June 1976 protests - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

June 1976 is the name of a series of protests and demonstrations in People's Republic of Poland

People's Republic of Poland

The People's Republic of Poland was the official name of Poland from 1952 to 1990. Although the Soviet Union took control of the country immediately after the liberation from Nazi Germany in 1944, the name of the state was not changed until eight years later...

. The protests took place after Prime Minister Piotr Jaroszewicz

Piotr Jaroszewicz

Gen. Piotr Jaroszewicz was a Polish Communist political figure. He served as the Prime Minister of Poland between 1970 and 1980.Piotr Jaroszewicz was born on 8 October 1909 in Nieśwież. After finishing the secondary school in Jasło he started working as a teacher and headmaster in Garwolin...

revealed the plan for a sudden increase in the price of many basic commodities, particularly foodstuffs (butter by 33%, meat by 70%, and sugar by 100%). Prices in Poland were at that time fixed, and controlled by the government, which was falling into increasing debt.

The protests started on 24 June and lasted till 30 June, the largest violent demonstrations and looting taking place in Płock, the Warsaw

Warsaw

Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...

suburb of Ursus, and particularly Radom

Radom

Radom is a city in central Poland with 223,397 inhabitants . It is located on the Mleczna River in the Masovian Voivodeship , having previously been the capital of Radom Voivodeship ; 100 km south of Poland's capital, Warsaw.It is home to the biennial Radom Air Show, the largest and...

. The protests were brutally quelled by the government, but the plan for the price increase was shelved; Polish leader Edward Gierek

Edward Gierek

Edward Gierek was a Polish communist politician.He was born in Porąbka, outside of Sosnowiec. He lost his father to a mining accident in a pit at the age of four. His mother married again and emigrated to northern France, where he was raised. He joined the French Communist Party in 1931 and was...

backed down and dismissed Prime Minister Jaroszewicz. This left the government looking both economically foolish and politically weak, a very dangerous combination. The 1976 disturbances and the subsequent arrests and dismissals of militant workers brought the workers and the intellectual opposition to the regime back into contact. In the aftermath, a group of intellectuals founded the opposition organization Workers' Defence Committee

Workers' Defence Committee

The Workers’ Defense Committee was a Polish civil society group that emerged under communist rule to give aid to prisoners & their families after the June 1976 protests & government crackdown...

(Komitet Obrony Robotników, KOR), whose aim was to fight official repression of the protesting workers.

Background

During the VII meeting of the Polish United Workers' Party

Polish United Workers' Party

The Polish United Workers' Party was the Communist party which governed the People's Republic of Poland from 1948 to 1989. Ideologically it was based on the theories of Marxism-Leninism.- The Party's Program and Goals :...

(PZPR), in December 1975, secretary general Edward Gierek

Edward Gierek

, realizing poor condition of Polish economy, stated: “…the problems of structure of prices of basic food products needs further analysis”. This utterance was an informal announcement of planned increase of food prices, which had artificially been kept on the 1971 level, and whose increase was necessary for economic reasons However, the Communist government of Poland wanted to prepare the citizens for the changes, therefore a massive propaganda campaign was started in the mass-media. It must be mentioned that the government of the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

opposed the plans of Warsaw.

The purpose of the campaign was to show the nation that price increase was a necessary step, caused by similar trends in world markets. In early June 1976, Polish press, both national and local, began printing news about rising unemployment in Western Europe and North America, as well as rising food prices in the Capitalist world. Sometimes, the news presented in Polish press was rather unusual, like when Trybuna Ludu

Trybuna Ludu

Trybuna Ludu was one of the largest newspapers in communist Poland. It was the official media outlet of the Polish United Workers' Party and one of its main propaganda outlets.-Creation:...

announced that Iceland

Iceland

Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

is handling food crisis by switching to fish diet. Also, Central Committee of the PZPR urged mass-media to avoid the phrase “price increase”.

On June 24, 1976, prime minister Piotr Jaroszewicz

Piotr Jaroszewicz

gave a speech, which was broadcast live on TV. As advised by the party, he did not mention the increase directly. Instead, he talked about continuation of the post-December 1970 policies. On the next day, transcript of the speech was republished in newspapers, and on the same morning, strikes broke out. The propaganda announced following increases, which were to be introduced on June 27:

meats, by 69%, with better meats by 110%,
butter and cheeses by 50%,
sugar by 100%,
rice by 150%,
vegetables by 30%.

