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Legalisation of Solidarity

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Effect of the amnesty
Jan Józef Lipski Social activist
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In ‘86 an amnesty was declared which, to be honest, came as a surprise because it really was far-reaching. There wasn't much to complain about with the exception of perhaps one fact that acceptance of the amnesty was compulsory. This isn't always the best resolution for the defendant, sometimes it's better to have a trial but in this case, there was nothing we could do, it was obligatory. Why did they decide to have this amnesty, and why did they decide to have any of the amnesties, only this one was the most far-reaching of them all? I think it was in order to keep people quiet, to disarm society, because someone calculated that demonstrations in support of those who had been imprisoned made it impossible to stabilise our life, and so this calculation was probably right. Straight away, a very paradoxical situation arose because that amnesty hit Solidarity and the underground very hard. You could say that for a long time, we couldn't get our bearings because we didn't know what to do next, what our status was now and people felt lost. I have to say that the first few months after the amnesty were terrifying, no one really knew how to cope with the new situation although later they got to grips with it, but if someone had foreseen it would have the same effect on the authorities, then they are a genius. But of course, in all of these matters a very important role is played by the need to keep up an image in the eyes of the rest of the world. There was the issue of whether the banks would defer payment or not, whether interest would have to be paid straight away or only on a few years' time and there was no… nothing that could be done in that situation and some concession had to be made, so this was undoubtedly one of the motives behind all of this.

W 1986 roku ogłoszono amnestię i... która, prawdę mówiąc, była jednak zaskoczeniem, bo była to amnestia rzeczywiście szeroka. Już niewiele było tutaj do protestowania z wyjątkiem może jednego faktu, iż jej przyjęcie było przymusowe. To nie zawsze jest korzystne dla oskarżonego, czasami korzystniejsze jest, żeby doprowadzić do procesu, tutaj nie było rady w tym wypadku... ona była obligatoryjna. I dlaczego się na tę amnestię zdecydowano, i zresztą można powiedzieć, że dlaczego się decydowano również na pozostałe amnestie, tylko ta była najbardziej szeroka? No, myślę... myślę, że dlatego, by uspokoić społeczeństwo, by rozbroić społeczeństwo, że z rachunku komuś tam wypadło, iż demonstracje na rzecz uwięzionych uniemożliwiają wprowadzenie tu jakiejś stabilizacji do naszego życia. I rachunek był chyba słuszny. I od razu stała się rzecz paradoksalna, bo ta amnestia bardzo ostro ugodziła w „Solidarność” i podziemie. Można powiedzieć, że przez długi czas nie można się było pozbierać, bo nie było wiadomo co dalej robić, na jakim statusie dalej egzystować, w ogóle ludzie się pogubili. Muszę powiedzieć, że pierwsze miesiące poamnestyjne były przerażające, były po prostu... Nikt nie wiedział właściwie, jak w nowej sytuacji się znaleźć, no, potem jakoś się pozbierano, ale jeżeli ktoś ten efekt również przewidział we władzach, to jest genialnym socjotechnikiem. No, ale tutaj oczywiście przy wszystkich tego rodzaju rzeczach dużą rolę odgrywa konieczność utrzymania też jakiegoś obrazu wobec zagranicy. No, tutaj ciągle są te sprawy, czy banki przesuną spłaty, nie przesuną, czy trzeba odsetki płacić od razu czy jeszcze za parę lat, no i na to... na to nie... nie ma rady na takie sytuacje, trzeba coś ustępować. No to też był niewątpliwe jeden z podstawowych motywów tego wszystkiego.

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: Solidarity

Duration: 3 minutes, 11 seconds

Date story recorded: October 1989

Date story went live: 14 March 2011