2020 in Poland

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Decades:	2000s 2010s 2020s
See also:	Other events of 2020 Timeline of Polish history

Events during the year 2020 in Poland .

Incumbents

Further information: Politics of Poland

• President: Andrzej Duda
• Prime Minister: Mateusz Morawiecki
• Marshal of the Sejm: Elżbieta Witek
• Marshal of the Senate: Tomasz Grodzki

Events

Voivodeships, powiats, and gminas marked in red had passed anti-LGBT resolutions by January 2020.

• 1 January – Town rights of Czerwińsk nad Wisłą, Klimontów, Lututów and Piątek were restored. ^[2]
• February — local governments controlling a third of Poland officially declared themselves as "against "LGBT ideology" or passed "pro-family" Charters, pledging to refrain from encouraging tolerance or funding NGOs working for LGBT rights. ^{[3] [4]}
• 4 March — First first lab-confirmed case of COVID-19 in Poland involving a patient from Cybinka. Start of the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland.
• 18 March – Stelmet Zielona Góra won their fifth Polish Basketball Championship (see 2019–20 PLK season ). ^[5]
• 23 March – Vive Kielce won their 17th Polish Handball Championship (see 2019–20 Superliga ). ^[6]
• 6 July – President Duda signed a document with a presidential draft of the amendment to the Polish Constitution to ban gay adoption. ^[7]
• 11 July – Legia Warsaw won their 14th Polish Football Championship (see 2019–20 Ekstraklasa ). ^[8]
• 12 July – Andrzej Duda is re-elected as the President of Poland. ^[9]
• 25 July – Minister of Justice Zbigniew Ziobro declared he would begin preparing the formal process for Poland to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention. ^{[10] [11] [12] [13]} He claimed the treaty is harmful because it "requires that schools teach children about gender in an ideological way" and that it "de-emphasizes biological sex". ^[14]
• 6 October – Jarosław Kaczyński become deputy prime minister in the Mateusz Morawiecki government. ^[15]
• 11 October – Unia Leszno won their 18th Team Speedway Polish Championship defeating Stal Gorzów Wielkopolski in the finals (see 2020 Polish speedway season ).
• 22 October – Poland's constitutional court rules abortion of fetuses with congenital defects is unconstitutional. ^{[16] [17] [18] [19]}

Deepspot shortly after opening

• 21 November – Deepspot, the deepest swimming pool in the world at that time, opens in Mszczonów.
• 7 December – stated-owned petroleum refinery and distributor PKN Orlen acquired media and press company "Polska Press" controlling large number of regional media portals and several regional newspapers. ^{[20] [21] [22]}

Holidays

Further information: Public holidays in Poland

Source: ^[23]

• 1 January - New Year's Day
• 6 January - Epiphany
• 12 April - Easter Sunday
• 13 April - Easter Monday
• 1 May - May Day
• 3 May - 3 May Constitution Day
• 31 May - Whit Sunday
• 11 June - Corpus Christi

2020 Armed Forces Day in Białystok

• 15 August - Assumption Day (and Armed Forces Day)
• 1 November - All Saints' Day
• 11 November - Independence Day
• 25 December - Christmas Day
• 26 December – 2nd Day of Christmas

Deaths

Bogusław Polch

January

• 2 January – Bogusław Polch, comic book artist (b. 1941). ^[24]
• 17 January
  • Lech Raczak, theatre director (b. 1946). ^[25]
  • Stanislaw Stefanek, Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Łomża (b. 1936). ^[26]

July

• 6 July
  • Zdzisław Myrda, Olympic basketball player (b. 1951). ^[27]
  • Marta Stebnicka, actress (b. 1925).^{[ citation needed ]}
• 10 July – Anna Stroka, literary historian, author and translator (b. 1923). ^[28]

August

Jan Strelau

Dariusz Baliszewski

Ewa Demarczyk

Wojciech Karpiński

• 4 August – Jan Strelau, psychologist (b. 1931). ^[29]
• 5 August – Stefan Majer, basketball player and coach (b. 1929). ^[30]
• 10 August – Dariusz Baliszewski, historian, journalist and writer (b. 1946). ^[31]
• 14 August – Ewa Demarczyk, singer and poet (b. 1941). ^[32]
• 18 August – Wojciech Karpiński, writer and historian of ideas (b. 1943). ^[33]
• 22 August – Józefa Hennelowa, journalist and politician (b. 1925). ^[34]

September

Marian Jaworski

• 1 September – Jerzy Szczakiel, speedway rider (b. 1949). ^[35]
• 5 September – Marian Jaworski, Roman Catholic cardinal, Archbishop of Lviv of the Latins (b. 1926). ^[36]

October

Wojciech Pszoniak

Bogdan Józef Wojtuś

• 17 October – Ryszard Ronczewski, actor (b. 1930). ^[37]
• 18 October – Stanisław Kogut, politician and trade union activist (b. 1953). ^[38]
• 19 October – Wojciech Pszoniak, actor (b. 1942). ^[39]
• 20 October – Bogdan Józef Wojtuś, Roman Catholic prelate (b. 1937). ^[40]

December

• 1 December – Hanna Stadnik, Polish resistance veteran and activist (b. 1929). ^[41]

