Poznan Uprising (1956)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Monument to the Poznan Uprising (Special feature: this monument was wrested from the government in 1981 during the communist era; it is located near the city's residential palace.)

The Poznań workers' uprising in June 1956 (Polish Poznański Czerwiec 56 , literally Poznan June 56 ) was a strike by the workers of Poznań ( Polish Poznań ) and a violent confrontation with the Polish army that developed from it . On June 28, 1956 , the military bloodily suppressed the protests. 57 people were killed in the fighting and around 600 were injured. A total of around 100,000 people took part in the protests.

The leadership of the Communist Party later portrayed the uprising as a “provocation of western, imperialist secret services” (in particular, German involvement was suggested) and brutally persecuted those involved. Free, public commemoration of the uprising and its victims has only been possible since the collapse of the regime in 1989. Still, the events of Poznan June , as the survey is also called, are relatively unknown in Western Europe and the rest of the world. Three years after June 17, 1953 , the uprising in Poznan was considered to be a role model for other uprisings in the Eastern Bloc .

The uprising coincided with a period of instability in Poland . Above all, the economic conditions with mismanagement and insufficient supply did not satisfy the population. Since the summer of 1955, steel workers in Poznan had repeatedly complained about their personal situation and the production situation in their plant: Due to the lack of semi-finished parts and sheet metal, it was always idle. On the other hand, the labor standards to be met have been increased again and again. The situation worsened when in the spring of 1956 after the death of party leader Bolesław Bierut in the communist state party PVAP disputes broke out over the future course.

In the weeks before the uprising, there were repeated strikes and workers' meetings. On June 26, a workers' delegation in Warsaw obtained a fairer wage system from the Minister of Mechanical Engineering and the payment of bonuses that had previously been refused. A day later, during a visit to Poznan, the minister again rejected this agreement, which sparked angry protests. On the morning of June 28, workers from the largest factories in the city (ZNTK, ZISPO) gathered for a demonstration for better living conditions, against labor standards and against the communist government, which was joined by thousands of workers from smaller companies and parts of the Poznan population. The 100,000 or so demonstrators demanded to speak to government negotiators, disarmed police officers and occupied administrative buildings and the radio; In addition, a jammer used to interfere with radio broadcasts from abroad ( Radio Free Europe ) was demolished.

The police used water cannons , but had little effect. The tense situation finally escalated when the demonstrators surrounding the building were shot at from the building of the Voivodship Administration of State Security at 11 a.m. A fierce battle broke out immediately, which the demonstrators fought with weapons captured from state depots. At 2 p.m., soldiers received orders to march into the city at a nearby military training area, motivated by the pretext that it was going against pro-German forces. By this time, the insurgents in the city had already captured individual armored vehicles of the militia. There was fierce house-to-house fighting. Ultimately, around 10,000 soldiers with tank support and using 180,000 rounds of ammunition managed to bloodily suppress the uprising by the morning of June 29th. Smaller pockets of resistance persisted until the following day. 57 people died in the fighting and 700 were arrested.

In September 1956, trials against 58 insurgents were opened. At the same time, there were repeated unrest across the country. Only with the reform policy under Władysław Gomułka called “ Polish October ” did the situation calm down towards the end of the year. Gomułka also stopped the trials of the insurgents.

In 1981 a memorial to commemorate the uprising was wrested from the communist government. It stands near the city's residential palace , north of the site of the former Bismarck monument .

The 50th anniversary of the uprising on June 28, 2006 was declared a national holiday and was celebrated in Poznan.

See also

Web links