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Who was in the hit squads?

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Two cases of concussion and a heart attack
Jan Józef Lipski Social activist
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The secret police found Operation Flying University infuriating and they tried to prevent lectures from taking place by sending hit squads to disrupt lectures initially just by shouting and heckling thus making it impossible for the lectures to be held. But when the organisers realised that this wasn't enough and that despite everything the lectures were still taking place, they resorted to more extreme methods and sent a hit squad to barge into Jacek Kuroń's home. They probably didn't know that the lecture had been cancelled due to Jacek Kuroń's father having fallen ill. Jacek told them his father was on the verge of having a heart attack and told them to leave as his father might die. However, they started to beat everyone who was in that apartment: several friends, Jacek's wife, Jacek's son. Our friend, Henryk Wujec, who came to see Jacek while the attack was taking place, was set upon by them and they kept beating his head against the front door of Jacek's flat until he lost consciousness and suffered concussion. The outcome was two cases of concussion, and Mr Kuroń's heart attack because although fortunately, they didn't beat him up, he was unable to withstand the stress and had a heart attack although he did survive. This was how they fought against covert, independent education.

Akcja oświatowa Latającego Uniwersytetu budziła straszną złość bezpieki, rezultatem tego były próby uniemożliwienia wykładów w ten sposób, że przysyłano na te wykłady takie bojówki, które z początkowo tylko krzykiem i przerywaniem uniemożliwiały odbycie się wykładu. Ale gdy organizatorzy doszli do wniosku, że to jest za mało, że mimo to ciągle próbuje się tę akcję oświatową prowadzić dalej, no, przystąpiono już do metod ostrzejszych. W pewnym momencie taka bojówka wtargnęła do mieszkania Jacka Kuronia. Nie wiedzieli prawdopodobnie zresztą, że wykład jest odwołany, bo ojciec Jacka Kuronia zachorował. Jacek ich zresztą informował, że ojciec jest w stanie zawałowym i żeby wyszli, bo to jego ojciec może przypłacić życiem, oni natomiast przystąpili do bicia wszystkich osób, które spotkali w tym mieszkaniu, to znaczy paru kolegów Jacka, żonę Jacka, syna Jacka. Nasz przyjaciel Henryk Wujec, który przyszedł do Jacka w czasie, kiedy ta bojówka szalała, został chwycony przez nich i tak długo walono jego głową w drzwi mieszkania Jacka, dopóki nie stracił przytomności na wskutek wstrząsu mózgu. Rezultatem były właśnie dwa wstrząsy mózgu, no i zawał pana Kuronia, którego na szczęście nie pobili, no, ale on jednak nie... tego stresu nie wytrzymał, przeżył to, co prawda, no, ale był to... doznał zawału. Tak walczono z tajną oświatą, z niezależną oświatą.

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: 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: Operation Flying University, Jacek Kuroń, Henryk Wujec

Duration: 1 minute, 58 seconds

Date story recorded: October 1989

Date story went live: 14 March 2011