March 1968 riots in Poland

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Plaque at Warsaw University in memory of the student protests in 1968

The 1968 Polish political crisis mean a political crisis , with students - demonstrations began, including Warsaw , Gdansk and Krakow . The unrest was put down by units of the militia and the ORMO , so-called "worker activists".

Historical background

The Polish October of 1956 brought many hopes to the Polish people. Liberal changes, initiated by Władysław Gomułka at the 8th plenary session of the Central Committee of the PZPR , such as an amnesty for political prisoners , the improvement of relations with the Catholic Church, the limitation of censorship and a voluntary restraint of the security organs, however, increasingly turned out to be Pipe dream. The new leadership had no intention of fulfilling the social demands, and the October promises were just a move by the new civil servants, forced by the complicated internal situation.

Already in the last months of 1956 Gomułka attacked so-called revisionists and their program of liberalization of the communist system in his speeches . The entire ten years that followed were a gradual departure from the “October achievements”. There were many personnel changes in the party, the liquidation of the magazines of the intelligentsia Po prostu and Przegląd Kultury , the expansion of the police apparatus, increased censorship, a return to anti-church politics, which was reflected, for example, in the discontinuation of religious education in schools.

The change increased in strength in the wake of the outcome of the Six Day War between Israel and the surrounding Arab states in June 1967. The USSR condemned Israel and broke off diplomatic relations; so did the Polish rulers. Rallies were organized at the workplaces in which the Jewish “imperialist aspirations” were disapproved. In party circles, in the army and militia, also among Catholics loyal to the government, concentrated around the association "PAX" , there was anti-Semitic propaganda. The Church headed by Cardinal Wyszyński, on the other hand, took a more pro-Israel stance, like the majority of Polish society. Some Poles of Jewish descent have publicly shown their support for the Israeli army operations.

The social mood was to be guided by the directives of the USSR for the PZPR, but without turning into a hostile mood towards the Soviet Union. During the debate, Władysław Gomułka gave a speech at the VI. Congress of Professional Associations. In it he advocated the thesis that there was “a Zionist fifth column ” (a formulation that did not appear in the press) in Poland that accepted and supported Israeli aggression against the Arab countries. He stated that "Israel's aggression is the result of the most reactionary conspiracy of international imperialism" .

After Gomułka's speech, the aggressiveness of the “ partisans ”, ie the nationalist-populist faction around General Mieczysław Moczar (interior minister since 1964) increased. They attacked the "Zionists" at all meetings and gatherings. Moczar himself compared the actions of the Israeli army with Hitler's methods from World War II . Citizens of Jewish origin were accused, for example, of tax evasion before the security authorities. The actions of the “partisans” also joined the PAX Bolesław Piaseckis , who attacked revisionists, “ cosmopolitans ” and the episcopate.

The anti-Semitic mood not only intensified in party circles, but also among workers and “people of the lower classes”. The torrent reached the structures of the party, the army (in 1967 about 200 higher ranks were relieved of their officer function, including 14 generals, a measure for which Defense Minister Wojciech Jaruzelski was personally responsible), the militia, the security organs and others social institutions. The " purge " also affected the higher education institutions. Teachers and professors were expelled from schools and universities. The events in Czechoslovakia also contributed to the aggravation of the situation, where at the beginning of 1968 Alexander Dubček came to power as part of the “ Prague Spring ” and attempts were made to liberalize the communist system.

“Dziady” and demonstrations

Immediately afterwards there was a student demonstration in front of the Adam Mickiewicz Monument (January 30, 1968) against the cancellation of the play Totenfeier (Polish: Dziady ) by the Polish prince poet Adam Mickiewicz , directed by Kazimierz Dejmek , played in the Warsaw National Theater , whose Staging rightly anti-Soviet characteristics were assumed. After the first four performances, Dejmek was informed that the play should only be performed once a week, that no more than 100 tickets should be sold to the school youth at normal prices, and that the director should note the reactions of the audience.

On January 16, he was informed that the last screening would be on January 30. This performance (it was the eleventh since the premiere) was almost sold out, mostly by students. There was constant applause from the scene. After the performance was over, the chant was: “Independence without censorship!”, Thought up by Karol Modzelewski . There were also shouts to be heard: “We want culture without censorship!” At the exit of the theater a crowd of around 200 people (again mostly students) had gathered, moving towards the Mickiewicz memorial with banners with slogans such as “We require further presentations ”, which were spread on the steps of the monument. The militia ( MO ) did not react immediately, after a few minutes the rally was broken up with batons and 35 protesters were arrested, nine of whom were transferred to a criminal court. Two students from the University of Warsaw were expelled from the university at the request of the Minister of Education, Henryk Jabłoński , for speaking to reporters from the French press after the performance. They were Adam Michnik and Henryk Szlajfer .