The price increases were the result of policies of the government, which promoted the so-called “building of socialism”, condoned by Edward Gierek. The increase in consumption, noted in the first half of the 1970s, was financed by credits from Western Europe, and party apparatchik

Apparatchik

Apparatchik is a Russian colloquial term for a full-time, professional functionary of the Communist Party or government; i.e., an agent of the governmental or party "apparat" that held any position of bureaucratic or political responsibility, with the exception of the higher ranks of management...

s, who were not acquainted with economics, undertook several failed decisions. Furthermore, the Communist approach to economy resulted in over-employment and low productivity. Also, close economic ties with Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

resulted in Poland financing the Soviet arms race with the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

Operation Summer 76

The government predicted that the increases would be answered by protests, so it secretly announced Operation Summer 76, headed by director of Security Services

Sluzba Bezpieczenstwa

Służba Bezpieczeństwa Ministerstwa Spraw Wewnętrznych , or just SB, was established in the People's Republic of Poland in 1954...

, General Boguslaw Stachura. In several cities, special investigative groups were created whose task was to find and incarcerate most active demonstrators. Also, additional space was created in jails. On June 23, a day before Jaroszewicz’s speech, all police

Milicja Obywatelska

Milicja Obywatelska was a state police institution in the People's Republic of Poland. It was created in 1944 by Soviet-sponsored PKWN, effectively replacing the pre-war police force. In 1990 it was transformed back into Policja....

units participating in the operation were ordered to stay alert. Also, in mid-June, oppositional activists, potential leaders of protests, were called to the army for military exercises.

Events in Radom

Of all street demonstrations of Polish June 1976, by far the biggest ones took place in central city of Radom

Radom

. Altogether, some 20,000 people protested in the streets, resulting in a long fight with the police. Even though the government had predicted demonstrations, nobody considered Radom to be the center of them. Therefore, only 75 additional paramilitary police

ZOMO

Zmotoryzowane Odwody Milicji Obywatelskiej , were paramilitary-police formations during the Communist Era, in the People's Republic of Poland...

officers were dispatched to Radom, with larger forces concentrated Warsaw

Warsaw

, Kraków

Kraków

Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...

, Szczecin

Szczecin

Szczecin , is the capital city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland. It is the country's seventh-largest city and the largest seaport in Poland on the Baltic Sea. As of June 2009 the population was 406,427....

, Gdańsk

Gdansk

Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...

, and Upper Silesia

Upper Silesia

Upper Silesia is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia. Since the 9th century, Upper Silesia has been part of Greater Moravia, the Duchy of Bohemia, the Piast Kingdom of Poland, again of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown and the Holy Roman Empire, as well as of...

.

On June 25, at 6:30 in the morning, workers of P-6 department of Radom’s biggest factory — Metal Works “Łucznik” decided to see the managing director of the factory. By 8:00, the crowd of around 1000 left the shop, splitting in two groups. The biggest one went towards the main gate of Factory of Heating Equipment (Zaklady Sprzetu Grzejnego), and the second group headed towards Radom Manufacturer of Leather “Radoskor”. From both these factories, some 300 people decided to join the protest.

Meanwhile an occupational strike was declared in nearby Factory of Equipment and Installation “Termowent”. The demonstration, which quickly grew, headed towards center of the city, walking along gates of additional companies — Wood Manufacturer and Rolling Stock Maintenance Works ZNTK Radom. At about 10:00 a.m., the crowd, led by young men waving Polish flags, appeared in front of Radom Voivodeship

Radom Voivodeship

Radom Voivodeship was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland in years 1975–1998, superseded by Masovian Voivodeship...

’s office of the PZPR. Fifteen minutes later, deputy Minister of Internal Affairs General Boguslaw Stachyra ordered transfer of ZOMO units from Łódź, Warszawa, Kielce

Kielce

Kielce ) is a city in central Poland with 204,891 inhabitants . It is also the capital city of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship since 1999, previously in Kielce Voivodeship...

and Lublin

Lublin

Lublin is the ninth largest city in Poland. It is the capital of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 350,392 . Lublin is also the largest Polish city east of the Vistula river...

