In 1999, during his second to last pastoral trip to Poland John Paul II visited 21 localities. The Holy Father came to Poland, which after the difficult transformation period in the early 1990s was begining to feel an economic upturn and had a relatively stable democracy. A year before the Pope’s visit Poland joined NATO… Continue reading John Paul II’s Speech to the Polish Parliament
The first free election in Poland’s post-war history was held on June 4, 1989 and brought victory to the Solidarity movement and defeat to the governing camp. In fact, the election was only partly free, as – in accordance with the Round Table agreements jointly reached earlier that year by the democratic opposition and the… Continue reading Inaugural address of Premier Tadeusz Mazowiecki
A wave of strikes washed through Poland in the summer of 1980. Among others, their participants demanded the establishment of labour unions independent of the communist authorities. The protest, which affected thousands of work places, forced the communist party to concessions and to sign an agreement with the workers, including the strongest of their organisations,… Continue reading Appeal of the 1st National Congress of Delegates of Solidarity to the working people of Eastern Europe
Communism, which was imposed on Poland in 1945, elicited society’s opposition and resistance. The economic crisis that was becoming increasingly severe in Poland from the mid-1970s, coupled with the growing consolidation of opposition milieux, led to an outbreak of societal discontent in the summer of 1980. Initially, the protests were characterized by uncoordinated strikes in… Continue reading Demands of the striking crews of factory workers and the enterprises represented by the Inter-Factory Strike Committee
Alongside Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński, the Primate of Poland, Cardinal Karol Wojtyła was one of the leading figures of the Polish Catholic Church in the 1960s and 1970s. As the archbishop of Kraków and a lecturer at the Catholic University of Lublin, he enjoyed great popularity, especially among young people. His election as pope on October… Continue reading Homily of John Paul II delivered during Holy Mass at Victory Square, Warsaw
In the communist People’s Republic of Poland (Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) the authorities had full control of the economy. They decided about the production volume, distribution manner, and retail prices. The December 1970 increase in food prices sparked social unrest. Even though it was forcedly suppressed by the government (a few dozen people were shot)… Continue reading Appeal of the Workers’ Defense Committee to Society and the Authorities of the PRL
Rafał Lemkin (1900–59) was an outstanding penal/criminal law expert of Polonised-Jewish descent. He graduated from the Faculty of Law at the John Casimir University (Uniwersytet Jana Kazimierza) in Lwów. He contributed to the codification of the Polish penal law, and analysed criminal legislations of the totalitarian regimes of Italy and Soviet Russia. In 1933, he… Continue reading Raphael Lemkin, “Genocide as a Crime under International Law”
The Manifesto to the Polish and Allied Nations, concluding with ‘The Testament of Fighting Poland’, was announced by the Council of National Unity at its last session, held on July 1, 1945. The Council of National Unity was a clandestine political body operating within the structures of the Polish Underground State. Participating within the Council… Continue reading Manifesto of the Council of National Unity to the Polish and Allied Nations
The first underground groups in German-occupied Poland began to be established as early as in the autumn of 1939. The Home Army (Armia Krajowa, AK), an underground army subordinate to the Polish government in exile and the Commander-in-Chief, took its final shape in February 1942. Its Commanders-in-Chief in chronological order were: Stefan Rowecki ‘Grot’ (arrested… Continue reading Order to dissolve the Home Army given by Home Army Commander-in-Chief General Leopold Okulicki
The double attack on Poland by Nazi Germany and the USSR in September 1939 led to the effective dissolution of the Polish state. Although Poland lost its sovereignty, its legal authorities continued to function, organising the Polish armed forces in France and later in Great Britain. Under these circumstances, the primary aim of the Polish… Continue reading Note addressed to the Governments of the United Nations by the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Edward Raczyński, regarding German crimes in occupied Poland
