for our freedom and yours - Polish Solidarity Campaign

FOR OUR
FREEDOM AND
YOURS
Za nasza i wasza wolnosc
A History of The Polish Solidarity Campaign
of Great Britain
1980-1994
edited by
Giles Hart
The Polish Solidarity Campaign was formed in August 1980,
at the time of the strikes in the Baltic Shipyards. Its purpose was to
win
support in Britain for free trade unionism and democracy in
Poland.
In 1993 with the battle won, Giles Hart undertook a
compilation and assessment of the PSC's history, based on
documentary records
and the experiences of members.
This book which includes contributions from
nearly 40 members, is the result.
Published by the
Polish Solidarity
Campaign
111 Kensington Avenue
Manor Park, London El 2
6NL
This book is dedicated to:
Adam Westoby (born 1944), one of the
three founders of the Polish Solidarity Campaign of
Great Britain, who died after a long illness
in November, 1994
AND
to everyone who supported the struggle
for freedom in Poland and Eastern Europe, whoever
they are, wherever they are.
FOR OUR FREEDOM AND YOURS
Published by Polish Solidarity Campaign, 1995
Copyright © Polish Solidarity Campaign 1995
111 Kensington Avenue, Manor Park,
London E12 6NL
"Solidarnosc and Barbed Wire" logo designed by
Peter Kennard for PSC - 1981
Layout by Nina Ozols
Printed by The Total Print & Display Co. Ltd,
137HattonRoad,
Bedfont,
Middlesex
TW14 8LR
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
For Our Freedom and Yours: Za Nasza i Wasza Wolnosc –
History of the Polish Solidarity Campaign of Great Britain
1980-94 I.
Hart, Giles
322.4
ISBN 0-9525163-0-6
No part of this book, other than for review purposes, may be
reproduced without prior permission.
The book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way
of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated
without the publishers prior consent in any form of binding cover
other than that in which it is published and without a similar
condition including this condition being imposed upon the
subsequent purchaser.
EDITOR'S ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am grateful for all the assistance I have received with this book from some members of
PSC, past and present, as well as friends and family.
I wish to thank every person who wrote a contribution to the book. Each person's
views are of course their own, and not necessarily the views of PSC.
Without computer assistance, including loan of computer facilities, this book would not
have been possible. I am very grateful in this connection to firstly Ed Switalski and later
Adam Robinski and the Polish Enterprise Centre Ltd. at POSK.
PSC wishes to acknowledge the very generous, and unconditional, financial contribution made to us for the production of this book by the Polonia Aid Foundation Trust at
POSK.
I would like to thank all those who have donated their PSC records and correspondence
to the 'PSC History Archive' which will be housed, when ready, at the Polish Library,
POSK, 238-246 King Street, Hammermith London W6 ORF (tel: 0181-741-0474).
Thanks to Mrs Maresch and Dr Jagodzinski of the Polish Library for their co-operation.
If anyone wishes to reproduce parts of the book please contact PSC c/o either:
Giles Hart, 111 Kensington Avenue, Manor Park, London E12 6NL or:
Karen Blick, 18 Mervyn Road, London W13 9UN
Giles Hart 1995
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION _________________________________________ Karen Blick _____ 6
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE POLISH SOLIDARITY CAMPAIGN
Giles Hart
Introduction to Brief History
Chapter 1:
August 1980, Creation of PSC, Martial Law December 1981
to AGM March 1982
1 The creation of PSC
2 Activities, growth and contacts in the Polish Community
3 Polish Solidarity Campaign (PSC) News
4 Structure & Independence
5 Friction and contacts with the Left - and the Right
6 Support from MPs - and campaigning in the Labour party
7 Aid for Solidarnosc - and contact with it
8 Fund raising, including T-shirts
9 Our level of activities - and the impact on our lives (includes a contribution
by Anna Lubelska)
10 Immediate responses to Martial Law
11 Our demonstration - 20th December 1981
12 Solidarity with Solidarity (SWS)
13 Creation of Solidarity Working Group/Information Office
14 Worries about infiltration, and 'undesirable' members
15 Charitable help to Poland
16 Fear of Polish or Soviet Government penetration
17 Pro Solidarity groups around Britain
18 Preparations to avoid take-over at 1982 AGM
19 1982 AGM- and outcome
20 Consequences of 1982 AGM
Chapter 2:
Post 1982 AGM to the 1989 Polish Round Table Agreement
21 PSC activities - a general description
22 Polish Refugee Rights Group
23 Resignations, withdrawals, PSC News and Circulars
24 Sources of support, and the struggle to continue
25 Relations with Polish organisations
26 Our wide ranging approach - government, main political parties, Trade
Union Congress, 'peace' movements
27 Friction due to tactics and procedures
28 Relations with other European exile groups
29 The wide ranging composition of PSC membership
30 Aid to Solidarnosc, and other Polish Groups
31 Our impact in Poland
32 Some other PSC actions
33 1988 AGM
2
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
19
20
21
21
22
23
24
24
24
25
26
27
28
30
31
31
32
34
35
37
39
39
39
40
41
43
34 Late summer 1988 - new developments in Poland
44
Chapter 3
From the Round Table Agreement to the Present Day (1994)
35 PSC supports Round Table Agreement
36 Support for the Election and Solidarnosc - and hostility
37 The 1989 'Round Table' Polish Elections
38 Other PSC activities, 1989
39 Lech Walesa's visit to Britain - December 1989
40 PSC examines its role
41 1990 AGM - PSC decides to continue
42 Subsequent situation
43 Subsequent PSC activities
44 The present situation - and the future
45
45
46
46
46
47
47
48
48
49
Concluding Remarks ______________________________________________50
SUMMARY OF A DISCUSSION HELD ON 16TH JULY 1993:
51
Karen Blick, Robin Blick, Marek Garztecki, Giles Hart, Zofia Hart, Naomi Hyamson,
Ewa Moss, Wiktor Moszczynski, Artek Taczalski, Tadek Warsza, Liz Willis, Anna T.,
DrT Piesakowski.
MORE ABOUT PSC
Edward Switalski
Introduction
60
My Road to PSC
60
August 1980 and PSC
61
The Media Campaign
62
Resources
62
Labour Movement Solidarity Organisations
63
Arguing for Poland
63
The Polish Students' Contribution
64
ZSAPWB and other East European Students' Groups
66
Martial Law
67
Radio Solidarnosc
67
PSC News and Publications
68
Infiltration
69
Tadek Jar ski and SWS
70
Relations with the Polish Community in the U.K.
70
Relations with Venus
71
Meeting real East Europeans
71
Conclusions
72
The Future ___________________________________________________ 73
3
MEMORIES, MOTIVES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND ASSESSMENTS
Liz Willis
74
Zofia Malakowska
Adam Westoby
Piotr Iglikowski
George Kondratowicz
Stanislaw Wasik
Anita Komornicka-Rice
Mr 'S.P'
Ryszard Stepan
Artek Taczalski
Marion Pitman
Adam Robinski
Ewa Cwirko-Godycka
Darek Dzwigaj
Zofia Hart
Wojtek Dmochowski
Carole Gardiner
Sue Chinnick
Giles Hart
Danuta Gorzynska-Hart
Andrzej Poloczek
Steve Murray
Jedrzej Dmochowski
75
75
76
77
78
78
79
79
80
80
80
82
82
83
83
84
85
85
90
91
92
93
EXTRACTS FROM WIKTOR MOSZCZYNSKI'S PSC DIARY
___________________________________ Wiktor Moszczynski________________ 94 ______
FIVE INVOLVEMENTS WITH PSC
Some reflections & reconsiderations on the early
history of PSC
Robin Blick
Why I left PSC and why I rejoined
'Age of Innocence'
PSC-Experience of Democracy
PSC and Me
Karen Blick
Wanda Koscia
Katarzyna Budd
Mans Ozols
99
100
102
104
105
ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL
____________________________________ John Taylor _____________________ 107 ______
ONE UNION'S SUPPORT FOR SOLIDARNOSC
____________________________________ John Spellar M.P. ________________ 111 ______
4
SOLIDARITY IN THE W. MIDLANDS
_________________________________ Jo Quigley ______________________ 112 _______
APPENDIX 1
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF PSC 1980-1990
APPENDIX 2
COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP 1980-1990 Giles Hart
APPENDIX 3
CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS IN POLAND Robin Blick
APPENDIX 4
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Robin Blick
Marek Garztecki
Index
Robin Blick
117
119
120
125
133
PHOTOGRAPHS
1 The Martial Law Demonstration: 20/12/81
2 Some of the 14,000 crowd
3 A rip-off of PSC
Jeremy Irons rips off a PSC poster (for which we received no credit or payment) in a key scene
in the Jerzy Skolimowski film 'Moonlighting'.
4 Marching at night, August 1982
5 Afghan support for our
demo
Hyde Park, mid 1980s
6 Demonstrating against support for the Junta in Britain.
Marek Garztecki and Wiktor Moszczynski, dressed as prisoners, at the demonstration against
Robert Maxwell's intended suppression of news about Solidarnosc in the 'Daily Mirror'.
7 PSC Demo, August 1986.
There was a rally in Hyde Park followed by a march to Trafalgar Square . SWS show their sup
port for the demo by joining us on the Trafalgar Square plinth.
8 Solidarity Information Office Exhibition, (at POSK) mid 80s.
Three generations of PSC members: Stanislaw Wasik, Ewa Cwirko-Godycka, Giles Hart
9 A typical PSC Demo outside the Polish Embassy.
Left to Right: Giles Hart, Sue Chinnick, Robin Blick, Marek Garztecki, unidentified supporter.
Late 1980s.
10 A typical PSC march
Barbara Lubienska and unidentified supporter, late 1980s.
11 PSC Demo, Hyde Park 1988.
Janusz Onyszkiewicz, Solidarnosc spokeman with Marek Garztecki. (The crowd were behind
the camera).
12 1989 Round Table Elections
A PSC Election Committee stall, run by Marek Garztecki greets and informs voters outside the
Polish Embassy , London .
13 At the TUC reception for Lech Walesa : 1989
Left to Right: Giles Hart, Lech Walesa, Ryszard Stepan.
5
INTRODUCTION
by Karen Blick
'Za nasza, i waszq wolnosc
'For Our Freedom and Yours'
This historic Polish slogan first appeared during the November Uprising of 1831. The author
was probably Joachim Lelewel (1786-1861), a leading historian and member of the
National Government during the uprising. The slogan was written on banners - one side in
Polish, the other side in Russian, and placed in the ground in front of the insurgents' battle line
and in full view of the advancing Russian troops. Its purpose was to show that the uprising
was not against the Russian people, with whom they had a common cause, but against the
tsarist regime. Ironically, so benighted were the ordinary Russian soldiers that they could not
read and, predictably, their officers were not impressed. Moreover higher-ranking Polish
officers considered the slogan revolutionary and Jacobinical. However the use of this
slogan did not remain an unsuccessful and forgotten event of the 1831 Polish-Russian
conflict. It became a more generalised expression of the conviction that the existence of a free
and independent Poland was necessary to the cause of freedom and democracy in Europe as a
whole.
It is in this spirit that we have adopted the slogan for the title of our book. The Polish
Solidarity Campaign began as British-based support group for an independent trade union
movement in Poland. However in our aims and objectives, we always explicitly referred to
wider implications, that is, re-establishing political freedom in Poland and ultimately
throughout Eastern Europe, and combatting the legitimacy the Eastern Bloc sought through
its influence within the British labour movement.
Giles Hart begins his 'Brief History' by asking why and how the Polish Solidarity
Campaign was set up and sustained. The slogan 'For Our Freedom and Yours' is perhaps as
succinct a way as any to explain the phenonemon of a British-based organisation whose
objective was to campaign for the existence and rights of free trades unions in Poland. Even
more remarkable than its formation was that such an organisation, staffed by a disparate and
changing group of people, should still be in existence well over a decade later. That such a
campaign should be active in the first flush of Solidarnosc's formation and the repressive
period of Martial Law is understandable. More exceptional is that PSC, weathering changing
personnel and political climates, continued to campaign in an innovative way up to and
beyond the legalisation of Solidarnosc; for instance in 1989 PSC members acted as official
representatives of Solidarity at polling centres in London and Edinburgh during the 'Round
Table Agreement' Elections; and in the 1990s campaigned on as wide issues as the
independence of the Baltic States and visa-free travel for Poles.
Looked at with the advantage of hindsight, PSC began as an unusual, not to say bizarre,
combination of individuals (although I for one in the hectic excitement of the first year and a
half did not find this a problem). PSC was launched by a group of of former communist,
former trotskyist and libertarian activists. This British group immediately joined forces with a
number of Poles resident in Britain, many of whom (unlike the British Polish community in
general) had socialist connections. As time went on and particularly after Martial Law,
PSC's membership both British and Polish became more politically representative and nonaligned. While always retaining something of its original political character it developed into
an organisation with more mainstream support and always consciously avoided party
political partisanship.
I believe that a brief excursion into the history of both British/Polish connections from the
nineteenth century on and the political climate of the British Labour movement in the 1970s
and 80s will help to shed light on the somewhat unusual origins and development of PSC.
Geopolitical factors that from the sixteenth century were so advantageous to Britain
were to prove disastrous to Poland. Britain by reason of its geographical position was free
from invasion and could develop democratic rights gradually. Poland, hemmed in and, by
1795, completely partitioned by three great continental powers, Russia, Prussia and Austria
ruled by their (as far as Poland was concerned) not so enlightened despots, enjoyed none of
Britain's advantages of national independence and possibilities for democracy. What for
Britain was practical and peaceful process of development, for Poland remained a romantic
dream repeatedly shattered by the tragic crushing of periodic revolutionary uprisings. But
dissimilarity was to forge a connection. Britain's island position not only allowed it to pursue
its own path without interference, it also provided a safe haven for continental political
refugees and a base for organising oppositional groups in which British supporters became
involved.
Poland had another connection with Britain, sharing with it a tradition of political liberalism.
Its liberal features included an elected monarchy, a Parliament (the Sejm) and the adoption of
the first written constitution in Europe in 1791. After three partitions and the complete
extinction of their state in 1795 (not to be re-established until 1918), Poles rose against their
conquerors in 1794, 1830. 1846, and 1863. It was this suppression of a liberal nation together
with its history of defiant resistance to great power domination that made the cause of Polish
independence an increasingly popular one in Britain as the 19th century progressed. Whereas
in the late eighteenth century, in an age when diplomacy was uncomplicated by moral scruples,
Edmund Burke, commenting on non-intervention over the First Partition, merely said 'Poland
must be regarded as situated on the Moon' b\ the middle of the nineteenth century after
repeated Polish uprisings Macaulay saw partition as 'a shameful crime'.
In the course of the nineteenth century Polish independence attracted increasing interest and
support of varying degrees right across the political spectrum from Tories to radicals,
including figures as far apart as Robert Peel and the exiled Karl Marx. In 1855 what
became known as the great Poland meeting was held in St. Martins Hall, London, under the
auspices of the Literary Association of the Friends of Poland, addressed by amongst others Sir
Robert Peel, but with an audience largely composed of London Chartists. Many of the speakers
from the floor considered the meeting a government front to revive Palmerston's 'anti-Russian'
reputation by using the Poles (plus ca change). No wonder the meeting ended in turmoil.
Political collaboration between Poles and the British trade union movement dates back to
the second half of the 19th century. Claims that the British government made pious
expressions of support but in practice equivocated again surface. In 1863 a group of trades
unionists, members of the London Trades Council (soon to become the TUC) demonstrated
and held public meetings in support of the Polish uprising against Russia of that year. The
principal trades union leaders supporting this action were William Cremer of the Amalgamated
Society of Carpenters and Joiners and George Odger of the Shoemakers Union. A meeting
held in St. James Hall resolved to send a delegation to the Foreign Secretary Lord John
Russell to protest against the British Government's two-faced policy towards the Polish
insurgents. When the delegation was not received a second meeting was held a week later at
which the British National League for the Independence of Poland was founded. It is not too
fanciful to see this organisation as an historical forerunner of PSC.
The League for the Independence of Poland maintained close connections with British
trades unionists and the International Working Men's Association. Constant themes of both the
British and Polish contributors to this Association were the importance of the establishment
of an independent and democratic Poland to the peace and liberty of Europe as a whole, the
threat of Russia to the whole continent and the passivity, at best, of the British and other
European governments towards the suppression of Poland. A representative of both the Polish
National Government and the League
for Polish Independence, a Captain Bobczynski, (a participant in the '63 uprising) addressing
the International Working Men's Association's London Conference in 1865 gave voice to this
body's general opinion when he said that 'Poland had fought the longest, had been the
longest oppressed, her sons had shed their blood on every battlefield where right was
struggling against might. Poland is the keynote to European freedom-she must be democratic
and she declares for the freedom of all.' George Odger of the Shoemakers Union voiced this
sentiment more prosaically: 'It was at a meeting in favour of Poland held in St James Hall that
French and English workmen first met together; we must support Poland, to us it was typical
of oppressed nations.' The spirit of the Polish slogan 'For our freedom and yours' was still
alive.
In the course of the 20th century the support Poland enjoyed in British society fluctuated.
The newly created state of 1918 was not regarded with universal approval either in Britain or
on the continent. Some regarded the re-emergence of Poland as part of the Versailles
humiliation of Germany. Attitudes became further complicated when in 1920 its newly-won
independence was once again threatened by a Russian (this time not Czarist but Bolshevik
Russian) invasion. Attitudes to the rights of Poland were now more than ever clouded by
considerations of big power politics, to which were added ideological and political loyalties.
Consequently, Poland as the cause of the radical left and trade union wing of British society
suffered a set back. The self evident rights and wrongs of the 19th century were apparently
no longer so clear, a situation which became evident when Solidarnosc was formed and
some British trades unionists and socialists exhibited more loyalty to a 'socialist' state power
than to basic trades union rights, which they would have upheld in their own country.
During the Second World War the fortunes of Poland as a popular cause revived and this
was undoubtedly the most historically significant period of Polish-British collaboration in
advancing the cause of European freedom and democracy. Gallant little Poland replaced
Belgium of the First World War for the overwhelming majority of British society.* Poles
fought alongside British, American and Commonwealth troops as well of those of other
occupied countries in historic engagements such as Monte Casino and the Battle of Britain.
This fact was recognised by the presence of Lech Walesa on the saluting platform for the
march past of troops including a Polish contingent, at the 1994 D Day commemoration.
In spite of wide recognition of common interests in war-time, Poland reaped a bitter
harvest for its distinction in taking the first military stand against Nazi Germany. At Yalta,
Britain was a prominent if reluctant accomplice in the de facto return of Poland to Russian
domination. Tragically, Poland had been rescued from one form of totalitarian rule only to be
placed under another.
The post 1948 'Cold War' period softened in the 1970s, so much so that during the
Brezhnev-Nixon period of Detente, culminating in the Helsinki Agreement of 1975, Western
powers, political parties and sections of the labour movement looked far more benignly on the
USSR. However, contrary to expressed hopes and expectations, improved East-West
relations in some respects made attempts in the West to support liberalising movements in the
Eastern Bloc more difficult. By legitimising Russian dominance over Eastern Europe, the
belief was strengthened that the Soviet Empire was an immoveable fixture and the Brezhnev
'period of stagnation' seemed set to last into the indefinite future. In fact the events of '79-'80
were to prove the beginning of the end. The Soviet Empire began to fray at its edges. While
in the the south, the over-confident Soviet state made its last and most speculative territorial
expansion into Afghanistan, in the west, in Poland, Detente was put in
*On!y two political groups were exceptions to this. Firstly, all but two of the Central Committee of the British Communist Party,
who in accordance with the political requirements and outcome of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, reversed their policy from
support for Poland to the endorsement of its destruction, only to change back again in June '41 after the Nazi invasion of the
Soviet Union. Secondly, arguing against support for Poland at the other end of the political spectrum were the upper-class
appeasement group of Lord Halifax and the Cliveden Set.
question by the actions of a woman crane driver and a victimised electrician. But at the time even
the most sophisticated of international experts would have regarded a prediction of the fall of the
Berlin Wall within nine years as political science fiction.
Undeniably the major factor in the spectacular downfall of the Soviet Empire was its economic
non-viability. But a close causal second in the process was the system's inherent suppressing and
devouring of all aspects of civil society. Amongst the myriad oppositional currents that led to the
events of '89, Solidarnosc, the only mass free trade union to develop in the Eastern Bloc, could
arguably be said to have made the greatest contribution. It would be fair to assume that the same
heroic 'David against Goliath' nature of the contest that inspired British trades unionists in 1863 no
less influenced the British founders of PSC and the thousands of ordinary people who supported us,
particularly at the time of Martial Law. Another historical parallel was the bias of the activists
towards radical and socialist politics both in the 1860s and 1980. Ironically among the Londonbased supporters of the campaign for Polish independence in the 1860s was one Karl Marx, whose
ideas were later used or perhaps more accurately abused (depending on interpretation) to enslave
Poland.
As previously mentioned many of the original British PSC activists (of which I was one) had a
Marxist background, but whereas the 1863 socialist supporters of Poland were inspired by the ideal
of a future free community of European nations, the 1980 supporters were disgusted by the betrayal
of this ideal. This loose political group of former communists and, for a decade or so, Trotskyists
included Mark Jenkins, Robin Biick and Adam Westoby. During the second half of the 1970s, they
had been involved in pro-dissident campaigning which brought them into contact with, amongst
others, the Polish strike leader Edmund Baluka, Victor Feinberg and Vladimir Borisov, both pioneers of the Russian free trade union SMOT, Jiri Pelikan, the head of Czech television and Jan
Kavan, a student leader, who were both prominent in the Prague Spring of 1968. It was in the course
of this campaigning that they pioneered a strategy, later used so effectively by PSC, namely, that the
Labour Movement should unreservedly support East European trades unionists and democrats and
not the governments that were persecuting them. It became clear in the course of this work that at all
levels of the Labour Party and Trades Unions there existed a numerically small but vocal and influential group who were, for various reasons, determined to oppose this policy.
The outbreak of strikes in the summer of 1980 was the issue those of us who had been campaigning for freedom in Eastern Europe had been awaiting. 1 remember being on holiday in a cottage in
Wiltshire in the middle of rural England, with Robin Blick and Adam Westoby, reading with
mounting excitement of the amazing developments in Poland. Robin and Adam made a phone call
to some libertarian friends in London, suggesting they begin preparations for a public meeting to
support the Polish strikers. We joined together with a number of other former members of communist and Trotskyist organisations, at varying stages of disillusionment with existing communism
and/or the whole concept of state socialism, to hold a meeting in Conway Hall which launched the
Polish Solidarity Campaign. Amongst this group, some were members of the Labour Party, some
were in a libertarian group called by coincidence 'Solidarity' and some were now politically unattached. Using contacts made during pro-dissident campaigns in the 70s the British group immediately joined forces with a number of first and second generation Poles resident in Britain,who also
came to the launch meeting. In spite of the fact that the Polish community is not generally regarded
as being on the left of British politics these included several members of the British Labour Party
and/or the Polish Socialist Party in Exile, foremost of these being Wiktor Moszczynski and
S.Wasik. In the course of the first year they were joined by non-political and Conservative-inclined
Poles and PSC's active membership was bolstered by more Labour Party members and non-political
Britons. We were even supported for some time by a right-of-centre libertarian group.
But left and trades union circles did not give Poland the unqualified support that they had given
in the 1860s. Union leaders then had been unanimous initiators of a campaign of support. The
straight issue of trades union rights in 1980 should have elicited immediate support but a more complex political situation existed. Inevitably, the TUC leadership were mellowed and bureaucratised
by the passage of time. They were also in awe of the Soviet state machine and its satellite powers
each with their identical apparatuses of state-controlled unions. Some trades unionists were, as
Communist Party members or fellow travellers, more loyal to the Polish and Soviet state than to
rights of fellow trades unionists. Others were impressed by the power or bribed by the junkets of the
CPSU and its satellite nations. A similar situation existed in the Labour Party. One of the main functions of PSC was to persuade the British trades unions to provide Solidarnosc with the material
resources to function in legality and later illegality. A second important demand put to the British
Unions was to break their links with the state-run puppet trades unions of the Eastern Bloc. This
demand was to be written into our constitution. Interestingly it was this particular clause that the
Trotskyist International Marxist Group found so objectionable that they unsuccessfully proposed its
deletion at the 1982 AGM. A similar campaign to persuade the Labour Party to discontinue its conference invitations to visitors from Eastern Bloc Communist Parties was for a time successful.
To their credit many trades unions, both nationally and locally supported Solidarnosc from the
outset. These included the EEPTU, NALGO, AEUW, CPSA and GMWU. Trades union leaders
who supported our campaign speaking on pro-Solidarity platforms or attending our rallies included
Frank Chappie (EEPTU), Roy Grantham (APEX) Kate Losinska (CPSA) and Mike Blick
(NALGO).The opposite reaction was exemplified by Arthur Scargill, a former Communist Party
member and newly-elected President of the NUM. He responded typically to the murder of seven
striking miners in December 1981 by condemning Solidarity for having become too political.
However, many leading members of the Labour Party both left and right including the late Eric
Heffer, Peter Shore, Giles Radice and Phillip Whitehead were constant supporters.
After the declaration of Martial Law, as much wider sections of the British public became
involved, we broadened our campaign correspondingly. As in the nineteenth century the Polish
cause had appeal across the political spectrum. Leading members of all parties gave Solidarnosc
public support at PSC events: the most prominent that spring to mind are Neil Kinnock, Shirley
Williams, Russell Johnson, Simon Hughes, Bernard Braine, and Lord Bethell. But twentieth century
media coverage ensured support from thousands of ordinary people. It would seem probable that for
politicians and members of the public alike, memories of Poland's contribution to the fight against
Nazi Germany and the raw deal she had been accorded for her pains, might have influenced those
for whom the issue of free trades unions alone would not have been such a burning issue. Again the
potency of Poland's historical past attracted support.
Finally I will turn to a question that Giles highlights in his history - what difference did we
make? It is very difficult to quantify and be specific about about the part played by PSC in
Solidarnosc's eventual legalisation and therefore by implication in the downfall of Russia's
European Empire. All one can say is that it is a logical if factually unproveable deduction that if
support groups had not existed in countries outside the Eastern Bloc (particularly support groups
that challenged pro-Sovietism within the Western Labour Movement) the morale of the Soviet and
Polish governments would have been stronger and that of the opposition weaker. I am asserting,
even if only as an article of faith, that on the level of macro-politics we did make a difference. On
the micro-individual level we know we made a difference: the printing equipment sent through our
efforts by British trades unions to Solidarity branches before Martial Law and, after December
1981, the money, parcels, letters of support, protests about imprisonments and police brutality and
unaccounted-for deaths undoubtedly raised the spirits of individual Poles.
10
To return to the title of our book: in campaigning for Polish freedoms I believe we did indeed
strengthen our own democracy. Freedoms in any society must be reasserted by each generation. We
did this when we challenged covert support for totalitarianism in the British labour movement, when
we highlighted Robert Maxwell's decision, no doubt influenced by his business connections with
Jaruzelski, not to give coverage about Solidarnosc or its suppression in the 'Daily Mirror', or when
we campaigned against government injustice in denying Poles visa-free travel. Like many another
pressure group we reasserted that it is possible in a democracy for a small group of people to influence and change the policies of powerful organisations, institutions and governments particularly
when the cause is as just as that of Solidarnosc
Do we have a future role? Only time will tell. But the history of Poland and Eastern Europe suggests caution, so we have decided to maintain a low-key skeleton organisation.
11
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE
POLISH SOLIDARITY CAMPAIGN
By Giles Hart
INTRODUCTION
In August 1980 a campaign group was formed in Britain to support the strikers in Gdansk. Over the
years it has undertaken hundreds of activities, and tens of thousands of people have participated in its
public events. What were the forces that shaped the Polish Solidarity Campaign, that determined its
activities, its attitudes, its growth, its style, its development? How did the PSC manage to keep going
right through to 1994 when apparently similar groups often lasted only a year or two? How did it manage to hold itself together, when it was not a group based around an existing organization, or one dominating personality, and it had a wide ranging membership which had views varying sufficiently, one
might have thought, to tear the organization apart? What actually did the Polish Solidarity Campaign
do, and how much difference did its activities make, either in Britain or in Poland? Who were the people who were most active in PSC, and what were their backgrounds?
It is a lot easier to ask such questions, than to give definite answers, but in this brief history I do try
to give some answers, and attempt to keep a balance between summary and detail, and between forces
that shaped PSC, and individuals who were decisive in the actions and policies of PSC. I have called it
'A Brief History', because I do not claim to be definitive (hence 'a', not 'the'), 'Brief, because it
could easily be ten times as long and omit much detail, as so much was done, and 'History of PSC',
because I am not attempting to give an account of other organizations, though 1 refer to others, in
respect of their relationship to PSC.
In particular I make no attempt to chronicle the events in Poland that were so much more important
and decisive than anything happening in the PSC. I assume the reader is familiar with events in
Poland, and also recommend the chronology of events and suggested bibliography contained elsewhere in this book.
I have not attempted to look into the psychological motives of those who were most active in PSC,
though no doubt some people found fulfilment and a sense of achievement through their activities that
possibly they did not find elsewhere. For some, particularly of Polish descent, but living or even raised
in Britain there was the factor of confirming a Polish identity, and possibly for historically minded
Brits there was a feeling that Poland was a special case for Britain (due to the Second World War).
I am indebted to all those PSC members whose recollections and comments have enabled me to
add to my original draft. I am particularly indebted to Ed Switalski and Adam Robinski (and the Polish
Enterprise Centre) for use of their computer facilities, and their help and co-operation in using these
facilities. Except where I have quoted other people's assessments, all the assessments are my own. To
those who feel they, or their efforts, have been treated unfairly or even omitted, I am sorry but this
account cannot be exhaustive, and though I have tried to be objective, it is inevitable that I have not
been so (if there is such a thing as objectivity). I have tried to get all my facts right, but if any are
wrong I apologize - and invite you to point out any mistakes to me.
When I refer to a period such as 1980/81, I mean the period from the creation of PSC in August
1980 to the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of 1981 (31/5/81). By a period such as 1983/4 I mean the
period from the 1983 AGM to the 1984 AGM. Usually the A.G.M occurred in the first quarter of each
year.
I have divided my 'Brief History' into three chapters. As far as possible, the information in each
chapter refers to the period of that chapter. Where I have been writing about some development or
issue that spans the periods I have occasionally, to avoid breaking the continuity of the point I am
making, strayed from one chapter period to another. However I have attempted to make this clear in
such cases by giving the relevant dates of what I am writing about.
12
Chapter 1
August 1980, Creation of PSC, Martial Law December 1981 to
AGM March 1982
1 - THE CREATION OF PSC
The Polish Solidarity Campaign (PSC) was founded in August 1980 by Robin Blick, Karen Blick,
and Adam Westoby. The main idea was to raise support among the Left and Labour movement in
Britain for the Polish strikers in Gdansk.
The actual circumstances were that Karen, Robin and Adam were on holiday in a cottage in
Wiltshire in August 1980. They had all been brought up in Communist families. Robin's family was
pro-Soviet, while Karen and Adam grew up in their respective families believing that the Soviet
Union was a paradise on Earth. Karen remembers that the death of Stalin was a traumatic day for
her as a small child, in her house seeing a black edged 'Daily Worker' but in school being told
Stalin was an evil man. As adults they had seen through this view of the Soviet Union, and had gone
through a Trotskyist phase (with the Gerry Healy group). They had left this phase behind also, and
were still interested in helping working class movements, but not any aligned with the Soviet viewpoint. The Blicks had since 1974 been members of the Labour Party.
While on holiday they heard with interest news on the radio about the strikes in Gdansk, and felt
that there should be a public meeting in London to support the strikers, and in general to challenge
the Left about 'who do you support, which side are you on?'. They rang up a Libertarian Socialist
group, called 'Solidarity', to book a hall and make all necessary arrangements (publicity, leaflets
etc.), for a public meeting on August 26th, 1980 at Conway Hall London.
This British group called 'Solidarity' was originally formed by former Trotskyists, who having
broken away from the Gerry Healy group (in 1960) had formed their own (non-Trotskyist) group
'Solidarity'. During the intervening years the 'Solidarity' group had been joined by others who
lacked this background (e.g. Liz Willis), but came from anarchist or other Left backgrounds. The
'Solidarity' group had published books and pamphlets on a variety of subjects, including Poland and
Eastern Europe, and they did a good job of publicizing the meeting among their members, and the
larger public. About 100 people attended the meeting, chaired by Robin Blick.
Among these hundred were Wiktor Moszczynski, a Labour councillor from Ipswich who had
been invited by the Blicks, and travelled down from Ipswich for the meeting as he subsequently did
for several months, before moving to London. Wiktor was in close contact with KOR (Committee
for Defence of Workers) and its publications. Wiktor had already, throughout July and August, written a series of letters to E.P.Thompson and leading trades unionists about the strikes in Poland, urging them to express their support. The first of several articles by Wiktor, about the Polish strikes,
had appeared in 'Tribune' magazine on 15th August, and Wiktor had chaired a press conference
about the Polish strikes, at the Journalists International Centre, on August 22nd.
In the 1970s Robin Blick had set up the 'Greater London Tribune Group' with Mark Jenkins,
which campaigned about East European issues. Wiktor acted as a translator at one of the public
meetings organised by this group, and that is how Robin and Wiktor met.
Walter Kendall attended the meeting. Walter (like Wiktor) had a very different political background to the Blicks. Walter has been a life long member of the Labour Party, an active trade unionist and democratic socialist and author of a standard critical text on Communism in Great Britain
'The Revolutionary Movement in Britain, 1900-1921'.
Mr S. Wasik was there, from the Polish Socialist Party in Exile, a small group perhaps, that
Wiktor also belonged to, but one that, through the 'Socialist International', also called the 'Second
13
International', provided contacts and meetings with real Socialists across the world, including discussions and good contacts with Willy Brandt. News about Poland coming through the radio was
relayed to the meeting, in addition to lots of factual information from Wiktor, and discussions about
viewpoints and further actions. By the end of the meeting the 'Polish Solidarity Campaign' had
been formed: the founder members were not only the three founders (Robin, Karen, Adam), but also
ill the others who signed up as members.
The name 'Solidarity' in the PSC was fortunate in that, later on the 31st August 1980, the strikers in Gdansk decided to call their new union Solidarnosc (Solidarity). Our 'Solidarity' was more
suggested by movements like the Vietnam Solidarity Campaign of the late 60s and 70s, and the
Chile Solidarity Campaign.
However it should be pointed out that a figure in the Labour movement Vladimir Derer had been
running his 'East European Solidarity Campaign' with a bulletin called 'Labour Focus on Eastern
Europe' for some years before 1980. It should also be recorded that the Gdansk strikers had issued
three strike bulletins by 23/8/80; the name of the bulletins - 'Solidarnosc'. To summarise: the first
meeting of the Polish Solidarity Campaign was set up by, and consisted of a coalition of forces from
the left; the democratic, anti-Stalinist (mostly British) left.
The meeting on August 26th was the first in Britain to rally support for the strikers, and
preceded 2. Socialist Workers Party meeting by three days. Perhaps it was the first such meeting,
outside Poland, in the world. Some of those present at this first PSC meeting were to play major
roles in our ;evelopment and future activities: Robin Blick, PSC Secretary 1980/81 (we had no such
post as Chairman in the first year), Karen Blick, PSC chair(wo)man 1981/82, and Wiktor
Moszczynski, PSC chairman 1982/83. Mr. S Wasik, who had been a member of the Socialist
Party in Poland before the Second World War, would be a useful lead (with Wiktor Moszczynski)
into the Polish community, and a PSC auditor throughout the years, and Walter Kendall would be
PSC chairman 1983/84.
PSC owes a debt of gratitude to the 'Solidarity' group. Although the 'Solidarity' group had made
all the arrangements for the founding meeting of PSC, and indeed bore all the expenses, 'Solidarity'
never affiliated to PSC, they were in no way behind the scenes controlling PSC, and very few of
them joined PSC. Why was this? At this length of time it is difficult to be sure. Ken Weller, one of
the 'Solidarity' group organizers of the August 26th meeting recalls that 'Solidarity' only ever
intended to act as an enabler for the meeting, and any campaign that developed from it. Adam
Westoby recalls that one or two of the 'Solidarity' members were very involved in the first few
months but then ceased to be involved due to the choice of speakers on PSC platforms, e.g. Terry
Duffy, and Neil Kinnock. Although some of the 'Solidarity' members continued to attend our public
events only two of them remained active in PSC, for brief periods: Liz Willis, who became a member of the Editorial Board, and Terry Liddle who later on became a committee member.
2 - ACTIVITIES, GROWTH, CONTACTS IN THE POLISH COMMUNITY
The first action taken by PSC was to send two telegrams at the end of the founding meeting: one to
the strikers in Gdansk expressing support, and the other to the Polish government supporting the
workers' call for the establishment of free trade unions. The second action was to demonstrate at the
annual TUC (Trades Union Congress) at Brighton, in September 1980. One thousand PSC leaflets
were distributed challenging the trades unions about their uncertain attitude to the strikers, urging
them to 'ditch the company trades unions', stop the 'double standards', 'show the door' to Boris
Averyanov, the TUC guest representing one of Russia's bogus 'company' unions. The leaflet was
good hard-hitting stuff, and there was nothing polite or behind the scenes about the 'Ditch the
14
Company Trades Unions' banner unfurled for all to see. To quote a contemporary report 'We successfully antagonised quite a lot of people'.
Contacts were made with the Polish community through Wiktor Moszczynski, Mr S Wasik, and
Piotr Iglikowski, head of the Polish students in Britain (an organisation mostly consisting of students and graduates born in Britain of Polish parents). Through personal contacts, public meetings,
and other activities, a membership started to be built up, reaching 66 members by the 1981 Annual
General Meeting, held on 31/5/81 when the structure of the organization was put on a more formal
footing, based on a constitution by Robin Blick. By August 1981 we had 100 members.
