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Poland’s Way to Freedom In September 1939, as a result of Hitler’s and Stalin’s partition of Poland, 13 million Polish citizens found themselves under Soviet occupation. From the very beginning of this period they experienced arrests, deportation and murder. In 1939 about 250,000 Polish soldiers and officers were imprisoned by the Soviets. Many Polish citizens were also deported in June 1940 and 1941. Siberia became a place that signified repression. A total of 1.7 Million Polish citizens were forcibly deported to remote parts of the Soviet Union. For many years the truth about those crimes was covered up by Soviet administrations and Polish governments, who were serving the Soviet interests. 22nd July 1944 saw the proclamation in Lublin of the so called Manifesto of the Polish Committee of National Liberation, a document compiled two days prior in Moscow with the intention of creating an impression of Polish self-governance. The Allies transferred protectorate over the newly reestablished Polish state into Stalin’s hands at the Jalta Conference (4 – 11 February 1945). The Jalta Conference was a summit of the leaders of the three superpowers of the day: US President - F.D. Roosevelt, Great Britain’s Prime Minister – W. Churchill and USSR leader – I.W. Stalin. In Jalta, those three men decided the future shape of Europe. The Polish Committee of National Liberation embarked on establishing the “people’s republic”, which decreed capital punishment for political offences. Parallel to this quasi-Polish authority, the Soviet NKWD actively pursued, arrested and deported to gulags former members of the Home Army - a military wing of the Polish Government in Exile, based in London and representing continuity of the Polish pre-war state. New Communist rule In April 1945 a Polish-Soviet Friendship, Assistance and Cooperation Agreement had been signed. The newly emerged political system ensured that the apparatus of the “Polish Workers’ Party” (PPR) was in complete control of all state institutions, political parties, community organizations and the economy. In December 1948 PPR changed its name to PZPR- the “Polish United Workers’ Party”. Between 1948 and 1956, the Stalinist era, Poland was under the absolute rule of the PZPR Communist Party assisted by the secret police and “soviet advisers”. Repressive measures were directed not just against political opponents, but the general public. Former combatants and Catholic priests filled the prisons. Cardinal Wyszynski, Primate of Poland, was interned in 1953. Poland was a satellite of the USSR. There was next to no private business, and to collectivize the agriculture; and enforced industrialization caused significant drop of the standard living and severe discontent. June 1956 Following the death in March 1956 of the Polish United Workers’ Party’s First Secretary – Boleslaw Bierut – key party officials scrambled to take over the top job. The appointment of Edward Ochab as the new First Secretary was received by the Polish public as a sign of relaxation of the communist regime. People revolted against living in constant fear and intimidation and demanded liberal reforms; a wave of criticism directed at the authorities and its censorship of public life broke out. The communist apparatus wasn’t, however, inclined to share power. In June 1956 at the Cegielski Works in Poznan, workers – forced by notorious working conditions, increasing taxes, work quotas and low wages – went on strike. On June 28, following a rally, the factory workers marched on the city centre under national banners demanding “freedom and bread”. Leaders of the Polish United Workers’ Party decided to forcibly disperse the demonstration. Shots were aimed at the 100,000 strong crowds, gathered in front of the Public Security Office building. People were killed and wounded. 10,000 military accompanied by 360 tanks entered the city under the command of a soviet general - Stanislaw Poplawski. The ensuing combat resulted in 75 fatalities and some 1,000 wounded. March 1968 Since the mid 1960s, sections of the Polish intelligentsia entered into a conflict with the authorities. Academics, journalists and artists resented the increasing political de-liberalization and many university students could see no future for themselves in communist Poland. The “March 1968” events were sparked by the Motor Civic Militia (ZOMO) attack on students and academics at the University of Warsaw. From this moment, the students’ movement spread to all civilian tertiary educational institutions, involving tens of thousands of young people. On March 21-23, students from the two largest colleges in Warsaw – the University of Warsaw and the Institute of Technology organized a sit-down strike. The government responded with another wave of arrests. 