. Thanks to him, the teenager, brought up under shelter, experienced a life she had never even dreamed of before.
It was my first unfeathered love. I was impressed that he was 5 years older. Maciej’s mother introduced herself to me as a choreographer and dancer (which was not entirely true), and I was fascinated by dancing at that time. I liked their house, such laid-back blues. In my home I was constantly asked where I was going and when I would return
– in “Dziennik Łódzki”. The lover’s mother allegedly portrayed her parents in a bad light and incited her against them, saying that she could not allow herself to be controlled. Mr. and Mrs. Kern openly disapproved of their new only daughter. – I will not agree to a child marrying a man who will fry pancakes all his life – the politician was said to have said during the argument. When they started limiting their contact by forbidding Monika to go out, she started playing truant. This also affected her academic results, which were getting worse. This was the final straw.
At the doctors’ suggestion, he placed his daughter in a psychiatric facility. He did not foresee such consequences
Overwhelmed by the situation, Andrzej Kern turned to a doctor friend for help. He recommended that the teenager be isolated from the harmful environment for some time, which the politician took to heart. The events of May 1992 became the climax. During classes, Monika was unexpectedly taken by ambulance to a psychiatric hospital for observation. However, the effects were completely opposite to what her father expected. The girl took advantage of the doctors’ momentary inattention to call Malisiewicz’s mother. She showed up at the hospital, causing a brawl as a crowd of onlookers watched. Doctors, wanting to protect their reputation, decided to release her from the center, but Monika did not return home and found shelter on her grandmother’s plot. Then contact with her beloved broke off, but only for a certain time, because 10 days before her 17th birthday, a white boy and his friend came to pick her up. Together they went to Częstochowa, where he and his mother hid for the next weeks in a property belonging to businessman Janusz Baranowski.
Was Andrzej Kern’s daughter abducted? He had no doubt that it was a political ploy
Mr. and Mrs. Kern were losing their minds, convinced that their daughter had been abducted. They began a dramatic search, in which all of Poland and all services were involved. The politician even took part in a television program where he appealed to the kidnapper to return the child to him. Media reports also quickly reached Monika, who watched her father’s speech live. – I was in shock. I didn’t think then that it was possible for it to produce such smoke. I remember that I couldn’t understand what had happened. It was as if I was viewing my life through the eyes of a stranger. I was woken up at night by fear of my parents, I felt that something was wrong. But firstly, I didn’t understand what was happening, secondly, I had no one to talk to about it, she said later. The press hailed this story as the Polish version of “Romeo and Juliet”, but Andrzej Kern had no doubt that it was not about love, but about politics. – The love story described by the press as in “Romeo and Juliet” is nonsense for the naive. The case is clearly of a political nature, he said, outraged.
Monika Kern sent a letter to the media. Lech Wałęsa himself answered her
In the meantime, the prosecutor’s office also initiated an investigation and identified Malisiewicz’s family as the perpetrators of the whole mess. His family home was searched and his relatives were taken for questioning. Then the only branch of the deputy marshal decided to put an end to it, finally coming out of hiding, or at least partially, because she decided to write a letter to the media in which she assured that she was not in any danger.
We are writing this letter to reassure you. The most important thing right now is that we are together and that we are happy. We hope that this nightmare is finally over and that no one will make your lives or ours any more difficult. We have already informed my parents, I wonder how they will react to it. We won’t show ourselves for now. Don’t worry, everything will be fine now
– was the content of the message published in “Gazeta Wyborcza”. Even the then president, . Although he emphasized that he had supported this relationship from the beginning and believed that the story would have a happy ending, seeing each step, he had doubts whether it was really worth the candle.
You want to feel like an adult, but you act like a child. So I will write to you like a child. If your Father would let me, I would put you over my knee so that you would understand. Respect dictates that the father must never be insulted. You can’t fight it by mixing love with politics. You cannot demand revenge on the Father. You should apologize to Him for all this as soon as possible
– he wrote. However, Monika did not feel guilty and intended to get her way. In June 1993, she joined Misielewicz in the wedding ceremony. Right after the ceremony, a grand wedding took place, to which over 300 people were invited. There were artists, journalists and politicians among them, even he himself was honored with his presence. However, the bride’s parents were not present at the wedding – they boycotted it by standing in front of the cathedral.
The marriage broke up, and Piwowski made a film about it. What was the end of the most famous misalliance of the Third Polish Republic?
The story of Monika Kern and Maciej Misielewicz electrified public opinion so much that Marek Piwowski finally decided to adapt it to the screens. The film “The Abduction of Agatha” based on it attracted crowds to cinemas, becoming a huge hit. However, the teenagers did not stand the test of time and ended after less than a year. The divorce was not necessary because, according to the law in force at that time, a church wedding without prior marriage at the Civil Registry Office was not valid. Monika made the decision to break up. – Maciej didn’t try to stop me. I never saw him again, she said years later. Her parents were happy when they heard about her return home. They immediately forgave her mistake, which cost her father not only his health but also his career.
Ultimately, Monika Kern quickly made up for many months of school delays and passed her high school final exams with excellent results. Later, she decided to follow in her father’s footsteps, starting law studies at the University of Gdańsk. She successfully completed these and started working. Currently, he runs a PR agency that has such stars as Ada Fijał, Hanna Lis and .
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
