Victims Expose True Face of Communism on 40th Anniversary of Imposing Martial Law in Poland

Contact Your Elected Officials
The Epoch Times Header

Martial Law was imposed in Poland by the communist regime on Dec. 13, 1981, in order to suppress โ€œSolidarity,โ€ the anti-communist grassroots movement of Polish people.

Solidarityโ€”the first trade union in the eastern communist block independent of the regimeโ€”was born in Poland in August 1980. The movement, which advocated workersโ€™ rights and started demanding some reforms of the communist system, quickly grew in popularity and was joined by about 10 million Poles.

The Communists agreed to legalize Solidarity only because they were forced to do so by the circumstances, said Piotr Brzeziล„ski, Ph.D., a historian at the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) in Poland.

โ€œThe strikes [leading to the birth of Solidarity] in August 1980 were so big that the communist authorities of Poland realized they were not able to suppress them and the 16 months of Solidarityโ€™s legal operation began,โ€ Brzeziล„ski told The Epoch Times in an interview.

After signing the agreement with Solidarity which allowed it to operate legally, โ€œthe communist government started devising a contingency plan [to be used] in case political means to subdue Solidarity, such as persuasion, would fail,โ€ Brzeziล„ski explained.

โ€œThe lists of people intended to be arrested had been prepared many months in advance,โ€ said the historian at IPN, a state institute whose mission is to research and popularize the modern history of Poland, and to investigate communist crimes.

The plan was to arrest more than 4,000 Solidarity activists while the most well-known and active Solidarity activists were going to be detained during the first night of martial law, Brzeziล„ski said.

โ€œFiguratively speaking, the communist authorities wanted to behead Solidarity.โ€

In actuality, there were 5,000 activists arrested in December, Brzeziล„ski said adding that in total during the entire martial law about 10,000 activists, as well as a considerable number of people were arrested.

Then Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev called the Solidarity movement a counterrevolution and demanded then Polish communist leader Stanisล‚aw Kania to introduce martial law in Poland, the historian said.

โ€œThe Soviets were afraid that the example of Solidarity would influence the Russians, the people of the Baltic countries, Belarusians and Ukrainians.โ€

โ€œAnd indeed, when reading the memoirs of Soviet dissidents from those years, one can see that Solidarity made a very big impression on them. They even tried to model their activity after Solidarity,โ€ he added.

The Baltic countriesโ€”Lithuania, Latvia, Estoniaโ€”as well as Belarus and Ukraine, used to be a part of the Soviet Union at that time while Eastern and Central European countries including Poland belonged to the eastern communist bloc heavily influenced by the Soviet Union.

Kania did not want to introduce martial law in Poland and โ€œstalled for timeโ€ hoping to tear down Solidarity from the inside out, Brzeziล„ski said adding that one-third of Polish Communist Party members (one million) joined Solidarity. The regime hoped that Party members would influence Solidarityโ€™s policies but they left the Communist Party after the imposition of martial law as the number of Communist Party members dropped by about one million after that, he noted.

Secret security forces also tried to recruit Solidarity activists as their agents with a goal to influence trade unionโ€™s leaders, Brzeziล„ski said.

Byย Ella Kietlinska

Read Full Article on TheEpochTimes.com

The Epoch Times
The Epoch Timeshttps://www.theepochtimes.com/
Tired of biased news? The Epoch Times is truthful, factual news that other media outlets don't report. No spin. No agenda. Just honest journalism like it used to be.

Ben Shapiro Warning Me Not to Listen to InfoWars Makes Me Want to Listen 10x Harder

This rant from Ben Shapiro reveals more about him and his low opinion of his audience to whom he peddles his slop than it does about its target, Alex Jones.

Epsteinโ€™s Aftermath: Planes, Blames, and Autocrats

There are so many real, honest great journalists reporting the news on the internet these days that some really good content gets overlooked.

Why the Trump Administration is Sitting on the Epstein Files

President Trump, AG Bondi, and FBI Dir. Patel have the advantage over us in that they see the big overall picture when it comes to the Epstein List.

Trumpโ€™s โ€œMajor Statementโ€ On Russia Is A Clumsy Attempt To Thread The Needle

The โ€œmajor statementโ€ on Russia Trump hyped up turned out to be an attempt to thread the needle between escalating US involvement in Ukrainian and walking away from it.

AI Takes Customer Service from Doublespeak to Triplespeak

Corporations are replacing customer service agents with AI agents. Here's a real-life example of attempting to use AI to have my internet restored.

Border Czar Says Physical Appearance โ€˜Canโ€™t Be the Sole Reasonโ€™ to Detain Someone

Border czar Homan said comments were โ€œtaken out of contextโ€ and federal immigration enforcement agents can't detain people based on physical appearances alone.

Capacity of US Coal-Fired Power Plants to Fall Over 15 Percent by 2028

Total operating capacity of coal-fired power plants in US is set to drop to 145 GW by end of 2028, a 15% decline from the 172 GW in operation as of May.

Violence Against ICE Escalates Across America

ICE officers face increased confrontation on the street, which crosses the line between free speech and physical violence.

International Buyers Purchased $56 Billion Worth of US Homes in 1 Year

Foreign buyers purchased $56 billion worth of existing homes in the US between April 2024 and March 2025, up by 33.2% from the previous 12 months.

Pharma Imports Could Face Tariffs by End of the Month, Trump Says

US will institute tariffs on pharmaceutical imports โ€œprobably at the end of the month,โ€ President Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews.

RFK Jr. Fires Top Aides, Appoints New Acting Chief of Staff

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has fired several top advisers, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) confirmed on July 16.

Trump Says He Will Impose Tariffs of More Than 10 Percent on Smaller Nations

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he intends to impose tariff rates of more than 10 percent on imports from โ€œsmaller nations.โ€

Trump Announces Trade Deal With Indonesia

The US and Indonesia have reached a trade agreement, President Trump announced on social media. โ€œGreat deal, for everybody, just made with Indonesia".
spot_img

Related Articles