34 students were expelled and another 11 suspended. The Institutes of Economy, Philosophy, Psychology and third year of Physics and Mathematics were disbanded, as a result of which 1616 young people lost their student status. Many of them were then forcibly enlisted in the army. December 1970 The late 1970s were a time of deep political rifts and social, economic and cultural crisis. The Polish society was helpless and disintegrated. The only institution bringing the Poles together and openly expressing their needs was the Catholic Church, which provided religious and educational services as well as moral support. Despite the general feeling of apathy, on December 12, 1970 when the authorities announced a radical increase in price for staple foods, the public’s reaction was swift. Within two days workers at the Lenin Shipbuilding Yard in Gdansk commenced a strike. They demanded that the price increase be revoked and their wages regulated. The dockyard workers took to the streets forming a massive demonstration under “We want bread” motto. The government directed a disproportionate force of 5 000 Civic Militiamen, 21 000 regular troops and 4,500 reservists as well as 550 tanks and 7,000 armored vehicles against the protesters. First casualties occurred in front of the Lenin Shipbuilding Yard Gate No. 2. The protesters continued their – now legendary – march, carrying blood-soaked national flags and the body of teenager Janek Wisniewski, shot dead by the Civic Militia, placed on a door. On December 17, other cities along the coast (Elblag, Szczecin) and in the centre of Poland joined in the demonstration. In Cracow and Walbrzych 20 000 people went on strike. In the wake of the first wave of demonstrations, workers began organizing sit-down strikes, self-governing committees and formulating lists of demands. The mass protests brought about the resignation of First Secretary Wieslaw Gomulka and his replacement by Edward Gierek who promptly traveled to Moscow to reassure the Soviet “allies” that the Polish United Workers’ Party will maintain its status quo as the leading force in the country’s political system. June 1976 On June 28, the government-regulated prices of basic commodities again went up sharply, e.g. by 70% for meat, 100% for sugar and 50% for butter. The public was in an immediate uproar. 97 workplaces in 24 provinces (out of a total of 39) went on strikes involving some 55,000 workers. The popular cry was the by now familiar motto: “Bread and freedom” and “No to higher prices”. The demonstrations took a particularly dramatic turn in the Radom and Ursus factories where the infamous Motor Civic Militia (ZOMO) confronted the protesters, kicking and beating many of them into unconsciousness. Those arrested were forced to run between lines of brutalizing militiamen (so-called “fitness trails”). In Radom 121 demonstrators were injured. 2,500 arrests were carried out countrywide with several hundred people facing sentences of up to 10 years imprisonment. Pope John Paul II’s first pilgrimage to His homeland 3 – 9 June 1979 During mass at Victory Square John Paul II uttered the significant words: “May Your Spirit descend and renew the face of the Earth! This Earth”. It had an enormous impact on the nation’s communal conscience and mobilized people to action. This visit by the Holy Father not only reinforced the Polish Church, it also indirectly influenced Poles to continue in their struggle against the communist government, towards democracy and freedom. The leading motto of the pilgrimage was “Do not be afraid!” and Poles ceased to be afraid. The emergence of Independent Self-governing Trade Union “Solidarity” Year 1980 July 8 – start of a walk-out by employees at the Swidnik Communication Equipment Establishments due to a dramatic increase in meat prices; soon joined by other factory workers in the Lublin region. The Lublin Strikes ended on July 25 and involved some 50,000 participants from over 150 workplaces. August 14 – Free Trade Union “Sea-Coast” organized a strike at the Gdansk Shipyards. Its participants formed a committee which demanded restoration of the previously dismissed Anna Walentynowicz and Lech Walesa to work, erection of a memorial for victims of the 1970 riots, guarantee that the strikers won’t be prosecuted and salary increase. August 16 – 21 other workplaces sent their deputies led by Bogdan Lis and Andrzej Gwiazda to encourage strikers at Gdansk Shipyards to continue their protest. Together they formed the Municipal Strike Committee (later renamed Inter-plant Strike Committee) headed by Lech Walesa. The Committee formulated a 21-point list of demands. August 21 – the government delegated two Committees to negotiate with the protesters in Gdansk and Szczecin. The talks commenced on August 23. August 30 – the negotiators in Szczecin and Gdansk reached an agreement (in Gdansk under the provision that all political prisoners be released). 