Reaction to the action of the authorities

Foreign media reported on the events in Poland, for example the New York Times and the Washington Post as well as Radio Free Europe . A “leaflet war” developed, initiated by the text of two revisionists (party members who criticized the policy of the PZPR after abandoning the doctrine of pure socialism) - Jacek Kuroń and Karol Modzelewski - under the title The Political Sense a petition in the matter of ´Dziady´ . Warsaw and Wroclaw students organized themselves into groups, collected money to pay off fines, and collected signatures for petitions to the government protesting against the limitation of culture and demanding that performances be resumed. The group of writers joined the students' concerns , led by the Association of Polish Writers.

On February 22nd, the leaders of the student movement decided to hold a meeting in defense of the evicted students within a week of the meeting of the Union of Polish Writers ( Związek Literatów Polskich ). According to the plan, it should have taken place on February 29th, and finally the meeting at Warsaw University fell on March 8th at 12 noon. At the unscheduled meeting, they issued a statement condemning cultural policy in People's Poland, calling for the abolition of censorship and freedom for their leaders. The rulers did not think about it and arrested the leaders of the student protest as a precaution. On March 8, they picked up Szlajfer, Seweryn Blumsztajn , Jan Lityński , Modzelewski and Kuroń. The next day they arrested Michnik.

Nevertheless, the demonstration began at 12 noon on University Square. Leaflets were distributed invoking Article 71 of the Polish Constitution and calling for citizens' freedom to pursue their profession. The protesters passed a resolution calling for a return of the law for the students Michnik and Szlajfer, as well as the release of those arrested and the withdrawal of disciplinary measures. The meeting was very calm. They did not allow themselves to be dissuaded by brutal "pacification measures" by delegations from ZOMO , a special militia, and "worker activists" who drove to the university in cars from Warsaw factories. The students dispersed home as the militia attacked with batons. As an expression of solidarity with the victims, a demonstration took place in the Polytechnic the next day, and clashes with the militia and arrests took place in some places in the capital. The revolutionary atmosphere spread to the rest of Warsaw's educational establishments, through a network of emissaries finally across the country - there were student assemblies and the like. a. in Wroclaw , Łódź , Cracow , Poznan , Thorn and Danzig .

However, the situation was not so threatening that it would have frightened party members because the working class did not join the students. On March 11th, a general assembly of the socio-political activists had already taken place at the Central Committee of the PZPR, in which a decision was made about the organization of the masses in the factories. Such gatherings resembled acclamations of party politics. The so-called “banana youth” exposed themselves at these meetings. A well-known slogan from this direction was "Students in the lecture halls, writers to the pen, Zionists to Zion" . For example, circles close to the government wanted to turn back hope for problem solutions and avoid speculation about anti-Semitism, especially since the names of organizers such as Szlajfer and Blumsztajn seemed strange to them. One began to look for connecting lines between the ideas of the “Greisen-Totenfeier” and those of the protesters against the “Zionist Fifth Column” with reference to an alleged concern of the leadership of People's Poland. The faction of General Moczar, who wanted to break away from the Soviet Union and suspected many citizens of being “Zionists”, played a major role in the development of this anti-Semitic psychosis.

Anti-Semitic campaign

At the meeting in the Congress Hall on March 19, Gomułka disapproved of anti-Russian allusions in the performances of the Dziady and attacked the allegedly anti-socialist activities of a group of students, calling them "enemies of the Polish people" and highlighting the Jewish origin of the intellectuals Originator of the clashes at the university. At the same time he assured us that the fight against Zionism had nothing to do with anti-Semitism. With his anti-Zionist stance, he preserved his already damaged prestige in the party. Strongly anti-Semitic remarks were made by the voivodeship secretary at the time, Edward Gierek, at rallies scheduled in Katowice .

