Almost 10 million zloty raised after the Kraków attack, most for two police officers

Almost 10 million zloty (roughly €2.3 million) has been paid into online fundraisers for people affected by Saturday's attack in Kraków. More than 7 million of it went to two police officers who stopped the gunman.

What happened?

The biggest collection was set up for Artur Morański and Jakub Kulik, the officers who risked their lives to catch the attacker. It runs under the name of journalist Krzysztof Stanowski, founder of the zero.pl website. The goal was 6 million zloty. Once it was passed, Stanowski closed the fundraiser. Donors had by then paid in 7 million 54 thousand zloty.

The officers' bravery has already been recognised officially. President Karol Nawrocki awarded both the Officer's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (one of Poland's highest state honours). Morański, badly hurt in the shooting, has been moved to a military hospital for a series of operations to rebuild his hand. The main one is planned for Wednesday.

There is one open question. Some voices, including lawyer and politician Roman Giertych, say police officers cannot legally accept such a donation. Giertych suggested it could be passed to their spouses instead. The news agency PAP asked police headquarters and the interior ministry about it, but had received no reply.

Where is the rest of the money going?

Other fundraisers on the zrzutka.pl platform are also growing. One is for Tomek, a volunteer firefighter from Olszowice who was driving the car the attacker hit. According to the description, he shielded his wife Kinga and saved her life. He faces facial reconstruction surgery and long rehabilitation. The goal of 1 million zloty has been exceeded by more than 120 thousand.

Four injured horse-carriage drivers, three women and a man, have a fundraiser with a 500 thousand zloty target. Over 350 thousand has been collected.

A foundation is collecting for the four children of Izabela, an artist from Chodzież who died in the attack. The 700 thousand zloty goal is almost reached, and the organiser says all of it will go to the children's legal guardian.

Six people were killed in the attack.

What's next?

The TVN Foundation has launched a nationwide collection called "Solidarni z Krakowem" (Solidarity with Kraków) and donated 500 thousand zloty itself. The TVP Foundation has also started one. Both are public collections, so they must be registered with the interior ministry and accounted for.

PAP also asked the finance ministry how donations will be taxed. There was no answer by the time of publication.