During this period our campaigning continued of course in the Trade Unions, and perhaps due to
our influence, perhaps due to events in Poland, perhaps due to both factors, trade union attitudes
changed. On 25/2/81 PSC picketted the TUC International Committee Meeting about help to
Poland, and the TUC officially agreed to send assistance to Solidarnosc. Thereafter we always had
good relations with the TUC International Committee, and particularly with Michael Walsh of that
committee. On 1/6/81 Wiktor Moszczynski arranged the arrival of Solidarnosc delegates at the
E.E.P.T.U. conference, and the G.M.B.A.T.U. (General Municipal Boiler Makers Associated Trade
Union): Wiktor was instrumental in fact in getting the delegates British visas after a last minute
refusal by the British authorities. The change in TUC attitudes can be measured by the fact that
when Solidarnosc delegates Jozef Patyna and Anna Fotyga visited the TUC for talks (29/11/81 to
2/12/81) they came over from Poland, and were put up at a hotel, as official guests of the T.U.C,
which was highly concerned at the developing threat to Solidarnosc in Poland. Wiktor had good
contacts and discussions with Jozef and Anna during this visit.
Apart from our campaigning in the Labour party, PSC also had contacts with the peace movements. As mentioned earlier even before PSC started Wiktor had written to E.P. Thompson, who
appeared on our platforms. When John Taylor went to Poland in 1980 (more details later) he first
visited Thompson who put him in touch with Polish academics who provided contacts for him in
Poland. When John Taylor returned from Poland, having spent months with Solidarnosc, it was
E.P.Thompson who put him in touch with PSC (through Wiktor Moszczynski), and who organised
the first speaking tours of CND branches for John.
Additionally on 15/3/81 Wiktor had a meeting with top members of E.N.D. and sympathizers to
discuss Polish events: present were E P Thompson, Mary Kaldor, Czech dissident Jan Kavan and
Russian dissident Zhores Medvedev.
3 - POLISH SOLIDARITY CAMPAIGN (PSC) NEWS
Additionally, in order to reach and inform a larger audience PSC started a magazine, Polish
Solidarity Campaign News. It was produced to professional standards in terms of layout and printing, and involved a great deal of work by the Editorial Board: Steve Murray, Julia Jensen (also
known as (a.k.a) Julia Kellett), Piotr Iglikowski, Ed Switalski (a.k.a. Al Gregg) and Robin Blick,
with help and contributions from others.
Four issues were produced between March '81 and October '81, each 12 pages long, containing
translations of Solidarnosc documents, detailed information (including maps) about the growth of
Solidarnosc, essays about Poland and the background to the current situation, articles about the attitudes of the Labour movement to developments in Poland, and some news about PSC and its activities. Altogether PSC News probably gave better coverage of Poland, and the issues surrounding it,
than other publications available to the public.
Much time and effort was spent placing it in bookshops, and it was eventually , in 1982, successfully placed in the John Menzies chain of newsagents. Thus it could be found by members of the
15
public who were not particularly looking for such a magazine, and had never heard of PSC.
The magazine therefore served to inform a wider public about Poland, and gave greater prestige
and credibility to our campaign. For those whose interest in Poland extended to actually doing
something to help, the magazine gave people an opportunity to join and become involved in PSC.
About 2000 copies were printed of each issue. PSC aimed to place these copies in as many different
places as possible (in any case many shops naturally had a limit to how many they would take) so
not only was much energy spent in placing the magazine, but much energy was spent in trying to
recover the monies afterwards. Also, as people (not PSC members) were being paid for doing the
printing, and from 1982 also for layout and typesetting to professional standards, much PSC money
was spent on producing the magazines. An idea of the impact 'PSC News' could have on a member
of the public is conveyed in the novel 'Spring Will Be Ours' by Sue Gee.
4 - STRUCTURE & INDEPENDENCE
PSC from the first was intended to be a broad-based group of volunteers, independent in terms of
structure and identity from all other groups. Under the constitution many groups could affiliate to
us. and did, e.g. constituency branches of Labour or Liberal parties, student unions, a dance group,
an old people's home, other campaigning groups, as well as numerous branches of trades unions,
and even national head quarters of trade unions. N.A.L.G.O. (National Association of Local
Government Officers) was very supportive, twelve of their branches affiliated to us, as well as their
International Relations Office, with whom we had very good relations.
However, no affiliated organization had a block vote (however many thousands of members the
Affiliated organization might represent) and although an organization could take out as many affiliation memberships as they wished to send delegates to vote at our AGM only two organization ever
did this (four affiliations, four memberships, four votes).
The original Aims and Objectives of the PSC, as formally defined at the 1981 AGM were:
•TO CAMPAIGN TO:
1. Support and defend the struggle of all working class and democratic rights in Poland.
2. Gain recognition in Britain for Polish working class and democratic organisations and for the
withdrawal of recognition and support from state - employer puppet organisations.
3. Encourage and assist all forms of contact between working class and democratic organisations
in Britain and Poland.'
Although at every AGM from 1982 to date time has been spent amending the constitution
(rewording and expanding our aims and objectives, to cope with new developments etc., altering the
number and functions of committee posts, etc.), some basic rules have remained from the original
constitution drafted by Robin Blick for the 1981 AGM. As different organizations can have very
different structures, and the structure of an organisation can make the difference between success
and failure, it is worth noting what these basic rules of the structure were.
Firstly: one membership one vote. Members should be able to support the aims and objectives of
the PSC, as set out in the constitution.
Secondly: an AGM to be held in the first quarter of each year. Everything to be up for voting at
the AGM: the constitution can be amended, resolutions can be proposed and accepted or rejected,
and every post on the committee is up for election.
Thirdly: Between AGMs the power passes (through the members at the AGM) to the committee
members, and remains with the committee. Only the committee members can vote at the committee
meetings held between AGMs, to decide the best way to implement the resolutions and aims and
16
objectives decided upon at the AGM. But all PSC members can attend all committee meetings, with
full speaking rights, and rights to propose motions, though no voting rights. Indeed any member of
an affiliated group can attend our committee meetings, with, time permitting, speaking rights, as is
the case for the AGM. (Had the hundreds of thousands of members of our affiliated groups exercised this right we might have had a problem).
For the first three years we held 'members' meetings' (usually monthly) where PSC members
made decisions that the committee would then decide how to implement at 'committee meetings'.
But this was very time consuming, and as less members attended 'members meetings', and those
that did were happy to participate in 'committee meetings', the 'members meetings' were scrapped,
and replaced with the arrangements outlined above.
So, fundamentally PSC was highly democratic. I invite readers to compare our democratic structure with that of other organisations, (e.g. the main political parties in Britain and Poland). The
power was with the members, who could attend all meetings, hold the committee accountable for
their decisions, and nominate any member (or themselves) for election at any AGM - and elect the
committee.
Nobody was elected for an indefinite period, and there were no obstacles to holding leadership
challenges, as every year, at the AGM all committee posts were up, not for challenges, but for election. Such a democratic structure served PSC well over the years, allowing exhausted members to
bow out gracefully at the AGM, and new members who wished to take on responsibilities the
chance to get involved by attending committee meetings before standing for committee at the next
AGM.
Obviously however, such a democratic and flexible structure could not (and should not) give any
group on the committee any permanence, other than by the members' support at the AGM and it did
open the possibility of a take-over by outsiders, (people who joined PSC in order to change PSC's
direction) as we shall see later. This was a danger that groups with less democratic structures (e.g.
less regular elections, co-options of half the committee members by the elected half etc., all committee members to be appointed by a leader elected for indefinite period etc.) would not be so open
to.
One point in the original constitution that was later changed (at the 1984 AGM) was that the
Chairperson and Secretary could not serve in their respective capacity for more than one year, and
that the Secretary could not serve as Chairperson in the following year, or vice versa. The point of
this was both to avoid 'ossification', and possible splits and bad feelings among members which
might arise if the existing Chairperson or Secretary stood for re-election, in opposition to other contenders.
However by 1984 it seemed that this rule could prevent a dedicated and experienced PSC
Chairman or Secretary from carrying on in one of these posts (if the membership thought them the
best candidate) and PSC might end up with unsuitable leaders, or perhaps, as the years rolled on.
and this rule excluded 2 more people each year, no candidates to run PSC as Chairman, or
Secretary, at all. In short it would be better to risk 'ossification' than face 'extinction'. And indeed
in future years we did have Chairman and Secretaries who served for more than one year, and at
times when few wanted to shoulder the burden PSC was glad to have them. But let us return to
1981.
5 - FRICTION AND CONTACTS WITH THE LEFT - AND THE RIGHT
Our relations with groups on the Left sometimes caused friction, and generated suspicion. The first
demonstration and march ever organized in Britain on behalf of Polish workers (as distinct from the
17
picketing and leaflettings PSC had carried out) was organized, not by PSC, but by a Labour group
called "Hands off the Polish Workers Campaign' associated with the Labour leadership of the
Greater London Council. The march took place on 12/4/81. PSC supported the event, but tried to get
its name taken off a leaflet due to a restriction imposed by the organisers on the wording of placards
and banners: 'No Cold War Slogans'. If this meant anything at all it seemed to mean that one
could say - 'Hands off Polish Workers' but not say whose hands were threatening the Polish
workers, - whose hands had oppressed the Polish people since the war. The leaflet quoted Tony
Benn MP: saying "all Democratic Socialists should support Solidarnosc in their efforts to
introduce democratic accountability into Poland.'
It was good that Tony Benn, Labour MP, supported Solidarnosc, but this was the same Tony
Benn MP who never criticised the totalitarianism of Eastern Europe, had even said on one occasion
that as twenty million Soviets had lost their lives fighting the Nazis, he would never criticise the
Soviet Union. (One would have thought the sacrifices of the Soviet People in the Second World
War would have made it all the more necessary to stand up for the human rights of the Soviet peorle. rather than keep silent about the suppression of these rights by the undemocratic Soviet government). This was the same Tony Benn who had supported inviting Communist Party officials to the
Labour Conferences, and continued to support this attitude in the face of our campaign in the
Labour NEC in 1981 and 1982 (see later). I emphasize this point because it shows a major difference between PSC's attitude, and actions and those of some of the other groups who seemed to, or
did support Solidarnosc.
Despite the restrictions, however, the march went from Hyde Park and past the Soviet Embassy,
a route we would often take in future for our marches. So it was pretty clear whose hands were
being told to keep off the Polish Workers, and to confirm the point there was a communist counter
demonstration outside the Soviet Embassy.
We provided a large turnout at the demo, including a Polish contingent, from the Polish Socialist rLTty in exile, and others. On the demonstration, held on 12/4/81, the day after the start of the
Brixton riots, many PSC members were disgusted to see placards linking the case of the Polish
workers with rioters in Brixton and bombers and terrorists in Northern Ireland. This, together with
the other differences mentioned above (perhaps typified by a placard reading 'Defence of the Soviet
Union - Yes! Stalinism - No!' in contrast to our banner reading 'Polish Unions need your help')
made PSC determined to ensure we would hold our own demos in future.
The 'Hands off the Polish Workers Campaign' was a coalition brought together for the staging of
this demo, and was never active again. Here was another difference between PSC and some other
groups.
We were approached for joint co-operation, with offers of funding, by David Irving, then less
well known than subsequently when he has emerged in his true colours as a apologist for Nazism,
and a Holocaust denier. We made it clear to him that we wanted nothing to do with him, and had
nothing in common with him and his views.
6 - SUPPORT FROM MPs - AND CAMPAIGNING IN THE LABOUR PARTY
During 1980 and 1981 we had public meetings at which (in addition to friendly trade unionists, historians, and Polish exiles) Labour MPs such as Ken Weetch, Eric Heffer, and Neil Kinnock spoke.
After Martial Law it was not difficult to find supporters for Solidarnosc, but it was rarer then, and
something new. Our good relations with such MPs did not stop us picketing and leafleting the
Labour conference in 1981 about the decision to invite representatives of communist parties to the
Conference, as fellow socialists, instead of the true democrats and socialists that these anti-democratic communists were imprisoning.
18
At the picket we put our case to Michael Foot (then Labour leader), James Callaghan (ex-Labour
leader, and ex-prime minister), Judith Hart and others. Attempts to change this Labour practice were
actively pursued by PSC through Wiktor Moszczynski and Naomi Hyamson, and through our
friendly Labour MPs such as Eric Heffer. At the 1981 Labour NEC (National Executive Council)
we only got 3 votes (Eric Heffer, Neil Kinnock, and a Trotskyist Young Socialist) out of 25, in 1982
we achieved success through a narrow majority (though later on the policy was changed back, to
some extent).
No doubt the events of Martial Law had an influence on the voting in 1982, but in 1981 the
Labour party was inviting Communists in spite of the events in Hungary in '56 and Czechoslovakia
in '68. It was our campaign, linking the events in Poland with the issue of Labour's guest list which
was a major factor in the change of policy.
7 - AID FOR SOLIDARNOSC - AND CONTACT WITH IT
Once Solidarnosc was legalized in Poland, they were allowed to accept material support from other
trades unions, but from nobody else. From the start PSC set up a Trade Union Appeal Fund, with
several MPs and trades unionists as sponsors, for trade union donations for Solidarnosc.
(Incidentally Arthur Koestler was approached for support, and while he sent his moral support he
felt that the use of his name would be detrimental to the cause). We also encouraged trade unions to
donate goods that were still working but no longer required, (e.g. printing equipment) to
Solidarnosc. The trade unions supplied the equipment, we supplied the know how as to delivery,
and destination, and sometimes the cost of delivery.
We had contacts with Solidarnosc from the earliest days. Apart from the already mentioned help
PSC gave to Solidarnosc delegates in June '81, and Nov/Dec '81, PSC had much earlier, in Dec '80
had a meeting in London with Miroslaw Chojecki to arrange closer ties between PSC and
Solidarnosc. A similar talk took place between Wiktor Moszczynski and Bogdan Lis and Waclaw
Korczynski at Wiktor's home, on 1/8/81. In the meantime Wiktor had been of assistance to Anna
Kowalska of KOR in May and June '81, helping her have meetings with Labour MPs, Amnesty
International, the GLC (Greater London Council) and the Parliamentary Human Rights Group (with
Sir Bernard Braine, Lord Avebury (Eric Lubbock), Frank Allaun). Wiktor also met Janusz
Onyszkiewicz and Anna Walentynowicz in July '81. Anna was the worker and activist at the
Gdansk shipyard whose sacking had led to the strikes from which Solidarnosc was born. Anna spent
a memorable evening with the PSC committee discussing Polish matters. We maintained contact
with her, and later had a special 'Anna Walentynowicz' fund to give some help to her when she was
imprisoned.
John Taylor was a PSC member who had a lot of contact with Solidarnosc. John was in Poland
in September 1980 and helped Solidarnosc acquire a printing press. He bought it allegedly for
export from an international trade fair in Poland, but it somehow never left the country. When the
goods were not exported John was prevented from leaving the country. So Solidarnosc HQ looked
after him until Feb '81, when (having worked with Solidarnosc on a daily basis) he was allowed to
leave. Possibly the Polish authorities concluded that he was more dangerous to them inside Poland
than outside, as having been punished by not being allowed to leave Poland, he was then prevented
from returning until 1990. When John returned to England in Feb 1981 he wrote a book 'Five
months with Solidarity', and became an active campaigner with PSC, and on his own initiative.
8 - FUND RAISING, INCLUDING T-SHIRTS
In addition to fund raising through jumble sales, and selling Solidarnosc badges, in October 1981,
having already sold some T-shirts, we started a mail order business of selling T-shirts, followed by
19
sweat shirts. Through a letter about this in the 'Daily Mirror' (in response to an article criticizing
Eric Heffer for wearing one of our Solidarnosc T-shirts at the Labour conference) we received
orders in 3 weeks for 1,000 shirts. When dispatching the shirts we sent letters giving full details of
PSC, our other sales items, including sweatshirts, and thus by December '81 we were deluged with
follow-up orders, and had hundreds of new members throughout the United Kingdom, and thousands of pounds sterling.
Many people helped me with the packing and mailing of the first 1,000 shirt orders and some
people continued as the sales orders carried on for years. I particularly wish to acknowledge the help
of Danuta Gorzynska-Hart, Zofia Hart (aka Ewa Germanis), and Ewa Cwirko-Godycka (aka Ewa
Metelska), quite apart from their other activities for PSC later.
9 - OUR LEVEL OF ACTIVITIES-AND THE IMPACT ON OUR LIVES
We no longer have a complete record of our activities during this time, but the volume of such
activities completely dominated the lives of many members. We were all volunteers, most of us
holding down full time jobs, and finding we were working harder, and probably for more hours in
the week for PSC, than at work.
Many of the active committee members were busy with the PSC News, and there was
massive correspondence. There was the whole mail order side of things, and the turnover of PSC
increased from a few hundred pounds by the '81 AGM to over £22,000 by the '82 AGM, mostly
made up of small cheques - perhaps an average cheque was £4.00, so there were a lot of accounting
and bank transactions.
Additionally there were meetings - apart from those organised by PSC (committee, members,
and public meetings) we also tried to address as many other meetings of other groups as possible.
Both before Martial Law, and afterwards there was a high level of interest from all sorts of places.
Anna Lubelska, an active PSC committee member in the first few years remembers four meetings
she addressed on behalf of PSC which show not only the breadth of these activities, but also the
diverse nature of the organisations that wanted to hear more about what was happening in Poland and
show their support. One of these was giving a talk on Solidarnosc and Poland from the pulpit of a
church (by the BBC at Portland Place): another through an American member Bob Botsford, was
addressing an organization of American Democrats abroad at a rather smart venue in Mayfair, another
was at a Labour Conference fringe meeting where she found herself on the same platform as a very proSolidarnosc union official who, for reasons now long forgotten, 'everybody was supposed to hate'.
On the fourth occasion Anna was addressing a smoke-filled Tribune Group meeting (run by Chris
Mullins) at which, although this occurred after Martial Law, there was, among some of the audience,
indignation that a group other than the U.S.A. was being identified as the 'bad guys'.
Anna remembers: 'Support for Solidarnosc in England came from both sides of the political
spectrum, but I soon realised that people looked at Solidarnosc through their own ideological blinkers The fact that Mrs Thatcher and President Reagan supported Solidarnosc meant that many people
just refused to have anything to do with it. I found myself condemned by an Irish feminist who
damned me for supporting Solidarnosc which she believed was a movement which would result in
the suppression of women by the Catholic church. I was vilified by Stalinist trade unionists outside
the Trades; Union Congress in Brighton. A year later even more trades unionists were against
Solidarnosc. This was because the electricians' union, which had always supported Solidarnosc, had
broken the printers' strike at Wapping that year and so we were damned by association with them'.
Similarly Karen Blick recalls a meeting of the Hayes Labour Party where the idea of supporting
Solidarnosc was treated with derision because Solidarnosc was supported by Kate Losinska of the
C.P.S.A. (Civil and Public Servants Association).
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Wiktor Moszczynski's records show the sheer volume of meetings activity: in 1981 he attended
48 meetings (either PSC meetings, or meetings on behalf of PSC), in 1982 he attended 64 such
meetings, in 1983 he attended 18. (Wiktor was less active after the March 1983 AGM). And in the
midst of all this activity, the hundreds of membership applications to be answered, often with letters that needed answers to questions, the hundreds of shirts that had to be sent out before
Christmas, (for many were ordered as presents), the translations and writing articles, came the
events of 13/12/1981. Our response had to be, and was, to increase our efforts - not to be stunned
into inactivity.
10 - IMMEDIATE RESPONSES TO MARTIAL LAW
We were all devastated when we heard the news of Martial Law on 13th December 1981 and due to
quick action and co-ordination by a number of members (most notably Ed Switalski, who as a keen
short-wave listener had monitored the news from Poland till the small hours, and begun organizing
from 6am on the Sunday) we managed to organize a demonstration (and get it announced on the
radio in advance) outside the Polish Embassy that afternoon, attended by such figures as Eric Heffer
MP who attempted to make protests in person to the Embassy.
11 - OUR DEMONSTRATION - 20TH DECEMBER 1981
PSC members and committee members present immediately decided to organize a demonstration in
Hyde Park the following Sunday and due to immense efforts by Robin and Karen Blick, Adam
Westoby, Tadek Jarski, Wiktor Moszczynski, Jacek Rostowski, Wanda Koscia and others, the
demonstration was publicised, organised and stewarded from scratch. Following a press conference
in the House of Commons on Wednesday, 16/12/81 attended by Labour MPs Eric Heffer, Peter
Shore, and Philip Whitehead, both ITV and BBC television gave much needed publicity to our
forthcoming demonstration.
The demo was held in a snow storm with an estimated 14000 people attending. There were
speakers from all the main parties of the time - Conservative, Labour, Liberal, S.D.P., and this was
probably the first time that speakers from all 4 parties had ever shared a platform together.
Our Secretary, Piotr Iglikowski, who had been in Poland on the day Martial Law started had
managed to return to the demonstration in time to give a first hand account of the situation there.
To many in PSC the demo of 20/12/81 and the weeks of organising beforehand were the high
point of PSC's achievements. Never again would there be so much sympathy, interest and support
for what PSC was doing, from MPs, the media, the Polish community, political groups of all kinds,
trade unions, and the British public. Never again would so many people consider that a massive turn out of support WAS IMPORTANT: never again would so many people in PSC work so hard so
quickly (or need to). In future years many who attended on 20/12/81 did not turn up to PSC demos
because it was rainy, or because it was sunny: because it was an evening, or because it was an afternoon: because it was a Sunday or Bank holiday, or because it was their shopping day, (Saturday), or
because it was a weekday evening. But on 20/12/81, on a Sunday afternoon a few days before
Christmas, 14,000 people turned out in a snowstorm to express their dismay and outrage at the
events in Poland.
Probably every person who attended has their memories of this emotional demonstration. I
remember, with others selling Solidarnosc T-shirts, badges etc. in a snow storm - not the right occasion perhaps, certainly not the right weather but with the help of the slogan 'it won't always be
snowing' we raised about £400.00 although we were only visible to a small part of the crowd.
Although probably everyone in the crowd would have liked the right to speak one Conservative
21
M.P. stormed onto the platform in the middle of Robin Blick's speech, pushed Robin in the back,
and demanded his right to speak - and was given his chance. (Robin never did finish his speech.)
Apart from this incident the crowd behaved in an orderly and proper manner throughout, giving
the lie, as crowds at PSC events always did, to the widely spread belief in Britain that whenever a
demonstration occurs where people have strong feelings, violence will inevitably ensue. Incidentally
how much the Conservative MP concerned (Harry Greenway) cared about Poland rather than self
publicity can be judged from his contribution to a debate in the House of Commons soon afterwards
about lack of freedom of speech in Poland. Greenway's contribution was not to talk about Poland,
but to protest about his lack of freedom of speech at the PSC demo!
I also recall that all sorts of organisations rallied round in helping with arrangements. As nearly
every active PSC member was involved in stewarding 1 was, as PSC treasurer, worried about the
lack of spare people to handle the collection of money at the demo, and to safeguard it afterwards.
Tadek Jarski therefore arranged that the Group 4 Security firm would collect and safeguard the
money, and on the Monday deliver it to the Banking trade union BIFU, who would count it, and
then pay the money over by cheque to the 'Medical Aid for Poland' charity, as announced at the
demonstration. Both BIFU and Group 4 gave their services free of course, and the arrangement
worked well.
Ed Switalski recalls 'Few of us who saw it can forget the sight of the enormous column of people
forming up and marching along behind a large cross carried laid flat at shoulder height in the style
of a Good Friday by young men from a Polish Centre'.
Among his many memories of the demo, Wiktor Moszczynski, who was chief steward,particularly recalls two. As the demonstrators left Hyde Park there was a Trotskyist group waiting outside,
with their banners and placards. Wiktor had to tell the Polish demonstrators that the Trotskyists
were on our side, and waiting to join the march - not counter-demonstrators to be abused. The numbers of the demonstrators was so great that neither the PSC stewards, nor the police could keep control (not that there was violence of course) and the march somehow ended being split up, with one
part of it following a loudspeaker car, twenty minutes and many streets apart from some thousands
of other marchers.
12 - SOLIDARITY WITH SOLIDARITY (SWS)
Tadek Jarski (one of our very active members, though not a committee member) felt he could better
carry out the kind of activities he wished to do for Solidarnosc without going through the structure
of PSC. An early SWS leaflet claims that SWS was formed on the 14th December 1981. If this date
is correct it means that Tadek Jarski did not inform PSC members of the fact until ten days later
(24/12/81).
In the intervening period Tadek had been active with other PSC members in organizing the demo
of 20/12/81, and had suggested himself (and been accepted) as the demo chairman: a position that
was no doubt helpful in establishing a high personal profile. SWS was extremely active, and continued until 1992. Over the years PSC co-operated with SWS on joint demonstrations and activities on
occasions, and we often supported their events, and vice-versa. At other times we were denounced
by SWS, and our offers of co-operation were spurned. There were quite a lot of members who
belonged to both PSC and SWS, and even more people who turned up to both SWS and PSC's public events, being unaware or indifferent to any frictions between the leaderships of the groups.
The denunciations of PSC, for what we had or had not done, sometimes based on accurate information, sometimes false, were made in SWS circulars, or at demonstrations outside the Polish
Embassy, even in letters to the press. PSC believed that it served nobody's interests except the
Polish Government's if Solidarity support organisations were squabbling in public, and even to
squabble in private could lead to hostility, diversion of effort from the real enemy, and reduce the
possibility of co-operation in future.
A regular problem thus emerged which was put on the agenda for PSC committee meetings: how
to respond to the latest attack? Should we keep silent, and not try to refute the attack, and in some
cases let the inaccuracies stick. Should we respond, thus perpetuating and publicising the issue, and
give people excuses to have nothing to do with either PSC or SWS? Even to discuss the issue at all
at the committee meetings was to use up valuable time, that could be better spent. There was probably no right answer to this problem, but naturally we did respond on occasions, usually by rather
cryptic items in our circulars that would mean nothing to those who did not know of the original
accusations.
Probably the existence of SWS and PSC spurred both groups to greater efforts, to more activities. SWS was like PSC, an English language organisation, but it perhaps drew a higher proportion
of active Poles into its membership than PSC. This may have been due to the fact that unlike SWS
we had a changing (often not Polish) leadership and therefore would not be easily identifiable
through a well known, recognisable, and charismatic figure. It should also be recorded that SWS
organised a demo outside the Polish Embassy every month on the 13th, attended by at least 50 people, and sometimes many more, from some time in 1982, through to the setting up of the
Solidarnosc government in 1989.
13 - CREATION OF SOLIDARITY WORKING GROUP / INFORMATION OFFICE
There were many Poles stranded in Britain at the time of Martial Law. PSC members Jacek
Rostowski and Wanda Koscia helped set up the 'Solidarity Trade Union Working Group' for such
stranded Poles who were also members of Solidarnosc. .Many of these people would not have felt
comfortable or effective in PSC at that stage, due to their lack of English. Besides it was a good idea
for many reasons to have a group consisting of only Solidarnosc members exiled from Poland.
Wanda in particular did a great deal of work for the group. Jacek and Wanda provided office
space for the group in their home, and so had scores of people going in and out of the house at all
hours.
From this group developed the 'Solidarity Information Office' run by Marek Garztecki, which
produced the 'Voice of Solidarity' magazine, a source of information about what was really going
on in Poland. For many years the office was recognized as the official British branch of Solidarnosc
abroad, run by Jerzy Milewski, in Brussels.
The 'Solidarity Information Office' was assisted by a number of trade unions. John Spellar of the
E.E.P.T.U. (Electrical Engineering and Plumbing Trade Union) arranged for their printing and mailing facilities to be put at the disposal of the 'Voice of Solidarity' magazine (later called 'Bloc' when
it widened to include information on the whole of Eastern Europe). Later on PSC would have the
benefit of these facilities when Marek became PSC chairman in 1988: and John Spellar became a
PSC member, indeed vice chairman, and an MP. Additionally office space was provided for the
Information Office, first by the N.U.J. (National Union of Journalists), later on by the C.P.S.A.
(Civil and Public Servants Association).
Throughout the first years after Martial Law PSC co-operated with the Working Group, and
some of their members became PSC members, and even committee members. Most of us had excellent relations with Marek Garztecki and the 'Solidarity Information Office' and planned and carried
out over the years many joint activities, e.g. demonstrations, stalls at union conferences, rallies etc.
Eventually Marek became a PSC member, then committee member, then PSC chairman, for one and
a half years (1988 AGM to Oct.1989).
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14 - WORRIES ABOUT INFILTRATION, AND 'UNDESIRABLE' MEMBERS
From January 1982 onwards some PSC people were worried about the Trotskyist connections and
associations of some of the individuals joining us, and some of the groups affiliating to us. Others
felt it was impracticable to set up vetting procedures, or undesirable.
15- CHARITABLE HELP TO POLAND
Once Martial Law was declared, the problem of how to get support to Solidarnosc underground
arose. Solidarnosc, even before Martial Law, had appealed for massive medical help for Poland
from abroad. Although we had high financial commitments PSC handed over the collection money
at the 20/12/81 (Martial Law) demo to the 'Medical Aid to Poland' charity: an amount of nearly
£4,000. When the charity 'Friends of Poland' which intended to deliver food and clothing to Poland
was set up in early 1982, we gave them a grant of £1300 which helped them raise other funding, and
carry out the first of their many deliveries over the years.
We also, at the request of the 'Karetka Pogotowia' (Emergency Ambulance) donated essential
money, and Ryszard Stepan, a very active PSC member, and later Chairman, set up the 'Lifeline to
Poland Fund', sponsored by PSC.
16 - FEAR OF POLISH OR SOVIET GOVERNMENT PENETRATION
Obviously, throughout our activities, there was a worry about possible action against us by the
Polish or Soviet authorities. To those of us who were British there was little to worry about, particularly if we were not planning to travel to the Communist bloc. But for those who were Polish, or had
Polish relatives, there was a fear that their relatives in Poland might be punished for the PSC member's activities in Britain (though quite possibly the Polish authorities had enough on their hands
with ten million Solidarnosc members to worry about). It was more likely that the Polish authorities
would bar activists from visiting Poland, or bar activists' relatives from visiting them in England.
Some people adopted pseudonyms for their PSC activities, and others put their faith in the legendary incompetence of bureaucrats.
In general people or their relatives could travel between Poland and Britain, once the first few
months of Martial Law were over, but it might depend on how prominent one was. The wife of one
of our prominent members was detained by the authorities on entering Poland, until phone calls to
Warsaw revealed it was a man they were after. Further, Wiktor Moszczynski was barred from going
to Poland, some years after being PSC chairman.
In general we regarded any such risks as being as nothing compared to the risks of dismissal
from work, imprisonment, or even death that activists in Poland were facing. We were always aware
that PSC might be penetrated by observers from the Polish or Soviet embassies, indeed we would
have been offended if it could now be proved this was not so! At public meetings and demonstrations there was always a man from the Polish Embassy, a Mr Iwaszkiewicz (who happened to
resemble Lech Walesa).
There was usually also a Special Branch man, to keep an eye on him. And of course with our
public meetings, our PSC News on sale, our circulars sent to over a thousand members, many of
whom we never saw and did not know, there was nothing to stop any spy from knowing what we
did, and who were some of the people in PSC.
One of our later committee members claimed in 1988 that there were many people who
reported to the Embassy on what was going on in the Polish community, and who was doing it.
But were there attempts at, not just monitoring of PSC, but also direct interference in our affairs?
Kiszczak. the former Ministry of Security states in his memoirs that every pro-Solidarnosc group in
the west was either dominated by spies, or if this proved impossible a breakaway group was formed.
No names are mentioned in his memoirs, which could mean that the spy master was staying loyal to
his spies, or that his claims are exaggerated or false.
In early 1981 a document was widely circulated to many Polish ex-servicemen (including some
who were already dead). It took the form of leaflet recruiting soldiers, and asked the recipient to
specify the size of gas mask, uniform size etc., required. It did not give an address for replies, but
was attached to a genuine PSC leaflet and a leaflet from the already mentioned David Irving. Who
would have done this?
When we planned our demonstration of 20/12/81, in a cafe following our demonstration outside
the embassy on 13/12/81 (Martial Law), there was a young man who joined us from that demo. He
promised to carry out all sorts of arrangements for us-booking Hyde Park, liaising with the Police,
while we could concentrate on other arrangements. He did none of these things, and was never seen
again by us. We were sensible enough not to rely on him and we made the arrangements ourselves.
Was his intervention an attempt to wreck our demo of 20/12/811
Karen Blick recalls some odd events happening in 1982 that made her conclude something very
strange was happening - possibly of the dimensions of a Soviet spy operation.
Marek Garztecki, of the Solidarity Information Office, recalls being warned from Poland against
two helpers sent to him by SWS. He barred them from the Office and more evidence later emerged
to show that one of them was highly dubious.
Wiktor Moszczynski recalls a demo outside the Polish Embassy at which a Polish young man not
seen before or since tried to get the crowd to throw stones at the Embassy - Wiktor and others sent
him packing.
The most worrying case was that of Lucjan Latala, a Pole stranded in Britain due to Martial Law,
who was highly active with SWS. In September 1982 he was found dead in a park, hanging by his
neck from a tree, with his hands tied behind his back. There were a number of reasons why his SWS
friends could not agree with the inquest decision of suicide: some relating to Lucjan's personality
and family circumstances, others due to details of the evidence.
If suspicion in this case sounds rather far fetched, it should be remembered that it was only a few
years before that a prominent Bulgarian George Markov was murdered publicly in London by a
Bulgarian secret policeman with a poisoned retractable umbrella tip, and another Bulgarian was
found dead at home with a broken neck at the bottom of his stairs - inquest verdict, accidental death.
17 - PRO SOLIDARNOSC GROUPS AROUND BRITAIN
Around Britain pro-Solidarnosc groups were springing up, mostly in response to Martial Law. In
Cardiff Mark Jenkins (who had collaborated with Robin Blick in London in the 70s in setting up the
'Greater London Tribune Group') set up a successful S. Wales Solidarnosc support group involving
local Poles, the Welsh TUC, the Cardiff Labour Party and Plaid Cymru. PSC News no.7 lists contacts for Glasgow, Aberdeen, S.Wales, Brighton, Bristol, Cambridge, Birmingham, Bradford,
Coventry, Leicester, Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Nottingham, Sheffield, Southampton, Tyne and
Wear, Wyre Forest, Macclesfield, and this list did not claim to be comprehensive. These groups varied in size, effectiveness, composition, and types of activities. Many of these groups affiliated to
PSC, and had the name Polish Solidarity Committee (which could be shortened to PSC) or even in
some cases Polish Solidarity Campaign, which could cause confusion, making them sound like a
branch of PSC, rather than an affiliated group.
This would not matter at all except that some of these groups were fronts for Trotskyist groups,
or contained Trotskyists in them, and thus might well display attitudes which of course they had a
perfect right to hold but we would not want attributed to us. Indeed SWS made capital out of the
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fact that such groups could be regarded as our branches, because of the confusion of abbreviations,
and that they were listed as contacts in our PSC News.
Some of these groups did excellent work, providing speaking tours of Scotland and the North of
England for Marek Garztecki and another member of the Solidarity Trade Union Working Group,
Piotr Kozlowski: on these tours they often addressed up to five meetings a day, varying from factory
meetings to city councils. Other groups did other good work as well, though space does not permit
details.
18 - PREPARATIONS TO AVOID TAKE-OVER AT 1982 AGM
At the AGM of (May) 1981 we had a membership of 66, mostly in London. By the AGM of
March) 1982 we had over 850 members, from all over Britain (and even Denmark and Zambia).
Affiliated groups included newspapers such as Socialist Organizer. The 1982 AGM offered a
:hance to bring many new talents into the committee. It also offered a chance for some groups to try
to change the direction of PSC in various ways.
The International Marxist Group (I.M.G.) saw our AGM as a chance to take over the PSC,
through its front groups (e.g. the Manchester group) and possibly, for all we knew, other members
of PSC, or delegates of other groups. As mentioned earlier some PSC members had for some time
been worried about the Trotskyist associations of some of the individuals and groups joining PSC.
Now, due to a leaked document, we knew of a take-over attempt.
Some PSC members took the view that the only way to build a national campaigning organisation for PSC, was to encourage all sorts of groups across the country to join us (as was now happening). These groups might have differing views to ours, but then we were a broad-based campaign.
These groups had proved they could do useful work (e.g. the speaking tours for Marek and Piotr),
work that PSC was not doing, as we were doing other things, and work that probably only could be
arranged, supported and carried out by local groups with local contacts, local accommodation, know
how etc.
Additionally, if some of these groups, with their different views, by participating in the PSC
AGM, tried to change the direction of PSC to their views, then that was a risk worth taking, and
anyway in a democratic organisation such as ours if they could command support for such change
of views, that was just the democratic process working normally.
In any case, even if one did not like these groups what could one do about them - there were no
constitutional grounds for expelling anybody in the PSC, and on what grounds, and by what
processes could one do so?
Those on the PSC committee who had left Trotskyist groups in the past were not keen to see
such groups take over the running of PSC: they knew from years of experience what such groups
were like, and could imagine the effect such groups would have on most PSC members. They also
knew such groups were often highly active on a particular issue for a short time, and might then
move on to another issue, leaving PSC with few if any resources to carry on.
Those on the PSC committee who had never been in Trotskyist groups, but who were in the
Labour Party, were well aware of the destructive effects that entryist tactics by Militant and others
were having on the Labour party, although it was some years before the next Labour leader, Neil
Kinnock, was able to do something about it.
