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The collapse of Po prostu
Jan Józef Lipski Social activist
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W roku ’57 stopniowo było widać, że od października odchodzi się. Natomiast w redakcji „Po prostu”, gdyby ktoś siedział tylko tam i nie wychodził z redakcji, wrażenie mogło być odwrotne, dlatego że redakcja „Po prostu” nadal się radykalizowała, stawiając coraz dalej idące żądania i coraz bardziej się utwierdzała w potrzebie pchania, poprzez swoją publicystykę, nastrojów w tym kierunku. Jednocześnie w całym aparacie władzy i propagandy, i prasie było widać odwrót. I również te środowiska partyjne, które dotychczas robiło wrażenie, że popierają tę linię, było widać, że się wycofują... już z tego poparcia wycofują; a jednocześnie szary człowiek z ulicy, którego niektóre żądania zostały i pragnienia zostały zaspokojone, oczywiście tylko niektóre i jednocześnie ciągle nie tracił nadziei, coraz mniej rozumiał ten coraz radykalniejszy ton „Po prostu”. No w tej sytuacji było oczywiste, że musi dojść do konfliktu zakończonego na pewno źle dla „Po prostu”, a nie dla władzy. Pamiętam takie zebranie zespołu „Po prostu” wiosną, daty nie umiem powiedzieć, gdzie starły się w „Po prostu” dwie koncepcje: jedna to była ta, kogo w partii popierać w tej chwili; a druga, którą reprezentował Jan Olszewski, który zawsze konsekwentnie stał na stanowisku, że „Po prostu” nie ma popierać żadnej grupy partyjnej, natomiast musimy zrobić wszystko, co można, żeby znać nastroje mas i żeby to było naszym punktem wyjścia, co nie znaczy, że te masy muszą nas nieść swoimi nastrojami – jeżeli to się cofa, to niekoniecznie my musimy się cofać, ale musimy się do tego odwoływać w każdym razie: do tego, co potrzebują, dlatego, co ludzie potrzebują, co w tej chwili czują, czego oczekują po nas. No właściwie linia proponowana przez Janka Olszewskiego została przyjęta, ale już było, że tak powiem, to było pięć minut przed dwunastą. Według obyczajów, które „Po prostu” miało dawniej, ale nie w roku ’56... zawieszono wychodzenie pisma na wakacje, bo to pismo takie młodzieżowo-studenckie, to w czasie wakacji nie ma sensu, żeby wychodziło. Byli tacy, którzy ostrzegali: „Nie gódźcie się na to”, ale skądinąd ci na których „Po prostu” spoczywało, to głównie reporterzy jeżdżący w teren, a również i ci publicyści, którzy... od których nieustannie żądano, stawiano przed nimi nowe zadania, byli zmęczeni i chętnie właśnie poszli na to, że teraz przez te dwa miesiące sobie odpoczniemy. No i po tych wakacjach okazało się, że cały numer właściwie ulega konfiskacie i powstaje decyzja o tym, żeby „Po prostu” przestało istnieć, o zawieszeniu – to się z początku nazywało – „Po prostu”.

In 1957, you could see that people were gradually abandoning October although had someone from the editorial team of Po prostu spent all their time in the editorial office never going outside, their impression could have been the reverse because the editors of Po prostu continued to advocate radical reform, posing increasing greater demands, confirming the need to propel attitudes in this direction via its political commentaries. At the same time there was a visible reversal in the whole party and propaganda apparatus and in the press. Until that point, party members had given the impression that they supported that line yet we could see that they were withdrawing... were withdrawing their support, whereas the average person in the street, some of whose demands and wants had been satisfied, of course only in part but who at the same time didn't give up hoping, was finding it increasingly difficult to understand Po prostu which was adopting an ever more radical tone. In this situation, it was obvious that a conflict was unavoidable which would end badly for Po prostu but not for the authorities. I remember a meeting we held of the Po prostu team in the spring, I couldn't say what date it was, where two concepts came into conflict at Po prostu. One was who should we be supporting in the party at that time, and the other, represented by Jan Olszewski who stood firmly by the opinion that Po prostu shouldn't be supporting any group within the party but that we should be doing everything we can to know what the attitude of the public was and that this should be our starting point. This didn't mean that the public would necessarily carry us along with their attitude; if they were retreating, we didn't need to retreat with them but in any case we'd need to refer to what the people needed, what they were feeling at that moment and what they were expecting from us. The course that Janek Olszewski suggested was adopted but it was, I'd say, the eleventh hour. According to the customs that Po prostu used to have, although not in ‘56, printing was suspended over the summer holidays; it was aimed at a young, student readership so there was no point publishing it during the holidays. Some people warned us not to agree to this, but the people on whom Po prostu rests were mainly reporters who went out after stories and those commentators from whom material was constantly being requested, new demands were always being made of them, they were tired and they were quite happy to accept the idea that they could have a break from all of this for the next couple of months. Then, after the summer holidays, it turned out that the entire issue was being confiscated and the decision was being weighed up whether Po prostu ought to fold, whether it should be suspended, that's how it was initially referred to.

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: Po Prostu, Jan Olszewski

Duration: 3 minutes, 47 seconds

Date story recorded: October 1989

Date story went live: 10 March 2011