“Silent heroine of the Solidarity era”

This is how the Prime Minister described Grażyna Langowska (1946-2009). She was a democratic opposition activist in communist Poland who was repressed and imprisoned. She co-organised educational "Solidarity", "Porozumienie Centrum" (‘Centre Agreement’) and "Polska Partia Chrześcijańsko-Demokratyczna" (‘Polish Christian Democratic Party’). In 1989-1991 and 1997-2011, she was a deputy to the Sejm, and in 1990-1996, she served as a chief education officer for Olsztyn. She was posthumously awarded the Officer's Cross of Polonia Restituta.
„I would like to point to her great concern for the education of young people. She was a person who attached great importance to culture and literature. She taught the Polish language, and it was in our language that our values and our will to persevere in difficult times were rooted. She had an internal compass pointing to the truth, Solidarity, and the fight for the ordinary man," emphasised Mateusz Morawiecki during the ceremony.
Deputy Prime Minister Jarosław Kaczyński also commemorated Grażyna Langowska: "She turned our environment at that time, the parliamentary club, into a living organism. Something that functioned not only in a political dimension but also in the human realm  – something that bears significance because it is related to values. Grażyna was a person who carried her values in such a way that others felt them.

Grażyna Langowska Award

In the second part of the ceremony, awards were granted to teachers and educators who are particularly committed to their work and to the propagation of patriotic values. The initiative was created thanks to the "Polish Community" Association. Awards were given in three categories:
- award for a teacher of a Polish school abroad;
- award for a teacher, educator, instructor for fostering patriotic attitudes in the young generation;
- award for a teacher of underground "Solidarity".