Bronislaw Kawecki, a prominent Polish dissident and early leader of the Solidarity trade union in Radom, died on August 29, 2026, at the age of 72. He passed away from pneumonia and sepsis while undergoing treatment for a stroke.

Kawecki’s life was marked by steadfast resistance to communist repression and a commitment to preserving the memory of the 1976 Radom workers’ protests. At the time, he was employed by a medical supply company when food prices were sharply increased, sparking widespread demonstrations across the city. In June 1976, thousands of workers, including Kawecki, marched on the local Communist Party headquarters. The protest escalated into violent clashes with riot police, resulting in the building being set on fire, two fatalities among protesters, and hundreds injured or arrested. Following the unrest, authorities intensified crackdowns, with many participants suffering job loss, beatings, and further detention.

Determined not to let these events be forgotten, Kawecki began collecting testimonies from victims of the crackdown. His dedication to documenting these abuses ultimately cost him his own employment and freedom. Though his efforts to erect a formal memorial in Radom never came to fruition, a simple granite block placed at a street corner became a powerful symbol of resistance and remembrance. Despite its modest form and lack of inscription, the memorial attracted political persecution; even laying flowers at the site was deemed a subversive act by the communist authorities.

When the independent Solidarity union was established in 1980, Kawecki helped found its Radom branch and served as a delegate at the union’s first national congress in Gdansk in 1981. After the government officially banned Solidarity in December 1981, Kawecki was arrested and subjected to harsh imprisonment conditions, including a notorious regiment known as the "health paths," where prisoners ran corridors flanked by baton-wielding police. He also played a key role in organising a prisoners’ revolt, which increased scrutiny from security services. Released in July 1982, Kawecki lost his job but continued his activism underground, co-editing and distributing clandestine newspapers such as Wolny Robotnik under constant surveillance.

Following the collapse of communism in 1989, Kawecki helped establish the Citizens’ Committee of the Radom region and participated in Poland’s first free elections. However, unlike many former activists who moved into formal politics, he remained focused on ensuring the events of Radom and the sacrifices of workers were not forgotten. He consulted on documentaries about the 1976 protests and on the life of Father Roman Kotlarz, a priest whose death was linked to state violence. Kawecki was also a central figure in the film Kamien (The Stone), which explored both the unfinished monument and his lifelong campaign to preserve Radom’s historical memory.

In 1991, Pope John Paul II visited Radom and stood before the granite monument commemorating the 1976 protests. During that visit, Kawecki recognized one of the police officers protecting the Pope as a former communist-era security agent who had persecuted dissidents, an encounter that underscored lingering tensions in post-communist Poland.

Kawecki is survived by three children: twin daughters Oktawia Kawecka-Sellers, a London-based singer-songwriter and flautist who also works in law, and Patrycja Kawecka-Czerska, a singer-songwriter and vocal coach in Warsaw who directs a music school, as well as his son Lech Kawecki, who serves in the Polish military. He was formerly married to Alicja Kawecka.

Reflecting on his lifelong struggle, Kawecki affirmed that the sacrifices he endured—internment, loss of employment, decades of activism—had been worthwhile. He expressed disappointment over the decline of Solidarity and criticized its founder Lech Walesa, describing him as autocratic and ultimately responsible for the union’s erosion. Kawecki lamented the loss of solidarity’s sensitivity to suffering and questioned the fate of its members and ideals.