What happened to me

For many years, I was a person trapped in the system. The institutions that were supposed to protect me treated me as a problem to hide, not as a human being with dignity. I’m not the only one – but I decided I will not stay silent. In this section, I describe step by step what really happened to me. These are not guesses or emotional exaggerations. These are facts – supported by documents, official decisions, court rulings, and administrative orders. I am not intend to blame the Social Welfare Centre in Chorzów or social welfare system in Poland. This is just my personal story. 

 

1. Lost home

In 2019, after many years of living in a nursing home, the city of Chorzów granted me an apartment. With the help of the company I worked for, I furnished it with heart. It was my first real chance for independent life.

Unfortunately, already in January 2020, the Social Welfare Center (OPS) in Chorzów Poland demanded that I immediately leave the apartment and return to the nursing home. I was informed that “my place is in a care institution,” without any reason or conversation. That was the beginning of a series of actions aimed at taking away my right to make decisions about my own life. My ordeal lasted more than a year and a half. It seemed the OPS had a goal – to remove me from the apartment.

In April 2020, I received a decision demanding a payment of over 10.000 PLN under the threat of administrative enforcement. Two months later, I received another decision for over 5.000 PLN. Panic, fear, and uncertainty accompanied me constantly. It was the pandemic period and I had no money – not even for a phone bill. I couldn’t live normally under those circumstances.

It was a time of constant fear and danger. Every day was a struggle to stay afloat. The uncertainty of tomorrow, and the fight to survive. I had the impression that the Social Welfare Centre workers found satisfaction in my helplessness – which was especially painful. At the time, I was so naive that I thought the Social Welfare Centre truly existed to help in any case. 

2. Fees for the nursing home when I wasn’t there

Social Welfare Center issued decisions obligating me to pay for the care home even though I no longer lived there. Several such decisions were issued, amounting to over 18,000 PLN in total. I appealed these, and one was overturned by the appellate body (SKO) four times. I was constantly threatened with administrative enforcement.

Eventually, one decision was annulled by SKO as unfounded. Two remaining cases finally was examined by the Supreme Administrative Court thanks to the help of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights. The court stated that the decisions were with a gross violence of the law.The dean of the Law Faculty at SWPS in Warsaw and HFHR were the only ones who recognized the great injustice I was facing.

At one point, my only chance was the “assistant for persons with disabilities” program. I met all the criteria to receive support. OPS in Chorzów found a way to deny it. They simply stated in the application that I was not a resident of Chorzów – they changed the record. It was a simple and effective way to deny help.

I discovered this only recently, when I finally managed to access the document. Worker in the institutional support section claimed that my application didn’t exist. But I found it on my own.

OPS is generally outraged whenever I try to speak about it – because it’s an “old matter.” But human life is not disposable. An official inspection stated: “The OPS Director had information that the applicant did not reside in Chorzów and, after confirming the facts, determined that he indeed did not reside there.”

At the same time, OPS was sending letters in my matters to my Chorzów address. There is even a ruling by the Voivodeship Administrative Court confirming that I did live in Chorzów during that period.

And yet I was denied even the most basic support. It could have saved me. The OPS actions to keep me in the nursing home repeated again in 2024. I will describe that below.

3. Hunger and denied help

For two months, I survived by looking for food on the streets of Katowice. I had no means to live. OPS refused to give me food assistance – or any help at all. They issued rejections even when I was simply begging for bread.

I have many experiences and observations from that time, but I won’t describe them now – I want to stay focused on documented facts. I remember there was a soup distribution point on Chrobrego Street in Chorzów. The soup was tasty and the bread (two slices) delicious. 

Twice I was able to eat thanks to the kindness of the women working on Chrobrego Street. It was a much-needed initiative – but unfortunately it ended quickly. Later, soup was only distributed on the basis of an administrative decision.

Hungry people could no longer get soup. It was given to the nuns, who would distribute it at 3 p.m. at the convent gate. Unfortunately, cold and in a small container.

The applications I submitted for help were rejected or never reviewed. Later, they were used as arguments in the case for my incapacitation. It is hard to imagine something more humiliating.

4. Deliberate alteration of data in the application – personal assistant for a person with disabilities

This incident is characteristic of the way the Social Welfare Center (OPS) in Chorzów can operate.
In the assessment form of my application for a personal assistant, OPS changed my address and concluded that I was not a resident of Chorzów. Meanwhile:

– I lived in Chorzów,
– I was officially registered in Chorzów,
– I had a valid tenancy agreement with the city of Chorzów.

At that time, OPS was still sending official correspondence regarding my matters to my Chorzów address.
There is even a final judgment of the Voivodeship Administrative Court confirming my residence.
During an official inspection regarding this matter, OPS stated that “after a thorough analysis of the factual circumstances,” they determined that I did not reside in Chorzów.
I leave this comment without further elaboration.

At that time, having a personal assistant was crucial for me due to the ongoing actions of OPS.
A person who supported me suggested applying for this assistance as a real opportunity to regain stability.
OPS’s actions deprived me of the only chance I had.
I was left alone – without the support I genuinely needed.

5. Unlawful demands for payment

This is another example of harassment by the Social Welfare Center.
During a particularly difficult period for me (while legal proceedings initiated by OPS were pending), I began receiving official-looking demands for the payment of large sums – without any valid legal basis.