Some other PSC members, who had neither first hand experience of such groups nor were members of the Labour Party found it very strange, to say the least, that groups espousing the names of
Lenin and Trotsky were proclaiming their support for free trades unions in Poland. Lenin and
Trotsky had not stood up for free speech, freedom of the press, free trades unions, freedom of worship, national self determination, or democratic processes, in the Soviet Union. Indeed they had
brought about the abolition of any such freedoms that had existed under the Kerensky government,
and had ensured that such freedoms did not arise in the Soviet Union. And it was the same Soviet
Union, and the same political attitudes, that caused the lack of freedom in Poland and led to Martial
Law. So what lay behind the activities of these Trotskyists and Leninists, who were now very active
for Solidarnosc?
But in addition to all these worries was an awareness of the fact that some of these groups were
opposed to two of the basic principles of PSC: one, that it was a broad-based campaign, two that we
wanted the Labour movement to break its links with communist trades unions, and with Communist
Party officials, throughout the Eastern Block. PSC's attitudes were quite clear on this, through our
activities, through the reports on them in PSC News, through our leaflets. (Additionally PSC supported trade sanctions, and some of these groups opposed that). Some of the groups who joined us
felt that the cause of supporting Solidarnosc should not be linked with breaking links with communists, although some of these groups were keen to combine the cause of Solidarnosc with campaigning about British Trade Union Rights, and against the Conservative Government, and the American
President Ronald Reagan.
So what was the response of those on the PSC Committee who did not welcome the proposed
take-over, and were concerned about the effect some of these groups might have on PSC?
Firstly, it should be recorded that there were NO dirty tricks, or constitutional or procedural
manoeuvres to exclude any PSC member, or affiliated groups from participating in the AGM. It
would have been easy for the committee to have decided to exclude those who had joined PSC at
the last moment from participating, by imposing a deadline for membership say one month before:
or by just not getting round to sending out AGM details, membership cards, and not cashing
cheques for the most recent members, or selected recent members. But nothing like this was done.
Hundreds of membership applications were received in each of the three months between Martial
Law and the AGM. They were all processed until the last moment, with all PSC members being sent
newly printed PSC membership cards, and AGM details. Additionally accommodation was on offer
for the Saturday night before the AGM, and the Sunday night after, for those attending from outside
London.
Secondly, those who had built up PSC from nothing, who had campaigned from the very first for
'breaking links', who had worked hard to make PSC not just a labour movement organisation, but a
broad-based organisation, were not going to see PSC fall victim to entryist and take-over manoeuvres that would entirely change the direction and nature of the organisation. Those of us who had
built up PSC funds through the running of jumble sales, and the selling of thousands of shirts did
not want to see PSC run by those who alleged that it was 'CIA funded" or that 'Robin Blick is to the
right of Ghengis Khan'. The fight would be fought at the AGM on the basis of attitudes, and principles, and would be won or lost through the PSC democratic process. Robin Blick, Karen Blick.
Wiktor Moszczynski and Naomi Hyamson had a meeting where they worded a series of aims and
objectives for the constitution, and a series of resolutions for the coming year's activities: and also
constitutional amendments concerning the structure of PSC.
Thirdly, by a series of last minute telephone calls we tried to inform as many PSC members as
possible of the proposed take-over, and stressed to these members (who might otherwise have not
attended, being happy with the way PSC was run) the importance of attending the AGM.
19 - 1982 AGM - AND OUTCOME
The 1982 AGM, held on Sunday 28/3/82 was a very tense meeting. About 200 members attended,
and we had a very strict and well organised checking-in procedure, to cope with the numbers as
quickly as possible, but to prevent gate crashers and impersonations. Karen Blick, who chaired the
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meeting informed all present, in her introductory remarks, of the proposed takeover of PSC, and
indeed everybody had a copy of the document as part of their AGM papers. However the impact of
the announcement was somewhat lost due to the poor microphone system in the hall (this was a
problem throughout the meeting, for those without loud voices), due to the poor reproduction quality. of the leaked document, due to the masses of AGM documents handed out to everybody (copies
of existing constitutions, previous minutes, reports, several draft constitutions, numerous resolutions
etc.) and due to the fact that many people arrived late, due to the clocks having changed to British
Summer Time overnight!
The meeting was of a contentious nature, and this led to each candidate standing for election not
only making a speech but also being questioned on their attitudes. In view of this and the number of
alternative constitutions, aims and objectives, and resolutions submitted it says much for the chairing of Karen Blick and John Taylor that the meeting was completed at all. The proposed takeover
by the IMG was not successful. Resolutions the IMG supported were amended to exclude linkage,
and politically loaded jargon; and other resolutions, aims and objectives, and constitutional changes
proposed by Robin Blick and Wiktor Moszczynski) were passed by the AGM. Having seen all this
the IMG saw no point in standing for the committee.
By the end of this AGM, PSC had a much larger committee than before, mostly consisting
of existing PSC committee members, or long term PSC activists, plus 3 regional members, associated
with Trotskyist groups. Founder member Robin Blick had not stood for the committee feeling that
given its composition his presence would lead to increasing polarization and friction. The rest of us
either felt that there were no undesirable elements on the committee, or that by remaining in the
committee and fighting for what we stood for we would win, or that for the good of the cause we
should put our differences aside.
20 - CONSEQUENCES OF 1982 AGM
Shortly after the AGM the Glasgow Polish Solidarity Committee disaffiliated from PSC, citing in
their letter to us their differences in views to ours. Two articles very critical and somewhat misleading appeared about our AGM in the left press: ('Socialist Organiser' which had actually affiliated to
PSC before the AGM, and 'Socialist Challenge'). Our AGM was apparently a wasted opportunity to
build up a national labour movement to support Solidarnosc. However those groups who were alienated from us at the AGM would now be holding a conference to establish such a movement. If they
did it did not produce results that we ever heard of.
These articles probably helped ensure that nobody would try to take us over again- the word got
around that we had a substantial membership and were no push-over. Quite possibly we had been
saved by the large numbers of Poles who had joined us at the 20/12/81 demo, (and 'Daily Mirror'
readers who joined us as a result of our T-shirt letters?) and the curious fact that the groups who
wanted to take us over were all based well outside London.
Other groups whose views were different to ours either disaffiliated, or took no further part in
our activities, and did not renew their annual membership.
Perhaps the main long term consequence of the 1982 AGM was that PSC never built up a national structure with branches in different parts of the United Kingdom, although the constitution confined rules for such branches. Was this because we feared that if we tried to set up branches in
places like Manchester, or Glasgow, we would just be creating trouble for ourselves as they would
be taken over by the Trotskyist groups we had contact with? Or was it because none of us in London
thought it worth the time and effort to travel the country trying to hold founding meetings?
Possibly yes to both questions. But additionally many of us from the start thought it better to let
affiliated groups organize themselves, whether they were created to support Solidarnosc, or whether
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they were existing organizations (e.g. union branches) who wished to support Solidarnosc as one of
their many activities. Some of us who handled membership and money could see all sorts of problems in the existence of branches with members and monies both separate and shared. Additionally
there could be problems about how independent the branches should be from the national organization, etc. These problems were highlighted in the 1982/3 year when briefly, in addition to national
committee meetings, and national members meetings, we tried to have the concept of a separate
London branch, with its own activities, decisions etc. There were too many layers, and it was an
unworkable concept.
However, we did make it clear that if any PSC member wished to start a regional branch a PSC
committee member would attend the founding meeting. The initiative should therefore come from
the regional member, rather than from the PSC committee. No PSC member ever tried to start such
a local branch until a short lived Scottish branch was set up in 1988.
So in what sense was PSC a national organization, rather than a London organization?
Firstly of course we did have members and affiliated groups throughout the U.K., who received
the PSC News, and the monthly circulars - so we were trying to inform people nationally of events
in Poland, and involving people nationally in some of our activities e.g. adoption of political prisoners, collecting monies for Poland, buying our sales items, or selling them to other people, signing
our petitions, inviting our speakers for meetings, etc.
Secondly, we did try to send speakers across the country to speak to groups, (whether PSC affiliated or otherwise) or/and show videos when invited. We maintained contact with various proSolidarity groups around the country, e.g. Wyre Forest, Nottingham, Manchester (a different group
to the one that had been connected with the l.M.G.) etc., whether or not these groups were affiliated
to us, got good support from them with our national petitions, gave them publicity in PSC News,
and invited them to give a report on their activities to our AGMs (either a written report, or a report
given in person).
Thirdly, we did try to carry out the activities that a national rather than just a local organization
would do, in the sense that we tried to deal with organizations at their national headquarters, or
national conferences. Being in London, the capital city, naturally made this easier, whether we were
demonstrating outside Embassies, or liaising with the TUC, visiting the House of Commons for
meetings, or the headquarters of the main political parties, or trade unions, or national newspaper
buildings, or the BBC. But apart from this we attended the national conferences of individual trades
unions and the TUC, and of individual political parties. And, as detailed later we sent out questionnaires to political candidates from across the U.K., and participated in, and hosted international conferences of Solidarnosc Support Organizations.
So while it is true that we did not have local branches, our committee meetings and AGMs were
held in London, and the bulk of our active members came from London or within reach of London,
nevertheless we were a national campaign in terms of our campaigning.
29
Chapter 2
Post 1982 AGM to the 1989 Polish Round Table Agreement
PSC ACTIVITIES - A GENERAL DESCRIPTION
With Solidarnosc activists in gaol and Poland under Martial Law it was easier to get support for our
cause than before.
On 30/1/82 we had, in response to Solidarnosc's call for a 'Day of Solidarity' organized an
indoor meeting of about 1,000 people, with speakers from all the major parties and such people as
Vladimir Bukovsky. It was followed by a march to the Polish Embassy with crosses for those murdered under Martial Law.
More generally, PSC ran stalls selling literature and fund raising items, not only at our own emonstrations, socials, and lectures, but also at all sorts of events held by other people: fairs (from
riapham Common to the Polish Fawley Court among others) rock concerts, outside or inside theatres and cinemas, and also very importantly at trade union and party conferences, often in conjunction with the Solidarity Information Office. We continued to organize demonstrations, sometimes
outside the Polish embassy, and always at least one massive annual demo, marching across London,
either in August or December or both. (Having had appalling weather at our Dec'81 and '82 demos,
we thereafter organised indoor events to commemorate Martial Law).
Two of our members took part in the SWS one week hunger strike. We organised demonstrations
referring to the historical causes of the Polish situation: a May Day (constitutional) demo, at which
Professor Norman Davies, the historian, contributed a specially written article to be read out; several
Nazi-Soviet peace pact demos, at which speakers who had been deported to Siberia spoke of their
memories of the day the Soviets invaded Poland. We took part, wearing Solidarnosc shirts and
radges, in the annual Katyn rally ceremony.
We held exhibitions, video shows and slide shows, we provided platforms for speakers from
Poland. We took part in some May Day rallies organised by the TUC, and aroused hostility by our
presence and banners, as well as support. We tried to challenge events supporting the domination by
the Soviet Union, by picketing Communist Party, Anglo-Soviet Friendship Society, and Soviet
Weekly events. We opposed misleading reporting in newspapers on Poland: the articles by Hella
Pick in the 'Guardian' (of all papers) were particularly disgraceful (she seemed to regard
Solidarnosc and the aspirations of the Polish people as a provocative nuisance that the Polish government had to deal with, rather than vice versa) and Wiktor Moszczynski managed to get the
Guardian to print his article criticising their general coverage of Poland.* We tried to ensure that
commercial organisations which made money out of selling Lech Walesa posters or Solidarnosc
badges made contributions to Solidarnosc or Polish causes. (This was not easy, as such organisations could always claim they had made anonymous donations to a Polish cause that must remain
secret). We even demonstrated at a football match (England v Poland Under 21) so that our proSolidarnosc banners and chants would not only be seen by the players, but also by the TV viewers
in Poland. (That was our intention, but the match unfortunately didn't get television coverage).
Above all we carried on as we had done from the earliest days, sending speakers to every sort of
event at which people would listen to us.
Year in, year out we organised the events described above, or took part in other peoples' events.
As time went by naturally the public got less interested, and the numbers attending the mass
* In December 1994 Richard Gott features editor of the Guardian resigned after admitting to having holidays paid for by the KGB, as well
as secret meetings with KGB officers over the years.
30
demos marching across London lessened. The activists were all or mostly out of gaol, tanks were no
longer on the streets, and many people thought that Solidarnosc underground was not really active
or effective, or had no hope of future success. It was always our mission to inform people of the real
situation, to remind them that the loss of rights brought about by the suppression of Solidarnosc still
existed, even if it wasn't in the news. We were always giving publicity to the documents reaching us
from Poland.
22 - POLISH REFUGEE RIGHTS GROUP
PSC felt there was a need for an organisation to help Polish exiles by campaigning to get them residence in Britain, and give practical help to them in form filling, dealing with the Home Office, etc.
From our initial meeting in 1982 emerged the 'Polish Refugee Rights Group' run by Nina Ozols.
a completely separate organisation (though always on good terms with us, and co-operating well
with us when appropriate). It is still in 1994 in existence as the East European Advice Centre, very
busy helping refugees from Bosnia, Serbia, and Croatia, and also helping with the social problems
of E. European refugees accepted in Britain in the 1980s.
23 - RESIGNATIONS, WITHDRAWALS, PSC NEWS AND CIRCULARS
In 1982 Robin Blick resigned from PSC when the PSC committee confirmed the right of the editor
of PSC News, Steve Murray, not to commission an article that Robin was prepared to write on the
origins of the puppet trades unions in Poland and Eastern Europe. Due to the nature of the article,
and the views of the PSC Editorial Board, Robin saw this as political censorship: the PSC committee mainly saw it as an editorial decision as to what to leave out among competing items and news.
Robin was the first of the main activists to withdraw, and there were more to come.
PSC News did not cover its costs, it was using up much of our money. After Martial Law we
started paying for professional typesetting and design . This was because the intention had been to
produce it to professional standards in order to be able to sell through bookshops, and newsagents.
(Indeed John Menzies did accept it, after Martial Law , while W. H. Smiths would not handle it .
though , for no doubt commercial reasons, they did handle 'Marxism Today'). There was friction
between those of us who saw PSC News as an essential element of our campaign, bringing the news
to a wider audience than our members, and increasing the prestige and influence of PSC - and those
of us who were worried that it might bankrupt us, and that the selling of the magazine (the placing
in the shops, the collecting of the monies later) would be a massive diversification of our efforts.
Two of our committee members, Karen Blick (founder member) and Judy Barker, who both held
the latter view, resigned from the committee about these and other PSC News issues.
By the time of the 1983 AGM (6/2/83) the position of PSC News was as follows:
1. There had been 10 issues: four before Martial Law, six afterwards. The first four issues had
12 pages, and about 2,000 copies each. Issues 5 to 10 all had 16 pages, with 5,000 copies each
(indeed no.5, produced in Jan '82 had a reprint, so a total of 8,000 copies were printed).
2. An immense amount of work had been put into the magazine, particularly by the Editorial
Board who were reduced to three (Piotr Iglikowski, Steve Murray, Ed Switalski (aka Al Gregg) I
after resignations or non-activities by the 2 other board members.
3. Sales of PSC News were now declining, as the memory of 13/12/81 receded in the public's
mind.
4. By the AGM PSC had an income of nearly £25,000 in the preceding year, but only had about
£900.00 left (excluding monies pledged for Poland). Costs of PSC News had been trimmed from
over £1,000.00 an issue to just under £900.00 per issue with each issue making a loss of about
£500.00.
31
5. PSC News was suspended until the 1983 AGM, to avoid bankrupting the organisation.
The Editorial Board made two alternative suggestions: either:
To produce a joint bulletin with the Solidarity Trade Union Working Group every two months
(leaving the STUWG to produce their fortnightly bulletins the rest of the time) with PSC costs of
between £500 to £700 per issue;
Or, to abandon PSC News and distribute to our members, and sell at events, the STUWG bulletins.
The 1983 AGM passed a resolution to restrict the number of copies of PSC News printed to the
number of PSC members plus 800 maximum; to attempt to make full use of existing members'
skills in typesetting and layout, instead of paying for these services; and to aim to produce PSC
News every two months but to consider collaborating with the STUWG on the joint venture.
This motion was passed because the AGM felt the costs of producing PSC News in large print
runs could no longer be tolerated. As a result, Steve Murray and Julia Jensen chose not to stand for
either the committee or the editorial board, and took no further part in PSC activities. At one stage it
seemed that nobody wanted to stand for the post of PSC News editor. Eventually an offer was made
by Marion Biernat, who was editor of the SWS bulletin at the time: some people thought this a generous offer, others thought it a suspicious development. Ed Switalski, who had been waiting to be
nominated all along then volunteered and was duly elected. Piotr Iglikowski was elected to the editorial board, and the committee, but resigned soon after, and took no further part in PSC activities.
Three more copies of PSC News were produced by Ed Switalski, with Maris Ozols (PSC
Secretary 1983/4) and Naomi Hyamson (PSC Secretary 1982/3). Issue no.ll had 20 pages, nos. 12
and 13, the latter dated 'Spring 1984', had 12 pages. These issues, in accordance with the AGM resolution, were home-produced without recourse to professional layout, typed for free by PSC member Kasia Budd, and laid out by Ed and Maris at Maris' home. The extra work involved limited the
number of issues produced to three in that year.
Additionally PSC produced a booklet 'Solidarity Underground' which explained in detail how
Solidarnosc was managing to function underground - how underground bulletins were printed, how
union dues were collected, what activities were still happening, etc. This was written by John Taylor,
Jacek Rostowski, and Wanda Koscia, with a cover design by the artist (and PSC member) Jan
Pienkowski. This booklet was produced in September, 1983 and was sold in the thousands, for several
years. Discussions were held over a period of time with Marek Garztecki of the STUWG, (by now
Marek was actually representing the Solidarity Information Office, which produced the 'Voice of
Solidarity' bulletin) but somehow no agreement to produce a joint bulletin was ever arrived at.
Later on PSC decided to stop producing PSC News, and include much more news to our members
in our monthly circulars, which were also sent to selected supporters and influential people. The
monthly circular often included up to ten sides of text, and being monthly rather than every 2 or 3
months (as PSC News often was), could contain more up to date news. In addition to articles and
translated documents every PSC Circular included a detailed 'Month in Poland' page or two itemising
the main events in Poland on an almost daily basis. The 'Month in Poland' was compiled by several
different people over the years. The circular was produced by typewriter and photocopy paper, and
'A as a real scissors and paste job - no professional layout, no professional fees, no professional delays.
Later on we made an arrangement with 'Voice of Solidarity' to distribute 'Voice' to all our
members, in addition to carrying on with our circular.
24 - SOURCES OF SUPPORT, AND THE STRUGGLE TO CONTINUE
After the 1983 AGM we were in the position that altogether five of our most active earliest memrers had withdrawn or resigned in the previous year (i.e. Robin Blick, Karen Blick, Steve Murray,
32
Julia Jensen, Piotr Iglikowski) and their skills and energies were missed (though this meant that
some of the frictions, and the reasons that had caused them, had now disappeared). Additionally two
other committee members had resigned for differing reasons in the previous year (Judy Barker and
Charles Raby who had looked as if he would make a major contribution to PSC). Inevitably, as the
years went by others left due to internal differences (e.g. Walter Kendall, as described later on), or
became less active due to other commitments, and/or exhaustion. The work seemed to be falling on
less and less people.
We might have hoped for large number of activists to come forward from the Polish Students
Association (ZSAPWB). We had three active committee members who were also successive presidents of ZSAPWB: Piotr Iglikowski, Ed Switalski (who stayed a PSC member throughout) and
Adam Robinski (who was a student contact at Bristol). Another ZSAPWB member was Ewa
Cwirko-Godycka (aka Metelska) active with us from 1981 starting while still at school. By this
route we had good co-operation with the Polish Students Assoc. for socials, publicity, stewarding at
demos, and through Adam, individual students who were good at P.A. systems, or driving pick-up
trucks were helpful on occasions though reluctant (or in one case even offended at being invited!) to
get involved more regularly. Regrettably a stream of students or graduates to work with us month by
month did not materialize.
Similarly we might have hoped that once the members of the Solidarity Working Group
(S.T.U.W.G.) had improved their English and felt better established in this country they too would
have played a major part in PSC. The process seemed underway when at the March 1983 AGM two
STUWG members were elected to the PSC committee: Jurek Jerozalski, and Marek Ciborowski. At
the March 1984 AGM two different STUWG members were elected to the committee: Artur
Swiergiel, the STUWG chairman, and Tesa Ujazdowska, an actress who had been imprisoned during Martial Law.
But for various reasons none of the four mentioned above were able to get highly involved with
the regular running of PSC: Marek and Artur studied at Loughborough and Cambridge Universities
respectively for instance. Each of the four only served on the committee for up to one year, though
Tesa kept in contact with us, and was willing to speak on our platforms at PSC demos, and once
went on a speaking tour of Amnesty International branches. Leaving aside the case of Marek
Garztecki (see later) only two STUWG members ever got really involved with the regular running
of PSC - Anna Boszko who was our membership secretary for two or three years, although she
chose not to be a committee member. Also Danuta Gorzynska, later Danuta Gorzynska-Hart, who
never actually became a PSC member, but from Summer 1982 onwards helped me daily in my PSC
work.
As time went by the number of people belonging to the STUWG dropped considerably. Some
dropped out, some went to universities or jobs elsewhere, some took jobs that were incompatible
with high profile campaigning (e.g. BBC Polish Service), some left the country, some returned to
Poland. Of those remaining some worked closely with Marek Garztecki and the Solidarity
Information Office. Others (some of whom had fallen out with Marek) either got involved with
Solidarity with Solidarity, helped charities such as Medical Aid for Poland or Friends of Poland, or
made their own initiatives such as sending parcels to Poland.
Once again the hoped for influx into PSC did not arrive.
A third possible source of support for our efforts might have been those who obtained help from
the Polish Refugee Rights Group, to claim residence in this country, as refugees. If these people
were so concerned about events in Poland that they were claiming refugee status then surely they
would want to do all they could to help those left behind. Some of these people left for other countries, some probably returned home, none that I know of got actively involved with PSC.
33
Perhaps the influx did happen - it just did not mainly happen to PSC. Quite possibly many were
Helping Poland by helping 'Medical Aid to Poland' or 'Friends of Poland' charities, or getting
involved with Solidarity with Solidarity.
Luckily some individuals did come forward, or long term members became more active. Marion
Pitman became treasurer in 1983, releasing me to have time for the other PSC things I was trying to
do. Wojtek Dmochowski (aka Tomaszewski) was very active for many years: Barbara Lubienska
organized our socials, and introduced many people into PSC, some of them becoming PSC committee members, Sue Chinnick was a very active committee member for years. Ryszard Stepan who
v. as PSC chairman for a year was immensely hard working throughout many years, either openly or
rvshind the scenes, and totally reliable and unflappable.
We had excellent co-operation with Marek Garztecki and his 'Voice of Solidarity' office, and
later he became a committee member, and chairman for 1 '/2 years. Marek brought with him
Agnieszka Huston who has remained on the committee to this day (1994).
Nevertheless, during these years, particularly from 1984-88 some of us felt that a few of us were
taking on rather a lot, and we missed the political skills and knowledge (both of Poland, and the
Labour movement) and the contacts of some of those who had either dropped out of PSC, or were
still with us, but less active than before. It was tiring but we kept going.
25 - RELATIONS WITH POLISH ORGANISATIONS
A natural source of support for our efforts (financial and otherwise) might have been the Polish
clubs throughout Great Britain. If we could sell thousands of shirts etc to individuals throughout
Britain (some of Polish descent, many not) due to one letter in a newspaper, how much better could
we do by direct approaches to Polish clubs?
In December 1981 we had written to every Polish club listed in the Polish year book, informing
them of our details and activities, and offering them arrangements for the sale of our T-shirts etc.
on a sale or return basis. Very disappointingly only one club replied and sold our shirts. Perhaps a
travelling member who could visit each club, and make personal contacts would have been
successful in achieving sales and support (as we were when we placed sales items in the POSK
bookshop in Hammersmith) but there are limits to what a voluntary organisation can do.
Incidentally the energies and achievements of one of our affiliated groups, Wyre Forest PSC,
showed how much support could be raised from a local Polish club, when there were two or three
local activists (in this case two Liberal councillors, Fran and Mike Oborski) to prompt and maintain
such activity.
We always had good relations with the Polish Socialist Party in Exile : they were affiliated to us
from the earliest days, and two of their members, and long term PSC members, Mr Wasik and Mr
Prokopowicz have usually been on the PSC audit team. We have also had good relations with the
Federation of Poles of Great Britain. The Federation chairman, Mr Rynkiewicz, who spoke at many
of our events allowed us access to the names and addresses of all the organisations comprising the
Federation, and we always used this list to publicise our demonstrations and other appropriate
events. This would be in addition to posters put up in London Polish clubs, leafleting outside most
of the London Polish churches, as well as publicity in the non-Polish community.
Some of our members were either members of, or associated with the Polish Government in
Exile, but this organisation had very little to do with PSC. They were involved with a very well
organised rally at the Albert Hall in Jan 1982, (which was organised by a mostly Parliamentary
group called 'British Solidarity with Poland') and apparently gave much money to Solidarnosc over
the years. However they never organised a demonstration throughout the years, although they did
issue a statement in April 1982 saying that those who organised pro-Polish events should work
34
through them. This statement was not actually sent to those who actually did organise such events
(i.e. PSC, SWS in London) so not surprisingly PSC carried on its activities, and took no notice of
the statement.
Twice, when addressing a world wide Conference of Solidarnosc Support Organisations
(C.S.S.O.) a spokesman for the Government In Exile made clear, when questioned, that it was not
their practise or policy to use their influence to encourage people to attend demonstrations organised
by us or SWS.
Some of our members take the view that it was not the business of the Government in Exile to
get involved with demonstrations, but recall seeing some of the leaders of the Government in Exile
attending our events in an individual capacity.
26 - OUR WIDE RANGING APPROACH- GOVERNMENT, MAIN POLITICAL
PARTIES, TRADE UNION CONGRESS, 'PEACE' MOVEMENTS
Our campaigning was now more widespread in political terms. Although before Martial Law PSC
contained members from across the mainstream political spectrum it had been vital to get publicly
stated support and practical help for Solidarnosc from the Left and the Labour movement. Open
support from other political areas might have been an embarrassment to Solidarnosc, which could
then be denigrated by the Polish government as not being a real trade union but a group created or
supported by foreign groups or foreign governments hostile to working class movements and the
existing Polish state. Such denigration could then be used as a pretext to suppress Solidarnosc.
Once Martial Law occurred the situation was entirely different. With thousands beaten or imprisoned, people being murdered, tanks on the streets etc it seemed to PSC (and people in Poland) that
the more help and pressure that could be raised in the West against this abuse of human rights, the
better.
And so, from the Martial Law demo (20/12/81) onwards we aimed to create a climate of opinion
in favour of Solidarnosc and the Polish people from all possible sources. We wanted those who
might claim that Solidarnosc had gone too far, had unrealistic demands, had brought the crisis on
themselves, isolated within their political groupings. So we campaigned within each political party.
at times creating a competitive atmosphere between the parties to offer more public support for
Solidarnosc and Poland. Additionally at every major demo and public event we tried to get speakers
from all the four main political parties and usually succeeded.
At that time it was a Conservative government in power. If its power could be used in terms of
international political and financial pressure to influence the Polish communist government, so
much the better.
In the early 1980s it appeared quite possible that either Labour, or perhaps a Liberal-S.D.P.
partnership might win the next election, or form part of a coalition government. So apart from all
the other reasons for campaigning in, and obtaining support from the main four political parties, it
was sensible to take our campaign to parties and people that might well be part of a future government.
The more important the M.P. who spoke on our platform was, the more that M.P.s speech committed his or her party to a policy of supporting Solidarnosc and the Polish people. The best example of this was when Peter Shore said that he spoke for the Labour party when supporting
Solidarnosc - and that Arthur Scargill did not speak for the Labour Party in denigrating
Solidarnosc.
Over the years our Labour speakers included Philip Whitehead, shadow cabinet minister Peter
Shore, Eric Heffer and Alf Dubbs and several others (while Neil Kinnock had been a speaker for us
before he became party leader). S.D.P. speakers included Shirley Williams and Bill Rodgers (two of
35
The four founder members of the S.D.P.). Liberal speakers Simon Hughes, Eric Lubbock, and Paddy
Ashdown (before he became Liberal leader). Government rules did not permit government ministers
to speak at our types of rallies so we never had the most prominent Conservatives on our platforms.
However we were always pleased to have speeches from Sir Bernard Braine (the longest serving
M.P. at that time) and from Euro M.P. and historian Lord Bethell.
At the same time it was necessary to lobby the TUC and the trades unions to consolidate, maintain and extend the shift in favour of Solidarnosc, instead of the Polish Communist trade union and
to ensure that the international trade union movements would expel or marginalise the communist
trade unions, and support Solidarnosc.
Both these aims were achieved, and when Lech Walesa visited Britain in 1989 he was of course
a guest of the TUC, not the government.
In the early 1980s there had been a massive increase in the membership and activities of the
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (C.N.D.), and there had been the emergence and growth of
European Nuclear Disarmament (E.N.D.) The historian and campaigner E. P. Thompson was widely
credited (or blamed) for this, and he spoke on our platforms before Martial Law, at the Martial Law
demo. and subsequently.
E.P.Thompson and E.N.D. had good contacts with PSC from the earliest days, as already
described. They had given PSC member John Taylor a platform for his speaking tours, and had spoken out on behalf of Solidarnosc. The E.N.D. movement included members or sympathizers such as
Czech dissident Jan Kavan and Soviet dissident Zhores Medvedev.
Among PSC members, and those attending PSC demos were those who thought it ridiculous to
claim that the abandoning of the West's nuclear weapons would in some way help those suffering _under totalitarian rule in Poland. They thought it more likely that the unilateral abandoning of such
weapons would make the West more vulnerable to the spread of such rule, from the Soviet Union.
Robin Blick, who was a fellow speaker with E.P.Thompson on 20/12/81 recalls him saying on that
occasion 'American nuclear weapons won't protect Polish workers'. Some people found it distasteful that a week after Martial Law we had a speaker using this occasion to promote his views on
American nuclear weapons (which might after all protect the West, if not Polish workers) rather
than confining his remarks to the situation in Poland. But in any case, if the decision by Gorbachev
not to prop up totalitarian regimes in Poland, E. Germany etc. was due to the Soviet Union's economic problems caused by the expense of nuclear arms race, then it now looks as if E. P.
Thompson's claim was wrong - American nuclear weapons did protect the Polish workers.
PSC lost one or two members through E. P. Thompson's speech. When the November 1983 circular reported 'The PSC team were out in force on October 22nd at the CND rally' one member
resigned, assuming that this implied we were supporting the CND. Perhaps the phrase was ambiguous but it was in the context of an article detailing how PSC had sold the 'Solidarity Underground'
booklets at various events: £400.00 having been raised at the C.N.D. event (by sale of items averaging 50p in price). The matter was clarified in a subsequent circular.
In fact most PSC members realized and accepted that our contact with the 'Peace' movements
was an inevitable and necessary consequence of our wide ranging approach to inform as many as
possible of the true situation in Poland, and to maximise support for Poland. Some of our members
may have agreed with E. P. Thompson, (for example Peter Cadogan of 'East-West Peace People' or
an affiliated group 'Green CND'); others certainly did not. But of course we had varying attitudes
among our members to other speakers on our platforms.
At our 1986 AGM a motion was passed making it clear that PSC had no official view on peace
movements, and that our support for persecuted peace activists in Poland was on the grounds of
freedom and human rights, rather than agreement with their views.
36
27 - FRICTION DUE TO TACTICS AND PROCEDURES
This wide ranging approach across the political spectrum (first adopted at the Martial Law demo of
20/12/81) might have been expected to have caused friction among the members, but in general it
didn't.
There were no major frictions about the Trotskyist-linked members from the regions who had
been voted onto the committee at the 1982 AGM. Within a year or two they were no longer active
with us. What did cause friction were three different issues.
Issue 1: There were still various people in the Labour movement or trade union movement who
supported totalitarian governments, and their bogus trade unions, while condemning Solidarnosc:
Arthur Scargill, leader of the N.U.M. (National Union of Miners) was an example.
Should PSC take issue with such people a/ openly, b/ behind the scenes or c/ not at all?
Issue 2: If the PSC chairman/chairwoman thought an action was necessary, in response to developments that would not wait for the next committee meeting, what should be done? Should he or
she a/ get approval to action by contacting all committee members for responses or b/ do nothing
until the next committee meeting?
Issue 3: Should our opposition to totalitarianism in Poland be extended to a/ the whole Eastern
Bloc, including countries forcibly incorporated into the Soviet Union, such as the Baltic States - or
b/ be confined to Soviet dominated countries outside the Soviet Union (e.g. Poland, Czechoslovakia,
Hungary etc.) -or c/ confined to Poland?
PSC had precedents to saying yes to option a/ in all three cases:
1. PSC had picketed the TUC conference in 1980 (its first public action after formation) and
picketed the Labour conference in 1981, both very public actions, rather than behind the scenes.
2. Quite possibly the procedural niceties of committee meetings had been abandoned in the
activity of organising a demonstration in one week, in response to the imposition of Martial Law.
3. We had invited representatives of the E. European exile communities to attend our demon
strations with their national flags: some of these were of countries in the Soviet Union. However:
1. By the year 1984 and early 1985, when these issues caused differences within the committee,
most of those who had taken part in the pickets of 1980 and i 981 had left PSC.
2. It could be argued that the response to Martial Law (i.e. holding an instant demo, and then
organising a massive one from scratch, to be held within a week) had to be an exception to normal
procedure justified by exceptional circumstances, rather than a precedent.
3. Not everybody on the PSC committee was happy about the display of flags at our demos. In
any case it could be argued that it was one thing to have flag displays among hundreds or thousands
of people attending a demo: it was another thing entirely to commit PSC in writing to certain views
about the rights of self determination of Soviet conquered countries, such as the Baltic States.
(Similarly it was one thing to have CND slogans on placards among those attending the demos, and
even have a CND speaker on the platform - it would have been another thing entirely for PSC to
espouse CND views.)
Eventually there was an action which seemed to combine the three issues.
On 21 st January, 1985 Ryszard Stepan, the PSC Chairman sent to the leader of the Labour Party,
Neil Kinnock, a letter expressing dismay at how few Labour MPs were signing some early day
motions in support of human rights in Eastern Europe. One early day motion concerned the hunger
strike of Polish political prisoners, another motion concerned the murder of Father Popieluszko, and
a then forthcoming motion concerned the Yalta Agreement. Ryszard's course of action involved
option (a) in all three issues, as follows:
1. The action was open, rather than behind the scenes, in that the next PSC
37
circular described the letter, included the wordings of the motions, included a list of M.P.s who had
signed the motions and drew attention to the fact that few of these M.P.s were Labour. The circular
encouraged PSC members to lobby their M.P.s to sign the motions.
2. The letter was written and sent to Neil Kinnock between committee meetings, after notifica
tion to committee members with a limited time given to them for their response.
3. The third of the early day motions that Ryszard referred to called for the recognition of the
rights of the Baltic States for self government, on the grounds that the Yalta Agreement had never
been implemented by the Soviet Union, which had broken its side of the agreement by not holding
free elections, etc. In 1994 it is hard to see how anybody could object to any of what Ryszard had
done, and indeed some of us felt that way back in 1985. But at the time it caused immense friction
on the committee. It lead to vice chairman (and former chairman) Walter Kendall writing to our
affiliated groups to notify them of the action, in terms of disapproval, (and one or two of these
groups then resigned from PSC). Walter also wrote to Peter Shore and Neil Kinnock to dissociate
hjmself from the action. Walter Kendall resigned before the 1985 AGM, but the fact of his resignatjon was brought up at the AGM by others, and seemed to take a disproportionate amount of time in :the discussion of the year's activities.
The case of Walter Kendall's resignation, and the issues involved were not trivial. After all the
issues related to fundamental matters that affect every campaign.
1. What are the most effective and/or morally right ways to campaign?
2. How does an organisation reach its decisions?
3. What does an organisation campaign about, and where does it draw the boundary in its
campaigning objectives?
At the 1985 AGM we tried to get these matters sorted out. Naturally there were motions passed
defining our activities in the coming year. But we also had two motions arising from the 'Early Day
Motion' case. One motion, (arising from issue no. one) stated that PSC should try to identify and
openly name any areas of political opinion in Parliament resistant to the values we supported,
and campaign to change those opinions The second motion (arising from issue no. three) regarded
the Yalta agreement as null and void as the Soviet Union had broken all its promises of allowing
democracy in its sphere of influence: therefore we supported the rights of the people of the Soviet
Empire to self determination.
Both motions were passed by a large majority, after discussion. There was no motion about issue
no. 2. the procedural issue. However, when I became chairman for the next three years, I
always considered that issue no. 2 would not cause friction if it were not combined with other issues
of contention. ..And of course with Walter's resignation and the passing of the two motions at the
1985 AGM there were now at the very least two less contentious issues than before). Besides there
was now a rather different atmosphere on the committee. Although occasionally it was necessary to
take action between committee meetings (without prior committee authorisation) nobody ever
raised issue no. two again. Indeed the one case when I was severely criticised by some of the
committee for procedural reasons was when I had NOT taken action between committee meetings,
but had instead waited until the next committee meeting to fully present the facts of the case to the
committee.
38
28 - RELATIONS WITH OTHER EUROPEAN EXILE GROUPS
PSC established good relations with the European Liaison Group, which was an umbrella group for
the various E. European exile communities. Through them, our publicity could reach the other
exiles, and useful contacts were made. Many from these communities participated in our demos,
turning up with their national flags, (as already mentioned) and sometimes speaking on our platforms.
