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Most important events of Poland's post-war history

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Lies about Solidarity
Jan Józef Lipski Social activist
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No „Solidarności” oficjalne źródła przekazu – między innymi telewizja, kronika filmowa i tak dalej – poświęcały dosyć sporo uwagi, ale niemalże z tygodnia na tydzień coraz bardziej było to...było pomyślane w ten sposób by ludzie dochodzili do wniosku, że w „Solidarności” na pewno zostało trochę też prawdziwych dokumentów, ale to raczej z początku istnienia „Solidarności”. Potem z każdym tygodniem ta propaganda starała się ludziom wmówić, że wszystko co złe w kraju, to pochodzi już od „Solidarności”. Że jeżeli nie można nic w sklepach dostać, to dlatego, że „Solidarność”. Że jeżeli panuje coraz większy bałagan, to dlatego, że jest „Solidarność”. I to się zagęszczało, zagęszczało coraz bardziej. No aż wiemy w którym momencie już okazało się, że to był kapitał propagandowy, który chciano wykorzystać w czasie stanu wojennego.

The official mass media, which included television and news bulletins, focused a lot of attention on Solidarity but almost week by week it was done in a way to make people think that Solidarity must still have some authentic documents although they were probably from the early days of Solidarity. Then, with each passing week, the propaganda was aimed at making people believe that everything which was wrong in Poland was coming from Solidarity. If there was nothing in the shops, that was the fault of Solidarity. If there was greater chaos all around, that was the fault of Solidarity. This grew and grew until, as we know, it turned out to be propaganda capital which the authorities wanted to exploit during martial law.

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, Poland

Duration: 1 minute, 20 seconds

Date story recorded: October 1989

Date story went live: 15 March 2011