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Martial law
Julia Hartwig Poet
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And so in '81 as a result of the actions of covert opposition and the creation of Solidarity hubs, Jaruzelski was scared, yes, he was afraid of a nationwide revolution. I don't know, I find it hard to clarify what motivated him because I've always been completely opposed – as was probably everyone else in Poland because how could it be any other way? – to the imposition of martial law. I remember that at the time when... this happened, at the moment when the congress on culture was coming to an end – a famous congress on culture, where we talked of... presented very great demands relating to the abolition of censorship, restrictions, implying greater freedom for writers and so on. This must have added to... it must have confirmed Jaruzelski in his decision which, I presume, was being prepared for a long time because the execution of martial law was – from the authorities' point of view – organised perfectly. They selected everyone, plus a few extra people who could be released earlier and in fact most of those activists, you could say they were already Solidarity members, although that's not it – they were subjected to very severe daily ordeals because the repressions were of the kind that prevented these people from earning a living, so it was a very basic thing.

Więc w ’81 roku na wskutek działań właściwie takich skrycie opozycyjnych i utworzenia się ośrodków „Solidarności”, Jaruzelski przestraszony taki, bojąc się rewolty jak gdyby w kraju. Nie wiem, trudno mi wyjaśnić jakie nim kierowały pobudki, ponieważ zawsze z tym... byłam szczerze przeciwna temu – podobnie jak chyba wszyscy w Polsce, jak mogło być inaczej – żeby taki stan wojenny wprowadzić. Ja pamiętam, że w tym czasie kiedy... to było w tym momencie, kiedy kończył się kongres kultury – taki słynny kongres kultury w którym mówiło się... właściwie postawiło się takie bardzo duże żądania, także w sprawie zniesienia cenzury, ograniczenia... znaczy większej swobody dla pisarstwa i tak dalej. To... właściwie to się jeszcze bardziej... utwierdzić prawdopodobnie musiało Jaruzelskiego w jego postanowieniu, które przypuszczam, że było przygotowywane od bardzo dawna, ponieważ stan wojennny był – w tym sensie władzy – był doskonale zorganizowany. Po prostu wyłowiono wszystkich plus jeszcze kilku, których jeszcze było można ewentualnie wypuścić wcześniej i właściwie wszyscy ci działacze – tacy, no... można powiedzieć, solidarnościowi już, chociaż to jeszcze nie jest to – byli poddani... poddani dużej próbie jednak na co dzień, bo represje były takie, że często nie pozwalały na przykład zarabiać, no... to... czyli takie bardziej... bardzo podstawowe rzeczy.

Born to a Polish father and a Russian mother, Julia Hartwig (1921-2017) was a Polish poet, essayist, translator and author of children's books. She studied at the University of Warsaw, the Catholic University in Lublin and the Jagiellonian University in Kraków. Czesław Miłosz called her 'the grande dame of Polish poetry'. Julia Hartwig was one of the few poets in Poland who made masterly use of poetic prose. She translated poems by Apollinaire, Rimbaud, Max Jacob, Cendrars and Supervielle, and published monographs on Apollinaire and Gerard de Nerval. She also translated from English, and published a large anthology of American poetry which she co-edited in 1992 with her late husband, the poet Artur Międzyrzecki.

Listeners: Andrzej Wolski

Film director and documentary maker, Andrzej Wolski has made around 40 films since 1982 for French television, the BBC, TVP and other TV networks. He specializes in portraits and in historical films. Films that he has directed or written the screenplay for include Kultura, which he co-directed with Agnieszka Holland, and KOR which presents the history of the Worker’s Defence Committee as told by its members. Andrzej Wolski has received many awards for his work, including the UNESCO Grand Prix at the Festival du Film d’Art.

Tags: Solidarity, Poland, Kongres Kultury Polskiej, Congress of Polish Culture, 1981, Wojciech Jaruzelski

Duration: 1 minute, 48 seconds

Date story recorded: June 2010

Date story went live: 14 June 2011