Similarly we gave help to such events as they occasionally organised: e.g. the Chernobyl demonstration, and the annual Czechoslovakia '68 demo. When Hungarian refugee and former prisoner
George Krasso came to Britain we gave him all possible help in organising his '30 years' demo outside the Hungarian embassy, to commemorate the events in Hungary of 1956.
29 - THE WIDE RANGING COMPOSITION OF PSC MEMBERSHIP
What struck some of us was that the Hungarians and Czechs did not seem to have similar organisations to PSC (or SWS) which brought in people of different generations and backgrounds.
Admittedly PSC, by 1986 say, was 6 years old, and the events of 1956 and 1968 were 30 years and
18 years in the past, so this could be the explanation for a lack of an equivalent organisation to PSC.
Would we still be going, if there was still suppression of human rights in Poland, in 18 years time
(1998) and in 30 years time (2010)?
We supported the Czech demos (and provided speakers - and loud speakers at them), but prominent Czech dissidents like Zdena Tomin and Jan Kavan (both of whom spoke at PSC events) who
lived through '68 in Czechoslovakia, did not seem to be involved or notified. We gave all possible
help to George Krasso for his Hungarian 30 year demo, but there seemed to be no Hungarian community involvement (or separate Hungarian community demonstration): those who attended the 30
year demo seemed to have been invited on an individual basis.
PSC by contrast involved not only British people of varying political persuasions (Labour.
Conservative, Liberal, S.D.P. - and those who thought very little of all of them) but also Poles of
different generations, and backgrounds. Poles who came here during the war or after the war, Poles
imprisoned by the Germans and Poles deported to Siberia by the Soviets, the children of such Poles.
Poles who came here somehow during the 50s. 60s or 70s. Poles exiled here when Martial Law was
declared and Poles who lived through Martial Law. (and were even imprisoned during it in some
cases), and came to Britain later. For one year (1983/4) we had a Secretary of Latvian descent.
Maris Ozols.
Though there were naturally differences of opinion and emphasis among individuals there did
not seem to be the conflict or suspicion that some people claimed existed elsewhere in the Polish
community in Britain, between the older generation, and those who had been brought up under the
communists.
30 - AID TO SOLIDARNOSC, AND OTHER POLISH GROUPS
From 1980 onwards PSC had maintained and publicised a bank account separate to its operating
costs, and called the 'Polish Trade Union Appeal Fund'. It was made absolutely clear in all our publicity and literature that donations to this fund would go to causes in Poland, however little money
PSC might have to meet the operational costs of running PSC.
This promise was kept to, throughout the years, and indeed in each year PSC transferred
money from the operational costs account into this special fund, as well. Originally all the money
was to go to Solidarnosc, and was mostly to be collected from trades unions, but when after
Martial Law we started to give money to charitable ventures, and received donations from many
39
sources, the promise of our literature was amended, and eventually the name of our fund was
changed (to the 'Polish Freedom Support Fund'). Soon after Martial Law we were once again
sending money to Solidarnosc, but this time not openly and officially (as had been the case with
deliveries of equipment from Trades Unions) but secretly, through our personal contacts. Tens of
thousands of pounds were sent over the years, in response to numerous requests all over Poland.
we did not send the money through Solidarnosc abroad in Belgium, as we thought it possible that
such funds were more likely to be intercepted at some stage by the Polish police. Later on this
fact may have gone against us: Solidarnosc H.Q. had no record of what we had sent, and to
whom. And as our monies were sent via several different people, on a basis of trust and need to
know, we hadn't got, or attempted to keep, an overall list of recipients throughout the period
either.
PSC took the view that we could also send monies to other underground groups in Poland, provided they were democratic and against totalitarianism. In January '87 we held a packed public
meeting for Leszek Moczulski, leader of KPN (the Confederation for an Independent Poland), in the
POSK theatre, and a collection amounting to over £700.00 was given to Leszek for the KPN. One of
our committee members, Tadek Warsza (aka Zwilno) was the official representative of Fighting
Solidarity, and so we sent some donations, through him, to them. (All such donations were acknowledged in the Fighting Solidarity bulletins - and indeed our later donations to Solidarnosc underground were similarly acknowledged). In 1988 Kernel Morawiecki, leader of Fighting Solidarnosc
came to one of our committee meetings to thank us for our support when he was arrested, and discuss the situation in Poland with us.
In addition to all this, we had encouraged the public during Martial Law to 'adopt' a Polish prisoner, with the sending of food parcels, letters of support etc. Some long term friendships were
formed in this way. PSC also sent food parcels in this period, and sometimes money to individuals
once out of gaol, or their families while they were in gaol.
31 - OUR IMPACT IN POLAND
How much effect did our activities have in Poland? Obviously the Solidarnosc leaders knew about
as - we had met some of them, we had been thanked for our activities, our AGMs were usually
greeted by a message of support from Poland. Obviously the branches of Solidarnosc underground
who received help from us knew of us - and we made a difference with our medical help to some
people, and with our parcels to prisoners. Clearly the decisions made by the government, the Labour
Party and the TUC made a difference in Poland, and we played our part in campaigning for these
decisions to be made. Clearly the Polish Embassy and thus the Secret Police in Warsaw had an
interest in us - every time we held an event an observer from the Embassy was required to send a
report back to headquarters.
And of course nearly all our events were reported to Poland by the BBC Polish Service, and
Radio Free Europe. How many people heard about them, and did it lift their morale as much as we
hoped?
In December 1984 we held a teach-in about Poland, attended by about 50 people. We were
unable to find a speaker to speak against Solidarnosc - even the editor of the Morning Star said
he was not against Solidarnosc, and suggested we might try the Polish Ambassador. We felt this
was going too far. On the 18th January 1985 the Polish magazine 'Perspektywy' carried a report
on the meeting, generally trying to denigrate us, and make us sound a small harmless bunch who
commanded no support. But in order to give credibility to the report it attributed its details to the
BBC Polish Service, and distorted the BBC report to say that nobody could be found to discuss
what the speakers on the platform had said, whereas we had a lively discussion afterwards, and
40
the BBC had accurately reported that we had been unable to find somebody to criticise
Solidarnosc.
The fact that Terspektywy' had such little credibility with its readers meant that it had to
attribute its lies to the BBC, a service Poles were not supposed to believe in, or listen to, was not
only amusing but very revealing. Obviously our meetings, as reported by the BBC were having an
impact in Poland that Polish propaganda had to counter, not by pretending we did not exist (those
who heard about us knew we did) but by trying to minimise our support and activities, by lies,
omissions and distortions. A later ' Perspektywy' article on our 3rd May 1985 demonstration left
out any mention of the trades union support conveyed at the meeting, or the kidnappings, beatings
or imprisonment we highlighted at the demo: it accused us of trying to distort the meaning of the
3rd May constitution of 1791. Somehow our support for freedom for Poland was at variance with
the constitution, while the 'Perspektywy' support for totalitarianism was fully in line with the constitution!
Both these 'Perspektywy' reports were extremely encouraging to us - which was hardly the
intended effect! The intended effect was presumably to convince Poles that groups such as PSC
were harmless, and eccentric, but surely very few Poles would be taken in by these reports.
32 - SOME OTHER PSC ACTIONS
In addition to the literally hundreds of actions undertaken during this period, many of which are
referred to above, the following actions are also worth listing.
a. The production and sale of thousands of Polish flags, stamped with the Solidarnosc logo,
when the Pope met the Polish community at Crystal Palace in spring 1982. This was a joint effort
with many members of the Solidarity Working Group, and others. The flags were originally pro
duced for the rally the Pope held at Wembley stadium, for the British Catholic community. We felt
sure that those greeting the Pope would be very unlikely to have a Polish flag with them, (we were
right about this) but would be pleased to 'greet the Polish Pope with a Polish flag' (we were wrong
about this). We felt it likely that any Pole who wanted to greet the Pope with a Polish flag would
have brought one with them. We also felt it likely that Poles would not appreciate the mixture of
politics (the Solidarnosc logo) with national symbols (Polish flag) on a religious occasion. Luckily
we were wrong on both counts, and sold out all the flags and a lot of sales items also: over £3,000
was raised.
b. The hosting, and full participation in two World-Wide Conferences of Solidarnosc Support
Organisations (CSSO).
1. There were two rather different views on the C.S.S.O. One was that the sharing of campaign
ing experiences would be of benefit to all campaigning groups, and could lead to joint actions
across the world e.g. all groups would hold demonstrations or ceremonies on particular days.
2. The other view was that while co-operation between local groups was desirable for successful
events, co-operation and co-ordination between groups of different countries in simultaneous
actions made no difference to the success of the actions in each country, or the publicity gen
erated. Additionally, while one could try to plan co-ordinated actions in the future, apart from
the obvious anniversaries (such as August 31st signing of the Gdansk accords, Dec 13th,
Martial Law, and historical dates in May, September, November) events in the future would
be, or should be in response to future events in Poland, which could not be planned ahead.
According to this view the C.S.S.O. was therefore a massive diversion of effort from getting
on with local campaigning.
3. The two C.S.S.O. conferences we hosted were held in May '85 and the end of August '87 (a
time not of our choosing) presumably to commemorate the Gdansk Accords. On the second
41
occasion PSC thus had the burden of the conference in addition to organising, publicising and
carrying out our demo around the 31st August. Some other groups seemed to be taking part in
the C.S.S.O. instead of holding such demos. Additionally PSC delegates attended CSSO
conferences held abroad (also held in August).
c. The two demonstrations held (in July '85) with the Solidarity Information Office, in response
to Robert Maxwell's intention, publicly announced on Polish radio, to suppress news about
Solidarnosc in the 'Daily Mirror'. Maxwell's reaction to this campaign (made at a time when most
people would not dare criticise him for fear of bankrupting litigation) was to publicly withdraw the
threat, claim misrepresentation and give a Nazi salute when we picketed an embassy reception held
to mark the publication by Maxwell of the speeches of General Jaruzelski.
d. A meeting with the TUC leader, Norman Willis, (in 1984) and a different meeting with the
leader of the opposition, Neil Kinnock (in 1985). Both these meetings led to the issue of press
releases, confirming their continued support for Solidarnosc.
e. One of our many demonstrations in Hyde Park (August 1983) at which shadow cabinet min
ister Peter Shore (a long term friend of PSC) clearly stated that Arthur Scargill (N.U.M. leader) in
supporting the communists, and denouncing Solidarnosc, did not speak on behalf of the Labour
Party.
f. A tree planting ceremony (arranged by PSC member Naomi Hyamson, Secretary for 1982/3)
at Battersea Park, where Ken Livingstone, the leader of the Greater London Council (G.L.C.),
together with Marek Garztecki planted a tree for Solidarnosc, and freedom in Poland.
g. The sale of thousands of two specially designed posters ('Solidarnosc in Barbed wire',
'Solidarnosc and Bayonet') by the famous photo montage artist Peter Kennard. These posters were
used in the Skolimowski film 'Moonlighting' (and indeed in the publicity for the film) without our
permission, without any payment to us, without any credits in the film, and without notifying us in
advance. Thus a good chance to give publicity to PSC and to sell the posters and other items was
wasted, although the film was claimed to be helping Solidarnosc in some way. When challenged
about this matter both Skolimowski and producer Mark Shivas (later head of BBC drama) showed
no interest, declared that the finances for the film were closed, so payment was impossible, and gen
erally passed the buck.
h. 1. A benefit showing (in March '88), for 'Solidarnosc' of the film 'No End' - thanks to the
distributors Artificial Eye, who risked future film purchases from Poland by doing this. 2. A
leafleting of the National Film Theatre, and questioning of the director (who spoke after the
showing) of the anti-Solidarnosc film 'Dignity'/'Godnosc' (July '86).
i. A concert and rally to celebrate the award of the Nobel Prize to Lech Walesa: this was attended by about 1,000 people.
Messages of support were received from 25 Nobel Prize winners including Willy Brandt.
j. An exhibition (organised mainly by Zofia Hart) which was on display to the public in
Waterlow Park, Highgate throughout March 1982.
k. Providing speakers at several Afghan demos, and the organising of two public meetings (in
'86 and '87) at which a Polish journalist, Radek Sikorski showed his slides of the war in
Afghanistan.
1. The sending to the candidates of all the major political parties, at the 1984 E.E.C. elections a
questionnaire on attitudes to Solidarnosc, freedom, independence, etc., the collation and publicising
(through PSC circulars, and the 'Polish Daily') of the results.
An even bigger task was a similar questionnaire sent to all the candidates of the main parties at
the 1987 general election. This was an enormous task (over 1900 candidates) as was collating the
replies (284 replies, including 248 completed questionnaires or letters giving amplification of the
42
answers). It was particularly disappointing that when these results were summarised and presented
to the 'Polish Daily' newspaper, with quotes from particular candidates, before the election, the
'Polish Daily' felt that the matter was not of interest to their readers, and no coverage was given.
33 -1988 AGM
As stated earlier (section 24 above), some of us in PSC felt we had carried a heavy load that we
might not be able to carry for much longer, and we were always looking forward to influxes from
Polish Students etc. (that never arrived) to help with, or even take over the running of PSC. Quite
apart from all our campaigning activities, the basic functions of PSC connected with circulars and
membership were very time consuming.
1. The writing and typing of the 'News about PSC' part of the circular. The writing and typing
of other parts of the circular, or the commissioning of other contributions and sometimes the typ
ing up of these contributions, if submitted in hand written form. The preparation of membership
cards, reminder letters to those whose membership was about to expire (or had expired without
renewal of membership), the correcting of membership address list (to take account of changes of
address, new members, expired members etc.). The handing over of all these materials to the 'Link
Man'.
2. The 'link man' would take all the circular materials, cut them and paste them to form the cir
cular, together with added headings, any additional comments, sometimes last minute retyping as
well. He would then amend the membership label list, photocopy the circular (which might be up to
ten sides) up to as many copies as were required for the current membership plus complimentary
copies for certain influential people. He would then pass the photocopies (possibly several thousand
sheets), stamps, membership labels, insertions and envelopes to the two packers.
3. The two packers would then collate the circulars, and then for each envelope insert circular
plus any individual insertion, seal the envelope, add stamp and address label. Finally they would
post the envelopes.
All this is probably standard for any group that does mailing out to a changing membership, but
with a voluntary group the willingness of people to do this essential but often taken for granted
work can make all the difference between a group continuing or ceasing.
In PSC's case I had taken on the duties described in I/ above, firstly as Secretary (when Ryszard
Stepan typed up my handwritten contributions), then as Chairman (eventually typing up my own
and some other contributions when Ryszard no longer had the time). For some time I was helped by
Anna Boszko with the membership duties. Ryszard Stepan was the 'link man' described in 2/ above,
and additionally he often designed leaflets and posters for demos and public events. The packers
were Ryszard's friends, Mr. Michorowski and Mr. Bossowski.
This was basically the set up until the 1988 AGM.
Prior to the 1988 AGM, I announced that for reasons of exhaustion, and for family reasons I
would only be able to carry on as before, up to the AGM. I would not serve on the committee,
though I would carry on with membership duties if necessary, and would be helpful when I could.
Unfortunately at about the same time Ryszard gave notice that he too would be unable to carry on
after the AGM.
Would anyone be willing to take on the duties of Chairman? Who would take on the stages one
and two of the circular? Would anyone be able to provide cost price photocopies as Ryszard had
done? Would our packers carry on, if so who would take all the materials to them, if not who
would do the packing instead? PSC had not seemed full of people ready to take on these sort of
tasks before which was why Ryszard and I had taken on so much. If ever we needed a group of
people to gallop to the rescue it was now! One of our pre-AGM circulars contained an item (writ-
ten by committee member Wiktor August in his monthly column for the circular) saying that with
the retirement of key members new people were needed to carry out vital functions, and after the
PSC AGM there might be a few months uncertainty while the new committee found their feet.
SWS promptly took the opportunity to declare, at a demo outside the Polish Embassy, that PSC
was moribund!
In fact the rescue came from an unexpected source - Marek Garztecki and the team he had built
up at the Solidarity Information Office. Marek and his colleagues, Agnieszka Huston, Wojtek
Dmochowski (alias W. Tomaszewski), Zofia Malakowska had been active in PSC for some years the latter two well before meeting Marek.
The reason the 'rescue' was unexpected was that Marek and his team were taking on these duties
i production of circular etc.) in addition to carrying on with the 'Voice of Solidarity' magazine they
produced as the Solidarity Information Office. Through Marek we now had the mailing and printing
facilities of the E.E.P.T.U., and Marek and his team did the writing, typing, and layout of the circular, which continued to be produced monthly.
At the March 1988 AGM Marek was elected chairman, with Wojtek stepping down as vicechairman to become circular editor, and Marion Pitman, former treasurer taking over from Barbara
Lubienska as secretary.
The AGM went very smoothly, and Marek in his first circular (April 1988) remarked that the
sense of continuity was illustrated by the presence of three past PSC chairmen (Karen Blick, Wiktor
Moszczynski, and myself) sitting side by side, deeply engrossed in the matters at hand.
34 - LATE SUMMER 1988-NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN POLAND
It sometimes seemed that the communist regime in Poland would go on for ever, as it seemed to be
doing in Hungary, Czechoslovakia etc. In Summer '88 there were strikes in Gdansk again, and the
Polish government announced that they wanted constructive talks. Was this a trap, or the start of a
new phase?
Every year our August demo seemed to attract fewer people than before. However the Aug '88
demo with perhaps 600 people had three times as many people as the '87 demo (200 people). This
might have shown a growing interest in the cause, and optimism in the outcome. Alternatively the
difference could have been due to the location and timing.
The '87 demo started from an unfamiliar location (a large turning circle for lorries on the north
side of the River Thames, opposite Battersea Park), went past the Yalta Memorial, and finished at a
location without significance (opposite the Science Museum).
For the '88 demo, after extensive lobbying, we were allowed to use Hyde Park again, and we
were also allowed to march past the Polish Embassy for the first time since 20/12/81. The '88 demo
was in the evening on a weekday, the '87 on a Bank Holiday afternoon.
The '87 demo however, did give us the chance to hand out hundreds of leaflets and be seen by
thousands of shoppers and tourists: the '88 demo mostly marched round some very empty back
streets North of Oxford Street.
Depending on one's outlook one could feel that things were improving in Poland, and in terms of
PSC support, or that once again in Poland the same cycle of strikes leading to suppression would
occur, and once again PSC was going through the motions, but to what effect.
Chapter 3:
From the Round Table Agreement to the tothe Present Day (1994)
35 - PSC SUPPORTS ROUND TABLE AGREEMENT
When the round table talks were announced there were two main views that could be taken.
a. Solidarnosc should not talk to the government, who were an untrustworthy enemy.
b. Solidarnosc, unlike us, had to live in Poland, and if they thought some good might come of the
talks, let them see what emerges.
Similarly, when the agreement was announced for partly democratic, but mostly undemocratic
elections, there were two main possible views:
a. Solidarnosc was stupid or treacherous to take part in these undemocratic elections, thus legit
imising the Polish government.
b. If ever Solidarnosc, or democracy were to triumph in Poland, the elections would be a first
step. Provided Solidarnosc participated fully the elections would allow Solidarnosc to demonstrate
to itself, to Poland and to the world, its level of support. Also Solidarnosc would be in a much
stronger position if there were an attempt to fiddle the voting figures, or subsequently ban or
imprison Solidarnosc, or its MPs.
PSC committee took view b. in both cases (although one of our PSC members, Tadek Warsza
(aka Zwilno), representative of Fighting Solidarnosc denounced the agreement and the election).
36 - SUPPORT FOR THE ELECTION AND SOLIDARNOSC - AND HOSTILITY
It was essential to publicise and explain the conditions for the elections, and justify Solidarnosc's
reasons for participation. Our chairman, Marek Garztecki (elected at the '88 AGM) was frequently
on the radio and TV explaining the situation, while Tadek Jarski leader of SWS appeared on TV at
one stage denouncing the process and Walesa for taking part in it.
Poles at embassies all over the world could vote for candidates in the Central Warsaw constituency: this arrangement, it has since emerged, was to give Jerzy Urban, government
spokesman, a better chance of being elected on the grounds that Poles abroad would not know what
he was really like, and might vote for him.
PSC member Zofia Hart (aka Ewa Germanis), who had just returned from Poland, and knew the
mood there, stressed the importance of getting the Polish community in Britain to take part in the
elections. So PSC formed and supported an election group including not only PSC members, but
other active helpers, nearly all Poles who had come here since Martial Law, including Piotr
Nowotny, actor and singer, and two friends or colleagues of Lech Walesa. It was vital to lobby for
the Solidarnosc candidates (lower and upper house) and the Solidarnosc Warsaw Central candidates
nominated Zofia Hart and Piotr Novotny, as their official representatives, entitled to oversee the
voting process and counting, to ensure it was all carried out fairly.
Our election group leafleted outside Polish churches, and in Polish clubs. Usually canvassers and
leaflets do not have to explain a complicated voting system, or have to justify voting in an imperfect
voting system. However our canvassers and leaflets had to do this, as well as encourage people to
go to a place they would not usually wish to be associated with (the Polish Embassy). Additionally
of course our canvassers and leaflets had to canvass for the Solidarnosc candidates. Quite a lot of
hostility was encountered by our canvassers, as might be expected from earlier events. When the
original notice announcing the formation of the PSC election group and inviting helpers had
appeared in the 'Polish Daily', there was a lot of trouble within the 'Polish Daily' about letting such
an item appear. The Government in Exile responded by placing an item in the 'Polish Daily' warn45
ing people not to vote, and to be suspicious of canvassers.
37 - THE 1989 'ROUND TABLE' POLISH ELECTIONS
Our election group members, Zofia Hart and Piotr Nowotny attended the Polish Embassy for 24
hours to ensure correct procedures, while two other Solidarnosc nominated election group members
went to Edinburgh to do likewise at the consulate. PSC set up an election stall outside the Embassy,
to do last minute canvassing and remind people of the complexity of the voting forms. The voting
was quite a moving occasion with some Poles proving their entitlement to vote through the production of pre-war Polish documents, or in one case a Martial Law internment document. And there
were the light hearted moments, with some voters bringing rulers with them, in order to delete all
the names of the communist candidates - or during the counting of votes the occasional shouts of
'here's one for Urban'.
An article was sent to the 'Polish Daily' to describe and explain exactly what had happened at
the voting, so that people would have no misconceptions. The article however was not printed, and a
remark subsequently from a prominent figure in the Polish community, who had not voted, showed
how misconceptions about the validity of the voting process, and even the outcome of the embassy
votes, remained.
Nowadays the 'Polish Daily' is edited by a former PSC member Kasia Budd so these and other
remarks do not now apply to the present newspaper.
38 - OTHER PSC ACTIVITIES, 1989
We took part in the rally (on 11/6/89) to protest against the actions of the Chinese government in
Tiananmen Square. PSC had a good presence at the rally, and PSC chairman Marek Garztecki gave
i very well received speech. In general PSC was much in demand to give support and advice to the
various Chinese pro-democratic organisations. PSC, through Marek, and Wojtek was extremely
Active in arranging meetings for the Farmers Solidarnosc, and the Iron and Steel Workers
Solidarnosc, when their delegates made separate visits to Britain in October and November. There
were meetings with the European Congress of Farmers, Neil Kinnock and shadow foreign ministers,
the Foreign Office, the Plunkett foundation etc.
Additionally Marek travelled to Poland in October, and saw and talked to Lech Walesa, Bogdan
Lis, Janusz Onyszkiewicz, and many others, including one Deputy Prime Minister, and four minis:ers.
39 - LECH WALESA'S VISIT TO BRITAIN -DECEMBER 1989
In December '89 Lech Walesa came to Britain, as a guest of the TUC, and had a series of meetings
with the government, the opposition, business people, and attended many functions, including several with the Polish community.
Naturally Lech Walesa's entourage included translators, publicists etc., and as a guest of the
TUC he had no need of the help and facilities we had given to other visitors and delegations.
One version of Lech Walesa's visit (as it related to PSC) was that he met two PSC members
iRyszard Stepan and myself), praised our efforts to us, publicly thanked PSC at the TUC press conference, publicly encouraged people in POSK to join PSC, attended an Baling Council reception
mostly organised by former PSC chairman Wiktor Moszczynski, had a brief meeting at his hotel
with two of our election group (his two colleagues from days gone by), and attended various receptions where PSC members were present, and had the chance to speak to him, to Bogdan Lis, Janusz
Onyszkiewicz (who we were in close touch with throughout the visit) Jerzy Milewski and others.
And all this is true.
46
It is also true however that before Lech Walesa arrived, we had lobbied very strongly for Lech
Walesa to address a meeting of 1,000 people, British and Polish, some invited, some members of
the public, at a venue booked by us. We argued for this meeting by sending faxes to Lech Walesa's
office, by talking to his advisor who came to Britain to make arrangements for the Walesa visit,
even by pressing our case at an early stage with Walesa's hosts, the TUC. We felt that on a visit to
Britain it was essential that the world's media could see his popularity with the British people, who
could ask him questions. After all it would be the British taxpayer who would foot the bill if
Government money were used to help Poland - to only mingle with the Polish community would
give the wrong message we thought. Even if his office did not want us to organise it for some reason, why not get the TUC to do something similar?
Our advice was considered and rejected, and while Gorbachev could be seen mingling with the
British public at a walkabout Lech Walesa was not seen with the British public, only with politicians, businessmen, V.I.P.s, and the Polish community. And instead of a meeting with 1,000 people
(which television stations would, judging by early enquiries, definitely have been interested in covering) there were several meetings with the Polish community (less than 1,000 in total, but taking up
much more of Lech Walesa's limited time than one meeting would have), one at a community
venue that had not often encouraged or permitted pro-Solidarnosc activities in the past.
Of all our campaigns over the years this was easily the most unsuccessful!
Perhaps, in retrospect this all seems reasonable - it was important to get more support for
Solidarnosc, so Lech Walesa had to go where support had not always been forthcoming. Perhaps, as
mentioned earlier, as we had not sent our monies to Poland via the Brussels office, but by direct
contact in response to requests (and as the Director of the Brussels Office, Jerzy Milewski was one
of Lech Walesa's advisers for this visit) Solidarnosc had no record of our contributions and were
suspicious of them, or unaware of the extent of them. Perhaps the Walesa advisers just wanted to
show us who was boss. But if so we felt it was at their expense, as well as ours.
40 - PSC EXAMINES ITS ROLE
At the time this all produced a lot of disappointment, and anxiety, and an identity crisis for PSC. I
took over from Marek (who resigned) as chairman in October '89 and we asked ourselves legitimate
questions about our future role. Most of our previous activities (the demos, the pickets, the protests)
were, as far as Poland were concerned, no longer necessary, due to the new situation, and as for representing the position of Solidarnosc in this country, how necessary, or legitimate was this now that
Solidarnosc could so openly speak for itself?
Under the PSC constitution we could carry on until the 1990 AGM (February), and then review
our position. In the meantime our long term friend Janusz Onyszkiewicz, for many years
Solidarnosc spokesman (who had spoken for us at the August '88 demo and a subsequent public
meeting) spoke to a packed public meeting at the Polish Air Force Club, London on 28/12/89.
41 - 1990 AGM- PSC DECIDES TO CONTINUE
It seemed quite possible that PSC might decide, at the '90 AGM to initiate whatever constitutional
steps were necessary to close. This could be because we might not agree upon a role for PSC, or
quite possibly not find volunteers ready to serve on the committee.
A number of possible roles were floated before the AGM, such as campaigning to prevent industrial pollution by western firms setting up in Poland, on a scale not allowed in the Western countries. We thought this was worthwhile but perhaps beyond the skills and energies of our members it would be better to do this through existing green groups. It was considered that we might change
our name, and campaign for the same freedoms that were now emerging in Poland, throughout the
47
Eastern Bloc. But we decided that the name was something that was well known, a change of name
could cause confusion, and that to try to give equal attention and coverage to all the events in E.
Europe (as we would feel obliged to if we had the words Eastern Europe in our title) would be
beyond what we could manage.
In the end it was decided to keep our name, and thus retain a recognizable identity and continuity: to either organise events for other E. European countries, or if more appropriate, give our
knowledge and skills in organizing events to other people's demos, as we had done in the past when
required. Occasionally we would have seminars and socials to keep in touch. If events in Poland
took a turn for the worse, as might still happen, we would still be in existence to organise a suitable
response. The PSC circular would continue to carry news and articles about Poland, though possibly
be less regular. Karen Blick, one of the three founder members of PSC, who had left PSC in '82 and
rejoined a few years later, now came forward as PSC convenor, with a committee mainly composed
of Poles.
42 - SUBSEQUENT SITUATION
During these years we saw things happen throughout the communist world that we maybe thought
would never happen and, in cases such as Yugoslavia we never wanted to happen. PSC members
could travel to Poland without any worries, and we saw friends and helpers go to work in Poland, on
a temporary or permanent basis.
PSC speaker Jan Kavan returned to Czechoslovakia to pursue a political career, and George
Krasso returned to Hungary to do likewise, before sadly dying.
Former PSC committee member Jacek Rostowski went to Poland as a temporary government
economic adviser. Our 'Pole in Afghanistan' Radek Sikorski was appointed as a government minister, which aroused controversy and media coverage in both Poland and Britain. Former PSC chairman (and local councillor) Wiktor Moszczynski gave training to Solidarnosc candidates before the
Polish local elections.
Marek Garztecki recalls that he was instrumental in getting the Polish Socialist Party and the
Polish Socialist Party in Exile to re-unite. Three PSC members were elected onto the managing
committee of the reunified party, namely Marek, Mr Wasik and Mr Prokopowicz (the latter two
being members of the pre-second world war party). Adam Robinski is director of a joint venture,
based at POSK, between the Polish Ministry of Industry and Trade, and POSK.
And of course many Solidarnosc members who we had campaigned for when imprisoned, and
had contacts with, achieved high office: Janusz Onyszkiewicz became deputy defence minister, and
of course Lech Walesa became Poland's president.
43 - SUBSEQUENT PSC ACTIVITIES
During these years PSC's main activities were as follows:
a. A campaign, first by PSC alone in Summer '90, then with the co-operation of the Federation
of Poles of Great Britain, to remove the Home Office requirement of visas for Poles entering this
country. This visa requirement did not apply to most of the other E European countries, but it took a
iot of campaigning, including talks with the Home Office, and making it an election issue in Baling
to get the position changed. (The significance of Baling was that the Conservative candidate, Sir
George Young, who was re-elected had pledged his support to get the position changed: when he
was moved to the Home Office the position was changed). Wiktor Moszczynski of the Federation
was very active in collaborating with his old PSC colleagues in this campaign.
b. We established good relations with the new staff at the Polish Embassy, some of whom
turned out to be old friends of Polish PSC members. We spent time on trying to get twinning
48
arrangements with some London councils, but without success.
c. In November 1990 we held a stimulating seminar at the L.S.E. on the anniversary of the
knocking down of the Berlin Wall. Additionally we have had guest speakers, from the Polish
Government in Exile, and from Lithuania to address our Annual General Meetings.
d. Various socials and barbecues at which members and activists got to know each other better.
e. Help and support to Ryszard Stepan and the campaign he set up, the 'Solidarity Educational
Trust' to monitor and advise the way British government money was spent in giving aid of skill and
training to Poland (the 'Know How Fund').
f. Help and participation with the Baltic community here, with their demonstrations for inde
pendence and against Soviet oppression, including killings by Soviet soldiers, in their still subjugat
ed countries. We encouraged them to go for a big march across London (from Marble Arch to past
the Soviet Embassy), and gave them the benefit of all our experience in organising it. Subsequently
we took part in an umbrella group to organise such demonstrations, and provided speakers for two
Trafalgar Square rallies.
g. We held an all day demo at the 1991 G7 London Conference, linking the issue of aid to the
Soviet Union with the issue of independence and freedom in the Baltic States, and highlighting the
murders committed there. We gave interviews to media from across the world attending the sum
mit.
44 - THE PRESENT SITUATION - AND THE FUTURE
Karen has continued as Convenor to the present ably supported by Agnieszka Huston, Barbara
Lubienska and others. At the 1993 AGM it was decided to suspend the organisation until a recalled
meeting for all members in October '93 would consider future steps. In the meantime PSC would
collect its archives together, to be placed at the POSK library, Hammersmith, on permanent loan. A
committee would still exist, and would respond to any event in Poland that might merit a response.
PSC as described above, took an active part in the 1989 election, but it did not take part in subsequent elections, nor even the presidential election. PSC felt that in all elections subsequent to the
1989 election what we supported was the democratic process, and so different members could campaign as they wished (or not), but not under a PSC banner. What we would campaign about is if
there were developments in Poland (or outside Poland) that threatened or removed the democratic
process. Naturally we all hope such events will never happen, but nothing is certain in life, so
nobody can be 100% sure of the future in Poland.
Even if PSC decides to cease in the near future, if the need ever arose the more active members
would contact each other to arrange an ad-hoc protest action, or demonstration.
49
CONCLUDING REMARKS
I offer no conclusions about the events in Poland, other than the forces of freedom triumphed due to
all sorts of reasons, and as is so often the case in life, events do not always turn out as those who
instigated the events hoped for, planned or expected. Solidarnosc was always a coalition of many
forces, so once the main reasons that held it together no longer applied, it was likely that the numerous splits would occur. About PSC I can offer a few conclusions, most of which are only true, I
think up to a point.
1. However much PSC did, however much influence we had in Britain, the decisive events were
elsewhere, in Poland and in the Soviet Union, and the decisive forces (economic, historical etc.)
were much greater than any force PSC could offer!
2. PSC showed that it is possible for a 'single issue' campaign, run by volunteers to have a dis
proportionate effect on the attitudes and actions of large organisations, (e.g. political parties, trades
unions, even the government). Such a campaign can successfully combine people of many different
backgrounds and political outlooks - up to a point.
3. The best way for a campaign to keep going is to keep going, i.e. keep active. Activity unites
and enthuses the members of a campaign, while lack of activity demoralises the members, and makes
them examine their differences. But again this rule is only true up to a point. If the activity uses up too
much of the resources of the campaign, it can bankrupt the campaign, or leave members too exhaust
ed to carry on. If the differences between members are large, there must be a time when these differ
ences should be faced and dealt with, and not be hidden by more activity. Indeed more activity can
reveal differences that members were previously unaware of, or were prepared to ignore as irrelevant.
4. The structure and rules of a campaign can seem irrelevant when everyone is in agreement,
but can be vital for the continuation of the campaign when differences emerge. There must be clear
decision making processes, and clear rules that allow the members of the campaign to choose who
they wish to run the campaign. This was always the case with PSC, though without certain rule
changes the campaign might not have carried on in the mid 1980s.
Any structure that allows flexibility in Jerms of election of committee, and change of rules, can
always be vulnerable to attempted take-overs. Such rules are therefore both the strength and weakness of the campaign.
5. However much one can analyze the forces and factors affecting or determining the growth
and activities of an organisation (historical, economic, political, procedural etc.) much still depends
on the individuals in the organisation.
6. If no people are willing to undertake the work the campaign collapses, and the personality of
those undertaking the work can also make enormous differences: are they reliable, competent,
inspiring, conciliatory, willing to carry on in the face of setbacks - or the opposite to all these?
Additionally personality clashes can be more damaging (sometimes) than differences of viewpoint.
7. Two other factors should not be underrated.
One, luck. (With the T-shirts we were lucky that the 'Daily Mirror' included full details of
the T-shirts but unlucky that fashion later changed to baggy clothes and we then had trouble selling
our small and medium T-shirts).
Two, personal relationships. An active member might through their friendships or other relationships bring in and motivate further people who might well become vital for the continuation and
development of the campaign.
I hope my account of PSC history contains enough information and detail to enable readers to
draw their own perhaps different conclusions.
Giles Hart
50
SUMMARY OF A DISCUSSION HELD ON 16TH JULY 1993
The Polish Solidarity Campaign held a meeting about PSC's history from 7.00 to 10.30 p.m. at the
Polish Air Force Club, London. The meeting began with a discussion paper by Giles Hart. This
paper has been subsequently revised as 'A Brief History of Polish Solidarity Campaign' to include
certain corrections and additional information which emerged from the meeting, from subsequent
discussions and contacts, and also from the process of collation of the PSC archives. The discussion
started at about 8.00, and due to its length this can only be a summary of that discussion. In addition
to all the current PSC members invited to the meeting, an attempt had been made to track down
leading PSC members from earlier days going back to 1980: 22 such ex-PSC members were contacted and invited to attend.
PRESENT: Karen Blick (PSC Convenor, Chair of the meeting)
Marion Pitman, Barbara Lubienska, Zofia Hart, Artek Taczalski, Agnieszka Huston, Tadek
Warsza, Marek Garztecki, Giles Hart (all current PSC members). Wojtek Dmochowski, Liz Willis,
Robin Blick, Naomi Hyamson, Wiktor Moszczynski, Ewa Moss (all ex-PSC members)
also: three guests: Martin G. and Anna T. (two young students from Poland), Dr. T. Piesakowski
(historian)
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE:
Ewa Cwirko-Godycka, Darek Dzwigaj, John Taylor, Sue Chinnick, Kasia Budd, Walter Kendall
(who sent a message of support for the meeting, and the history project), Adam Robinski, Ryszard
Stepan, Tesa Ujazdowska.
The meeting began with various minor corrections to the discussion paper:
ROBIN BLICK The Labour party were inviting Communist Party representatives. It was the
TUC who invited the bogus trade union representatives.
ZOFIA HART The Government in Exile not only did not encourage people to vote in the round
table election: they warned people against voting.
WIKTOR MOSZCZYNSKI The booklet written by John Taylor, Wanda Koscia and Jacek
Rostowski, which sold in thousands at all sorts of events, and described how Solidarnosc were managing to keep the struggle going underground should be recorded.
