a story lives forever
Register
Sign in
Form submission failed!

Stay signed in

Recover your password?
Register
Form submission failed!

Web of Stories Ltd would like to keep you informed about our products and services.

Please tick here if you would like us to keep you informed about our products and services.

I have read and accepted the Terms & Conditions.

Please note: Your email and any private information provided at registration will not be passed on to other individuals or organisations without your specific approval.

Video URL

You must be registered to use this feature. Sign in or register.

NEXT STORY

Unrest in the court in Radom

RELATED STORIES

I land in prison again
Jacek Kuroń Social activist
Comments (0) Please sign in or register to add comments

The following day things in Kraków began to heat up. Minute by minute Antek was passing on the latest news, and the bulletins from Kraków were coming thick and fast. I was passing them on to radio correspondents from Kraków while organising various things for them at the same time, and I could see that a massive demonstration was about to begin, that, in fact, it had already started in several streets in different locations in the city. People were gathering, the declaration was being read aloud made by... the description of events given by the student committee, no, the declaration was made by KOR, the student committee didn't exist yet - it was set up a bit later. It was almost evening, and the following day a requiem Mass was due to be held at 11:00 or 10:00 at the Dominicans, and we were all supposed to be attending it. But we'd known since that morning that people were already being stopped; Adaś, Anka Kowalska and Halina had all be stopped in their car on the road and told to go back to town but he said, 'They're not going to let us go.' I remember saying, 'I really don't want to be banged up in that police station.' On top of that, it was obvious that I was needed here, by the phone and not there, but tough. I'll go ahead and do something stupid, I'll make this mistake deliberately. We called everyone to attend this Mass, we had to go - we went in. Halina was with me, she'd come to my place because we were all supposed to have gone together, Anka Kowalska, Adaś, I think - I can't remember, lots of different people. Maciek my son came out after we'd gone, he was about - it was '76 or '77 -17, and he was supposed to keep watch up to the moment when we'd get arrested so that he could let Gaja know and then she'd pass it on. Shortly after they'd arrested us at the train station, they brought Maciek into the waiting room where we were being held. His shirt was torn because he'd tried to escape and they'd chased him; it's terrible to feel that you've led your child to prison. This was the pattern of my life - I seemed to always be leading these children into prison. I felt this very strongly then about Maciek and about others - all of them. And so it was prison again.

I to tak co chwila Antek nadaje, coraz częściej zagęszczają się te komunikaty z Krakowa. Ja je nadaję korespondentom do radia, równocześnie organizuję tu różne rzeczy dla nich i widać, że idzie na dużą demonstrację, ona już właściwie jest na ulicach w różnych punktach miasta: zbierają się ludzie, czyta się głośno oświadczenie studenckiego... opis zdarzeń, oświadczenie Studenckiego Komitetu... nie... oświadczenie jeszcze KOR-u tylko – nie ma jeszcze Studenckiego Komitetu, oni go dopiero powołają go za chwilę. I zbliża się wieczór tego dnia na następnego na jedenastą jest czy na dziesiątą wyznaczona msza u Dominikanów żałobna, na którą właśnie mamy jechać wszyscy. A już od rana wiadomo, że zatrzymują, bo zatrzymano na drodze w samochodzie Adasia, Ankę Kowalską i Halinę, odwołano ich tylko do miasta, w tym on rzekł, że nie będą nas chcieli puścić. Ja pamiętam, że mówię: "Jak mi się strasznie nie chce jechać na te dechy do tej komendy." A w dodatku wiadomo, że ja bym był tu potrzebny przy tym telefonie, a nie tam, ale trudno. To zrobię głupstwo i robię, robię błąd dla hrabiego świadomie. Wezwaliśmy do pójścia na tą mszę, iść trzeba – weszliśmy. Że u mnie była Halina, przyjechała do mnie, bo mieliśmy wszyscy razem jechać, Anka Kowalska, Adaś chyba... już tego nie pamiętam, różne osoby. I wyszedł za nami Maciek, mój syn, który miał wtedy lat... No, który to jest? '76, '77... siedemnaście i miał z daleka obserwować do momentu, kiedy nas zwiną, żeby Gajce dać znać, żeby ona mogła zawiadomić. Jak nas zwinęli z dworca, to wkrótce potem do tej świetlicy dworcowej, gdzie nas trzymali, wprowadzono Maćka w podartej koszuli, bo on się gdzieś tam uciekał, gonili go i to straszne uczucie, jak się ma takie poczucie, że się dziecko do więzienia zaprowadziło. Taki model mojej sytuacji życiowej, jakby stale te dzieci do więzienia prowadzę. A wtedy z taką mocą to poczułem i do Maćka i do innych – wszystkich. I znowu więzienie.

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: Marcel Łoziński Jacek Petrycki

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.

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.

Tags: Kraków, KOR, Antoni Macierewicz, Anna Kowalska, Gaja Kuroń, Maciej Kuroń

Duration: 2 minutes, 12 seconds

Date story recorded: 1987

Date story went live: 12 June 2008