08/25/2026
Karol Madaj Appointed Director of the Witold Pilecki Institute of Solidarity and Valor
Marta Cienkowska, Minister of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland, has appointed Karol Madaj Director of the Witold Pilecki Institute of Solidarity and Valor in Warsaw. His five-year term will begin on August 30, 2026.
Karol Madaj has served as Acting Director of the Pilecki Institute since September 1, 2025.
A graduate of biblical theology at the Catholic University of Lublin, Madaj began his professional career as a translator of ancient Hebrew and Aramaic. From 2008 to 2019, he worked at the Institute of National Remembrance, where his roles included serving as the President’s plenipotentiary for the establishment of the Center for Historical Education in Łódź and as Acting Head of the Department of Historical Education.
From 2019 to 2020, he worked with the Pilecki Institute – Center for Totalitarian Studies, contributing research and expertise to the “Called by Name” and “Jews in the General Government (1939–1945)” projects.
Madaj also co-created the Pilecki Family Museum in Ostrów Mazowiecka, where he served first as Acting Director and, from 2021, as Director. In 2023, he became Head of the Centre for Information and Education on Poles Rescuing Jews, a branch of the Polish History Museum in Warsaw.
He is the author and co-author of numerous publications on 20th-century history, including Proboszcz getta (2010), Historia w przestrzeni publicznej (2018), and Przed tobą ogień i woda: zagłada – decyzje – pomoc (2024). He has also created and co-created educational board games, including the award-winning Queue (2011).
We congratulate Karol Madaj on his appointment and wish him every success in leading the Pilecki Institute through this next chapter.