The discussion then moved to the origins of PSC with contributions from ROBIN BLICK,
KAREN BLICK and LIZ WILLIS. Robin, Karen and Adam Westoby were on holiday in Wiltshire
in mid August, 1980 hearing the news about the strikes in Gdansk. They rang up a libertarian socialist group called 'Solidarity' in London, to ask them to arrange for a public meeting to be held in
support of the strikers. This was done, and Robin, on returning from holiday chaired the meeting on
26th August 1980, at Conway Hall. About 100 people were present mostly of the left, and news
came through on the radio while the meeting was in progress. Wiktor Moszczynski was present,
having met Robin while translating at a meeting in the late '70s. The campaign was formed and
called 'Polish Solidarity Campaign', probably influenced by the 'Vietnam Solidarity Campaign'
that many at the meeting had been involved in or had experience of. The strikers in Gdansk did not
name their organisation Solidarnosc (Solidarity) until 31st August. So while Robin, Karen and
Adam were the founders of PSC, they were not the only founding members, as all at that meeting
who signed up as members were also founding members.
WIKTOR MOSZCZYNSKI commented on the impact PSC had on our lives. As a very active
member for 3 years (1981 to 1983) he had attended 48 meetings in 1981 (either PSC meetings or
those attended on behalf of PSC), 64 in 1982, and 18 in 1983. This was in addition to writing articles, translating, numerous telephone calls, etc. Wiktor considers that our great role was running a
51
coach and horses through the communist stranglehold on Labour foreign policy. Our main impact
on British history was in '81 and '82, influencing the Labour NEC to change its policy about inviting communists to the Labour Party Congress.
We were able to do this by saying we represented Polish workers and asking 'which side are you
on, the oppressed or the oppressors?'. We identified friendly M.P.s, and at the 1981 N.E.C. we got 3
votes for our policy (Eric Heffer, Neil Kinnock, and a (trotskyite) young socialist) out of 25; by the
1982 N.E.C. we got a narrow majority of the 25 in our favour. Some Poles (exiled in Britain after
Martial Law) thought we should not be doing this: we should be helping Solidarnosc directly, not
also getting involved in British politics.
EWA MOSS said that she had been a member of both PSC and SWS (Solidarity with Solidarity).
PSC had carried out an enormous amount, and the account in the discussion paper was very honest.
KAREN BLICK wanted to answer the question listed: what was the political outlook of the
founders? A considerable number of the founder members came from communist families (e.g.
Robin, Karen, Adam, Julia Jensen) but had seen through this, many had gone through a Trotskyist
group, but had left it. They still wanted to support a working class organisation, but it should not be
aligned with Soviet policy, and it should be democratic. They wanted to ensure that democratic
organisations in this country would not be hoodwinked by the situation in the Communist world.
Karen thought that PSC was unique in the way it brought together many people of differing
backgrounds e.g. committed Labour people working side by side with a Conservative councillor like
Colin Brewer in the late 1980s. It was often a bigger problem between different shades of the left
than between left and right. Karen thought that although she had been involved in many campaigns
she had seen more success with PSC than anywhere else: the legalisation of Solidarnosc, the downfall of the Soviet Empire, - this all gives hope that mankind will pull through. The success of the
visa campaign showed that small organisations with limited means can make a difference to government policies.
ROBIN BLICK referred to the period leading up to the 1982 AGM. People who were sympathetic to crypto-stalinists decided to destroy our campaign. We became a target when we became a serious force for the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) and others, who wanted to keep our pro-Solidarity
activity on a far left line. The left had tried to set up a rival organisation to argue that while things
were bad in Poland they were just as bad in the West. But this organisation never really got going,
so PSC were the only organisation ready and able to mount a demonstration in response to Martial
Law. But these people then tried to take us over. Our 1982 AGM was seized on by people who had
denounced us - referring to Robin as 'right of Ghengis Khan' and PSC as 'CIA funded': these people now came to take over the PSC. But they were assisted by people within, Steve Murray and others.
PSC split into two factions. Wiktor, Robin, Karen and Naomi had a meeting to prepare strategy
to stop the left taking over, no doubt the other faction had their meetings as well.
Robin wonders what the prime mover behind this was: he thinks it might have been Kremlin
inspired.
Shortly before the AGM Robin had been elected to editor of the editorial board: Robin and Steve
Murray had arguments about 'PSC News'.
1 - Steve wanted the magazine brighter, more professional.
2 - It should not offend the communists and leftists who (Steve argued) pulled the levers for the
Labour movement.
Robin withdrew from the editorial board at the '82 AGM, to avoid further conflict, but was willing to write articles. Steve would not commission an article from Robin about puppet trade unions,
as it might offend the communists. When the PSC committee endorsed the censorship of the editori52
al board Robin resigned from PSC - others resigned from the committee about PSC News at about
that time.
If we were in an anti-Nazi campaign, and we were being taken over by Nazis, our response
would be rather more robust.
[NOTE - PSC had tried to track down Steve Murray and Julia Jensen for this meeting, but without success. Piotr Iglikowski, also on the editorial board during this period, (1982) had been contacted but was unable to attend.]
EWA MOSS recalled that as late as '89 (before the Round Table Elections were expected) she
attended a local trades union meeting where a CND member criticised Solidarnosc for fighting a
socialist government.
GILES HART recalled that some of these groups (that Robin referred to) had done things for
Solidarnosc - for example tours of factories featuring Piotr Kozlowski from the Ursus Tractor factory. If they could do such things and PSC either could not, or did not, because it was too busy doing
other things then, dislike these groups as one did, one had to consider very carefully the merits of
excluding them from PSC if by doing so they were likely to stop these very good activities for
Solidarnosc.
MAREK GARZTECKI stated that he was on this tour, with Piotr Kozlowski (both representing
the Solidarity Trade Union Working Group). We should distinguish between Trotskyite groups.
They were trying to use us, and we were trying to use them. Some people helping with the
Solidarity Working Group had friends in the S.W.P they even had an arrangement with the S.W.P.
which was aborted. There was a 'soft Trotskyite' group, the 'Socialist Organizer' (as far as Marek
remembers) which organized two tours of Scotland, and one of the Midlands for Marek and Piotr.
Very effective, 10 days solid speaking in Scotland, sometimes 5 meetings a day: miners, city councils, all sorts of people. They used a name like Scotland Polish Solidarity Campaign.
[NOTE-there followed some comment that this was probably the Glasgow Polish Solidarity
Committee, and that there were many groups springing up with the title Polish Solidarity Committee
which could be shortened to PSC (e.g Glasgow PSC), thus causing confusion.]
MAREK GARZTECKI said that Solidarity with Solidarity (SWS) were happy to use Trotskyites
to further their aims, even though they were publicly castigating us for our Trotskyist influence.
Both sides played the game of using each other.
KAREN BLICK said she thought it was fine for Solidarnosc from Poland, or the Solidarity
Working Group here to tour anywhere, at the invitation of anybody (within reason). What Karen did
NOT think O.K. was for any of these groups to take us over. Karen had the distinct impression,
though she could nqt prove it, and thus would not name names, that there was something very
strange going on of a Soviet spy dimension.
WIKTOR MOSZCZYNSKI recalled that the acid test put forward at the 1982 AGM for groups
and individuals joining us was a/ support the boycott of goods from Poland and b/ the breaking of
links with communist trades unions.
The problems continued - Wiktor, who was chairman for 82/3, persuaded Robin not to resign
once, later on did not manage to persuade him: possibly Wiktor's powers of persuasion when rung
by Robin on the second occasion at 7.30 in the morning were not as strong as they might usually
have been.
Wiktor's main idea was 'ideology divides, activity wins'. His idea was to keep going by doing
things, not to dwell on the differences, though certain issues like 'PSC News' remained. In 1981 the
PSC was largely left wing, but due to the demo of 20/12/81, there was such an influx of members,
many not left or not political, that it helped us when the Trotskyites tried to take us over.
Wiktor recalled the range of activities in '82: meeting the Liberal Trade Unionists, a PSC meet53
ing with Piotr Kozlowski, the Bournemouth Milk Race Demo, the Pope's visit to Crystal Palace, the
rally with SWS to Trafalgar Square, selling at Fawley Court, Fringe Meetings at the TUC etc - this
•vas a wide range of activities that left the Trotskyites behind, and at the 1983 AGM they felt there
was not much point carrying on.
Every time we demonstrated outside the Polish Embassy the embassy staff had to write a report.
The Polish Daily were not always much help, but the Polish section of the BBC broadcast accounts
of the demos to Poland. Once Solidarnosc abroad got organized in Brussels, they thanked us for our
efforts and Wiktor introduced Jerzy Milewski to various people at the 1982 TUC conference,
including a paper seller - Ken Livingstone, Leader of the Greater London Council.
Milewski valued us as a support group: he felt our importance was due to our impact in this
;ountry: and that the impact in Poland would come through Solidarnosc in Poland, and the Brussels
office and its branches.
MAREK GARZTECKI said that PSC might have been left-leaning in 1980 but so was
Solidarnosc in '80 and '81. It was a left-leaning trade union, and he had witnessed a meeting in
Warsaw where the right leadership was voted out and almost thrown out: maybe it was different in
different towns. So it was natural that PSC was leaning the same way. As we were discussing matters after the victory, Marek felt self-censorship was not appropriate. Of course we were infiltrated;
:his is obvious if you read the memoirs of the Minister of Security Kiszczak. The Government in
Exile was infiltrated, everybody was infiltrated. The only Solidarnosc office abroad that did not
have leaks of documents publicised in Poland was the London Solidarity Information Office. The
only document leaked was one the London Office sent to the Brussels Office.
Kiszczak says that in every country they tried to take over pro-Solidarity organisations, whenever
they couldn't manage it they tried to engineer a split. Draw your own conclusions.
Two people sent to the Solidarity Information Office, who subsequently were publicly defended
by SWS, were publicly exposed as highly dubious.
Marek considered that some of the problems with the PSC and the Solidarity Office were not
only due to spies - but due to the 'cock-up factor'. Some people on the right in PSC were playing
'student polities', aligning themselves with the Trotskyists against Robin, Karen and others.
EWA MOSS does not know how many left wingers there were in Solidarnosc, but she does know
that it got mass support, not just as a trade union, but as representing the whole nation. She thinks that
there could not be widespread support for the left because under communism it was difficult or
impossible for most people to distinguish socialism and communism - anything left was regarded as
communism. Nowadays it is different, people are experiencing capitalism in Poland and can see that
not everything under capitalism is rosy - maybe now they could appreciate the socialist ideas.
MAREK GARZTECKI said that all the surveys in Poland in the last 15 years were for state
intervention, welfare state - this is left-wing. All the leaders of Solidarnosc were left-wing.
(At this point EWA MOSS said that this country is for state intervention and the welfare state,
and is capitalist, and KAREN ruled that we could have a whole meeting to discuss the meaning of
socialism and left-wing, and we should get back to PSC history.]
MAREK GARZTECKI said that he had attended CSSO conferences (Conferences of
Solidarnosc Support Organisations) in Canada, USA, France etc, and PSC (or perhaps SWS) was
the largest organisation: some of the U.S.A. groups only had 15 or 20 members. In comparison with
what we wanted to achieve our achievements might be small, but in comparison with other groups
our achievements were very large.
WIKTOR MOSZCZYNSKI admired the longevity of the PSC, still active in '91 and '92: it was
a pleasure to work on the visa campaign with old PSC colleagues such as Karen whom he had
worked with from 1980-82. He had taken a much lesser role in PSC in the mid 1980s due to other
54
commitments, and exhaustion, and he wondered where did the key core of members, such as Giles,
Karen, and Barbara Lubienska get their strength from.
There then followed a discussion on the role of Solidarity with Solidarity (SWS) with many contributors. The view expressed in the discussion paper was generally agreed: that while the attacks on
us by SWS were very irritating, bad, unnecessary, and unjustified, the existence of two proSolidarnosc campaigns (PSC and SWS) stimulated not only more activity in total than one group
could manage, but more activity from each group, (due to rivalry and competition) than would otherwise have occurred. MAREK said that Tadek Jarski was active mainly among the Poles. He was a
charismatic leader: PSC was run by a committee. The organisations had different profiles, different
types of leadership. ROBIN paid tribute to Tadek Jarski: every month, in all weathers, on the 13th
there was a SWS demo outside the Polish Embassy (with at least 50 people attending each time)
from some time in 1982 until the Solidarnosc government. On one occasion Tadek was arrested by
the police for refusing to turn his loud speaker off. EWA MOSS thought that some people joined
SWS, or left PSC for SWS, because PSC was left, SWS was not, and Poles tend to be Conservative.
GILES added that another factor was that Tadek was Polish, and SWS was led by him throughout:
PSC had a changing leadership, of various nationalities (English, Polish, Welsh, even Latvian
descent): this may have been confusing to those who did not know us well.
WIKTOR MOSZCZYNSKI said some people did not like Tadek Jarski, and this drew people to
PSC: both the TUC and the old emigres often preferred us to SWS. We had the young people
brought up in Britain of Polish parents in PSC, while SWS had more the Poles who had lived in
communist Poland, so some emigres tended to regard PSC as the campaign of 'their children' while
being suspicious of SWS. Wiktor recalled often seeing members of the Government in Exile turning
up as individuals at our demos. The President of the Government in Exile would turn up at PSC
events more readily than SWS's: President Sabat turned up at our Lech Walesa Peace Prize Rally.
EWA MOSS said the attitude of the Polish Establishment was not to support pro-Solidarnosc
groups, but to regard them as war mongers. The Polish Establishment called for a total boycott of
the (1989 round table) election. After the Mazowiecki government was elected the Polish
Establishment wholeheartedly embraced them, and did not like any criticism of it.
MAREK GARZTECKI said that we might have hoped for more support for PSC from the
Government in Exile but that was not what they were there for - waving banners in the street etc.
Marek recalled President Sabbat visiting Marek in the early days, talking to him when Marek was
'nobody'. All trades unions giving money to Solidarnosc had to account for their donations, and so
embassies could find out what had been given, but the Government in Exile was always willing to
give monies in envelopes - no questions asked as to use, which could be for bribing police. They
were always willing to listen to and meet anybody from Solidarnosc underground visiting Britain.
Marek reckons nobody did as much as they did.
DR. PIESAKOWSKI supported what Marek said, and hoped the record would be put straight in
Giles's revised paper.
GILES HART said that he accepted this information, but he had not been trying to write other
organisation's histories - only their relationships with PSC. That is why he had referred to the
CSSO declarations by the Government in Exile that they did not use their influence to encourage
anybody to attend pro-Solidarnosc demos. Admittedly they then said (perhaps realizing how badly
their statement sounded) that if given notice of forthcoming PSC events they might then use their
influence, but when invited (with three months notice) to provide a speaker for the Aug'88 demo,
the nominated speaker was unavailable, and with a week to find a replacement they failed to do so:
they all had something else to do on that day.
WIKTOR MOSZCZYNSKI said that the contacts were on a personal basis. There was a genera55
tion and culture gap - they saw us as doing something different to them, but were pleased at our
actions. The individuals who Wiktor sometimes saw at our demos were there, not for Solidarnosc,
but for freedom in Poland.
[The conversation then moved away from the Government in Exile, and SWS.]
NAOMI HYAMSON recalled that even in 1980 when Solidarnosc was formed, the E. European
governments still managed to con people in Britain. She thought PSC's achievements were remarkable. The left was in a mess, and the trades unions were discredited.
EWA MOSS thought there was a need for such an organisation (as PSC) which would liaise
with British trades unions and the Labour Party, to obtain their support for those who should be
their natural allies, the Polish trades union Solidarnosc.
GILES HART recalled from about '85 onwards we missed very much the political skills and
knowledge of those who had left us, and although we could and did ring up either individual MPs,
or the whips, offices, to secure speakers from all the main parties for demos or lectures we missed
the inside knowledge (that had made possible the campaigning inside the Labour party on the matter
of invites) of party and parliamentary practises, and the politics of different Trades Unions. That
was why Giles was so appreciative when Marek Garztecki got involved with PSC as a committee
member, he had somehow managed to acquire all this skill and knowledge since being stranded in
Britain in '81 and so he could book stalls for us (and the Solidarity Information Office) at as many
Trade Union conferences as would accept us. This was great because when PSC first started getting
involved with Marek, and the Solidarity Information Office, from early '82 onwards, there were
committee members who were suspicious of Marek, and hostile towards co-operation with Marek
unless it was on our terms. Fortunately by the time Marek became a committee member these suspicions or hostile committee members had left.
WIKTOR MOSZCZYNSKI recalled that we always wanted to ensure that any Conservative
speakers were ones who supported democracy everywhere: we didn't want speakers who had said,
or were likely to say they supported the Chilean or S. African regimes.
KAREN BLICK found it interesting to recall (in the case of David Irving) and learn about (in the
case of Robert Maxwell - which happened when Karen had left PSC) how we had been aware, and
ready to take issue with people who had since come to greater fame and notoriety. Maxwell could
not have got much money from PSC, as we hadn't got much money, but he could have tried to
bankrupt PSC.
[NOTE - If the worst had come to the worst with Maxwell, we would have sent all our money to
Solidarnosc underground, rather than have paid him a penny.]
NAOMI HYAMSON said none of us realized how fragile were the bonds that kept the Soviet
Empire together. Once there was someone in the Kremlin who said he would not protect these
regimes any longer they all crumbled. She wondered what we would have thought then if we knew
what had happened since.
TADEK WARSZA said we were congratulating Mr Gorbachev and PSC for overthrowing communism. But Tadek thought the job of overthrowing communism had not yet been accomplished.
He claimed that it was now evident that what happened in Poland was a deal struck between the
Communists and their collaborators, posing as a so-called constructive Solidarnosc opposition.
This constructive opposition, now mainly represented by the Democratic Union (UD) were handed political power by the Communists, and were given a share in the mass media. The Communists
in return were allowed unchallenged to grab hold of the economy under a guise of system transformation and privatisation. Some now fear that in the coming election the Communist 'Alliance of the
Democratic Left' (SLD) and the Democratic Union (whose pro-communist stance is much in evidence) will scoop most of the seats in Parliament and will form a ruling coalition: this will mean
56
that the Communists, who have so far ruled by proxy, will have a formal return to power.
[NOTE - The tape was not very clear for Tadek's contribution, so this summary has been reconstructed with Tadek's subsequent help (ditto for Artek Taczalski's contribution later, and Ewa
Moss's various contributions). Hopefully the summary reflects what was said, but of course
responses made to these contributions were on the basis of what was said, and not what the reconstructed contribution says.]
Tadek's contribution produced a row at this point, and several people left the room until it was
over. MAREK took great exception to these remarks, saying it was outrageous that somebody like
Adam Michnik (whom Marek had known well since they were at school together), who had fought
against Communism for so many years, and had been imprisoned for doing so, should be accused of
being a Communist. TADEK replied that he had talked about groups, and had not named individuals. KAREN (as the chair of the meeting) called the meeting to order, and said that Marek should
not call Tadek an 'idiot'. Marek replied that if an 'idiot' was insulting, how much more damaging
and insulting it was to call somebody a Communist.
A discussion then followed on how much difference we made to events in Poland, and how
aware people were in Poland of our efforts. EWA said that people were grateful for our work,
which was much needed at the time. People did know about actions in Poland (though they wouldn't know which was PSC and which was SWS). WIKTOR said our actions gave encouragement
but the decisive thing in Poland was due to bigger factors. We were part of a big series of events
that took place, mostly in Poland. Wiktor recalled that he was banned from visiting Poland in 1987.
KAREN said that we kept the banner flying, and we showed the people in the Embassy who peered
through their curtains at us that there was somewhere that their powers did not extend to. GILES
recalled a meeting at Conway Hall (December '84) at which, in addition to a range of speakers we
tried to find ananti-Solidarnosc speaker. When the editor of the Morning Star was approached by
Wiktor he said he was not anti-Solidarnosc, and suggested asking the Polish Ambassador - we
thought this was going too far. This anecdote was announced at the meeting, and after the platform
speakers we had a discussion from the floor, as usual. Probably there was a Polish correspondent at
the meeting, as the event was reported in a Polish newspaper, in Poland. The reporter tried to give
the impression, not that we didn't exist but that we had little support, so he said that we had tried to
find people to discuss what the platform speakers had said, but we couldn't find anybody. To give
credibility to his report he claimed he was quoting from a BBC World Service broadcast. The BBC
had indeed reported the meeting, and he had indeed distortedly quoted from the broadcast to give
this completely false impression of what had happened. This whole episode was very encouraging
to us. It showed that the Polish media knew that news about us was reaching Poland, so instead of
ignoring us it had to tell lies about us, pretending we were ineffectual. And it showed that the credibility of the Polish media was so low with the Polish public that the media needed to attribute their
lies (to give them credibility) to the BBC World Service, which nobody in Poland was supposed to
be listening to, but obviously were. WIKTOR recalled that at every meeting there was a spy (who
looked like Lech Walesa!) from the Polish Embassy, and there was always someone from special
branch to keep an eye on him.
WIKTOR MOSZCZYNSKI recalled a meeting at Conway Hall (30/11/81) which had trade
unionist Jimmy Reid, Philip Whitehead M.P., and Neil Kinnock M.P. One of our members, an old
trades unionist [and friend of Vladimir Bukovsky - John Lawrence] was sure that Neil Kinnock
would never get anywhere. The fourth speaker was Professor Gomulka, who unlike the others was
very knowledgeable about Poland, and was actually able to give detailed answers to the questions in
the discussion. NAOMI HYAMSON recalled that after the meeting everybody went to the pub and
had a good discussion with Neil Kinnock.
57
GILES HART said it had to be remembered during these years that there seemed no end in sight
for these Communist regimes. There seemed even less possibility of the Baltic States getting their
independence. When we had our meeting with Neil Kinnock, then leader of the Labour party
1985), Giles showed Neil one of several early day motions concerning freedom in Eastern Europe
±at a lot of Conservative M.P.s were signing and not very many Labour M.P.s were. This motion
was something to the effect that as the Soviet Union had not carried out their side of the Yalta
Agreement, by holding free elections etc., the rights of the Baltic people for their own self government should be recognized. Neil looked at this motion, and said 'I don't agree with it, and I don't
suppose you do either'. The matter did not seem worth pursuing, but it did confirm how politicians
tend to deal with current realities rather than how things should be, so that they do not attract a
ioony' label by seeming to support unrealistic causes. And that is why our campaign may have
seemed strange at the time, and why those politicians who stood up to be counted with us were
brave, though it might not seem so now, after so much has happened.
EWA MOSS recalls the government policy about the Katyn massacre by the Russians.
Everybody knows the truth now, but the truth had been known since the war, (though the British
government pretended otherwise).
KAREN recalled that as late as '91 it was very difficult to get a speaker for the Baltic States
iemo from Labour - even Giles Radice wouldn't support us. The M.P. who was prepared to speak
•A. as a Welsh Nationalist. ROBIN referred to the same 'realism' now happening with Hong Kong,
and GILES referred to the Tibetan situation with everybody being frightened of offending the
Chinese government by talking to the Dalai Lama.
There then followed a discussion of Naomi's earlier question - what would we have thought then
of what has happened since. ROBIN said one can never know what will happen - one can only
campaign for things to be better, and overall, Yugoslavia apart, they have been better . NAOMI
would have preferred to have thought about what sort of world is coming. It is marvellous the
Communists have gone, but now having been deprived of everything but a one party state, there is a
struggle for a political culture. WIKTOR said we are all trying to develop a political culture, as the
Md certainties have gone, economies are collapsing. He is not despairing about the position in
Poland, it is better than it was, but there is mass unemployment. The situation was held together by
terror: now the terror has gone all the slugs are emerging from under the stones. With regard to the
falling out among old Solidarnosc colleagues, revolutions devour their children, but there has been
no bloodshed with this Polish falling out.
GILES said he had never campaigned for a free market economy in Poland, he had only camnaigned for democracy. What sort of economy the Poles wanted having achieved democracy was
always up to them. He found it objectionable the way Britain and U.S.A. said the Eastern Bloc
countries must be given help to achieve democracy and a free market economy, as if these two
things were synonymous. You could have a totalitarian regime with a free market economy - you
could have a democracy with a planned economy. If he met a Pole who said 'I used to have a job,
but I haven't now - thanks for all your campaigning' he would be most embarrassed. Giles was
always against Communists, but it was the compulsory nature of Communism he objected to: the
lack of democracy, lack of free speech. This went for the Trotskyists as well - when Trotsky was in
power he did nothing to bring about free speech, free trades unions, and a democracy that might
remove the Communists from power. When Trotskyists objected to Stalinism, their main objection
was that Trotsky wasn't running it, was excluded and then murdered by it - not the totalitarian
nature of it. But if there were Communists who were democratic, who were for voluntary
Communism, not compulsory Communists, who were not just democratic until they achieved power
then if people wanted to vote such people into power, that was their right. [In response to some
58
remarks Giles conceded this analysis was perhaps a bit of a simplification]
EWA MOSS felt that it was very important for Poland to be given economic help, not only for
Poland's benefit, but for everybody's benefit. Such help, financial and otherwise would help ensure
stability in Poland.
MAREK GARZTECKI described the economic problems in Poland with E.E.C. subsidised butter undercutting the Polish product. Marek said that while we have fought battles in the past, a big
campaign needs to be fought in Britain to allow Poland access to free trade instead of being hindered by trade barriers. Eventually Poland would be allowed to join the E.E.C and thus Poles would
be subject to not only the economic conditions, but all the rights of work mobility etc. that E.E.C.
citizens have. All Poles are frightened of the economic might of Germany and he could see that the
British-Polish friendship, started before the last war, could be important in this respect in say 15 or
20 years.
Marek thought that Poles have a lot to learn from the British, and gave as an example the ways of
conducting a meeting. Having seen hundreds of political meetings in Poland he had not seen one
conducted as well as this PSC meeting. In fact when Marek conducted meetings of the Polish
Socialist party in Poland he was basing his chairmanship on the way PSC ran its meetings.
[Everyone who had not yet spoken was then offered a chance to speak: no takers. The two students from Poland were asked to speak on the grounds that unlike others present they had spent their
whole lives in Poland, and would probably continue to do so, they were younger than us, consequently had probably not been involved in Solidarnosc demos, and had probably never heard of
PSC. Had they any comments on any of this?]
ANNA T. said that usually people in her age group were not interested in the past, they were fed
up with Solidarnosc. They are thinking of what they want to do.
ARTEK TACZALSKI said that some of the youth were very well informed about the
Parliamentary factions, the party struggles. Other youths were not involved due to wariness of political life - they have lost interest due to disruption caused by the current lack of progress in material
and employment conditions. There is disappointment caused by the fact that the majority of the
Communist Nomenklatura have become the capitalist elite, the economy is very much in their
hands. This slows down the economic reforms that Walesa has promised, but has not brought about.
One example is the banking system, where the Nomenklatura defends its interests. The know-how
people from Britain were entertained instead of being allowed to train people - they were misguided
by people afraid of the reforms. After 4 years the progress is minimal. The flow of money out is
enormous. Pensions are squeezed to a maximum, while the rich pay low or no taxes.
There followed a brief discussion on what Anna had said. While EWA seemed disappointed at
the attitudes expressed, MAREK said that it was encouraging - after generations of Poles who had
to be political because of the lack of freedom they lived under, now it was possible for Poles to live
without their life being determined by politics - wasn't this just the situation we had been fighting
for?
[Everybody present had said what they wanted to say, so KAREN brought the discussion to a
close, noting than in September PSC would hold a meeting to decide its future, and that everyone
present who was not a PSC member could nevertheless attend that meeting as an observer, if they
wished.]
59
MORE ABOUT PSC
by Edward Switalski
Introduction
Tliis contribution was motivated in part by seeing early drafts of Giles Hart's 'Brief History'. I add some
lomments on the early history of PSC, particularly the period of Martial Law and on our work with the
political Left. I also expand on the role of second generation Poles, particularly the Polish Students and
rffer some conclusions on the effectiveness of PSC.
My Road to PSC
I regard my involvement with politics as nothing special. My early life was spent in an extended family:
roth father and uncle had served in the Air Force and both mother and grandmother were in the Warsaw
^K and took part in the 1944 Rising. Their conversation was a primer of political history. I did not experience the traditionalist influences of Polish weekend school as my mother, though one of the original
teachers, had broken with the PMS [Polish Educational Society]. Instead I learnt of Granny's risky career
:or a demonstrator in 1905, when Warsaw was under Russian imperial occupation and the Polish language itself had to be learnt clandestinely. Although later running a large import business, she retained a
taste for the tough minded writings of Marx and Delasalle and others of the pre-Leninist period. Like
many progressive Poles of her class and time she regarded the Russians as irretrievably backward and
violent.
This left me predisposed to view Poland in political terms, distrust Western promises and regard
iCtivism for independence as the done thing. Just as well — I hadn't even unpacked in Cambridge (to
study Maths) when the recruiters from the Polish Society called. It was then just a few years after the
1970 rising on the Baltic coast and I was keen to learn about the history and situation in post-war
Communist Poland and E. Europe. Though the PolSoc was not political, we worked our way through all
the films of the post-war Polish school, collected money for Amnesty and held readings of dissident literature.
Among our members was the father and son mathematical team of Henryk and Jan Herczynski.
Though neither proselytised for the Opposition, at the time, Henryk was later arrested publicising on a
;ode of conduct for scientists under Martial Law. (Scientists often seem to have been effective dissidents,
maybe because dim Party aparatchiks found it difficult to meddle)
The Ursus and Radom events broke in the hot summer of 1976.1 well remember the anger and frustration of family and friends alike at the description of this 'zryw' (rising) as 'Food Riots' and the patroniz_r.g attitude of the British media. I was out in limbo between graduation and starting a job, but the experience left me determined to 'do something next time'.
I joined the London Branch (Kolo) of the Association of Polish Students & Graduates (ZSAPWB) in ebruary 1980 while finishing an MSc at London University. As London members included university
staff (e.g. Wlodek Mier-Jedrzejowicz of Imperial and Adam Ostaszewski - now of the LSE - and also
now Chairman of POSK) it was easy to contact political analysts from LSE and SEESS to give talks.
Some of the luminaries who spoke were Drs Rostowski, Polonski, Schopflin, George Kolankiewicz of
Essex (insight on the workings of the Party PZPR) and Prof Labedz. Many would grace future events
such as the first ZSAPWB Poland & Eastern Europe seminar in November 1982 and future PSC events.
While they agreed that Communist ideology was 'decomposing', none could predict how the next crisis .vould come.
The drama of shipyard and rail strikes of August 1980, made a large impact on second-generation
Poles. The election of Karol Wojtyla as Pope in 1978 had already caused many to reactivate their Polish
identity. After the patronizing treatment of Poland by the media as mainly just another Soviet Satellite,
though a more idiosyncratic and rebellious one, the emergence of home-grown figures with the stature of
Walesa or the Pope was politically useful.
60
August 1980 and PSC
Most of my August/September 1980 was spent in a whirl of activity, first finishing off an MSc dissertation, then breaking off for news bulletins from the BBC World Service, Radio Free Europe a
Polish short-wave. At the time some commentators regarded the railway strikes as more significarr
than the shipyards because they affected 'strategic' transport considered more critical to the Russia
military.
In late August, an emergency public meeting was held by the Polish community at the
Ognisko in Kensington. Though the speakers from the Government-in-Exile, ZSAPWB or veteran
Socialist Lidia Ciolkosz waxed lyrical, no program of action was proposed, not even the old
standby of taking a collection. I left very frustrated, but heard from Piotr Iglikowski about the
British meeting at the Conway Hall, historic meeting place of progressive causes.
There, in the classroom-like Small Hall I first encountered PSC founders Robin Blick and
Wiktor Moszczynski on the platform, with Giles Hart and Stanislaw Wasik and members of the
original PPS in the audience. (Giles wondered aloud who among those present might be the
Embassy spy). The meeting though small, already had various factions starting to jockey for position over the Poland issue.
Within a few days some of those who would form the core of PSC activists met at Robin Blick'house to draft the first Constitution. Given the intense nature of debate over later versions, the first
draft (typed on Robin's distinctive typewriter) was agreed amicably and quickly.
Those present came from a broad range of opinion, from Tories through Libertarians, orthodox
Labour and its fringe, and in contrast with exile organizations presented a reassuringly large stock
of expertise in British politics or running campaigns. Robin and Adam Westoby in particular, had an
extensive armoury of anecdotes of betrayal and collaboration. Robin seemed highly sensitised to the
excesses of Trotskyism, having been on the receiving end (literally) of a purge of Gerry Healy'WRP.
PSC was clearly not going to play it safe preaching to the converted. Though doggedly politically
unaligned, PSC also took on the important work of unpicking the unhealthy and corrupting 'fraternal'
relations of Soviet block governments and trade unions with British 'Labour movement groups. It
also meant countering Stalinism and anti-Solidarnosc propaganda in political forums and fighting
the generally patronizing and prejudiced view of East Europe in both the Establishment and the
'Labour Movement'.
The other attractive feature of PSC was it aimed to be practical: John Taylor had already routed a
£600 printing press to Solidarnosc, and I believe most of the PSC first collection money went
towards repaying him.
Most early PSC activists were already politically literate, e.g. Steve Murray, Naomi Hyamson.
Very significantly, PSC was also home to effective young activists of Polish descent particularly
Wiktor Moszczynski, and Piotr Iglikowski, keen to interpret Polish events for the British
community. Wiktor particularly knew both the active younger generation Polish activists and the
British political system, being active in his trade union and the Labour party in Baling (and elected
local councillor in Ipswich and later Baling).
One of the young PSC's first concerns was an apparent bid to use Poland by the Right. Press
adverts for a strangely-named 'Focus Solidarity Campaign' had appeared. After enquiries as to who
was behind it, PSC received a letter from David Irving the Holocaust revisionist historian suggesting co-operation. Robin drafted a letter noting we had nothing in common. Not too long after came
the first anti-Soviet action of picketing a reception for Leonid Zamyatin the ex-KGB 'trade union'
boss. This struck me as a well-balanced start.
61
The Media Campaign
An early target of PSC was inaccurate, misleading or dangerous reporting of Poland. Most journalists seemed to able to do a fair job but there were persistent offenders. Two main bugbears were
Tim ('Dim') Sebastian of BBC TV & Radio and the precious Hella Pick of the Guardian.
Sloppy reporting was potentially dangerous, as it allowed enemies of Solidarnosc to exploit the
status of the BBC, to legitimize and amplify their own propaganda. While nuances might escape a .on-Polish speaker, this did not seem to affect ITN's Nick Glass who appeared able to get consistently closer both to the realities and the aspirations of Poles. Also most East Bloc regimes then had
experienced teams of news managers and pseudo-journalists, well practised in steering or neutralizing naive western journalists, or exploiting the vanity or insecurity of the second-rate with offers of
'privileged' information. The working of totalitarian states is oiled by deceit, betrayal and selfdeception and self-justification.
Tim Sebastian (who allegedly got his nickname during an undistinguished spell at Reuters) was
:he BBC Warsaw correspondent from 1980 onwards, with an overwrought (or was it self-dramatizing) style of delivery, quivering at every flexing of Soviet muscle, shuddering at every crisis, too
often quoting the Government line: e.g. describing the testing of the ZOMO on striking Warsaw
Fire Brigade cadets in November 1981 as a (justifiable) raid by anti-terrorist police.
Hella Pick, often seemed to uncritically accept or weave in too many Government news feeds
into her copy. Uncomplimentary stories (mainly about vanity and drink) also followed her. Her
nadir was probably the 'Jaruzelski kissed my hand' interview after Martial Law. PSC raised comrlaints and had an inconclusive interview with her and her editor.
To be fair, Poland had excellent and fair analysis from commentators like Timothy Garton-Ash
of the Times, who got deeply into East European psyche, or Neal Ascherson of the
Observer/Independent, who demonstrated a deep knowledge of Polish history which he could weave
into analyses of the British scene.
The media campaign was worthwhile as Poland was often headline news in the UK from August
1980 until displaced during the Falklands War in spring 1982. The work of the Solidarnosc underground, and the mass demonstrations e.g. August 1982 anniversary, also received good coverage and copy.
Resources:
Before the first wave of independent newspapers arrived from Poland, a useful source of informa:ion was the weekly briefing papers, both in Polish and translation, of press cuttings produced by the
Information Centre for Polish Affairs. ICPA was run by journalists from the Polish Section of the
BBC, most notably Antoni Pospieszalski and Gienek Smolar. Gienek, expelled from Poland in
1968, was a formidable organizer. So was his brother Aleksander who worked for the 'Kultura' in
Paris, the flagship journal of intellectual opposition in Poland. (Like other journals printed abroad,
'Kultura' also came in miniature editions for ease of smuggling back to Poland).
Radio Free Europe also produced a weekly digest of press cuttings and political analysis, but
PSC was naturally far closer to the BBC and ICPA. I, for one, felt they were younger and more
independent-minded. I became suspicious of RFE after its softly-softly approach in the early stages
of Martial Law. It was also my impression that Tadek Jarski cultivated the RFE office in London.
As for books, I spent a pretty penny over the years at Mr Kulczycki's excellent Orbis Bookshop
66 Kenway Road, Earls Court) or its outlets. Besides illegal publications from Poland, Orbis
stocked an informed range of political and cultural opposition literature and had a good line in
'Ostpolitik' with its Russian and Ukrainian sections.
62
Labour Movement Solidarity Organizations:
Before PSC, some Labour movement organizations and MPs were already supportive of free trade
unionism in Eastern Europe. The apparently most significant within the Labour Party was the East
European Solidarity Campaign, publishing the well-produced magazine 'Labour Focus on Eastern
Europe' covering left-wing dissidents, including Polish strike leaders like Edmund Baluka or the
1970's founding committees for free trade unions.