The speech aroused great indignation among the students who started the strikes at the Warsaw educational institutions. Once again they demanded respect for codified civil rights and the abolition of censorship and opposed racial or ethnic-national discrimination. Some lecturers also joined the students . The authorities tightened the relegations , the protesters were forced to end their strike after three days. The Polish episcopate also advocated the fulfillment of the student demands . The bishops criticized the party's anti-Semitic steps and also sent a letter to Prime Minister Józef Cyrankiewicz calling for the liberation of those arrested and an end to the repression. However, the letter had no effect. On March 25, prominent professors were “exempted” from teaching, including Zygmunt Bauman (former party member who had returned his party book as a sign of protest before March), Leszek Kołakowski and Maria Hirszowicz .

This could not go without a reaction from the students, on March 28th they organized a meeting in which they passed a declaration of the student movement. They called for freedom of association , freedom of expression , the abolition of censorship, social control of social property and the protection of civil rights. That met with a ruthless response from the mighty. They liquidated six fields of study at Warsaw University (including the entire philosophy faculty , which also included sociology and psychology , and economics ); 34 students were expelled from the audience and eleven were denied student status. It decreed new enrollment rules , a lecture interruption to 22 May, continued a campaign of forced conscription of students into the army in power. The measures finally put an end to many hopes for an understanding in Polish society.

After the party's debate on students and professors, the focus was on further harassment of people of Jewish origin. Almost 8,000 party members were expelled, followed by further purges of the security apparatus and militia. Behind this action stood above all the faction of the "partisans" around Mieczysław Moczar, who saw an opportunity for their own advance in a thinning of the executive structures at the time. The anti-Semitic campaign cost about 20,000 people their jobs, forcing most of them to emigrate between 1968 and 1971 .

Obviously, that was already in the April session of the Sejm 1968, when one dealt in detail with an interpellation by the Znak MPs, which the Sejm received on March 11th and which contained a resolution against the brutal actions of the Ministry of Defense and the ORMO and the Failure to respect civil rights. The appearances of individual party politicians were hostile, full of slander and demagoguery . They accused MPs of being troublemakers and reactionaries and called them a "political holdover in the Sejm" . At the same meeting they enacted a number of significant changes in the party. Edward Ochab withdrew from his position as chairman of the people's assembly as a sign of protest against the anti-Semitic hunt . A number of changes have also been made to citizenship law .

Later, on the XII. In the July plenary session of the PZPR, it was found that 111 people had been dismissed from high state positions, as well as many thousands of party members. It was also stated at this plenary that the question of Zionism had been sufficiently clarified and that there was no reason to take it up again and to keep it alive artificially. This informal plot of silence on the issues of March and anti-Semitism was set in motion, which lasted until the turning point of 1989 . The organizers of the meetings were not tried until late 1968 and early 1969, and received prison terms of between 1.5 and 3.5 years.

Consequences and meaning of March

The collapse of the student movement caused sections of society to sink into apathy , aware that any expansion of the freedom space was impossible. This conviction was reinforced by the bloody end of the Prague Spring in August 1968, in which the Polish army also took part. Gomułka retained his power in the party, despite numerous advancements by Moczar supporters, and his regime made the police state of the secret service Służba Bezpieczeństwa (SB) possible in March . The activities of the censorship were intensified, many books and magazines were "mixed up" . International freedom of travel was also made more difficult for those considered to be related to the March Movement.

The events together with the anti-Semitic rallies darkened the image of Poland in western countries. All the more so since they drew waves of emigration from Polish Jews as well as from professors and cultural workers. It is estimated that 30,000 people left the country between 1968 and 1970; many of them received only so-called exit documents from the authorities of the People's Republic of Poland and had to give up their citizenship.

The tragic events of 1968, however, had at least one positive aspect. Although the protesters harbored meager hopes of overcoming the principles of the communist system and went on strike under slogans such as “Socialism - yes, distortion - no” , they noticeably changed the consciousness of part of the young Polish intelligentsia. Those who began their active political participation in those years remained true to these ideas for many years. They made it fruitful in 1980 when participants in the March formed the foundations of Solidarność .

Course of events

  • March 8: A protest and solidarity demonstration for the relegated Adam Michnik and Henryk Szlajfer takes place. The rally on the campus of the Warsaw University is brutally broken up by so-called worker activists and an intervention battalion from Golędzinów , later known as ZOMO .
  • 9-23 March: Student strike at the Warsaw Polytechnic , supported by the population. On the first day of the strike, militia units attacked the building of the electronics faculty of the Polytechnic without result.
  • March 11: In Gdansk, 4,000 students take part in an event against the party's politics at the Polytechnic.
  • March 15: Gdansk is the capital of manifestations in the country. 20,000 students, workers and other residents take part in them.

