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Signs of rebellion against the party's stranglehold
Jan Józef Lipski Social activist
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Ta atmosfera gnuśności, która w Polsce zapanowała, była jednak od czasu do czasu czymś przerywana. Po pierwsze, dla mnie istotną rzeczą był „List 34”, który zrobiłem razem z panem Antonim Słonimskim. Był to protest przeciwko cenzurze i polityce kulturalnej, podpisany przez 34 największe nazwiska życia intelektualnego Polski, co spowodowało dosyć mocne represje wobec tych środowisk. Drugim takim...czynnikiem to był list biskupów polskich do biskupów niemieckich, który spowodował ostre uderzenie władz w Kościół i jednocześnie jakoś spowodował też duży opór przeciwko temu uderzeniu w środowiskach katolickich, które zresztą...niejednoznacznie przyjęły na ogół ten list. Ale dla środowiska intelektualnego ważne było to, iż na przykład pan Antoni Słonimski w tym momencie powiedział: „O, Kościół jest bardzo mądry, jeżeli w tym momencie zdobył się na to, by powiedzieć: 'Przebaczamy i prosimy o wybaczenie'”. Trzecim takim bardzo ważnym też czynnikiem, rozpoczynającym długi cykl różnych wydarzeń, był list Kuronia i Modzelewskiego, dwóch działaczy partyjnych z uniwersytetu do partii, który zawierał zarówno diagnozy, jak i jakieś propozycje przyszłościowe, który potraktowano niezwykle ostro – aresztowanie i wyroki: trzy i trzy i pół roku więzienia. Partia była w tym momencie gotowa każdy odruch buntu możliwie jak najostrzej tłumić.

This atmosphere of listlessness that dominated in Poland was nevertheless interrupted every now and again by some event. First of all, for me, the Letter of the 34 which I prepared with Mr Antoni Słonimski was very significant. It was a protest against censorship and cultural politics signed by 34 of the best known intellectuals in Poland which unleashed significant repression against many of them. The second element... factor was a letter from Polish bishops to German bishops which provoked a strong attack by the authorities on the Church and which, in turn, elicited a strong reaction among Catholics even though they were not unanimously behind this letter. Nevertheless, what mattered to intellectuals was that Mr Antoni Słonimski at that point said, ‘The Church is very wise if it has chosen this moment to say ‘We forgive and we ask for forgiveness’’. The third very significant factor that sparked off a long cycle of various events was the letter addressed to the party by Kuroń and Modzelewski, two party activists at the university. Their letter contained both diagnoses and future proposals but it was received with extreme hostility and was followed by arrests and prison sentences of three and three-and-a-half years. At that time, the party was prepared to stifle any sign of rebellion with the utmost severity.

Jan Józef Lipski (1926-1991) was one of Poland's best known political activists. He was also a writer and a literary critic. As a soldier in the Home Army (Armia Krajowa), he fought in the Warsaw Uprising. In 1976, following worker protests, he co-founded the Workers' Defence Committee (KOR). His active opposition to Poland's communist authorities led to his arrest and imprisonment on several occasions. In 1987, he re-established and headed the Polish Socialist Party. Two years later, he was elected to the Polish Senate. He died in 1991 while still in office. For his significant work, Lipski was honoured with the Cross of the Valorous (Krzyż Walecznych), posthumously with the Grand Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (1991) and with the highest Polish decoration, the Order of the White Eagle (2006).

Listeners: Jacek Petrycki Marcel Łoziński

Cinematographer Jacek Petrycki was born in Poznań, Poland in 1948. He has worked extensively in Poland and throughout the world. His credits include, for Agniezka Holland, Provincial Actors (1979), Europe, Europe (1990), Shot in the Heart (2001) and Julie Walking Home (2002), for Krysztof Kieslowski numerous short films including Camera Buff (1980) and No End (1985). Other credits include Journey to the Sun (1998), directed by Jesim Ustaoglu, which won the Golden Camera 300 award at the International Film Camera Festival, Shooters (2000) and The Valley (1999), both directed by Dan Reed, Unforgiving (1993) and Betrayed (1995) by Clive Gordon both of which won the BAFTA for best factual photography. Jacek Petrycki is also a teacher and a filmmaker.

Film director Marcel Łoziński was born in Paris in 1940. He graduated from the Film Directing Department of the National School of Film, Television and Theatre in Łódź in 1971. In 1994, he was nominated for an American Academy Award and a European Film Academy Award for the documentary, 89 mm from Europe. Since 1995, he has been a member of the American Academy of Motion Picture Art and Science awarding Oscars. He lectured at the FEMIS film school and the School of Polish Culture of Warsaw University. He ran documentary film workshops in Marseilles. Marcel Łoziński currently lectures at Andrzej Wajda’s Master School for Film Directors. He also runs the Dragon Forum, a European documentary film workshop.

Tags: Poland, Letter of the 34, Antoni Słonimski, Jacek Kuroń, Karol Modzelewski

Duration: 1 minute, 56 seconds

Date story recorded: October 1989

Date story went live: 10 March 2011