The EESC was run by the Czech emigre Vladimir Derer (active in Bennite causes like the
Campaign for Labour Party Democracy) and Oliver MacDonald of Socialist Challenge. Their agenda seemed mainly to support reforms of the EE regimes back to 'socialism' - rather a forlorn hope,
we felt, given the nature of the regimes and Russian imperialism. Via the CLPD, the EESC
appeared close to the Leninist London Labour Briefing group and had the patronage of Ken
Livingstone for the 'Hands off Workers Poland' on May 23d 1981.
The EESC were suspicious of PSC for not being avowedly socialist and there was little co-operation after the 'Hands off march to the Russian embassy. PSC had the satisfaction of seeing the Left
press cover that march with photographs of our redoubtable 'Granny Squad' and their PSC
placards.
A small but friendlier organization was the Committee to Defend Trade Unions run by Harry
Stannard and leftist types from South Bank Poly publishing the magazine 'Free Trade Unions'.
Some of them were later supporters of the short-lived CDPS (see below).
Another group worth mentioning is Volya, run by Terry Liddle an early member of PSC. Tern
was an anarchosyndicalist libertarian once in the (British) political group Solidarity, After a spell in
PSC, Terry, who I believe was of Russian descent, began to work in support of emergent democratic
groups in Russia and publish newsletters on the subject.
Arguing For Poland
Until Neil Kinnock became leader, the Labour Party, hamstrung by certain NEC members, had been
slow and lukewarm in its reactions to the emergence of Solidarnosc. The situation in trade union
delegate bodies was more difficult, populated as they then were by significant factions of CP
(Communists), Trot' sects and 'semi-detached' members of the Labour Party.
The 'Trots' were the most amusing. The then lush political undergrowth of London was home to
an ideological menagerie of sectarian groups, often organized around selling a newspaper, all jealous of the political high ground and scrapping for the franchise on Socialism. While often amusing
as individuals, collectively they wallowed in self-indulgence and their indiscipline did far more
damage to the interests of British workers than to Solidarnosc.
Before dissecting Left wing factional attitudes, I should state that in my view, much of the 'support' of the Right was mainly hot air, and even that often showed embarrassingly little understanding. I do not think Conservative PSC supporters like Lord Nicholas Bethell could deliver much from
their government, especially if it involved financial effort or ran against UK self interest. For
instance:
It was generally easier to obtain political asylum in France or Germany than in the UK throughout the crisis period. Thatcher's government was quite happy to import Martial Law coal to break
the Miners Strike. It was not until the Russians admitted the Katyn forest massacre in 1989 that the
British abandoned their polite fiction that the issue was undecided. When it came to the post-1989
Visa Campaign, the Government arguments against lifting restrictions after 1989 were ridiculous
and carping. Poland was fortunate indeed that the course of events was mainly determined by internal factors.
The large deal of lip-service from the Right made the Left loath to appear in the same camp. This
63
Decreased throughout 1981 and after Martial Law when it became increasingly obvious that
Solidarnosc was a genuine and radical, social movement. For instance my own union's (ASTMS)
London Regional Council who had originally voted narrowly against affiliating to PSC in Autumn
1980, immediately voted £200 to PSC on the eve of the December 1982 demonstration.
Some trade unionists were sympathetic from the start, particularly proponents of workers' self
determination Mike Cooley of Lucas or Jimmy Reid of the Upper Clyde Shipyards work-in. Others
had followed the Russian and Ukrainian attempts to set up independent unions like SMOT and the
fate of leaders like Vladimir Nikitin, who I believe died in jail just before the system crumbled.
Others conditioned by memories of Budapest or Novocherkask were afraid to encourage
Solidarnosc for fear of 'sending them to their deaths' or of precipitating a Soviet invasion.
The arguments heard against Solidarnosc were soon predictable, even without recourse to back
issues of Stalinist ('Tankie') organs such as 'Morning Star' (CP) or 'New Worker' (from the even
more pro-Soviet NCP). Solidarnosc was branded anti-socialist, reactionary, a CIA front or
Catholic/nationalist. The last argument was particularly pathetic as those using it almost invariably
supported (reactionary) Irish Nationalism and were all for British troops out.
When all else failed, Stalinists would call opponents 'ill-informed', or avoid mention of 'the
trouble in Poland' or play up Reagan's support for Solidarnosc on appeals to the nationalist Little
England anti-Americanism and patronizing anti-Europeanism not unknown of these bodies.
Some Trotskyite groups wanted Solidarnosc supporters to endorse their domestic politics as a
precondition for their support. At demos they wanted 'linkage' of Polish issues with (their) British
ones, or a renunciation of NATO, Reagan, Thatcher & capitalism etc. Such interest was often shortterm and opportunistic. Anarchist groups, by contrast, were refreshingly consistent.(l)
Neal Ascherson had it exactly right when he warned early on that activists were in danger of seeing in Poland what they wanted to see and projecting onto Polish workers attitudes the latter simply
did not have.
The most tortuous reason I ever heard came from a feminist-Trot who, starting from the observation most Solidarnosc members were Catholics, decided they were anti-abortion hence anti-women
hence she would oppose supporting it.
All these groups were fun to taunt, by using their own Pavlovian phrases against them. With a bit
of practice, one could fulminate for minutes on end about 'the neo-bourgeois militaro-fascist
Jaruzelski junta and its discredited military regime' - to the great amusement of erstwhile allies.
Stalinists had often invested enormous emotional capital in the idea of the USSR as unique
repository of Socialism, and their reaction to threats to this could be petty. Even when they lost the
vote, Tankies put up a rearguard action, like trying to sneak in last-minute amendments to diver
donations to the government-dominated Polish Red Cross, or sabotage support for pro-Solidarnosc
activity. (I well remember the verbal squirming of Clive Jenkins of ASTMS, sent as the TUC representative to a 'Day of Solidarity' event at Central Hall Westminster, when he tried so hard not to say
that the TUC had finally cut links with East Bloc unions).
I think its correct to say that Tankies like Alan Sapper and Ken Gill continued their affairs will
East Bloc regimes until the total collapse of 1989.
The Polish Students' Contribution
The Association of Polish Students and Graduates in G.B. (Polish initials ZSAPWB) had a long and
quite distinguished history. Founded soon after World War II, many future leaders of the Polish
community passed through it as they resumed their educations. Originally an international organiza
;ion (ZSAPU), it was scaled down after heated debate in the 70's.
In the wake of the Ursus and Radom repression, London ZSAPWB members such as Kazik
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Stepan and Dr Adam Ostoja-Ostaszewski (later of the LSE), jointly produced a book called 'Dissent
in Poland'. This was a timely set of translations documenting the repression of strikers, the early
activities of KOR and the first links between workers and intelligentsia which were to prove so
valuable in 1980.
Connections between PSC and the ZSAPWB were informal but close: Wiktor Moszczynski had
been prominent in ZSAPWB and three successive ZSAPWB presidents were PSC committee members- Piotr Iglikowski, myself and Adam Robinski. The next, Janusz Kubsik, (born and raised in
Poland) was with the Solidarity Trade Union Working Group in the UK.
In the early days of PSC, ZSAPWB cross-publicized or co-organized events, e.g. invited PSC
members to the series of annual seminars on Poland and Eastern Europe, begun in November 1982.
Students regularly supported the PSC August demonstrations.
There was unfortunately, no great influx of Students into PSC. Few of that generation were interested in political activity, let alone within the Labour movement. More were involved in
church/charitable action such as collecting for food parcels or packing medicines for Medical Aid
for Poland.
That being said, when ZSAPWB attended an audience with Cardinal Glemp, the Primate, during
his UK visit, even the more 'religious' group were disappointed that he spoke little and
complacently about the situation in Poland. The murder of Fr. Jerzy Popieluszko in 1984 reradicalized some of them, when a priest got the kind of perverted and violent treatment meted out to
trade unionists and political activists.
The doyen of Catholic ZSAPWB, Kazik Stepan, became active in running the British Solidarity
with Poland campaign. Our personal relations were good, and we agreed to differ, working at opposite ends of the British political spectrum.
ZSAPWB undertook a number of student initiatives: campaigning within the NUS to break links
with the pro-communist ZSP (Edward Gierek personally awarded Party cards to ZSP members who
had attacked meetings of the Flying University) in favour of the independent and SolidarnoscalignedNZS.
I was aided by Anna Tomlinson, a dynamic character of Polish-Jamaican descent, then an officer
in the University of London Union. She tabled NZS/ZSP motions from London to NUS conference.
In this we crossed swords with the NUS International Officer, one Jeremy Eccles, who was all for
'fairness' to the discredited and collapsing ZSP. We suspected it was more an issue of not upsetting
relations (or compromising exchange trips) to East Bloc countries.
On the practical front, in mid-1981 a request came from NZS for western textbooks in the
humanities, economics, political theory, technology and medicine to redress the balance. ZSAPWB
began to organize a Polish Students Book Appeal fund to buy or solicit donations of second-hand
text-books. It had just obtained sponsors including Dr David Owen MP (who sent us a cheque)
when Martial Law closed down NZS and scotched that initiative.
ZSAPWB responded to Martial Law by publicizing lists and home addresses of interned students
with its own 'Adopt a prisoner' campaign. Back in Leeds for Christmas, Jurek Skalski and I (with
illustrations and production by Nick Sekunda & the Jasinski brothers) printed an emergency issue of
the ZSAPWB magazine 'Szczyt', scooping PSC News.
Szczyt featured racy accounts of worker/student Resistance, names of internees, contact list for
pro-Solidarnosc organizations and so on. Both papers were on sale for the international solidarity
day of 30th January 1982. Some older graduates of ZSAPWB thought this radicalism was infra dig
but the Polish Jesuits (who also received PSC News) thought it was great fun.
Szczyt distribution within London University was helped by Anna Tomlinson, who also set up
the CDPS 'Campaign to Defend Polish Students' to publicize the cause of detainees and the NZS
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within the NUS.
Over December/January, students in Manchester, Leeds and Nottingham organized or were
active in some commendable Polish community Martial Law vigils, in the bitterly cold weather of
the winter of 1981/2.
Meanwhile back in London, Polish and Ukrainian students bombarded the switchboard of the
Polish Embassy with abusive calls.
ZSAPWB efforts for NUS derecognition with ZSP were redoubled. Jeremy Eccles clung to the
oretext that both the ZSP and NZS had both been banned, when it was clear it was the NZS getting
arrested or beaten up. Manchester Poles got a pro NZS stand taken by their union, while NUS conference passed a motion drafted by Anna and friends on Poland (along with a blood-curdling fellow
motion on the repression in Iraq). I understand Eccles dragged his feet over implementing that decision and when last heard of he was a minor researcher at Walworth Road.
Martial Law trapped dozens of Polish students in the UK, all of whom now faced the prospect of
a wrecked education. On the heels of a pioneering initiative by Dr Nick Sekunda in Nottingham, a
group of academic staff at the LSE, headed by Professors Schopflin, Polonski and Wyles set up the
Polish Students Fund and used their contacts to find institutions willing to waive tuition fees and
:ake on the Poles.
Students from the LSE Polsoc such as Dzidzia Tendyra (a PSC committee member in 1985) and
Rosie Whitehouse (now a reporter) did a great deal of secretarial spadework of matching candidates
to courses. Despite the shock and change of language of instruction, most of the Polish students did
.veil.
Last but by no means least, a very worthwhile organization set up by a young graduate activist,
and supported by PSC, was 'Friends of Poland' the prisoner support charity run by Chris
Jaraczewski and Krysia Koscia (sister of Wanda).
ZSAPWB and other East European Student Groups
Solidarnosc when legal, had to pretend its 'revolution was not for export', to avoid antagonizing the
Russians. It was thus up to Solidarnosc's allies abroad to further the 'Ostpolitik'. PSC and ZSAPWB passed on useful organizational materials etc. whenever requested.
One day in mid-1981 I noticed in 'Solidarnosc Weekly' from Poland that Ukrainian Bielorussian
and Lithuanian students in Poland were trying to set up their own Associations and informed the
corresponding UK student organizations, suggesting they link up with the initiatives in Poland.
The Ukrainian 'Studentska Hromada' represented by Taras Kuzio and Roman Pronszyn reacted
very positively. They regarded their culture and national identity as under dire threat, frequently visaed Poland to better contact their compatriots, and supported Solidarnosc and Polish-Ukrainian dialogue. Taras was quite senior in the Ukrainian community (whose smaller numbers meant its youth
appeared to be given more responsibility than the Poles). He later ran the UK Ukrainian Press
Agency and spoke at PSC's 'When the Wall Came Down' seminar at the LSE in 1990.
As early as 1982 we discussed how nationalist conflict could be avoided when the USSR was no
more, given that porous land borders in E Europe had resulted in mixed populations, patchworks of
ethnically-distinct villages and dominant peoples congregating in the towns etc. In such circumstances we felt it least disruptive to leave existing borders in place, but agree enforceable cultural
and linguistic non-aggression in the border regions with minority rights to schooling and language.
Young Latvians were also positive: Maris Ozols with his Polish wife Nina was active in PSC.
Andris Mellakauls of the Latvian 'Ealing Commune' was also a supporter.
Lithuanian students, on the other hand, seemed to be historically almost as afraid of Poland as of
Russia, despite the damage of Sovietization. ZSAPWB itself did little with them, though PSC kept
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in touch via the Baltic Council.
Martial Law
As 1981 drew to a close, tension in Poland was high, with creeping militarization of the Polish government after the summer Party Conference, the intimidating Zapad 1981 Warsaw Pact military
exercises and the first use of the ZOMO to break a sit-in by trainees at the Fire Brigade School in
Warsaw.
In response to the crisis, PSC ran a meeting at the Conway Hall in November at which Jimmy
Reid (of the Upper Clyde Shipyards) and Neil Kinnock spoke very trenchantly of the responsibility
of socialists to support Solidarnosc. By the time of that event, the tension had apparently eased, and
when it came to drinks with the speakers in the Dolphin afterwards, the talk was mainly about the
future.
At the time, we tended to watch the Russian army rather more closely than the Polish version,
and some of us had been more worried by the Bydgoszcz provocation of Easter 1981. No one on the
PSC committee (or Tadek Jarski) foresaw the declaration of Martial Law.
During Saturday 12th December, I heard about the call for an independent foreign policy from
the Solidarnosc executive meeting in Gdansk and worried how the Russians would react. I came
home from a social evening just in time to catch the late-night TV news of tanks and armoured vehicles in Gdansk. I stayed up till three listening to the confirmations pile up. Radio Free Europe, normally quite robust, seemed to be pulling its punches, perhaps for fear of sparking an uprising. A few
hours sleep and up again at Sam to record a robotic announcer from Warsaw reading out the Martial
Law regulations which included the option of a death penalty for disobedience. It was clear the blow
had landed. I began to consult further with PSC committee members, feeling that PSC should take
the initiative and organize a demonstration outside the Polish embassy, if only to ensure that the
anger of Poles (who would inevitably turn up) would be focussed and not get out of hand.
When I put this to Tadek Jarski, I was very surprised that he hesitated a while before agreeing.
Robin gave his assent immediately and with that I rang the various national papers and Central
London Police to inform them of the intended demonstration at around 7am.
Martial Law came as a shock, particularly as few believed the Polish Army would be so willing
(after Katyn etc.) to do the Russians' dirty work. On the other hand it soon became clear that despite
the heroic self-image, Poland had as many opportunists, traitors, tin-pot apparatchik dictators and
uniform-fanciers as the average banana republic. In fact the Army was very top-heavy with functionaries of all kinds. A nation's worst enemies are usually found amongst its own ranks.
We were soon cheered by the fact that strikes and defiance became widespread, long-lasting and
mushroomed whenever feasible, despite the fact that many Solidarnosc leaders had been nabbed in
their hotels. As time passed, we began to feel the inconclusive attack on workers would deeplv
wound the Communist Party, and if Solidarnosc were underground already, a Soviet invasion would
be less likely.
Radio Solidarnosc
One impressive trait about Poles and East Europeans was their willingness and ingenuity in repairing things and adaptability in mastering technology, no doubt born of a long practice at making do.
This was reflected in Solidarnosc's rapid exploitation of emerging computer and mass media technology, often spearheaded by science students. Prior to Solidarity, one of the best known activists
had been Mirek Chojecki the brilliant KOR underground printer/publisher.
Working in electronics, I had a hobby interest in radio communication and short wave, including
techniques to reduce the effect of Russian jamming on my favourite broadcasts. Well before Martial
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Law, I had been asked for technical advice by a group wanting to set up unofficial local radio. I
roped in some British friends, including one with contacts in the UK pirate radio movement. Martial
Law stalled those plans, but presented new challenges.
The first was to provide communications for look-outs and also town-to-town relay of news.
Cheap 27MHz short-wave CB walkie-talkies of the type fashionable in the UK in the early 80's
were shipped out, and a friend suggested how extra daytime transmission range could be obtained
by operating at 9 MHz by removing the output tripler.
Another requirement was to hear or detect police radios. Scanners were then expensive, so we
produced simple wideband but sensitive miniature regenerative receivers for these bands. Used
inconspicuously outdoors with an earpiece, they could give useful warning of police activity and
intentions. We heard much later that undercover agents shadowing demonstrations were located by
such means.
The mid 80's saw the start of the Solidarnosc underground radio movement, transmitting halfhour news programmes on the local 70MHz FM bands close or competing with government channels. The transmitter sets were often left on rooftops with a programme recorded on a cassette and
turned on and off by a delay timer, so the installation crew could get away. A short time on air hampered location efforts as did multiple reflections from positioning among steel framed buildings.
This tactic was successful in Warsaw and even East German-equipped helicopters often failed to
locate stations, which were retrieved to fight another day.
As Polish domestic frequencies were close to the 4-metre band, amateur equipment could be
used with little modification. The most ubiquitous type initially were portable transistor designs
working off high-current 12 volt supplies like car accumulators. As carrying car batteries into
blocks of flats was conspicuous and risky, the search was soon on for better technology.
We soon suggested switched-mode supplies capable of providing heavy current from the mains
without the need of a transformer. Using the mains usually meant putting in wires a day or so ahead
of bringing in the transmitter. Where not available from the stairwell (most people fail to spot flex
taped overhead), mains could be brought up an unused TV aerial lead with occasionally shocking
results. Dispensing with accumulators allowed better concealment, and the technique gained acceptance when the installations were recognized as better able to survive police searches.
With time, operators got more confident or wanted more power to reach a wider audience or
directly capture official station frequencies or to jam police radios. We moved back to the future
with valve technology. Valves offered higher power and less risk of damage from antenna mismatch. Again mains voltage was exploited for transformerless high tension supplies. The whole set
could be light enough to clamp to a metal water tank for cooling.
The UK group provided technical data, components and workshops where Poles and Brits could
build designs and then disassemble them into kits for 'transport' back to Poland. The Poles theoretical
knowledge and practical skills were of a high standard - all they needed was a safe development
environment. The activity went on until 1988. We did not know the final effect, but showed how
many things were feasible - half the battle for an engineer.
It is known that Warsaw Solidarnosc helped protect demonstrations by both monitoring police
activity and jamming communications, including those to spotter helicopters, while in Krakow a
Solidarnosc soundtrack was inserted onto the audio of Polish TV during news broadcasts.
The impetus for these and other exciting developments declined after the Amnesty of 1987 and
some of the Poles went legitimate, but some still keep in contact.
PSC News and Publications.
It was part of the political culture of PSC's founders to publish a cheap but saleable magazine to
publicize the cause. The first issues were produced in print runs of just over a thousand at a small
radical printers Bread n' Roses. As one of the contributors (as myself, Al Gregg or Marek
Gromadzki) I was keen to promote factual background on trade union issues and politics in Poland
to complement the polemics, hence the early article on health and safety and the Martial Law
chronologies.
The PSC committee started off in agreement on the need to produce better quality Martial Law
Issues, to reach a larger audience - to the extent of being prepared to countenance a 'reasonable'
loss. This was a departure from the shoe-string PSC News as a service to members that could also
be hawked. Judging the economics of the print run was difficult. We had changed to a costlier print
technology to reproduce the dramatic photographs and images of Martial Law, and discovered late
in the day that income from sales and bookshops was slow and difficult to collect.
The cost of the enhanced PSC News quickly became intolerable, although we did sell some of
the back numbers at Crystal Palace in 1982. At the same time other committee members became
critical and suspicious of the editor Steve Murray (e.g. his keenness to campaign for cutting links
with official East Block unions was seen as pushing the 'Socialist Organizer' line). This cause of
suspicion was totally unreasonable as breaking links had been a fundamental part of PSC policy
from the earliest days.
Steve and Piotr chose not to stand for either the Committee or Editorial board at the 1983 AGM.
Maybe if they had agreed to revert to a cheaper format, they might have survived. As a fellow member of the production team, I was disappointed but not too surprised as the personal differences had
been exacerbated by the hectic pace of work after Martial Law.
Subsequent editorial teams headed by Wanda Koscia, Maris Ozols and myself adopted a cheaper
format and smaller print runs and PSC News soon ceased to be a drain on resources. We cut costs
further by laying up copy (typed by Kasia Budd) ourselves on Maris Ozols' kitchen table. Later on
the EETPU supported the PSC and Solidarity Working Group by printing our bulletins for free.
Wanda Koscia saw through the publication of the PSC special booklet on 'Solidarity
Underground'. This account of resistance attracted a gratifying degree of public interest and quickly
sold out. It seemed that our audience were quite prepared to pay a bit more for a more substantial
publication.
At the time we had a wealth of material not easily available to the average newspaper journalist.
I feel it is a pity that we did not produce follow-on volumes or a paper-bound book describing in full
the reality of Martial Law Poland.
I took over PSC news production in 1984 after a fierce spat with Marek Garztecki who wanted it
to merge with Voice of Solidarity. I felt the PSCN still had a useful niche in distinction to the voluminous contents of 'Voice'. In the years that followed PSCN, the later styled PSC Report became
more of a members newsletter.
Infiltration
Martial Law put great additional political charge into the Poland issue within trade unions. In furious stand-up confrontations the Stalinists were defeated, with the Trots in the winning coalition.
Almost inevitably having spent much energy and spilt a lot of ink on the matter, some 'Trot' groups
may have wished to capitalize on the issue further.
The 1982 AGM held at the City University was a tense affair, with a great deal of debate about
the structure of PSC, the relation of regional offshoots to the original London Committee and how
votes should be apportioned. These committees had sprung up after Martial Law, often run by
Polish or second-generation union activists like Richard Dalewski (Brian Dale) in Leeds or David
Fieckart in Manchester. Maybe they thought they had to clothe their concern for Poland in garb that
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was politically correct for their milieu.
After Martial Law, Trot-sounding resolutions allowing regional branches to follow their own
Agendas (interpreting the name PSC as 'Polish Solidarity Committee') were narrowly defeated, but
a few figures distrusted by the Blicks were elected to PSC national committee. Robin Blick chose
not to stand in consequence and Karen Blick resigned a few months later, a course of action which 1
felt was over-sensitive and would only make the work of potential entryists easier.
As it was, the new committee members were mildly active for a bit and then seemed to fade out.
The Trot' influence never came to much, and PSC continued successfully under Naomi Hyamson
and Wiktor Moszczynski until the 1983 AGM (at POSK) when the burning issue became the high
cost of PSC news and Steve Murray's position. Thereafter left-wing infiltration was not to my mind
much of an issue and after 1983 'Trot' interest and influence waned.
Tadek Jarski and SWS
Tadeusz Jarzembowski (aka Tadek Jarski) joined PSC around July 1981 much to the surprise of
some PSC Poles mindful of his controversial spell running POSK. He appeared energetic and well
connected, with apparently many media contacts (I think his wife worked at the BBC), and
volunteered to take on a high workload. Although not a committee member he expressed strong
opinions. In retrospect I think he might have been assessing PSC and its suitability as a platform.
PSC had spent the week of 13-20 December feverishly preparing for the demonstration in Hyde
Park. I was thus perturbed to learn that Jarski had set up a new organization called 'Solidarity With
Solidarity' (self-proclaimed founding date 14th December) operating from a room in the Hotel
Georgc.
1 rang up the contact number asking for some background to be answered by a character 1 had
not encountered before in pro-Solidarity circles, who chose to give the impression SWS had some
kind of track record and was generally co-operative towards PSC.
This cover story annoyed me, this kind of operation required prior planning and would create
division among Solidarity supporters. Jarski had been given a relatively free hand within PSC and
seemed happy enough, no one else assumed they could always do exactly as they pleased.
From then on 1 regarded SWS as generally conceived in original sin, and found it difficult not to
question Jarski's motives. This was reinforced when Jarski soon began a prolonged campaign
ag;ainst Marek Garztecki's legitimacy as Solidarnosc spokesman, coupled with a claim to have been
made a Solidarnosc conference delegate himself.
The PSC was also a target for Jarski, the very competent Wiktor Moszczynski was attacked in
a pr:ess conference. Not surprisingly none of the committee and few of the membership chose
to defect to him. To my further annoyance Jarski retained PSC membership and lurked around
AGMs for a few years afterwards and committee members might get occasionally approached
by him at demonstrations and invited to his place for a chat.
Having seen the SWS magazine (better called, I feel, 'What Tadek Did Next'), and witnessed the behaviour of members (e.g. chanting'Tadek Tadek' instead of Solidarnosc slogans) I gained the impression SWS had some characteristics of a cult. Most of its activities revolved around the charis-matic leader, with the members kept off-balance running around doing menial tasks. Years later, I
met up with some of the SWS young cohorts of the time. They told a similar story of the initial
attraction of radicalism, but left SWS tired out and alienated towards further involvement in politics.
Relations with the Polish Community in the U.K.
PSC was a British political campaign, though its active membership included a large proportion of
first- and second-generation or post-war Poles. PSC faced, as its founders had intended, outwards to
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the British political scene and was not a Polish community organization.
Despite using 'neutral' Polish community venues, like the POSK centre in Hammersmith, for
convenience and economy, PSC was often misrepresented in its early days by opponents on the Left
as allied to the Polish Government in Exile. This was never the case. PSC followed its own agenda
and first met the GIE only as late as 1990 (when it was already considering self-dissolution and
return of the national insignia and seal to Poland and the Walesa government). I personally was
unsure of the effectiveness of the GIE, but gave it its due for symbolizing national independence
and rejection of the carve-up of Europe at Yalta.
Members of the independence-minded PPS (Polish Socialist Party) had attended all the early
meetings of PSC and acted as PSC trustees and auditors over the years, but they generally kept a
low profile as far as committee work was concerned, leaving it up to the young 'uns.
The Polish community generally understood the PSC had to occupy different ground to their own
and were individually supportive. Early PSC demos were often supported by a redoubtable squad of
mature Polish ladies who were 'bojowe' (gung-ho) and keen to brandish their placards.
In early 1981, PSC had a useful financial boost (of £200 - a tidy sum in those days) from a
'Jumble Sale for Polish Workers' at POK in Ealing - an event gravely reported on by the Economist
briefing supplement which also came to the conclusion that PSC was indeed genuine and not a
front. In the early days PSC also ran stalls at Polish events.
PSC's best encounter with UK Poles was probably during the Pope's visit to the UK in early
1982. We were worked off our feet at the Crystal Place stall by the demand for Solidarity merchandise. Many Poles came up just to give us donations - we should have recorded their names! It was
also amusing to have British policemen queuing up to buy pro-striker, riot-filled back numbers of
PSC News.
Relations with Venus
Surely the most bizarre act to jump on the Solidarity bandwagon was discovered in summer 1983 by
Marek Matraszek of Oxford University Polish Society, who rang me urgently about political material he had received.
This turned out to be a collaboration between with 'Sir' George King, and Mr. Sokolnicki (a
failed candidate for the Polish Government-in-Exile) granting the status of Polish ambassador to
various obscure Britons. The supporting material soon revealed a factor common to all these
'ambassadors': membership of the Aetherius Society, the flying-saucer worshippers of the Fulham
Road - its leader none other than 'Sir' George King. The Oxford students had sent a salty reply,
rather upsetting 'Sir' George by its 'irreligious' nature. In a rather disorganized letter of reply Mr
King invoked the moral authority of the Pope against the young Poles and styled himself 'a man ol
the cloth' also.
ZSAPWB informed the real Government-in-Exile, where it caused no little amusement. Little
was heard of Aetherians thereafter.
Keen followers of TV may have seen a report on the Thatcher Foundation last year, which featured Marek Matraszek, now running the Warsaw branch (sic).
Meeting Real East Europeans
Meeting Solidarnosc leaders, when let out of Poland (usually for medical reasons), could also be a
very moving experience. I have in mind Jan Jozef Lipski, Prof Bartoszewski and particularly Anna
Walentynowicz: as she had agreed not to appear in public, PSC met her in a private house, packed
with supporters. Her moving description of the lift of hope to prisoner morale of knowing that
someone was watching over them, underlined the value and relevance of the 'Adopt a Prisoner'
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campaign. Then she hugged and kissed the nearest to hand.
PSC support for Solidarnosc was a bit like a long-distance love affair and as such, we knew we
occasionally had to be careful, e.g. strident anti-Communism might not imply a true regard for
democracy. The abnormal political climate could result in personalized and then crony politics from
some of the exiles.
It w a s c l e a r w h i l e t h e g o o d w e r e v e r y g o o d i n a n i n t e l l e c t u a l a n d m o r a l
sense - well tempered by their sometimes savage experience - there was the odd embarrassment,
e.g. Leszek Moczulski getting lost in philosophical musings at Brompton Oratory.
Another example: in early 1982 a small group of PSC and Polish community figures met to discuss the likely future with a Solidarnosc representative. The latter, recently arrived from Poland,
expressed dread that Walesa would crack in captivity and the game would all be over. The WWII
and second-generation Poles on the other hand, probably felt the struggle could continue without
him.
We did notice a different political culture, a possible over-stressing of personality issues and a
desire to control, by doling out titbits of information or status.
Occasionally the PSC would get annoyed by Marek Garztecki making dramatic cash appeals to
meet sudden operating expenses run up by the Solidarity Trade Union Working Group such as
phone bills or T-shirts.
Conclusions
In retrospect, the Solidarnosc period seems like the inter-war Polish Republic of my parents' time: a
short, sometimes unsuccessful, but overwhelmingly valuable period of political development. PSC
played a useful role in promoting and supporting this in the UK.
While we could always have done more, a great deal was achieved over 14 years, and PSC did
not prevent others from supporting Solidarnosc as they saw fit.
The most worthwhile PSC activity for me was the Prisoners Campaign and helping to translate
reports of repression, defiance and smuggled prison letters (Polish, typically, has a word for it:
'gryps'). I particularly remember translating the statement 'Why I am Returning to Poland' by Jan
Jozef Lipski who was facing the likelihood of jail despite his serious cardiac condition and recent
surgery.
Independence: PSC took the hard road by guarding its independence and refusing the safer life of
a political protege. Given the fickle nature of some bodies, and of 'dominant' personalities in them,
this was no loss. PSC could remain exactly what it said it was supposed to be and be able to carry
the torch for pro-democracy groups in Poland without fear or favour.
Membership: Though goodness only knows what work Giles did chasing up members, it was
hard to retain members after the high point of approx 1200 just after Martial Law. Membership
declined over the years to the pre-1982 core of about 200. Although PSC took recruiting material to
public events, there was little effort to spare to organize recruitment campaigns - a possible chicken
and egg situation. More members might have been retained by cultivating them more personally, an
activity requiring endless good cheer and the ability to run up monstrous phone bills.
Sponsors: PSC started with an interesting group. The various PSC questionnaires and lobbies
might have been used as a pretext to recruit some more.
PSC News: generally a Good Thing as a service to readers, particularly the Chronologies and
translated documents rarely available in English. However, producing a generally saleable magazine
is an almost inevitable cash drain on a small organization as revenue from cash sales is slow and
erratic.
A larger and more comprehensive pamphlet with a higher cover price appearing every 6 months
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or so might have been a better bet. Modern desktop computer publishing methods allow good quality publications to be produced in small but repeatable batches.
Organization: We could have done with a full-time organizer to help out with the liaison and
chasing up etc. The result of everyone being part-time was that PSC was often short-staffed and
over the long run this wasted a lot of energy and wore the activists down. The occasional personality
clash might have been expected in an active voluntary organization where all the members join
out of conviction.
Tadek Jarski: The split weakened the campaigning ability of the Polish community and presented
a disunited front. He could have probably achieved more running radical operations within a
respectable outfit!
The Future
There is still much work for a solidarity campaign on behalf of Poland and the New Democracies to
do.
The are many external dangers: reactionary Russian nationalists and neo-Nazis in Germany. The
ex-Soviet Union demoralized, unstable and crime-ridden, now meddling in its ex-colonies as if to
compensate. Ethnic conflicts, some fuelled by the underling scramble for resources. Some of the
new republics may be non-viable and may hence be swallowed up again.
The more fortunate Visehrad* countries have been forced to telescope decades of political development into a few years. Not surprisingly, public mood, and election results have swung on
timescales of months: in Poland this meant following Western messiahs like Tyminski to voting in
ex-communists not long after. Everywhere, Communists have relaunched themselves with their
influence and stashed dollars, as nationalists and businessmen. I think Walesa did Poland a great
disservice by not opening the informer files, if only to teach Poles how many there were.
The West has delivered so little on its promises that one begins to wonder how many were made
in good faith: the economic investment has been minor, the Know How Fund is heavily criticized as
feather-bedding British consultants. The EEC denies Poland access to markets in staple goods like
agriculture and steel where the subsidized EEC producers could stand a little competition. PSC has
already supported action on Visas and the Know How Fund. A campaign with allied organizations
in the EEC on fair trade and development may be desirable, already some analysts are starting to
label Eastern Europe as a potential economic threat.
The PSC could also gain some additional mileage by continuing to foster twinning arrangements
and exchange visits enabling people from Europe to gain experience in how trade unionists, voluntary bodies and local/regional governments work (the latter before it is further reduced in the UK!).
There is presently an enormous political vacuum and lethargy in Western Europe after the end of
the Cold War and the recession caused by West Germany's annexation/reunification. The British
presidency of the EEC was a particularly miserable period of inaction, most particularly over Bosnia
(which has only encouraged militant separatists all over Eastern Europe).
Given its previous track record in speaking up for national independence and self-determination,
PSC may be better placed than it thinks to start the ball rolling on the debate on the reintegration of
Europe and the extension of security and defence structures. I think the time is quite ripe, even without a change of regime in the UK.
:
(Czech republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland)
MEMORIES, MOTIVES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND ASSESSMENTS
PSC members, past and present (leading or otherwise) who, when informed of the PSC history project expressed interest, were all invited to make a contribution to this book - either by answering a
questionnaire and/or by writing a paper of comments, recollections, or whatever relating to any
aspect of PSC, and/or their involvement in it. (The responses could be short or long. The questionnaire responses are set out below (the other responses comprise the rest of this book).
Many thanks to all those who did reply.
Some of the respondents (i.e. Liz Willis and Adam Westoby) had heard or read Giles Han's
'Discussion Paper' presented at the meeting of 16/7/93, and made comments on this in their reply
below. As Giles took notice of these comments when expanding the 'Discussion Paper' into the 'Brief
History' contained in this volume, some of these comments may not necessarily now be applicable.
WILLIS LIZ
1 - HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT PSC? I heard about PSC at the meeting(s) which started it
off, first the one at Conway Hall, then follow-up gatherings (was it upstairs at the Roebuck,
Tottenham Court Road?). I could thus claim to be a founder member, though admittedly the three
founder-instigators had a special role.
2 - HAVE YOU ANY POLISH CONNECTIONS? No Polish connections at all, and little spe
cial knowledge, other than from meeting a few Polish people and having a certain historical and
political interest.
3 - WHY DID YOU JOIN PSC? From a libertarian-socialist perspective, as well as from a more
subjective humanitarian empathy, the news from Poland about the formation of Solidarity tradesunion was exciting, encouraging, and seemed obviously a 'good thing which should be pushed
along'. PSC seemed to be a means of expressing support for this very significant struggle and did
not show signs of being a 'front' for any particular group or tendency.
4 - WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE THROUGH PSC?
DID YOU THINK YOU DID ACHIEVE THESE THINGS?
As far as I can recall, I would not have expected any very great achievements - perhaps just to
keep in touch with what was happening, to feel part of the developing situation, to meet with
(approximately, on this issue) like-minded people who together might provide visible solidarity (the
key word throughout!) and practical help to those in Poland. I would have seen this as part of a
more general commitment and would have hoped to make a (modest) specifically libertarian contribution to PSC and to liaise between it and the London Solidarity group, seeing and reinforcing the
relevance of each to the other - but not aiming to recruit members or push a party line.
5 - WHAT WAS MOST ENCOURAGING (IF ANYTHING) ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERI
ENCES? The feeling that the activities of PSC were known and appreciated in Poland by those
actually involved in the Solidarnosc movement (e.g. visit from Anna Walentynowicz).
6 - WHAT WAS MOST DEMORALISING ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERIENCES?
In-fighting, growth of factions, and authoritarianism (left and right). To illustrate, I remember
two contrasting meetings at POSK: one not long after the declaration of Martial Law, when a large,
eager audience was rapidly alienated by a series of squabblings and flouncings from the committee
(I'm not sure how this relates to the alleged takeover plot mentioned at the recent meeting - at the
time it came across like compulsive sectarianism rampant); another (smaller and later) when some
clamorously reactionary Polish ladies were rejoicing at the departure of a prominent committee
member.
7 - DO YOU THINK YOU LEARNT ANYTHING THROUGH YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN
74
7 - DO YOU THINK YOU LEARNT ANYTHING THROUGH YOUR INVOLVEMENT
IN
PSC?
(A) That people of widely divergent views can work together in an organisation geared to practi
cal activities around an issue of shared concern more successfully than I would have expected, with
out being used or taken over: the price of such rather artificial unity may, however, be a tendency to
lapse into dubious alliances, or a worthy but uninspiring fund-raising circuit, with only a dedicated
few remaining committed to the long term.
