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NEXT STORY

KOR's modus operandi

RELATED STORIES

No end to the work in KOR
Jacek Kuroń Social activist
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I tak jeżdżenie do Radomia, ale przede wszystkim moja informacja, co oznacza, że codziennie od świtu do nocy dzwonił telefon i podawano jakieś informacje – zatrzymano, proszę panie Kuroń, tu mnie biją, tu ja byłem wyrzucony z radomskich, przy czym każde informacje trzeba sprawdzić, tą informację ktoś podał. Nieustannie podawać, uzyskiwać informację pełną, informację o wszystkim, co się zdarzyło, i regularnie podawać całość dziennikarzom. Ja pracowałem jak pańszczyźniany chłop całą rodziną, czyli Gajka, Maciek i ja. Bez przerwy dyżur przy telefonie. Telefon bez przerwy dzwoniący. Poza tym cała ta organizatorska działalność, którą żeśmy robili, tak zwanym wówczas małym KOR-em. Bo myśmy chcieli raz zebrać cały KOR tam wkrótce po moim przyjeździe, ale okazało się – wkroczyła policja – nie zatrzymano nikogo, tylko po prostu nie dano się zebrać. W związku z tym myśmy się zbierali z zachowaniem już tych zasad konspiracji – młodym KOR-em – młody to był Lipski, Jana Józefa Lipskiego, gdy się zważy, że tam był profesor Lipiński dziewięćdziesiąt sześć lat, pani Sztajncbergowa dziewięćdziesiąt cztery lata, Puchatek Zawadzki pod osiemdziesiąt, profesor Szczypiorski pod osiemdziesiąt, ksiądz Zieja pod osiemdziesiąt – to oczywiście ta cezura wieku do pięćdziesięciu, jaką żeśmy chyba wtedy mieli, to była rzeczywiście młodzież. Byliśmy absolutną młodzieżą. Dzięki temu... choć byli wśród nas zupełnie młodzi ludzie. Otóż zbieraliśmy się młodym KOR-em, redagowaliśmy Komunikat, potem objazd żeśmy robili wszystkim. Dramat polegał na tym, że jak jeden zrobił poprawkę, to trzeba było cały objazd zrobić od nowa – wszystkich. Każdy miał swoich, którzy tam podpisywali i w rezultacie wydawaliśmy raz w miesiącu komunikat i oświadczenia we wszystkich ważniejszych przypadkach. A tu nieustannie rewizje, przeszukania, zatrzymania na cztery osiem, rewizje i ingwilizacja, taka czasem oddech w plecy. To już wiele razy miałem przedtem taką inwigilację. Te nieustające inwigilacje, to stałe zagrożenie czterdziestu ośmioma godzinami i wiecie te czterdzieści osiem godzin, to jest jak dla kogo, bo jak ktoś nie siedział i idzie na czterdzieści osiem godzin, to on po pewnym czasie się przyzwyczaja i traktuje te czterdzieści osiem godzin, że tylko ma czterdzieści osiem godzin siedzieć, a my byliśmy wszyscy dziko przepracowani w związku z tym ta zasada – jak zamknęli to spał – mówiono do mnie, koledzy złodzieje w celi mówili: "Panie Kuroń, Panie Kuroń, opowiedz Pan coś, bo tu było parę kolegów pańskich z KOR-u, ale jak tylko przyszli to spali". No i ja przychodziłem, kładłem się i budzono mnie po czterdziestu ośmiu godzinach, ale oczywiście ja nie bardzo tak, dlatego że dla mnie każde czterdzieści osiem mogło być początkiem sankcji prokuratorskich. Tym bardziej, że już niedługo tę pierwszą sankcję żeśmy dostali, ale nim żeśmy ją dostali, to jeszcze o technice działania KOR słowo. Takiej technice wychodzenia zawsze naprzód.

So trips to Radom but mainly my information which meant that every day from dawn to dusk, the phone would be ringing and information would be passed on. ' I've been detained, Mr Kuroń', 'I'm being beaten up', 'I've been thrown out of the Radom trials', and every piece of information had to be checked, someone had passed this information to us. We had to pass on information, get hold of full data, get information about everything that happened and regularly pass everything on to journalists. I worked like a slave along with the whole family, meaning, Gaja, Maciek and I. There was someone manning the phone all the time. The phone was ringing constantly. On top that there was all the organisational work that we were doing which at the time we called the small KOR. We tried once to get everyone together from KOR soon after my arrival but it turned out, the police arrived, no one was detained but we were prevented from meeting. Because of this, we'd meet following the principles of the underground - of the young KOR - 'young' being Lipski - Jan Józef Lipski, if you take a count there was 96-year-old Professor Lipiński, 94-year-old Mrs Steinzberg, Puchatek Zawadzki who was hitting 80 as were Professor Szczypiorski and Fr Zieja. This meant that with the age limit we had at the time of 50, I think, we really were all youngsters. We were total youngsters thanks to this, although there were real youngsters among us all. So we'd meet as young KOR, we'd edit Komunikat and then we'd go around visiting everyone. The problem was that if one person made a correction, then we'd have to go around everyone again, from the beginning. Everyone had their own people who would sign off and as a result we published Komunikat once a month with announcements about all the more significant events. People were constantly being searched, detained for 48 hours, and monitored; the police were breathing down their necks. I'd been monitored like that lots of times, endless monitoring and the constant threat of those 48 hours and more, that 48 hours, it depends on the person because if someone hadn't been locked up but went in for 48 hours, then after a while he got used to it and regarded that 48 hours like, well it's only 48 hours inside. We were all so overworked that on principle when we were locked up, we'd sleep. People would talk to me, my friends the thieves in the cell would say, 'Mr Kuroń, Mr Kuroń, tell us what's going on because there were a couple of your friends from KOR in here but as soon as they arrived they just slept.' So I would arrive, lie down and then they'd wake me after 48 hours. But of course, it wasn't quite like that because in my case every 48 hours could have been the start of legal action against me, especially as soon after this the first legal action was taken against us but before that, I'd like to say a few words about KOR's modus operandi which meant we were always anticipating.

The late Polish activist, Jacek Kuroń (1934-2004), had an influential but turbulent political career, helping transform the political landscape of Poland. He was expelled from the communist party, arrested and incarcerated. He was also instrumental in setting up the Workers' Defence Committee (KOR) and later became a Minister of Labour and Social Policy.

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: KOR, Radom, Komunikat, Gaja Kuroń, Jan Józef Lipski, Edward Lipiński, Wacław Zawadzki, Adam Szczypiorski, Fr Jan Zieja

Duration: 3 minutes, 8 seconds

Date story recorded: 1987

Date story went live: 12 June 2008