. Many of the young leaders of protests traveled by electric carts, and images of them later became symbols of the events

By 11:00, some 4000 people gathered in front of the office, demanding talks with party decision-makers. Slogans, such as “We are hungry”, “We want bread and freedom”, “Down with the increase”, were chanted, as well as the Polish national anthem. Initially, the First Secretary of Radom’s Committee, Janusz Prokopiak, who went outside to see the people, declared that he “would not talk to mob”. In response, the angry crowd undressed him, leaving only his underpants. Only then Prokopiak agreed to call the Secretary of Central Committee, Jan Szydlak, who announced that the increase would not be canceled. However Prokopiak, who was aware of the anger of the crowd, decided to buy some time telling the demonstrators to wait until 14:00 for decision.

After more than three hours of waiting, the anxious crowd broke into the PZPR office, which had been evacuated a few minutes before. First they ransacked the cafeteria, where they found several cans of ham (a good inaccessible to ordinary citizens). Then the destruction of the building began. Portraits of Vladimir Lenin

Vladimir Lenin

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...

were thrown out through the windows, and a red flag disappeared from the roof, replaced by a white and red Polish banner

Flag of Poland

The flag of Poland consists of two horizontal stripes of equal width, the upper one white and the lower one red. The two colors are defined in the Polish constitution as the national colors. A variant of the flag with the national coat of arms in the middle of the white stripe is legally reserved...

. The office was set on fire, and surrounding streets were barricaded, to prevent fire engines accessing the burning building. Demonstrators threw TV sets, carpets, and pieces of furniture through the windows. Cars parked in front of the complex were burned.

Street fights that ensued after the storm of the party’s office lasted until 21:00. Since the government did not predict Radom to be the center of the demonstrations, police had inadequate forces, so reinforcements were brought. The first extra ZOMO units appeared on the streets at 15:10, soon others followed. By 16:00, around 20,000 people fought 1543 police officers, who used live ammunition, water cannons and tear gas, and finally announced a state of emergency. The demonstrators used rocks, bottles, and bricks. Some of them wielded axes, taken from firefighters. To disorient the ZOMO, large quantities of old clothes were set on fire on the streets of the city. That evening, the protesters tried to capture headquarters of city police, but their attack was repelled. As well as the Communist party office, fire was set to the local Passport Office.

The clashes were very violent, with three victims — Jan Labecki, Jan Brozyna and Tadeusz Zabecki. There were 198 wounded, and the police, commanded by deputy chief of the country, General Stanislaw Zaczkowski, who was hurriedly transported to Radom, arrested 634 demonstrators. On the next day, 939 people were sacked. Material losses were estimated at 77 million złotys, with 5 trucks and 19 passenger cars burned, as well as party office partially burned. Many shops had been looted. On August 18, 1976, a Roman Catholic priest, Father Roman Kotlarz, died, beaten by “unknown assailants”. It is presumed that Kotlarz was murdered by the secret services, because he had joined the demonstrators, blessing them, and later criticizing the government in his sermons.

Events in Ursus

Warsaw’s suburb of Ursus, with its large tractor plant, became another major center of protests. Here, events were not so heated as in Radom, still, there were some notable moments. The most famous one took place when desperate workers of the Ursus Factory destroyed a main railway track, which stopped rail traffic.

The Ursus strike began on June 25 in the morning, and it was joined by some 90% of the workforce. Laborers went to the main office, but in response, the management urged them to return to work. Then, around 1000 people decided to head towards nearby railroad junction, which connected Warsaw with other major cities, such as Łódź, Poznań, Katowice and Kraków (this line is part of the major European route Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

–Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

). The demonstrators sat on the track, stopping traffic. Soon afterwards, part of the line was destroyed, and blocked by an engine. Police units appeared on the spot at around 21:30, when the crowd had dispersed to several hundred. A short skirmish ensued, with most active participants beaten and arrested. Altogether, 131 people were detained.

Events in Plock

In Plock, the third center of demonstrations, the strike broke out in one of the biggest Polish companies, Masovian Refinery and Petrochemical Plant (now PKN Orlen

PKN Orlen

PKN Orlen is a major European oil refiner, and petrol retailer. The company is Poland's and Central Europe's largest publicly traded firm with major operations in Poland, Czech Republic, Germany, and the Baltic States...