(B) That the significance of Polish Solidarity was less self-evident to some of my former politi
cal co-thinkers than I expected: I was asked to explain/justify the inclusion of a supplement on
Poland in the London Solidarity magazine: people were unhappy with, e.g. the role and statements
of Walesa, and the appearance of religious (RC) symbols, etc., whereas it seemed obvious to me
(and some others) that any popular, democratic movements must contain elements that outsiders
could not wholeheartedly approve - this did not mean such a movement, especially arising in a very
repressive regime after years of apparent despair, should not be supported.
8 - ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS YOU WISH TO MAKE, ABOUT YOUR PSC
INVOLVEMENT, PSC ACTIVITIES, PSC INFLUENCE OR ANYTHING ELSE?
I felt that the discussion on 16th July (1993) missed out one strand from the constituent elements
of the PSC, viz. the libertarian. We didn't all come from the ex-Trot/hard-left backgrounds (or from
the right). True, the part played by the London Solidarity group - for whom a critique of the Soviet
Union and kindred regimes had been crucial - in setting up the first meeting was acknowledged, but
the impression was given that no-one else other than me from that bit of the political spectrum had
much to do with it after that. In fact Chris and Jean Pallis attended at least one social in POSK, and I
think there must have been others at meetings and demos in the early days. The name of Terry
Liddle should surely have been mentioned? He was around longer than me, and more active,
with his newspaper 'Volya' and various contacts.
ZOFIA MALAKOWSKA
1 - HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT PSC? Through Giles.
2 - HAVE YOU ANY POLISH CONNECTIONS? Yes.
3 - WHY DID YOU JOIN PSC? Ideological reasons.
4 - WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE THROUGH PSC?
DID YOU THINK YOU DID ACHIEVE THESE THINGS? No reply.
5 - WHAT WAS MOST ENCOURAGING (IF ANYTHING) ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERI
ENCES? That although what we did was a drop in the ocean in helping Poland we did contribute
that drop.
6 - WHAT WAS MOST DEMORALISING ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERIENCES? No reply.
7 - DO YOU THINK YOU LEARNT ANYTHING THROUGH YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN
PSC? No reply.
8 - ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS YOU WISH TO MAKE, ABOUT YOUR
PSC
INVOLVEMENT, PSC ACTIVITIES, PSC INFLUENCE OR ANYTHING ELSE? Yes, made lots
of friends and it gave me an identity.
A LETTER FROM ADAM WESTOBY - 30/9/93
Dear Giles,
DISCUSSION PAPER ON POLISH SOLIDARITY CAMPAIGN
Warm thanks for preparing this: we are all greatly in your debt. I have only a few points to add. But
75
I’d like - briefly - to take up your invitation to reflect and comment, with an eye more to the future in the past.
Polish Solidarity Campaign was the most fluid of outfits, as one can tell from the comings and
goings, the blending of incompatibles, the awkward union of nationalist ambitions with universal
inspirations. The forces of British political life that gathered around it could have assembled for few
other nations. Poland's history of romantic, liberationist rhetoric made it an ideal cause - both for
young people impatient with British phlegmatism and hypocrisy, and for those of the political class
•ho were minded to link arms with idealism at a safe distance - and for those whose motives combined a little of each.
The chief merit of your account is that it offers future students of nineteenth and twentieth century
history a small microcosm of how an essentially ethical cause could take such varied and imperfect
humans as its vehicles, the ethical impulse serving to mobilise - and - roughly, to select among them.
Its main limitation concerns PSC's central contradiction: it looked to the libertarianism of the left to
undermine the despotism of the left. And in a sense its evolution gave a foretaste - though our
senses were too fuddled to recognise much of it - of the international processes (of ferment, or
corruption, as you prefer) that have overtaken the Soviet Empire since 1989 (and that will likely be
echoed in China after Deng goes). The sorry history of Lech Walesa is instructive.
On facts, your revision and amplification might add:
1. The early part played by Solidarity members (Jeanne and Chris Pallis, Ken Weller, Liz Willis)
and their prescient warnings about too much confidence in labour bureaucrats.
2. In the postmodernist manner PSC was set up by telephone.
3. All those involved in the first few days were ex-Leninists (specifically one particular persua
sion of ex-Trotskyist) and PSC, I think, never entirely lost this colouration.
4. The many academics and journalists who helped in 1981-82: including Leo Labedz, Leonard
Shapiro, and Edward and Dorothy Thompson, Norman Davies, Leszek Kolakowski, Peter
Reddaway, Timothy Garton Ash, Hillel Ticktin and others at Glasgow University. They did much to
inform the press better.
5. Something on the part played by analogous organizations set up about the same time as PSC
in Paris, Chicago, Berlin and not last in Prague. I believe the international scale - and more impor
tant, spirit - of response to the 1981 coup did much to 'soften up ' Eastern Europe in 1989.
It would be good to place copies of your final version in libraries and archives of record: the British
Museum, the Scottish Library, the BLPES (British Library of Political Economic Science), and the
labour/left archives at Warwick and Hull; they would catalogue it to make it retrievable in 2080.
With best wishes, Yours ever, Adam
PIOTR IGLIKOWSKI
1 - HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT PSC? I learnt from a Polish friend of a meeting in a pub in
North London (off Tottenham Court Road) following a demonstration against TUC decision not to
recognise Polish independent unions (i.e. TUC recognised old unions). The meeting was held in the
pub before 31st August 1980. My recollection is that my first attendance at a meeting involving
PSC was in the pub: there we formed a committee of 4: Robin Blick, Julia Jensen, Piotr Iglikowski,
Steve Murray(?). That was when I became involved and a committee member. I was then President
of the Association of Polish Students and Graduates in Great Britain.
My recollection is that the first Conway Hall meeting was after the meeting in the pub - but my
memory may not be correct. There was an Irish girl (can't recall her name) who argued with the others. She wanted something in the aims (of PSC) to record that the movement must proceed in the
76
proletarian vanguard.
2 - HAVE YOU ANY POLISH CONNECTIONS? Yes, I am of Polish origin, both my parents
are Polish, the first language I spoke was Polish, and I was President of the Association of Polish
Students and Graduates in Great Britain.
3 - WHY DID YOU JOIN PSC? Because I wanted to raise support for the struggle of the Polish
Independent Workers' Movement.
4 - WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE THROUGH PSC? To gain support and understand
ing of Solidarity in Great Britain.
DID YOU THINK YOU DID ACHIEVE THESE THINGS?
Yes, and No.
Yes, because a section of British society showed genuine support. The downside - that section
was small - and the response of British trade unions was to my mind very disappointing (but I have
little experience of trade unions). Why? A mixture of British political apathy, and the surprising
power of well organised Stalinist units controlling British trades unions.
5 - WHAT WAS MOST ENCOURAGING (IF ANYTHING) ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERI
ENCES? Personally I met for the first time trades unionists (both Polish and British) and understood
aspirations and problems of unions. The eagerness, devotion and solidarity of those who were will
ing to help.
6 - WHAT WAS MOST DEMORALISING ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERIENCES? Persistent
arguments, both due to personality as well as political differences, sapping energy which would
have been better devoted to the cause. Especially the bickering ('Blickering') of rival factions (e.g.
Trotskyists etc.) on issues whose relevance to the real world was difficult to appreciate. Also prob
lems of conflicts of interests between certain members whose political aspirations induced them to
be less critical of the response of the TUC and especially the Labour Party to the cause.
7 DO YOU THINK YOU LEARNT ANYTHING THROUGH YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN
PSC? Yes, lots.
I learnt how to speak to assemblies - i.e. communicate.
I learnt about conditions of workers in Great Britain and Poland.
Many practical things - how to organise and control a demo, how to run a meeting (diplomacy)
how to put together a newsletter, how to motivate oneself.
8 - ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS YOU WISH TO MAKE, ABOUT YOUR PSC
INVOLVEMENT, PSC ACTIVITIES, PSC INFLUENCE OR ANYTHING ELSE? I was happy to
be involved in supporting a movement (Solidarnosc) which I believe was one of the factors behind
the fall of communism. A personal experience: my first visit to Poland - I saw Martial Law introduced and was able to explain to the media and people what happened. An anecdote: there was a
demo in Cardiff in January 1982 (A day designated by President Reagan, 21/1/82, for Solidarity
with Poland). I was a speaker for PSC and there was a Polish member of Solidarnosc, a sociologist.
There was an all-party speaker platform, but when the Conservative M.P. tried to speak he was prevented by Trotskyist hecklers. A fight then broke out between elderly Polish war veterans intervening for freedom of speech and young Trots which was easily won by the Poles. This happened to the
amusement and embarrassment of myself and the Solidarnosc spokesman. We were interviewed for
BBC Wales TV afterwards. The Solidarnosc member and myself travelled back later in a train
wrecked by Manchester United soccer supporters - a fascinating sociological experience for both of
us.
GEORGE KONDRATOWICZ
1 - HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT PSC? From friends.
77
2 - HAVE YOU ANY POLISH CONNECTIONS? Yes, both parents, and wife are Polish.
3 - WHY DID YOU JOIN PSC? To show Solidarity with people who were trying to do some
thing.
4 - WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE THROUGH PSC? Some moral support for the
Movement in Poland.
DID YOU THINK YOU DID ACHIEVE THESE THINGS? I think PSC did.
5 - WHAT WAS MOST ENCOURAGING (IF ANYTHING) ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERI
ENCES? The involvement of non-Poles in PSC.
6 - WHAT WAS MOST DEMORALISING ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERIENCES? The low
attendance at the one demonstration I travelled to London for.
7 - DO YOU THINK YOU LEARNT ANYTHING THROUGH YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN
PSC? Nothing I can bring to mind, my involvement was very small.
8 - ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS YOU WISH TO MAKE, ABOUT YOUR PSC
INVOLVEMENT, PSC ACTIVITIES, PSC INFLUENCE OR ANYTHING ELSE? Only that small
things can sometimes make a difference though seeming doubtful at the time e.g. in the 70's we (the
Polish Students Society of Manchester) sent a telegram of support to a dissident who had been phys
ically abused in a Polish prison. To our surprise quite a few years later we learnt that it had reached
its destination and apparently greatly lifted the spirits of the political prisoner and his supporters. I
am sure that PSC must have produced a wealth of similar positive but unquantifiable effects.
STANISLAW WASIK
1 - HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT PSC? From the Polish Socialist Party and the Polish
Craftsman and Workers Organisation (in Britain).
2 - HAVE YOU ANY POLISH CONNECTIONS? I am Polish myself.
3 _ WHY DID YOU JOIN PSC? I am always for a collective effort as more efficient than indi
vidual attempts.
4 - WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE THROUGH PSC? To make Solidarnosc known in
the British Workers movement.
DID YOU THINK YOU DID ACHIEVE THESE THINGS?
This aim was achieved only to a certain extent.
5 _ WHAT WAS MOST ENCOURAGING (IF ANYTHING) ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERI
ENCES? Certain support in the academic circles and in some trades unions.
6 - WHAT WAS MOST DEMORALISING ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERIENCES? Initial sym
pathetic attitudes quickly forgotten.
7 - DO YOU THINK YOU LEARNT ANYTHING THROUGH YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN
PSC? The European problems are still less interesting for the British people than the developments
in the countries, however distant, of the former (British) empire.
8 - ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS YOU WISH TO MAKE, ABOUT YOUR PSC
INVOLVEMENT, PSC ACTIVITIES, PSC INFLUENCE OR ANYTHING ELSE? 'Every little
helps', the formation and activities of PSC were steps in the right direction, making any further
efforts easier.
ANITA KOMORNICKA-RICE
1 - HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT PSC? It was a long time ago - can't remember now, how. It
was probably through members of the 'Solidarity Working Group' to which I belonged at the time.
2 - HAVE YOU ANY POLISH CONNECTIONS? Yes I have (born and bred in Poland).
3 - WHY DID YOU JOIN PSC? After 'Solidarity Working Group' was dissolved (?), (ceased to
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exist?) I decided that I would still like to be involved in the so-to-speak Polish affairs. Therefore
joining PSC was a natural way for me to carry on with my Polish interests.
4 - WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE THROUGH PSC?
DID YOU THINK YOU DID ACHIEVE THESE THINGS? I was not actively involved in PSC
- not as much as I would have liked - because of family reasons, therefore I did not expect much;
only keeping up with the events over the years.
Mr. 'S.P.'
1 - HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT PSC? Through Polish contacts in Scotland.
2 - HAVE YOU ANY POLISH CONNECTIONS? Yes. My father was Polish and I have many
Polish relatives in Poland and abroad.
3 - WHY DID YOU JOIN PSC? To help liberate Poland from Soviet-imposed Communism.
4 - WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE THROUGH PSC? The above.
DID YOU THINK YOU DID ACHIEVE THESE THINGS? Not entirely, bearing in mind the
recent election results!
5 - WHAT WAS MOST ENCOURAGING (IF ANYTHING) ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERI
ENCES? To be associated with like-minded colleagues in a matter of fundamental importance.
6 - WHAT WAS MOST DEMORALISING ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERIENCES? Being not
of the mainstream of PSC activities, which were concentrated (for understandable reasons, of
course) in London.
7 - DO YOU THINK YOU LEARNT ANYTHING THROUGH YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN
PSC? That it is very difficult to organise Poles into a fully united, cohesive force! Polish individual
ity is admirable in the main, but also on occasion frustrating.
8 - ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS YOU WISH TO MAKE, ABOUT YOUR PSC
INVOLVEMENT, PSC ACTIVITIES, PSC INFLUENCE OR ANYTHING ELSE? PSC now has a
purpose only as an anti-communist organisation. It should campaign against the current Polish gov
ernment, advocating its dissolution, new elections, and confiscation by the state of all Communistheld property. Former top-ranking officials of the pre-1989 regime should be barred from office and
their property confiscated. General W. Jaruzelski should be tried for high treason and murder, and
the likes of Mr Jerzy Urban for a lifetime of anti-Polish activity.
RYSZARD STEPAN
1 - HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT PSC? From the advertisement of PSC demonstration in the
Polish Daily.
2 - HAVE YOU ANY POLISH CONNECTIONS? Yes, I am Polish-born.
3 - WHY DID YOU JOIN PSC? as 4 below.
4 - WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE THROUGH PSC? Assist my mother country to
achieve independence.
DID YOU THINK YOU DID ACHIEVE THESE THINGS? Yes.
5 - WHAT WAS MOST ENCOURAGING (IF ANYTHING) ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERI
ENCES? My first experience in political work with a good team.
6 - WHAT WAS MOST DEMORALISING ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERIENCES? Unending
slog over the years with the issue of the bulletin.
7 - DO YOU THINK YOU LEARNT ANYTHING THROUGH YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN
PSC? Much, developing all round experience of dealing with people.
8 - ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS YOU WISH TO MAKE, ABOUT YOUR PSC
79
INVOLVEMENT, PSC ACTIVITIES, PSC INFLUENCE OR ANYTHING ELSE? Too many even
to begin making them.
ARTEK TACZALSKI
1 - HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT PSC? From the Polish community at the POSK (Polish
Social and Cultural Centre).
2 - HAVE YOU ANY POLISH CONNECTIONS? Yes.
3 - WHY DID YOU JOIN PSC? I wanted to contribute towards political change in Poland.
4 - WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE THROUGH PSC? I hoped I would help the PSC in
organisational matters and fund-raising.
DID YOU THINK YOU DID ACHIEVE THESE THINGS? I only achieved my aims in part
since I had too little time to be more involved because of family commitments.
5 - WHAT WAS MOST ENCOURAGING (IF ANYTHING) ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERI
ENCES? Detailed knowledge of Polish affairs of the PSC members and dedication to their cause.
6 - WHAT WAS MOST DEMORALISING ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERIENCES? I have not
experienced anything demoralising about PSC. Dwindling membership was disappointing.
7 - DO YOU THINK YOU LEARNT ANYTHING THROUGH YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN
PSC? I learnt that however small our contributions or actions may be, they can help against a pow
erful enemy.
8 - ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS YOU WISH TO MAKE, ABOUT YOUR PSC
INVOLVEMENT, PSC ACTIVITIES, PSC INFLUENCE OR ANYTHING ELSE? PSC activities
have been very well received among the Polish community in Great Britain and Poland. Many
actions were extremely effective, e.g. the removal of visa requirements for Poles arriving in Great
Britain, and organized demos in early 80s. Due to my association with PSC I arranged for Mr Lech
Walesa, Solidarnosc leader, to be godfather to my son Carlo John-Paul Lech, born in 1986. Lech
Walesa's place was taken by his proxy Mr Grzywaczewski who was on the Inter-City Committee
during the Gdansk Shipyard strikes in August 1980.
MARION PITMAN
1 - HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT PSC? I heard about PSC at the demo in Jan '82, which I
was told about by a friend.
2 - HAVE YOU ANY POLISH CONNECTIONS? My only Polish connections are friends.
3 - WHY DID YOU JOIN PSC? I joined PSC because I felt strongly about the situation in
Poland and wanted to do something.
4 - WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE THROUGH PSC?
DID YOU THINK YOU DID ACHIEVE THESE THINGS? Hoped to contribute to improvement of situation. I don't know if I did or not.
ADAM ROBINSKI
1 - HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT PSC? I heard about PSC through the Association of Polish
Students and Graduates - Piotr Iglikowski - and through Ilona (Iwona?) Czekierska who was run
ning the Polish Solidarity Campaign Soc. at Bristol University in 1981/82?
2 - HAVE YOU ANY POLISH CONNECTIONS? Apart from being born and brought up in a
very Polish family in London, my connections were via the Association of Polish Students and
Graduates as I set up a University Polish Society at Bristol University in 1980. Also I had been pre
viously involved with the youth at the local Polish Parish in Baling, the Polish YMCA and the
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Polish scouts. I also had many friends and acquaintances from the pre-'O'-level Polish Saturday
school.
3 - WHY DID YOU JOIN PSC? I joined PSC to become more directly involved with helping
Poland in a 'political' way after the birth of Solidarnosc. I also wanted to find out more about the
changes taking place, and to take part in a campaign that was based on a wider spectrum of people
than just emigre Poles, and thus more credible. I was interested in meeting the English people in
PSC to find out what moved them to support PSC.
4 - WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE THROUGH PSC? I hoped to increase British peo
ples' awareness and active concern for Solidarnosc and the Polish opposition movements. I hoped to
bring about the end of communism in Poland and the return of independence.
DID YOU THINK YOU DID ACHIEVE THESE THINGS? Yes, both were achieved, though
the latter more than the former.
5 - WHAT WAS MOST ENCOURAGING (IF ANYTHING) ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERI
ENCES? To find out that there were other people sincerely committed in campaigning for human
and trades-union rights in Poland, despite the fact that it seemed at the time a fairly lost cause, con
sidering the Cold War and the military strength of the Soviet Union. Meeting those people and
working with them was very enjoyable. Also the meetings with Polish oppositionists were truly very
interesting and motivating.
6 - WHAT WAS MOST DEMORALISING ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERIENCES? The lack of
commitment of some members of the committee and of the organisation. The lack of planning and
occasionally effective leadership. Externally the poor quality of most of the material produced by
PSC and its lateness. Possibly above all the continuing rivalry with Solidarity With Solidarity which
contributed to lessening each organisation's external credibility and effectiveness with the British
government and other authorities.
7 - DO YOU THINK YOU LEARNT ANYTHING THROUGH YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN
PSC? That even if a campaign seems to be endless and without hope, history can spring the
biggest surprise. The effects of such campaigns can be much greater than one is lead to believe at
the time. 'Evil empires' can collapse quite rapidly and unexpectedly of their own accord! The
need to find good committed people to sit and be active on committees and the need for maxi
mum planning in voluntary organisations. I also learnt much about the history of Poland, the
Eastern Block, and Communism at the same time. Also I met many interesting people and made
many useful contacts.
8 - ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS YOU WISH TO MAKE, ABOUT YOUR
PSC
INVOLVEMENT, PSC ACTIVITIES, PSC INFLUENCE OR ANYTHING ELSE? With
hindsight
I regret not having believed more in the whole point of the campaign and therefore to have been
more involved in the organisation. However it was a very useful learning period. I feel that from
about 1986 onwards PSC became somewhat of a cosy club rather than a diverse broad organisation,
although I do understand that many people from the early days who were from diverse interest
groups lost interest after the first few years and maybe went on to more popular causes. Some of
these may have been hoping to use PSC for their own ends and when it started shrinking
jumped
ship as they were not prepared to do anything about building it up.
The Polish political trait of where there are 2 Poles there exist 3 parties re-emerged with Mr.
Tadeusz Jarski's splitter [sic] Solidarity With Solidarity.
The Association of Polish Students and Graduates, which I was chairman of for 3 years in the
mid to late 80's, provided a few individuals who assisted PSC in various ways. However the mass
support was clearly lacking despite my efforts to interest and cajole members into partaking in PSC
demonstrations and events. This was, I feel, due to a general lack of interest by Polish 'youth' in
81
activities which were perceived as being, in some way, 'political' and therefore 'boring'. Moral persuasion failed to increase mass support for PSC. A few individuals like Mike Dembinski, Janusz
Kubsik, Andrzej Poloczek and Ewa Cwirko-Godycka, who were already interested in Polish affairs
and were already 'converted', did support Solidarnosc and or other opposition movements either
directly or via PSC.
My overall feeling was that Polish youth had been brought up believing that the best way of
expressing their Polish patriotism was through their cultural activities such as Polish folk dancing
and singing, visits to family in Poland, Polish Church and Polish friends but not through 'political
activity' - maybe this was an effect of British culture.
EWA CWIRKO-GODYCKA
1 - HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT PSC? Through Giles Hart.
2 - HAVE YOU ANY POLISH CONNECTIONS? I am Polish.
3 - WHY DID YOU JOIN PSC? I joined PSC because of Martial Law in Poland and a need to
do 'something' to help.
4 - WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE THROUGH PSC? The main aim of joining PSC
was to raise awareness of the Polish situation in the British public and a vague hope of pressurising
the Polish government - 'the world is watching you'.
DID YOU THINK YOU DID ACHIEVE THESE THINGS? In my belief PSC did achieve these
things.
5 - WHAT WAS MOST ENCOURAGING (IF ANYTHING) ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERI
ENCES? PSC was encouraging as was interest in the things PSC produced.
6 - WHAT WAS MOST DEMORALIS ING ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERIENCES?
Undermining by other organisations.
7 - DO YOU THINK YOU LEARNT ANYTHING THROUGH YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN
PSC? One learns from every experience - here was a very old lesson - 'if we join together we can
change something'.
8 - ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS YOU WISH TO MAKE, ABOUT YOUR PSC
INVOLVEMENT, PSC ACTIVITIES, PSC INFLUENCE OR ANYTHING ELSE? Martial Law
was a 'shock' to the system and I had to do something. I was active for a while then I became pas
sive again and I hope we helped a little in the change in Poland.
DAREK DZWIGAJ
1 - HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT PSC? Through Ewa Cwirko-Godycka.
2 - HAVE YOU ANY POLISH CONNECTIONS? I am a Polish citizen (born in Poland).
3 - WHY DID YOU JOIN PSC?
4 - WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE THROUGH PSC?
DID YOU THINK YOU DID ACHIEVE THESE THINGS? I wanted to contribute to the fight
for freedom in Poland. I think that PSC played very important part in the struggle. Both material and
moral support was very important for those struggling in Poland. It proved that the outside world
cared about what was going on. In the U.K. PSC played vital role in drawing attention to the situation in the Poland. PSC helped in keeping British public informed about the events and repression
which followed. PSC encouraged British politicians and other influential members of the public in
taking actions against the ruling regime in Poland.
5-WHAT WAS MOST ENCOURAGING (IF ANYTHING) ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERIENCES? My trip to Blackpool to the TUC conference and the support (I sold much more T-shirts,
badges and stickers than I expected) and understanding of the problems in Poland.
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6 - WHAT WAS MOST DEMORALISING ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERIENCES? Hostile co
existence of PSC and 'Solidarity With Solidarity'.
7 - DO YOU THINK YOU LEARNT ANYTHING THROUGH YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN
PSC?
8 - ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS YOU WISH TO MAKE, ABOUT YOUR PSC
INVOLVEMENT, PSC ACTIVITIES, PSC INFLUENCE OR ANYTHING ELSE? PSC con
tributed to the fall of the Communist system in Poland. It was very important for me to see that
many British people actively supported 'Solidarnosc', working in PSC for many years, doing so
much for the cause which was so important for me.
ZOFIA HART
1 - HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT PSC? Through Giles Hart.
2 - HAVE YOU ANY POLISH CONNECTIONS? Yes, born in Poland, and came to live in
England as a mature person in 1978 (i.e. before the Solidarnosc time).
3 - WHY DID YOU JOIN PSC? I felt it was my duty to do something about the situation in
Poland. PSC, for me was the best and nearest way to do something, and to keep in touch with devel
opments in Poland.
4 - WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE THROUGH PSC? As above.
DID YOU THINK YOU DID ACHIEVE THESE THINGS? Yes - to a great extent.
5 - WHAT WAS MOST ENCOURAGING (IF ANYTHING) ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERI
ENCES? It gave me a very good example of a British democratic organisation in action. The com
plexity and thoroughness of the voting procedures (including wording of motions etc.) was alien to
me.
6 - WHAT WAS MOST DEMORALISING ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERIENCES? Encounters
with Trotskyists, including those who tried to take PSC over. In my particular case (I had organised
an exhibition, with others, at Lauderdale House, Highgate, in 1982) the exhibition was borrowed by
the Socialist Workers Party for exhibition elsewhere, but was treated carelessly and returned with
many exhibits destroyed - so could not be exhibited again.
From their attitude and actions I felt our exhibition was used for their political purposes and that
this was happening all the time.
7 - DO YOU THINK YOU LEARNT ANYTHING THROUGH YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN
PSC? A lot about myself, other people, decision making processes. I learnt that even untidy people
(they know who I mean!) can be effective if committed (as opposed to tidy, well organised people
being ineffective through lack of commitment). It taught me that when a group of people wanted
something it can be done.
8 - ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS YOU WISH TO MAKE, ABOUT YOUR PSC
INVOLVEMENT, PSC ACTIVITIES, PSC INFLUENCE OR ANYTHING ELSE? I met some
wonderful people, committed to justice in Poland, and justice in general. PSC gave me more trust in
human nature. I was struck by the experience of British people supporting the cause, particularly
after Martial Law. Some British people travelled long distances (e.g. one woman even from Bristol)
to support the 'candle' vigil outside the Polish Embassy straight after Martial Law was introduced.
WOJTEK DMOCHOWSKI
1 - HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT PSC? I think it must have been at that first big demonstra
tion marking the declaration of Martial Law (20/12/81 demonstration).
2 - HAVE YOU ANY POLISH CONNECTIONS? I am Polish.
3 - WHY DID YOU JOIN PSC? To help in any way I could.
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4 - WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE THROUGH PSC?
DID YOU THINK YOU DID ACHIEVE THESE THINGS? To raise the level of awareness in
Britain of the situation in Poland. To help those imprisoned. Attempt to influence British government policy towards Eastern Europe. The British public were largely indifferent to events in Poland,
and only took some interest when invasions, strikes, manouverings were in the offing. The same
story as always. The sending of letters of support and monies to activists for printing equipment,
cameras helped. As for the British government they would have obviously preferred Solidarnosc
never to have existed and the status quo to have remained that as had been decided upon at Teheran
and Yalta. A singular lack of vision and mere lip service to the concept of human rights were the
hallmark of British foreign policy.
5 - WHAT WAS MOST ENCOURAGING (IF ANYTHING) ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERI
ENCES? To work with people who were motivated by a selfless concern for others.
6 - WHAT WAS MOST DEMORALISING ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERIENCES? To find
that so few second generation Poles could be bothered to help PSC. There is more to being a Pole
than turning up at mass on Sunday, and dancing in national costume.
7 - DO YOU THINK YOU LEARNT ANYTHING THROUGH YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN
PSC? Not to be too pessimistic, but then again not to be too surprised either.
8 - ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS YOU WISH TO MAKE, ABOUT YOUR PSC
INVOLVEMENT, PSC ACTIVITIES, PSC INFLUENCE OR ANYTHING ELSE? I would like to
express my admiration for all those people who served in PSC for many years, and who did so for
no reward and scant thanks.
CAROLE GARDINER
1 - HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT PSC? I attended the huge demonstration on Sunday, 20
December 1981 which was held in protest at the declaration of Martial Law in Poland the week
before. At that meeting I was handed leaflets concerning PSC.
2 - HAVE YOU ANY POLISH CONNECTIONS? None whatsoever.
3 - WHY DID YOU JOIN PSC? Because I felt so angry at the declaration of Martial Law in
Poland, and wanted to do whatever I could to help the people of that country, and to try to get
Martial Law lifted.
4 _ WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE THROUGH PSC? The lifting of Martial Law in
Poland, obtaining contacts in the Solidarnosc underground, and even the eventual overthrow of the
communist regime (though this seemed an impossible dream in the dark days of early 1982).
DID YOU THINK YOU DID ACHIEVE THESE THINGS? I think PSC (and other groups such
as the UK's 'Solidarity With Solidarity' and human rights groups round the world) definitely contributed to the lifting of Martial Law in Poland. I did get some contacts in the Solidarnosc underground, and I feel that the massive efforts all our organisations made helped towards the eventual
overthrow of communism. However, apart from the Solidarnosc underground contacts (which I got
through PSC) I personally feel that I achieved these objectives more effectively through 'Solidarity
With Solidarity'.
5 - WHAT WAS MOST ENCOURAGING (IF ANYTHING) ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERI
ENCES? The fact that we were all working to a common goal. It eased the immense frustration I
felt at the hopelessness of it all to think that I was actually trying to DO something about the situa
tion in Poland, and was not just sitting at home thinking 'what a shame'. Again I felt these things
even more when I later joined 'Solidarity With Solidarity'.
6 - WHAT WAS MOST DEMORALISING ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERIENCES? The fact
that I was under-used. I am a very fast and accurate typist, yet was rarely called upon to put this to
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good use for the organisation (this was resolved when I joined 'Solidarity With Solidarity' who
even taught me word processing skills!). Also I had not realised when I joined PSC that so many of
the committee at that time leaned rather further to the left than I would have liked. I was very discouraged by this! I was also at an early AGM (1982) where extreme left-wingers tried to take the
organisation over, which was probably my most demoralising experience as a PSC member.
7 - DO YOU THINK YOU LEARNT ANYTHING THROUGH YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN
PSC? PSC was my first contact with Polish people, and through them I learnt what life was really
like in Poland under the communists. Most of my learning was with 'Solidarity With Solidarity', as
through manning their office alone twice a week I learnt a lot about telephone work, including deal
ing with politicians - this has proved useful in my current employment.
8 - ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS YOU WISH TO MAKE, ABOUT YOUR PSC
INVOLVEMENT, PSC ACTIVITIES, PSC INFLUENCE OR ANYTHING ELSE?
I am grateful to PSC for introducing me to Polish human rights activism. My main criticism of
the organisation is that it did not appear to react fast enough to situations. I got the feeling that every
little decision had to go through the committee, but sometimes the ever-changing situation in Poland
required snap decisions and fast action. It was 'Solidarity With Solidarity' - not PSC - who phoned
me and demanded that I and others go to the Polish Embassy at once on the occasion of certain
Solidarity activists being arrested in Poland. It seemed from this layman's point of view that PSC
worked well behind the scenes, and achieved a lot, but that 'Solidarity With Solidarity' was a more
upfront organisation.
SUE CHINNICK
1 - HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT PSC? From the press announcements of the 20th
December 1981 demo which I saw after my return from Warsaw on the first plane out after 13th
December.
2 - HAVE YOU ANY POLISH CONNECTIONS? Several good friends of long standing (30 +
years).
3 - WHY DID YOU JOIN PSC?
4 - WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE THROUGH PSC? To help the Polish people
achieve free and democratic elections.
DID YOU THINK YOU DID ACHIEVE THESE THINGS? Yes.
5 - WHAT WAS MOST ENCOURAGING (IF ANYTHING) ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERI
ENCES? The enormous fund of sympathy and goodwill displayed by so many British people, and
their involvement in the struggle.
In my neighbourhood even young children knew about 'Solidarnosc' and 'Lech Walesa'.
6 - WHAT WAS MOST DEMORALISING ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERIENCES? The lack of
interest and sometimes outright hostility, expressed by some sections of the Polish community.
7 - DO YOU THINK YOU LEARNT ANYTHING THROUGH YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN
PSC?
8 - ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS YOU WISH TO MAKE, ABOUT YOUR PSC
INVOLVEMENT, PSC ACTIVITIES, PSC INFLUENCE OR ANYTHING ELSE? No comments.
GILES HART
1 - HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT PSC? From a notice in the political listings page of 'Time
Out' magazine, concerning a PSC public meeting at Conway Hall in 1980 - October, I think.
2 - HAVE YOU ANY POLISH CONNECTIONS? Only through friends, and now through mar
riage.
85
3 - WHY DID YOU JOIN PSC? To keep in touch with a movement that was helping to cam
paign for freedom, and trades union rights in Poland. I was pleased to find a campaign that recog
nized the totalitarian nature of Communist Eastern Europe, instead of referring to the Soviet Union
as a 'Socialist state where workers have real trade union rights'. (Yes, descriptions like this could be
found, e.g. in a report on a trip to Russia, in a Civil Service Union magazine, in the late 1970s).
4 - WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE THROUGH PSC? (a) Initially I hoped PSC would
try to mobilize opinion for the workers in Gdansk and their new organisation, would send moral sup
port and perhaps aid to this organisation Solidarnosc, and in general try to change political attitudes
in Britain to communist Europe. The extraordinary expansion of Solidarnosc in just over a year, from
a group of strikers to a national organisation was something that I could not have realistically expect
ed, much less the eventual downfall of totalitarian regimes in Poland (and throughout Eastern
Europe), to be replaced by democratic systems. Although this all seemed totally unrealistic, it was of
course what I wanted and hoped for, and I hoped PSC would play a part in bringing it about.
(b) Initially all I hoped to achieve in PSC was to lend support by turning up at meetings, or
demos if any, and doing any miscellaneous tasks that would release the main PSC members to carry
out the major tasks. I had been a supporter of one or two other campaigns before, but either because
I had differences of opinions with some of the aims of those campaigns, or because these campaigns
were already well organized (or not organized to encourage participation by new-comers) I never
got very involved. With PSC I got talking to Piotr Iglikowski at my first meeting and felt that there
was an interest in new members, what they thought and what they could offer. Not being Polish I
could not offer translation work: not being a member of any political party I could not offer campaigning within a political party (as so many of the early PSC members could, within the Labour
Party). I had no experience of most types of campaigning activities. Perhaps I could offer help with
keeping accounts, offer the use of my car, and try to bring my Polish friends into the PSC.
DID YOU THINK YOU DID ACHIEVE THESE THINGS?
(a) As an organisation - yes, and no.
Yes - there is now a democratic regime in Poland. The people have chosen a communist government, but that is their choice - if they are democratic communists (and of course they do include
many who supported totalitarian communism in the past) then the Polish people will still have a
choice of rulers in the future. No - we campaigned for full trade union rights, and I'm not sure that
in a capitalist Poland the workers have these rights. No doubt the widespread support of these rights
was precisely because in a totalitarian country there were not democratic rights: Solidarnosc (and
the Roman Catholic Church) seemed the only way that people could have free speech and influence
events under a totalitarian system. Now that there is democracy, full trade union rights are regarded
by some as anti-democratic and the influence of the Roman Catholic Church (e.g. trying to ban contraceptives, at one school stigmatising children whose parents had not been married in church) is
resented and feared by many.
(b) As an individual - yes. In fact I achieved a lot more than I originally expected to within PSC.
In 1981/3 I was the treasurer / membership secretary / sales officer. This released others to get on
with the campaigning (translating, organising events, public speaking, 'PSC News'etc.). By starting
up the mail order side of things I vastly increased PSC's membership and fame, and helped
generate a considerable increase in our monies, to cover the costs of our activities (including 'PSC
News') as well as generate monies for Poland. Later on, by being part of the membership/circular
production line (with Ryszard Stepan) and being Secretary for one year, Chairman for three
years, I feel I helped PSC hold together and continue, when many of the original leading members
had dropped out, or through exhaustion or other commitments were only able to play a lesser role. I
tried to keep on good terms with everybody in PSC, while trying to ensure that PSC kept active in
terms of public
86
meetings, demos etc. I aimed to strengthen our links with Marek Garztecki at the 'Solidarity
Information Office' after a period when there had been personality clashes between some PSC
members and Marek, which I felt were only to the advantage of those who opposed us. It seemed to
me that our mutual co-operation was to our mutual benefit, and indeed led to Marek and his team
carrying on with PSC when Ryszard Stepan and I had to reduce our involvement. When Marek
stepped down at the time of the Walesa visit (Oct 89) I was able to hold PSC together until the 1990
AGM, after which Karen Blick, who I had recruited back into PSC a few years before, has been
Convenor of PSC. Incidentally, I did manage to bring most of my Polish friends into PSC. They
probably thought that if somebody like me could be involved, why not them. Zofia Hart, Ewa
Cwirko-Godycka, Barbara Lubienska, Zofia Malakowska were all committee members at times, all
very involved in PSC to a greater or lesser extent, over greater or lesser periods.
5 - WHAT WAS MOST ENCOURAGING (IF ANYTHING) ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERI
ENCES?
(a) Good news from Poland, particularly about the strength of Solidarnosc and then Solidarnosc
underground.
(b) Being told by people (particularly from Poland) that what PSC was doing was worthwhile,
and made a difference.
