Philologists are relatively rarely sentenced to death in absentia. Nor do they always (although somewhat more often) become Chevaliers of the Legion of Honour. This alone shows how remarkable was the fate of Zdzisław Najder, who died on 15 February 2021. by Wojciech Stanisławski In the mid-20th century, it seemed that – comparing with…
In the summer of 1982, a new organisation appeared on the map of political opposition in Poland – Fighting Solidarity (SW, Polish: Solidarność Walcząca). Its hallmark were radical slogans calling to overthrow the communist dictatorship. by Michał Siedziako The introduction of martial law on 13 December 1981 brought only partial success to the communist…
A wave of protests swept over Poland in June 1976 after the announcement of an increase in groceries’ prices. The authorities eventually resigned from price changes but introduced repression against the protesting workers. This met with a quick response from the intelligentsia, who organised financial and legal support for the repressed and soon started forming…
In October 1956, when Władysław Gomułka became the First Secretary of the Polish United Workers’ Party (Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza, PZPR), the society started to hope for the liberalisation of the communist system and more social freedom. Such hopes, expressed mainly by the intelligentsia, proved to be vain. In the autumn of 1957, the relations…
Recalling the Katyn Massacre was an important aspect of the activities of the democratic opposition in the Polish People’s Republic (PRL), one of the reasons being the subject’s high importance for society back then. by Grzegorz Majchrzak This is best exemplified by the fact that a booklet by Ryszard Zieliński entitled ‘Katyń’ was the…
On April 7, 2022, Ludwik Dorn, a longtime Member of the Polish Parliament, former Speaker of the Sejm, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior, passed away. Ludwik Dorn was born on June 5, 1954 in Warsaw. He attended the renowned Tadeusz Reytan Secondary School. At that time, he joined the scout team…