). The workers formed a demonstration, and at about 14:00, they appeared in front of the Płock Voivodeship’s office of the PZPR. Three hours later the crowd numbered around 3000, but workers of other local factories did not join the protest. A party official gave a speech, and in the evening of that day, street fights began, with the demonstrators throwing rocks, and destroying a fire truck. The government brought reinforcements, and by 21:00, the clashes ended.

Events in other cities

Apart from Radom, Ursus and Plock, there were strikes and street demonstrations in several other cities, such as Gdansk, Elbląg

Elblag

Elbląg is a city in northern Poland with 127,892 inhabitants . It is the capital of Elbląg County and has been assigned to the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship since 1999. Before then it was the capital of Elbląg Voivodeship and a county seat in Gdańsk Voivodeship...

, Grudziądz

Grudziadz

Grudziądz is a city in northern Poland on the Vistula River, with 96 042 inhabitants . Situated in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship , the city was previously in the Toruń Voivodeship .- History :-Early history:...

, Poznań

Poznan

Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...

, Radomsko

Radomsko

Radomsko is a town in central Poland with 50,618 inhabitants . It is situated on the Radomka river in the Łódź Voivodeship , having previously been in Piotrków Trybunalski Voivodeship . It is the capital of Radomsko County....

, Starachowice

Starachowice

Starachowice is a town in south-central Poland with 55,126 inhabitants . Starachowice is situated in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship ; it was formerly in the Kielce Voivodeship . It is the capital of Starachowice County...

, Szczecin, Warsaw and Wrocław. Altogether, in June 1976, up to 70000 workers of 90 factories across Poland went on strike. Other sources put the number of strikers at 80000, in 112 factories. In Warsaw proper, even though no demonstrations were recorded, several major factories, such as FSO Warszawa, Radio Works of Marcin Kasprzak went on a short strike. In Łódź, there were stoppages in 16 plants.

Aftermath

Initially, the government suppressed all news about riots, and after a few days, they were described as “insignificant hooligan actions”. Pacification of the demonstrations was very brutal, with hundreds of beaten workers, several of whom were later hospitalized. In Radom, 42 persons were sent to prison, with sentences ranging from 2 to 10 years. In Ursus, 7 persons were sentenced to up to 5 years, and, in Płock, 18 persons. The rule used by the police in Radom was simple — all those persons whose hands were dirty, were treated as demonstrators and detained.

The June 1976 events for the first time brought together workers and the Polish intellectual opposition. The intellectuals, shaken by the plight of the helpless demonstrators, decided to help them legally as well as materially, since many people were dismissed and had no means to support their families. Three months later, on September 23, Komitet Obrony Robotników (Committee for the Defense of the Workers, KOR) was created by Jacek Kuron

Jacek Kuron

Jacek Jan Kuroń was one of the democratic leaders of opposition in the People's Republic of Poland. Kuroń was a prominent Polish social and political figure; educator and historian; an activist of the Polish Scouting Association; co-founder of the Workers' Defence Committee; twice a Minister of...

and Jerzy Andrzejewski

Jerzy Andrzejewski

Jerzy Andrzejewski was a prolific Polish author. His novels, Ashes and Diamonds , and Holy Week , have been made into film adaptations by the Oscar-winning Polish director Andrzej Wajda...

. Also, in early September 1976, General Conference of Polish Episcopate urged the government to stop all repressions and make it possible for fired workers to return to their workplaces. KOR activists kept a list of 604 families from Radom, Płock, Ursus, Łódź, Grudziądz, Poznań and Gdańsk, who needed help. Money was collected not only in Poland, but also by trade union members in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

, Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

and Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, as well as Polonia

Polonia

The Polish diaspora refers to people of Polish origin who live outside Poland. The Polish diaspora is also known in modern Polish language as Polonia, which is the name for Poland in Latin and in many other Romance languages....

. In July 1977, after an amnesty, all incarcerated workers were freed.

Even though the demonstrations were quickly suppressed, the government overall lost. In late June 1976, party propaganda organized mass demonstrations on major stadiums, during which “anti-hooligan” slogans were chanted. Nevertheless, price increases were recalled, supposedly by order of Moscow, since the Soviet government did not wish any more disturbances in Poland.

External links

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