Memorial plaque at Warsaw University

The Polish inscription on the plaque reads (with German translation):

Na tym dziedzińcu 8 marca 1968 roku rozpędzono wiec studentów domagających się wolności słowa. Wydarzenia Marcowe stały się symbolem brutalnych prześladowań niezależnej myśli, niszczenia kultury narodowej i jedności społeczeństwa polskiego. Dziś solidarni, oddając sprawiedliwość pokrzywdzonym, umieszczamy tę tablicę ku przestrodze przyszłym pokoleniom. 1981. Studenci, pracownicy UW, robotnicy Warszawy.

In this courtyard, on March 8, 1968, students gathered to demand free speech. The events of March have become a symbol of the brutal persecution of independent thought, the destruction of national culture and the unity of Polish society. Out of solidarity and justice for the victims, we are placing this plaque today as a warning for future generations. 1981. Students, Warsaw University staff, Warsaw workers.

It is preceded by a quote from Nie trzeba robić ... by Cyprian K. Norwid (1821–1883):

" Never trzeba kłaniać się okolicznościom,
A prawdom kazać, by za drzwiami stały ..."

Most important strikes in the People's Republic of Poland

See also

literature

  • Franciszek Dąbrowski, Piotr Gontarczyk, Paweł Tomasik: Marzec 1968 w document MSW. Volumes 1-3, Warszawa 2008.
  • Henryk Dasko: Dworzec Gdański. Historia niedokończona. Kraków 2008.
  • Jerzy Eisler: Marzec 1968. Geneza, przebieg, konsekwencje. Warszawa 1991.
  • Jerzy Eisler: Polski rok 1968. Warszawa 2006.
  • Etienne Francois: 1968. A European year? Leipzig 1997.
  • Andrzej Friszke : The March 1968 Protest Movement in Light of Ministry of Interior Reports to the Party Leadership. ( Memento of September 22, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Intermarium, Volume 1, No. 1/1997.
  • Wanda Jarząbek, Piotr Madajczyk, Joanna Szymoniczek, 1968 and the Polish - West German Relations, ISP PAN, Warszawa 2013 [1]
  • Beate Kosmala (ed.): The expulsion of the Jews from Poland 1968: anti-Semitism and political calculation. Berlin 2000.
  • Viktoria Korb: Ni pies ni wydra. Marzec '68 we vspomnieniach warszawskej studentki. Warsaw 2006.
  • Piotr Madajczyk, Cień roku '68, ISP PAN, Warsaw 2012 [2]
  • Piotr Osęka: Marzec '68 . Wydawnictwo ZNAK, Instytut Studiów Politycznych PAN, Kraków 2008, ISBN 978-83-240-0938-1 .
  • Anat Plocker: Club Babel. In: Dan Diner (Ed.): Encyclopedia of Jewish History and Culture (EJGK). Volume 1: A-Cl. Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2011, ISBN 978-3-476-02501-2 , pp. 514-517.
  • Agnieszka Pufelska: The "Judao Commune": an enemy in Poland. The Polish self-image in the shadow of anti-Semitism 1939–1948. Frankfurt / Oder 2005.
  • Konrad Rokicki, Sławomir Stępnień (eds.): Oblicza Marca 1968. Volume 15, Warszawa 2004.
  • Jaff Schatz: The Generation. The Rise and Fall of the Jewish Communists of Poland. Berkeley / Los Angeles 1991.
  • Dariusz Stole : Kampania antysyjonistyczna w Polsce 1967–1968 . Instytut Studiów Politycznych PAN, Warszawa 2000, ISBN 978-83-8675991-0 .
  • Dariusz Stola: The Anti-Zionist Campaign in Poland, 1967-1968. ( Memento from June 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 14 kB) SIPA, School of International and Public Affairs 2000.
  • Włodzimierz Suleja (Ed.): Dolnośląski Marzec '68. Anatomia protestu. Warsaw 2006.

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Beata Kosmala: The "Jewish Question" as a Political Instrument in the People's Republic of Poland. In: Beata Kosmala (ed.): The expulsion of the Jews from Poland 1968. Anti-Semitism and political calculation. Berlin 2000, p. 60.