Each document cited a “legal basis,” but in reality, it consisted of a random collection of regulations. One of these even directly indicated that OPS’s actions were unlawful.
For clarity: the only legal basis for OPS to demand payment is a formally issued administrative decision. In my case, no such decision existed at the time.
I was given seven days to make a payment, a bank account number was provided, and threats of administrative enforcement were made.
This became a regular practice by OPS, intended to keep me in a constant state of fear and insecurity.
One of the most egregious actions was sending a payment demand for over 10.000 PLN to the hospital where I was staying.
The document reached the doctors who were tasked with assessing my condition for the purposes of one of the court cases brought against me by OPS.
I have no doubt that this could have influenced their perception of my situation.
Only much later did OPS decide to issue proper administrative decisions, which finally allowed me to file appeals.
One of these decisions was later annulled as completely unfounded, and the other is currently pending before the Supreme Administrative Court. Finally the decisions were quashed in 2025.

The relevant documents are available in the ‘Documents’ section.

6. Three court cases initiated by Social Welfare Centre in Chorzów Poland – all successfully defended

In 2020 and 2021, the Social Welfare Center (OPS) initiated three court cases against me:

–  for involuntary psychiatric treatment
–  for compulsory placement in a care home,
–  for legal incapacitation.

The last of these cases concluded in 2023.
I won each of these proceedings. It took over three years of intense stress and tension.
Both the District Court and the Regional Court dismissed all motions filed by OPS.

In 2024, OPS sent a letter claiming that all their actions were undertaken “for my benefit and out of concern for me,” stating that they were “obligated to act in the best interest of the client.” I consider such a statement with no comment.
In my view, OPS initiated these proceedings because they wanted to remove me from public life and deprive me of both physical and legal freedom — if only to prevent the creation of this very website.

7. Support from the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights

At the critical moment of my struggle, a coincidence brought me unexpected help.
One email sent to the dean of a law faculty at a university in Warsaw was enough.
He became interested in the documents I sent and immediately noticed serious irregularities.
Thanks to his assistance, I was referred to the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (HFHR).

With the Foundation’s support, I regained my freedom and was able to effectively defend my rights in court.
HFHR represented me in several court proceedings — all of which were won.
Together, we are now awaiting hearings before the Supreme Administrative Court (NSA), where I continue to fight for justice.

The cases pending before the NSA are particularly interesting.
OPS issued three administrative decisions that were substantively identical.
One of them was ultimately annulled after the judgment of the Voivodeship Administrative Court (WSA) as entirely unfounded.
The remaining two are now under review at the NSA.
It is possible that the Supreme Administrative Court will reject the cassation complaints.
In that case, one decision will be annulled, while the two substantively identical decisions will gain final legal validity.

8. OPS in Chorzów Poland – Disclosure of sensitive data and attempt to harm my professional situation

In October 2024, the Social Welfare Center (OPS) in Chorzów undertook actions which, in my view, were aimed directly at damaging my professional and personal situation.
I claim that, without any legal basis, OPS sent an official letter to my employer, in which:

–  they requested information on whether my work had a rehabilitative character,
–  they disclosed information about my stay in a care home – information considered sensitive personal data (this information       was used, incredibly, as a “search criterion” in their inquiry).

OPS justified its actions by claiming that an administrative proceeding had been initiated.
In reality, no such proceeding had been started.
OPS had no right to contact my employer, especially since the employer did not have the information OPS was seeking.
It is worth noting that for many years, while residing in the care home, I worked professionally.
Whenever OPS required information about the nature of my employment, it demanded a certificate from my attending physician – because only a doctor is authorized to assess whether work is rehabilitative.
The employer did not possess such information — and indeed, this was the employer’s formal response.
Such actions by OPS clearly exposed me to the risk of losing my job, damaging my reputation, and being judged negatively by my supervisors and colleagues.
OPS, as a professional institution, was fully aware of the potential consequences of its actions.
I have no doubt that this was a deliberate.
I was exposed — without prior notice, consent, or any legal basis — to the risk of losing my means of livelihood.
In this situation, my only course of action was to file a formal complaint with the President of the Personal Data Protection Office (UODO). The complaint has been admitted for review.
It is worth emphasizing that OPS undertook these actions shortly after learning that:

–  I had started a responsible job involving access to confidential documents.

9. Inflating my income by OPS over more than two years

For the past two and a half years, the Social Welfare Center has been systematically inflating my income calculations by failing to deduct legitimate earning costs, as required by law.
On this basis, OPS imposed inflated payment obligations on me.
OPS in Chorzów did not see any problem with this practice.
The Silesian Voivode’s Office (ŚUW) claimed that the income was “calculated correctly” under the law.
The Ministry of Family and Social Policy declared itself “incompetent” to deal with the matter.
As a result, my reported income remained inflated, and I lost around 2.000 PLN.

Despite the obvious nature of the error, OPS Chorzów did not acknowledge any wrongdoing, nor did it refund the collected money.
This situation is just one example of the systemic actions taken by this institution against my interests.

Recently, in April 2025, OPS corrected my income calculation for five months — but only under pressure from a decision of the Local Government Appeals Board (SKO).
Whether my money will ever be fully refunded remains uncertain.
Given the stance of this institution, I am left with no option.

11. Pride – today I am independent and active

Despite everything I have gone through, I have managed to regain my independence.
I live on my own, work, study English at university, and continue to serve as the president of a student scientific society and as a volunteer. I still face bureaucratic challenges, but I am moving forward.
Within eight months of the conclusion of the incapacitation proceedings, I became the president of a student society and later received a dean’s commendation.
From someone marginalized and pushed aside, I have become a person who gives others a voice and hope.

12. My pending matters involving OPS Chorzów Poland

Update – In June 2025 I have won two cases in Supreme Administrative Court in Warsaw. The court described decisions of OPS Chorzów as highly unlawful. The money which OPS Chorzów has taken unlawfully from me from 2022 to 2024 I lost. All authorities in Poland refused to help. June 2026 update ASAP.