Contemporary society has a duty not only to remember such people, but also to act to oppose the scale of hatred that led to such tragic events.
The story of junior aspirant Andrzej Struj is terrifyingly simple. It was February 2010. The police officer was on leave and returning home from a shop. At a stop, he saw young people vandalizing a shelter, called them out, and boarded a tram.
The young men angrily threw a rubbish bin at the tram window with such force that they smashed it. Andrzej Struj ordered the driver to stop the vehicle. He got off. The men attacked him. One of them, Piotr Równy, began wrestling with the police officer, while the other, Mateusz Nowak, pulled out a 20-centimeter knife and drove it straight into Struj’s heart. He then pulled it out and stabbed him again. The police officer fell and died at the scene.
Mateusz Nowak was sentenced to 25 years in prison, while Piotr Równy was sentenced to 15 years in prison. On the 11th anniversary of the officer’s death, a badge named after Police Subcommissioner Andrzej Struj was established.