It was a breakthrough for the whole of Central and Eastern Europe. On 10 November 1980, Polish Supreme Court approved the legalization of the Independent Self-Governing Trade Union ‘Solidarity’. It was the first truly independent labor union in a Soviet bloc country. by Tomasz Kozłowski In the summer of 1980, the greatest wave of…
This feature drama directed by Andrzej Wajda was made in early 1981 on the basis of a script by Aleksander Ścibor-Rylski, as a continuation of the celebrated and outstanding Man of Marble (1976). To this day, it is the most famous feature film telling the story of the strikes of August 1980 and the birth…
Communism, which was imposed on Poland in 1945, elicited society’s opposition and resistance. The economic crisis that was becoming increasingly severe in Poland from the mid-1970s, coupled with the growing consolidation of opposition milieux, led to an outbreak of societal discontent in the summer of 1980. Initially, the protests were characterized by uncoordinated strikes in…