31 August - the Municipal Strike Committee provided a list of people arrested over the previous weeks, who were to be freed according to section 4 of the agreement. The authorities pledged compliance with this demand within one day. The Municipal Strike Committee representing over 700 workplaces signed an agreement with the Government Committee. September 17 – representatives of various trade unions created the state-wide Independent Self-governing Trade Union “Solidarity”. November 10 – Supreme Court officially registered the status of the newly established “Solidarity”. State of Martial Law - December 13, 1981 (586 days’ fight against the nation) In the early hours of December 13, 1981, a decree issued by the State Council (the top executive body of the communist party) proclaimed a state of martial law in Poland. The decree was in compliance with a demand made by the Military Council of National Salvation under the leadership of General Wojciech Jaruzelski. Fundamental civic and human rights came under severe limitations. A total of over 10 000 people, including top Solidarity activists, scientists, artists and teachers, were arrested or detained. The authorities dissolved all trade unions, declared illegal numerous community organizations (including the Independent Student Union, Polish Journalists Association and Polish Writers’ Association), banned strikes and militarized fundamental sectors of the economy such as: transport, power supply and resources industry. Military commissioners were assigned to control crucial factories. Refusal to carry out their orders equaled desertion and was punishable by martial law courts up to the death penalty. Educational institutions at all levels closed down for a period of time. People couldn’t travel without a state officials’ permission. Telecommunication was disrupted for some time and when it resumed it was observably under state control (phone tapping) as were postal services. From 10pm to 6am curfew came into effect. Many professions (e.g. journalists, teachers, state administration officers, judges) underwent obligatory ideological and political verification. The society resisted these moves. Despite being threatened by repressive measures, workers in many key factories reacted immediately by organizing strikes, amongst them the Lenin Metal Works, Katowice Metal Works and numerous coal mines. On December 9, 1981, 9 workers from the Coal Mine “Wujek”in Katowice were shot dead with many more seriously injured. Thousands of people were arrested and sentenced to long terms in prison or expelled from work (an action unheard of in the communist system). 49 detention camps country-wide served to accommodate men and women deemed “dangerous to the system”. Walk-outs and manifestations continued as well as other forms of defiance: boycott of the state-controlled media, creation of an illegal radio station “Radio Solidarity”, covering walls in “Solidarity” graffiti, but foremost, the formation of underground publishers. The martial state was suspended on December 31, 1982 and ultimately called off on July 22, 1983. The Round Table Talks - 1989 Mass strikes intensified again in April and August 1988 with ensuing secret negotiations between the authorities representative general Czeslaw Kiszczak and opposition leader – Lech Walesa. A town of Magdalenka was the scene of the first dialogue between deputies of the government, opposition and the Catholic Church. The so-called “Round Table Talks” which took place between February and April 1989 ended with the signing of a breakthrough agreement. This agreement stipulated changes in the existing political system by bringing back to life the pre-war institutions of Senate and Presidency and conducting partly democratic parliamentary elections. 65% of seats in the Lower House were still reserved for the Polish United Workers’ Party but elections to the new Senate were to be entirely free. The parliamentary ballot took place on June 4, 1989 resulting in the “Solidarity” candidates taking all but one of the “unrestricted” seats. The newly elected Parliament appointed “Solidarity” activist Tadeusz Mazowiecki to be the head of the part-communist, part-“Solidarity” cabinet. People’s Republic of Poland was renamed Republic of Poland as a sign of rejection of the former regime which lasted 44 years, 11 months and 12 days. |