References

1. Ciobanu, Claudia (25 February 2020). "A Third of Poland Declared 'LGBT-Free Zone'". Balkan Insight. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
2. Rozporządzenie Rady Ministrów z dnia 26 lipca 2019 r. w sprawie ustalenia granic niektórych gmin i miast oraz nadania niektórym miejscowościom statusu miasta , Dz. U., 2019, No. 1416
3. Powys Maurice, Emma (25 February 2020). "A third of Poland has now been declared an 'LGBT-free zone', making intolerance official". PinkNews. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
4. "A Third of Poland Declared 'LGBT-Free Zone'". Balkan Insight. 2020-02-25. Retrieved 2021-02-28.
5. "Koniec sezonu w Polskiej Lidze Koszykówki. Mistrzem Stelmet Zielona Góra". TVP Sport (in Polish). 18 March 2020. Retrieved 23 November 2025.
6. "Komunikat o zakończeniu rozgrywek PGNiG Superligi" (in Polish). 23 March 2020. Retrieved 23 November 2025.
7. "Polish president proposes constitutional ban on gay adoption". NBC News. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
8. "Legia Warszawa mistrzem Polski!". Polsat Sport (in Polish). 11 July 2020. Retrieved 23 November 2025.
9. "Polish Elections to the Sejm and Senate of the Republic of Poland 2019". Archived from the original on 2020-10-01. Retrieved 2020-11-27.
10. "Poland to quit treaty on violence against women, minister says". The Sydney Morning Herald. July 26, 2020.
11. "Poland to withdraw from treaty on violence against women". www.aljazeera.com.
12. "Istanbul Convention: Poland to leave European treaty on violence against women". BBC News. July 25, 2020.
13. "Poland to quit Istanbul convention to curb gender-free agenda". Daily Sabah. July 25, 2020.
14. "Resort sprawiedliwości złożył wniosek o wypowiedzenie konwencji stambulskiej". Polska Agencja Prasowa SA (in Polish). Retrieved 2022-07-25.
15. "Poland's ruling party leader joins revamped government | World | starherald.com". starherald.com. Archived from the original on 2020-10-09.
16. "Polish court allows stricter abortion law, sparking outcry". www.aljazeera.com.
17. "Poland rules abortion due to foetal defects unconstitutional". TheGuardian.com . 22 October 2020.
18. "Poland abortion: Top court bans almost all terminations". BBC News. 23 October 2020.
19. "Poland's top court rules that law allowing abortion of fetuses with congenital defects is unconstitutional". ABC News.
20. "Reuters". 7 December 2020. Archived from the original on 2021-01-21. Retrieved 2021-01-18.
21. "Poland: State-run oil company buys leading media group | DW | 08.12.2020". Deutsche Welle .
22. "PKN ORLEN to take over Polska Press | PKN ORLEN". Archived from the original on 2021-01-18. Retrieved 2021-01-18.
23. "Poland Public Holidays 2020". Public Holidays Global. Archived from the original on 3 March 2024. Retrieved 21 November 2025.
24. "To on rysował "Wiedźmina" i "Kapitana Żbika". Zmarł Bogusław Polch". polskieradio24.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 3 January 2020.
25. "Nie żyje Lech Raczak" [Lech Raczak is dead]. Radio Wroclaw (in Polish). 2020-01-20. Retrieved 2020-03-05.
26. "W lubelskim szpitalu zmarł biskup Stanisław Stefanek" [Bishop Stanisław Stefanek died in the Lublin hospital]. kurier lubelski (in Polish). 2020-01-18. Retrieved 2020-03-05.
27. "Zdzisław Myrda". olympedia.org. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
28. "Ostatnie pożegnanie prof. dr hab. Anny Stroki". wsf.edu.pl (in Polish). Archived from the original on 11 July 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
29. "Nie żyje profesor Jan Strelau. Był wybitnym polskim naukowcem". wiadomosci.radiozet.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 8 September 2020.
30. "Stefan Majer". olympedia.org. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
31. "Nie żyje Dariusz Baliszewski. Znany dziennikarz i historyk miał 74 lata". wprost.pl (in Polish). 10 August 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
32. "Ewa Demarczyk nie żyje. Ludzie kultury żegnają ikonę". onet.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 8 September 2020.
33. "Nie żyje pisarz Wojciech Karpiński. Zmarł nagle". tvp.info (in Polish). 19 August 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
34. Szostkiewicz, Adam (2020-08-22). "Józefa Hennelowa (1925–2020). Mądrze spełnione życie". Polityka . Archived from the original on 2020-09-11. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
35. "Jerzy Szczakiel nie żyje. Był pierwszym polskim mistrzem świata na żużlu". wyborcza.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 8 September 2020.
36. "Nie żyje kardynał Marian Jaworski. Miał 94 lata". onet.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 8 September 2020.
37. "Sopot. Nie żyje aktor Ryszard Ronczewski". archive.vn (in Polish). Archived from the original on 2020-10-17. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
38. "Stanisław Kogut nie żyje. Były senator PiS był zakażony koronawirusem". rmf24.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 23 October 2020.
39. "Nie żyje Wojciech Pszoniak". korso24.pl (in Polish). Archived from the original on 21 October 2020. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
40. "Zmarł bp Bogdan Wojtuś". radioem.pl (in Polish). 20 October 2020. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
41. Halicki, Piotr (2020-12-02). "Zmarła Hanna Stadnik, bohaterka Powstania Warszawskiego". Onet.pl . Archived from the original on 2020-12-10. Retrieved 2020-12-29.