(c) The occasional appearance of people in PSC who turned out to be hard working and reliable
for long periods.
(d) The unexpected successes, such as the shirt sales.
(e) The occasional untruthful attacks on PSC in Poland by the Polish press, particularly when
these lies were attributed to the BBC external service!
6 - WHAT WAS MOST DEMORALISING ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERIENCES? The con
verse of (a) to (d): i.e., bad news from Poland, indifference or hostility from people from Poland,
unreliable or unpredictable people in PSC, the unexpected failures (e.g. an event that though well
organised and publicised were attended by very few people). We never got the converse of (e) - if
we had received a good press from the official Polish press prior to the Solidarnosc government I
would have been rather worried! I will go into more detail about discouraging cases - as I kept
going I suppose I wasn't fully demoralised. The loss of many active PSC members when it seemed
they were most needed. After the 1982 AGM when the attempted takeover of PSC was resounding
ly defeated, I had hoped we could now put this behind us, and campaign more actively and effec
tively than ever. So it was most discouraging to see the issue of 'PSC News' lead to the dropping
out of two founder members, and other committee members drop out also, when there was so much
work to be done. When the danger of 'PSC News' bankrupting PSC was resolved at the 1983 AGM
it was another blow to see three of our active members drop out because of this also. This, com
bined with an awareness of certain others taking a less active role, some previously reliable people
becoming less reliable, the friction with SWS (which would sometimes erupt just when one thought
it had permanently ceased), people turning up who seemed to be very committed, but would drop
out soon afterwards, all added up to a series of discouragements. When people turned up who were
reliable and corrlmitted over a long period, an atheist like me almost felt like offering a prayer of
thanks!
When campaigning for PSC, or generally talking about Poland, it was sometimes discouraging
to meet negative reactions from people in the Polish community, or indeed from Poland. I well
remember a certain Pole from Poland, a few months after Martial Law, being very abusive to me
because, while I was trying to do something about the situation in Poland, it was not actually within
my powers to bring about the changes singlehanded! The two friends of this person were telling me
that the leading figures in Solidarnosc were just as bad as the communists - they were oppor87
tunists, and corrupt. Within the Polish community here, while there was marvellous support and
activity from some quarters, the indifference or even hostility from some other quarters had to be
seen to be believed. Personally I think that immigrants to a country should try to identify more
with the country they choose to live in rather than the country they chose to leave behind, unless
they have a good reason that prevents them returning. So for those Poles or children of Poles who
regard themselves as British, it was not discouraging for me if they had no special interest in
Poland, or campaigning for Poland. However many Poles or children of Poles do identify themselves as Polish. (Some attend Polish church rather than English church, though the Roman
Catholic religion is the same. Some belong to the 'Association of Polish Students and Graduates'
- note it is not called the 'Association of Students and Graduates of Polish Descent'. Some send
their children to Polish Saturday school.). Surely these people would have cause to support the
campaign for Poland. After all, they regard themselves as Polish, they chose not to live in Poland,
so unless the reason was marriage with somebody British the reason would surely be the lack of
freedom in Poland. So why not campaign for those left in Poland, suffering from the lack of freedom?
The indifference merging into hostility shown by parents at a certain Polish Saturday school in
Essex to the idea of educating the children by attendance at a demonstration for freedom in Poland
was quite extraordinary. To demonstrate for freedom in Poland was to take a political attitude. (It
was not clear whether it was a political attitude that the parents who enjoyed the freedom of this
country did not support.) Children should not be politically indoctrinated (though religious indoctrination was presumably quite acceptable). Even to attend the annual ceremony at Gunnersbury
Cemetery to mark the massacres at Katyn (this at a time when the truth about these events could not
be openly spoken about in Poland) was not an idea to be considered - it was an unpleasant subject
that might disturb the children, and besides one would only be commemorating the dead of one
side! One parent told me that if the Saturday school went down the road that I was suggesting, he
and many other parents would withdraw their children from the school. The arguments that these
activities were unsuitable for children might have been more convincing if the parents involved had
expressed any interest in taking part in the events themselves, or spreading the news about these
activities to other people without children. But this was not the case. The most demoralising thing
that happened to me in PSC was the attitude shown by the 'Polish Daily' and 'Polish Weekly' to the
survey PSC did before the 1987 general election. All the Parliamentary candidates of the main parties (i.e. over 1,900 candidates) were sent questionnaires by PSC. As such candidates get massive
demands on their time, including all sorts of questionnaires, mostly (naturally) on British issues, the
fact that 284 replied was very encouraging. Either 284 candidates were sufficiently interested in
Poland and Eastern Europe to reply, or they thought it was enough of an electoral issue to merit a
reply. Even a busy party leader such as David Steel (Liberal) found time for a full, hand written
reply. The 'Polish Daily/Weekly' was offered the results of the survey. One might have expected
them to have printed the results, and encouraged their readers to ask similar questions of their candidates, if their candidates had not replied to the questionnaire. But instead they printed nothing about
the results of the survey, because they thought it was of no interest to their readers. Were they right?
From my experience with the Saturday school parents I could well believe it! This was the most
demoralising thing that I ever encountered in PSC (particularly due to the enormous amount of work
involved in the survey) and combined with my family commitments, this was probably the main
factor that led me to step down as Chairman (and from some other duties) at the 1988 AGM, even
though I could not be sure that others would take over. But in general we tried to keep going, and
not get demoralised as we could always compare any demoralising situation we came across with
the real hardships that Solidarnosc activists in Poland were facing.
88
7 - DO YOU THINK YOU LEARNT ANYTHING THROUGH YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN
PSC? A great deal.
When I joined PSC I had never organized a public meeting, written leaflets or press releases,
approached M.P.s or others to speak, sold at jumble sales, created or run a mail order business (I
didn't even know what a sweatshirt was). I had not spoken publicly, or given a speech from the
plinth at Trafalgar Square (let alone improvise one when my carefully written speech referring in
detail to the 'Gdansk Accords' had disappeared down a side street on the back of a lorry which
had been leading the march). I had not dressed up as a druid, or been master of ceremonies at a
children's fancy dress party, both roles required of me at Barbara Lubienska's inventive socials
which were intended to attract new members and more funds. I was not used to selling, or to coping with the various responses. (I was accused of trying to start the Third World War, on another
occasion a British businessman told me that the only trouble with Poles was that they were bone
idle!)
And there was much more that was new to me. Some I learnt from others in PSC, some I had to
learn or work out for myself. About myself, I learnt (or perhaps confirmed) what I suspected - that I
am much more effective in pushing a cause than in promoting myself. Also although I can get bad
tempered easily in my personal life I found that I had extraordinary patience (by my standards, at
any rate!) on most occasions - as long as it seemed beneficial to PSC's objectives to remain calm,
and keep co-operating with people who had let PSC down, rather than express annoyance and drive
them away entirely. (Quite often those who let PSC down on one occasion might be very helpful on
another occasion).
In general I learnt (or confirmed) that attention to detail is essential, especially when there is a
division of labour. In co-operating with people it is important to keep in close touch.
8 - ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS YOU WISH TO MAKE, ABOUT YOUR PSC
INVOLVEMENT, PSC ACTIVITIES, PSC INFLUENCE OR ANYTHING ELSE? I've made most
of them, above. There were the occasional amusing moments in PSC. A carefully prepared leaflet
publicising the T-shirts was revealed, at a last minute proof reading, to have one spelling mistake unfortunately it was the letter 'r' missing from the words 'T-shirts'. Our first batch of T-shirts with
the Solidarnosc logo had labels on them saying 'Made in Romania' which some people found politi
cally significant - not realizing that the 'Solidarnosc' logo had been added on in Britain, not
Romania. (Well, these examples were funny at the time).
However, generally PSC was often not much fun - there is not much fun in mailing out T-shirts
or circulars, updating membership lists, doing accounts, writing up minutes, etc. But it did give
something that fun usually cannot provide - satisfaction. The satisfaction came from a belief that
our campaigning was worthwhile and did make a difference to the situation in Poland - a difference
for the better. I believed it then, and I believe it now. If one didn't believe it then it was impossible
to carry on - if it was not true then we were all wasting a lot of time and effort.
In general my instinct, or perhaps tactic was to 'hang on in there' - if I felt PSC was going in the
wrong direction (on one matter, not overall) I would not resign but stay within PSC and try to get
the direction changed: at first through the committee, or later through the AGM, when bigger decisions on policy could be proposed, and accepted or rejected by the members. As the Acting
Treasurer in 82/83 for example, I was well aware, perhaps more than anyone else, of our financial
position and the effect that the costs of 'PSC News' would have, particularly once sales and membership influx had peaked. I was determined to stay on in PSC and find a way to solve the impending crisis, and we did solve it, though several key activists (from both sides of the 'PSC News'
issue) left because of these issues. With other cases I was determined to outlast people, outwork
them, and to always have ready for meetings (AGM or committee meetings) the motions I wished to
89
propose, clearly typed, with copies for everybody. (Without this, one can have a lot of discussion
with nothing specific to vote on, and nothing decided or mandated). The main question I asked
myself when there were controversies and people were dropping out (on principle, though
principle is a good reason to give when one is exhausted) was: can I do more for the cause I have
been campaigning for, by staying on within PSC, or by being outside PSC? For me the former was
always the answer, though for some it was tempting to give the latter answer - after all, they could
always join Tadek Jarski's 'Solidarity With Solidarity'. Through PSC I have met a wide range of
interesting people who I would otherwise not have known.
A brief comment about Poland: what happened in Poland was obviously more important than
what happened in PSC! It was disappointing to see the Solidarnosc movement split up, and produce
such bickering and disillusionment that the Polish people voted in a communist government containing such people as lerzy Urban and others who found Martial Law and totalitarianism quite
acceptable in the past. But then I'm not very keen on the government that the British people keep
electing - a party that seeks to replace democratically elected organisations with unelected and
unaccountable quangos throughout Britain, as well as being opposed to most forms of trade union
rights. When people ask if Poland is now truly democratic, without going into a philosophic discussion, and without covering all aspects of democracy, I would suggest a simple comparison between
Poland and Britain. Would you expect a democratic country to have 1) a democratically elected first
chamber, 2) a democratically elected second chamber, 3) a democratically elected head of state, 4) a
written constitution?
If so, then Poland scores four out of four, and Britain one out of four!
So whatever comments can be made about the political culture in Poland, apathy of voters etc., at
least Poland has strong democratic structures - structures that for all Britain's long standing democracy we still have not achieved.
DANUTA GORZYNSKA - HART
1 - HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT PSC? I was staying temporarily in London in 1981, and as
a Pole and a member of Solidarnosc was naturally very concerned about developments in Poland.
However I was unaware of the existence of any such organisation as PSC, and neither was I in con
tact with the Polish exile community. On 13th December 1981, having heard about the events in
Poland on the BBC, I tuned to LBC radio station as they had more regular news bulletins. During a
phone-in between bulletins a caller (Ed Switalski) announced the demo outside the Polish Embassy
before the presenter could stop him. From attending this PSC demo, and subsequent candlelit vigil
(not organised by PSC) I learnt about the formation of the Solidarity Working Group (which I
joined) and the forthcoming PSC demo of 20/12/81 which I attended. (Later I heard more about
PSC when I met Giles Hart through a mutual acquaintance, and also in early 1982 when Piotr
Iglikowski gave a talk to the Working Group about PSC).
2 - HAVE YOU ANY POLISH CONNECTIONS? I am Polish, born and brought up in Poland.
3 - WHY DID YOU JOIN PSC? I never formally joined PSC as I was a very involved member
of the Solidarity Working Group, and was also helping the 'Friends of Poland' charity. However I
was actively helping PSC, firstly by liaising with Giles Hart and others in PSC from early 1982,
then helping Giles on a regular basis from June 1982 onwards, and later on a daily basis.
4 - WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE THROUGH PSC? I made no distinctions between
the Solidarity Working Group, the Solidarity Information Office, and the PSC in terms of what I was
hoping they could achieve - namely to bring about a change of the situation in Poland, for the better.
DID YOU THINK YOU DID ACHIEVE THESE THINGS? The situation has changed in
Poland, democracy was achieved.
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5 - WHAT WAS MOST ENCOURAGING (IF ANYTHING) ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERI
ENCES? To see people involved, particularly British people devoting their time (sometimes all their
spare time) for the Polish cause.
6 - WHAT WAS MOST DEMORALISING ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERIENCES? People who
promised actions and didn't carry them out leaving very few to carry the burden. More generally, in
terms of support for the cause, it was demoralising to see Polish people, especially those recently
arrived from Poland, doing little or dropping out after a short period.
7 - DO YOU THINK YOU LEARNT ANYTHING THROUGH YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN
PSC? Through supporting the cause I did a number of things for the first time that were difficult for
somebody of my temperament. Some of these things were done for PSC, some for the Solidarity
Working Group, some for the Solidarity Information Office. In particular, approaching people with
leaflets, items to sell, petitions to sign etc; selling advertising space to raise funds for PSC; public
translation. Being a treasurer for a while for the Solidarity Working Group and the Solidarity
Information Office. In addition to skills I learnt how great a range there is in people's reliability,
commitment and persistence.
8 - ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS YOU WISH TO MAKE, ABOUT YOUR PSC
INVOLVEMENT, PSC ACTIVITIES, PSC INFLUENCE OR ANYTHING ELSE? My comments
have already been made above.
ANDRZEJ POLOCZEK
I think I was so marginal that I could not really have had much by way of insight here. I did
some translation work, helped a tiny bit with PSC News, before going abroad for the best part of
1983 and 1984, most of that on a Polish government scholarship for post-graduate research into
Polish coal-miners. I do not recall that I did anything much after I came back other than compiling a
few chronologies. But anyway:
1 - HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT PSC? From distributed material, PSC News I think,
received via a friend.
2 - HAVE YOU ANY POLISH CONNECTIONS? Yes, family ties here and in Poland.
3 - WHY DID YOU JOIN PSC? Interest in the Solidarnosc phenomenon; the view, acquired
from PSC News I suppose, that PSC was a better informed organisation, or organisation of better
informed people, and that I might learn something - certainly that I was less likely to find it embar
rassing than certain ad-hoc emigre initiatives around at the time; the feeling that this way I might in
fact make 'a contribution', however modest, amidst sound people.
4 - WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE THROUGH PSC? As above, 'a contribution' to
'the cause'. The latter I perceived both in what must, I suppose, be described as nationalist terms the struggle if not for national liberation, though it rightly or wrongly seemed clear to me that was
the bottom line, then at least for national self-expression - and vague socialistically: trades unions, a
good thing....
DID YOU THINK YOU DID ACHIEVE THESE THINGS? Did I achieve anything? So intangible, but there is nothing to regret or hide.
5 - WHAT WAS MOST ENCOURAGING (IF ANYTHING) ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERI
ENCES? The awareness that PSC cultivated an area that was traditionally ignored by or beyond the
capabilities of most Polish-orientated or emigre organisations or initiatives: the left. It was always
easy, come moments of oppression and repression in Poland, for Polish emigres to get expressions
of sympathy and tears from the right. But there seemed to be various degrees of disdain for or diffi
culty with the left, or lefts, and with the trade unions. Given the nature of the struggle in Poland, the
driving force at that stage and significance of the industrial working class that had been created by
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communism, this was silly. PSC had the will, the personnel and the contacts to go for this. To me
that was the best and clearest thing about it. Irrespective of how successful it was given the opportunities, and I don't know enough and wasn't involved enough to comment on that, this made it 'different' to the climate in which I was brought up and had moved hitherto.
PSC sought to address the trade union issues, the welfare issues, the issues of working people
that were actually in play at the time, and to organise appropriate support around them. I thought
that gave it best, and in the end the most honest, formula around.
And especially with the ensual of the time of demonstrative fervour after the declaration of
Martial Law, it was important to remember and follow the progress of the substantive issues the 16months of Solidarnosc in 1980-81 had all revolved around.
6 - WHAT WAS MOST DEMORALISING ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERIENCES? The fact of
being myself by nature an observer. No activist or lobbyist I, still less an effective one.
Coming across those on the left whose analysis exactly and perversely mirrored that of those on
the right who started and ended with the anti-Sovietism of Solidarnosc, with nothing else, whether
context or detail, deemed important.
7 - DO YOU THINK YOU LEARNT ANYTHING THROUGH YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN
PSC? Yes. About the nature of the left; about the all too easily dreary plod of attempted activism;
about some of the difficulties and improbable intellectual surprises, as it seemed to me, that can
arise when trying to explain aspects of Eastern Europe in this country - negotiating the cultural
divide to see what is in fact in common and what not, as one always does, but this time with com
pletely different people. So it all helped widen my personal world too.
STEVE MURRAY
1 - HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT PSC? I don't remember definitely. I thought I was at the
first meeting of PSC (26th August 1980, Conway Hall) but perhaps not. If I wasn't at the first meet
ing I probably heard about it from Julia Jensen or possibly Robin Blick or Adam Westoby.
2 - HAVE YOU ANY POLISH CONNECTIONS? No.
3 - WHY DID YOU JOIN PSC? Because it seemed like the right thing to do.
4 - WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE THROUGH PSC? To play a part in supporting the
struggle against oppression in Eastern Europe.
DID YOU THINK YOU DID ACHIEVE THESE THINGS? Yes.
5 - WHAT WAS MOST ENCOURAGING (IF ANYTHING) ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERI
ENCES? The willingness of people in PSC, at the early stages, at any rate, to co-operate across
political divides. AND - the way that such a tiny number of people could, by standing as witness
and drawing attention to certain things, have a disproportionate impact.
For instance, without the dozen people involved in forming PSC, there would have been no big
story about the TUC attitude to Solidarnosc in 1980.
6 - WHAT WAS MOST DEMORALISING ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERIENCES? The dread
ful bickering and disputes that followed the first years of Martial Law.
7 - DO YOU THINK YOU LEARNT ANYTHING THROUGH YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN
PSC? Yes.
8 - ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS YOU WISH TO MAKE, ABOUT YOUR PSC
INVOLVEMENT, PSC ACTIVITIES, PSC INFLUENCE OR ANYTHING ELSE? Of all the polit
ical activities I have been involved in, PSC probably, for the number of people involved, achieved
more successes than any of the others. And we had good cartoons.
I often look back at PSC and remember with affection the activities and people in it - even Robin
Blick!
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JEDRZEJ DMOCHOWSKI
1 - HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT PSC? Through relations/friends.
2 - HAVE YOU ANY POLISH CONNECTIONS? I am of Polish origin - 1st generation in
England.
3 - WHY DID YOU JOIN PSC? I joined PSC to help maintain/stimulate interest in this country.
4 - WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE THROUGH PSC? I hoped to contribute to the
above. Any 'achievement' as such had to be a result of collective effort: fund raising - events radio - leaflets - meetings - distribution of information etc.
DID YOU THINK YOU DID ACHIEVE THESE THINGS? I'm not sure whether my efforts
amounted to much, although the combined international efforts (European/Brussels/London) certainly played a part in maintaining public awareness - and so effect Polish-Soviet dialogue.
Participating in demonstrations definitely is one way of exercising democratic rights denied others
and thus demonstrating solidarity with the rights of citizens in states controlled by totalitarian
regimes.
5 - WHAT WAS MOST ENCOURAGING (IF ANYTHING) ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERI
ENCES? The continuous efforts of others - and, as mentioned, the multiplicity of forms of activi
ties.
6 - WHAT WAS MOST DEMORALISING ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERIENCES? Hearing
about Solidarity Campaign squabbles. Inter-personnel squabbles, etc. This doesn't encourage any
one to participate.
7 - DO YOU THINK YOU LEARNT ANYTHING THROUGH YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN
PSC?
(a) That when a cause is worth supporting it should not be abandoned.
(b) Support for Solidarity, although generally widespread, had to be maintained through the
efforts of activities.
8 - ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS YOU WISH TO MAKE, ABOUT YOUR PSC
INVOLVEMENT, PSC ACTIVITIES, PSC INFLUENCE OR ANYTHING ELSE? I think/know
that many people did a great deal more than I, and I have a great deal of respect for their stoicism
and achievements.
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EXTRACTS FROM WIKTOR MOSZCZYNSKI'S PSC DIARY
by Wiktor Moszczynski
(Note - As these are only extracts from Wiktor's PSC activities, and as there were also many other
PSC events not involving Wiktor the following should in no way be regarded as comprehensive of
PSC activities, or Wiktor's activities during the period covered. Wiktor has not included, for example, 75 visits to Labour Party and Trade Union branch meetings to speak on Solidarnosc.)
1980
July/August Write scores of letters to E.P.Thompson and leading trade unionists on strikes in
Poland urging them to express support.
August 15th Publish article in 'Tribune' on Polish strikes.
August 22nd Chair press conference at Journalist International Centre in Pall Mall on Polish
strikes. Other participants of press conference - Leszek Kolakowski, Leopold Labedz, and Frank
Chappie. About 50 people attend. Reports from the press.
August 26th At Robin Blick's invitation attend PSC public meeting in Conway Hall.
August 29th A second article in 'Tribune' on Polish strikes.
August 30th Invited to 'Beyond the Fragments' conference in Leeds University with 1600 participants, where I announce latest news about Poland to massive cheers in this vast left wing audience.
September 19th Article in 'Tribune' on Polish Trade Unions.
September 29th Attend Labour Party Conference in Blackpool, translate for radical Polish
Trades Unionist Edmund Baluka there.
October 27th Move from Ipswich to London. Same day speak at PSC public meeting at Conway
Hall.
December 3rd Attend and speak at special conference on Poland organized by East European
Solidarity Campaign.
December 4th Am co-opted onto Polish Solidarity Campaign Committee.
December 20th Meet Miroslaw Chojecki, to arrange closer ties between Solidarnosc support
groups like PSC and the Solidarnosc Union. (Chojecki was a leading member of K.O.R., publisher
of 'A.S.' magazine, close to people like Bujak, Kuron, Michnik. Later on he was imprisoned. He
now runs independent TV station.)
1981
January 25th At invitation of Steve Murray (fellow PSC committee member) speak on Poland to
Islington Socialist Centre (a forum where all sorts of socialists could meet - about 50 people attended.)
January 28th First PSC demonstration outside Polish Embassy.
January 29th First duplicator sent to NSZZ 'Solidamosc' Warsaw.
February 1st Am elected Treasurer to the PSC 'Polish Trade Union Appeal Fund' sponsored by
many Labour and Trade Union personalities. [In this capacity (and later on, when Wiktor was a signatory but not Treasurer) Wiktor would have responsibility for weighing up competing claims for
financial and material help in Poland, and making arrangements for sending such help to Poland,
sometimes on an open basis, and after Martial Law on a secret 'need to know' basis.]
February 3rd Press Conference on PSC organized in POSK.
February 11th With Julia Jensen (also known as Julia Kellet, PSC Treasurer) meet Tom Jenkins
of TUC International Dept. to discuss co-operation.
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February 18th First PSC Newsletter.
February 24th First meet John Taylor on his return from Gdansk.
February 25th Picket TUC International Committee Meeting about help to Poland. TUC officially agrees to send help to Solidarnosc.
February 28th Acrimonious PSC meeting about whether to support left wing 'Hands off Polish
Workers' demonstration.
March 3rd Attend 'Hands off Polish Workers' meeting as delegate of PSC.
March 6th First 'PSC News' published.
March 12th Second acrimonious PSC meeting on 'Hands off Polish Workers'. Decision not to
support their march officially, only as individuals.
March 15th Discuss relevance of Polish events with top END (European Nuclear Disarmament)
leaders and supporters, E.P.Thompson, Mary Kaldor, Jan Kavan, Zhores Medvedev.
April 12th 'Hands off Polish Workers' march takes place on Soviet Embassy. About 100 participants including many individuals from PSC.
May 19th-27th Assist Anna Kowalska (of K.O.R.) in meetings with Labour M.P.s and Amnesty
International.
May 31st First PSC AGM. I present report on situation in Poland.
June 1st Arrange arrival of Solidarnosc delegates to NALGO (National and Local Government
Officers' Association) and GMWU (General and Municipal Workers' Union) conferences after their
visa refused.
June 2nd Second issue of PSC News.
June 2nd-3rd Assist Anna Kowalska in meetings with G.L.C. (Greater London Council) and
Parliamentary Human Rights Group - Bernard Braine (Conservative), Lord Avebury (Eric
Lubbock, Liberal), Frank Allaun (Labour).
June 5th Help arrange PSC photo exhibition at NALGO conference.
June 10th Arrange pro-Solidarnosc resolution of Baling Acton CLP (Constituency Labour Party)
to go forward to Labour Party Conference.
June 15th Arrange for meeting with A.P.E.X. (Association of Professional Executive Staff)
Trade Union on behalf of Solidarnosc research team, under Jerzy Jasinski.
July 13th Speak at PSC public meeting with Ken Weetch M.P.(Labour) Mike Cooley and E. P.
Thompson.
July 19th Meet Anna Walentynowicz and Janusz Onyszkiewicz.
July 23rd Visit TUC with Jerzy Jasinski.
August 1st Visit from Bogdan Lis and Waclaw Korczynski at my house to arrange full relations
between Solidarnosc and PSC.
September 17th PSC Meeting on Poland organized at Friends Meeting House, Euston.
September 28th PSC demonstrates at Brighton against Communist guests at Labour Party
Conference.
October 17th Seminar on Polish Unions organized by Walter Kendall at Ruskin College with
PSC participation.
November 29th - December 2nd Meetings with official Solidarnosc Delegation (Jozef Patyna,
Anna Fotyga) at TUC Headquarters.
November 30th PSC Public Meeting - Neil Kinnock, Jimmy Reid, Philip Whitehead, Stanislaw
Gomulka.
December 13th Demonstration at Polish Embassy in blinding snow.
December 17th I chair press conference on PSC demonstration in House of Commons (Eric
Heffer, Peter Shore, Philip Whitehead (all Labour MPs)). ITN and BBC News announce that PSC
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will organize march on December 20th.
December 20th The big march. 15,000 marchers. Police and PSC lose control. Speakers include
Whitehead, Shore, Shirley Williams, a Tory M.E.P., union leaders. Harry Greenway incident. Police
surround the LOT office, and the Soviet Aeroflot office.
December 23rd Picket outside TUC Headquarters at TUC General Council meetings, successfully urging unionists to condemn Jaruzelski and support Solidarnosc.
1982
January 14th Visit TUC International Section with Andrzej Lodynski.
January 21st Introduce Lodynski to EESC (East European Solidarity Campaign) meeting.
January 30th Demonstration meeting at Friends Meeting House, Euston. Speakers from all parties, including Terry Duffy of AUEW (Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers), Lord Bethell,
and Russian dissident Vladimir Bukovsky. March to Polish Embassy with 2,000 participants. Duffy,
Bukovsky and Rynkiewicz place bouquets of flowers at mock Gdansk memorial outside Embassy.
February 16th Spoke at founding meeting of Leeds branch of PSC.
February 17th PSC help organize meeting on Poland at London School of Economics (LSE).
February 20th Become acting editor of PSC News no. 6
March 4th PSC Exhibition in Highgate.
March 21st PSC News no. 6 issued.
March 27th Finalize proposed constitution of PSC with Naomi Hyamson, the Blicks.
March 28th PSC AGM at City University. Am elected Chairman. Our proposed constitution
agreed by AGM.
May 12th PSC no. 7 issued. My article on trade unions included, but no longer under my editorship.
May 13th PSC organize demonstration outside Polish Embassy.
May 20th Chair PSC public meeting with Piotr Kozlowski.
May 23rd PSC demonstrates at Milk Race at Bournemouth.
May 30th PSC stall during Pope's visit to Crystal Palace. We make 2,000 pounds sterling.
June 13th SWS demonstration, from Hyde Park to Trafalgar Square. Am PSC speaker.
June 20th PSC quarterly members meeting in Con way Hall.
July 2nd Assist and co-ordinate meeting between Polish Emigres and Polish Trade Union
Working Group in POSK.
July 25th Meeting with Jerzy Milewski of the Solidarnosc International Office in Brussels. We
lay down guidelines for co-operation with PSC. (The Solidarity Information Office in Britain were
obliged to follow these guidelines but Milewski recognized that as PSC were an independent organization, these guidelines could not be binding on PSC.)
July 28th PSC picket outside N.E.C. (National Executive Council) meeting outside Labour Party
Headquarters. Party decides to sever links.
August 15th PSC stall at Fawley Court Polish festivities.
August 27th Press Conference on PSC at House of Commons with Philip Whitehead.
August 31st PSC organized Hyde Park rally - 4,000 present. I read emotional bulletins from
Poland. Speakers from all parties. March ends emotionally with songs in Malet Street.
September 9th Assist Jerzy Milewski and Magda Wojcik (one of Walesa's secretaries in Gdansk)
in meetings at TUC Conference in Brighton. (Jerzy and Magda were official guests of the TUC, and
sat on the TUC platform).
September 12th Chair quarterly meeting of PSC in POSK.
September 13th SWS vigil outside Polish Embassy.
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Foot, David Owen and Shirley Williams.
October 9th PSC picket outside Polish Embassy. Interview for L.B.C. radio.
October 18th Polish Airmans' Club. On behalf of PSC attend liaison meeting with SWS and
Solidarnosc Trade Union Working Group.
October 23rd Attend SWS/PSC demonstration outside Haling Town Hall over a meeting there of
the 'British-Soviet Friendship Society'.
November 5th Jarski circulates his public letter 'Trotskyism or Solidarity' critical of PSC.
November 7th Further meetings with Milewski in Brussels.
November 10th Demonstration outside Polish Embassy.
November 30th Visit 'Guardian' newspaper (accompanied by PSC member Jacek Rostowski,
and a representative of the Information Centre of Polish Affairs) to discuss pro-communist bias in
their coverage. Effective conference with Campbell Page (Guardian foreign editor), Jonathan Steele
and Hella Pick (Guardian Polish correspondent).
December 12th PSC 'Solidarnosc Lives' demo in Hyde Park, 2000 people attend in heavy rain.
December 13th Guardian publishes my article on 'Solidarity' (and Guardian coverage of it).
1983
January 23rd PSC helps organize day school for student Solidarnosc supporters in L.S.E.
(London School of Economics).
January 28th PSC public meeting - Tim Garton Ash is main speaker.
January 29th Attend Solidarnosc Offices Abroad meeting in Brussels.
February 6th PSC AGM. Am succeeded as Chairman by Walter Kendall.
March 9th PSC or ganizes de monstration in supp ort of Anna Walent yn owit cz
outside Polish Embassy.
July 1 st Become Chairman of Co-ordinating Group of Solidarity Organisations preparing joint
August demonstration.
August 31st Joint Solidarity demonstration in London.
September 13th Convince Labour Party to invite K.O.R. to Labour Conference. (Jacek Kuron
and one other to represent K.O.R.)
October 4th PSC organizes fringe meeting on Poland at Labour Party conference in Brighton.
October 6th Formally request Labour Conference to send congratulatory telegram to Lech
Walesa on his Nobel Peace Prize Award. [This was agreed by acclamation - Wiktor gave the
telegram address details.]
October 10th Assist (with John Taylor of PSC, and Lynn Jones) in presentation of E.N.D. statement in support of Walesa and Solidarnosc.
December llth Helped organize, and jointly chaired a massive tribute to Walesa on his Nobel
Peace Prize (including concert) at Hammersmith Town Hall. Congratulatory messages/messages of
support were received from 25 Nobel Prize winners, including Willy Brandt.
1984
February 9th Second PSC demo in support of Anna Walentynowicz outside Polish Embassy.
July 25th Distribute leaflets on Polish Amnesty to (Labour Party) N.E.C. meeting. December
11th PSC meeting at Conway Hall - 'Solidarity, Peace, Socialism'.
1985
February 22nd Chair a PSC demonstration outside Polish Embassy.
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March 10th Elected Vice-Chairman of PSC.
May 3rd Chair PSC demonstration outside Polish Embassy.
May 13th SWS demonstration outside Polish Embassy including Hunger Strike.
July 1st PSC demonstration (with 'Voice of Solidarity') outside Mirror building.
July 11th Visit Neil Kinnock with Joanna Pilarska from Solidarnosc Brussels office, Marek
Garztecki and Giles Hart.
August 31st '5 years of Solidarity' rally finishes outside Soviet Embassy.
1986
March 23rd Chair PSC AGM. Resign from PSC Committee. (Not on principle, but due to other
commitments).
April 16th Chair meeting on 'Freedom and Peace' movement with PSC support. Speakers
include E.P. Thompson, Paddy Ashdown (future leader of the Liberal Democrats), Rula Lenska,
Zdena Tomin.
June 23rd Speak at PSC public meeting on 'Poznan Riots of 1956', at Conway Hall.
August 31st Chair PSC demo at Hyde Park .
1987
January 29th Chair PSC public meeting in POSK with Leszek Moczulski.
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FIVE INVOLVEMENTS WITH PSC
Some of the following accounts were written as a response to the P.S.C questionnaire, but were
written to be read without the questionnaire, so are shown separately. Wanda Koscia has been
rather modest about her contribution to the PSC - see section 13 of the 'Brief History of PSC' for
more details. Maris Ozols is of Latvian descent and was Secretary of PSC for 1983/4.
SOME REFLECTIONS AND RECONSIDERATIONS ON THE
EARLY HISTORY OF PSC
by Robin Blick
As one of the co-founders of PSC with my wife Karen and Adam Westoby, I feel that some comments by me on the first phase of the campaign might interest readers. When we first had the idea of
convening a London meeting in support of the Polish strikes, we had no clear idea of what course
events would take, either in Britain or in Poland. The meeting itself, which I chaired, was conducted
in an unforgettable atmosphere of mounting excitement, bordering for some on ecstasy, as news
kept arriving of fresh strikes and deepening crisis for the Polish authorities. Out of that meeting
came a decision to found what became known as the Polish Solidarity Campaign. Involved as I was
in its formation and then activities over the next eighteen months or so, I can honestly say that for
the greater part of the period, certainly up to the declaration of Martial Law on December 13, 1981,
both the PSC Committee and the Editorial Board of PSC News worked in a remarkably harmonious
way, and this despite the substantial political divergences that existed among the members involved.
Political frictions only really began to emerge in the wake of the coup, first in the shape of the
departure of Tardek Jarski to form his own 'Solidarity With Solidarity', an episode which, however
unexpected and, in the short run, damagingly acrimonious, was quickly over. Then came a much
more protracted and debilitating schism, brought about by an assault on the tempting target of a now
nationally prominent and well-financed PSC, mounted from without by an assortment of Trotskyist
organisations, and aided from within either unwittingly, reluctantly, naively or (in at least one
instance) quite deliberately by members with whom I had previously worked without serious friction. Interestingly, the conflict had little or nothing to do with the conventional Left-Right divisions
in politics. Among the advocates of an 'open door' attitude towards the Trotskyists were to be found
not only those of a 'hard left' disposition, but also their equivalents on the Tory right. Neither was it
in any sense a British-Polish antagonism. As the involved members will recall, each faction was
'Anglo-Polish' in composition. My response to this attack (known in Trotskyist parlance as 'entryism') was to warn anyone prepared to listen as to the objective of its perpetrators which, I still
believe, was either to hijack the PSC and render it toothless or, failing this, to inflict upon it as much
disruption and damage as possible. On the basis of previous personal experience and a certain historical knowledge of the modus operand! of all Leninist/Trotskyist organisations, I considered that
the motives that lay behind this operation were not so hard to divine. All the organisations involved
proclaimed in their publications their over-riding loyalty to the USSR and the Leninist political
principles that had brought it into existence. And, as the totalitarians they were, they naturally found
PSC's commitment to democratic pluralism objectionable. The strategy was simple. In the interests
of the struggle against 'anti-Sovietism', PSC had either to be domesticated, castrated or put down.
Anyone still doubting the motives of the entryists can read Joe Quigley's inside account of one such
operation in another section of this book. As for tactics, if the entrists could find dupes or accomplices within the PSC to aid them in this undertaking, so much the better. As it turned out, sadly,
they found both.
My argument then, and I stand by it today, was that it made no more sense to admit into our
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ranks such organisations than it would have done to welcome avowed racists into the AntiApartheid movement or known fascists into the the Chile Solidarity Campaign. Some agreed, but
the majority of those whose opinion and votes counted did not, though I should add at once that my
opponents on this issue differed with me for a variety of reasons. Some - most, in fact - shared my
fears about the entrists' motives - after all, where had they been since August 1980? - but felt it was
either wrong or not possible to keep them out. Realising that my view had not carried the day, I
accepted the need for a compromise solution. Some of those who agreed that the impact of entrist
infiltration should be kept to a minimum met just before the 1982 AGM to devise common tactics
and means to secure the election of a PSC committee that would, in its majority, work to keep the
campaign on its traditional lines. Meanwhile, others were meeting, PSC members as well as
Trotskyists, to achieve a different outcome. Inevitably, the AGM itself became a battleground
between these two groupings, with caucusing and what amounted to bloc voting throughout its proceedings. This, together with a mounting personal hostility between people who, in many cases, had
once collaborated so harmoniously, generated an almost tangibly ugly and sickening tension which
so painfully contrasted with the exultant atmosphere which prevailed at PSC's birth. I can remember
vividly the humiliation and anger I felt for PSC when a 'delegate' from the Trotskyist 'Workers'
Socialist League', Tony Richardson, having defended from the rostrum the Red Army invasion of
Poland in 1920 (in which Lenin offered a bounty of 100,000 roubles for every Pole hanged) was
then, despite vehement and entirely justified opposition, elected, with the indispensable votes of
several promiment pro-entrist PSC members (including, if my memory serves me right, incredibly,
some of Polish origin) to the new Committee. This, I thought, is not only shameful. It is the end.
As it turned out, I was wrong. The new Committee was, as our pre AGM conclave had intended,
in its majority composed of members loyal to the original goals of PSC. And, although in my opinion the new Committee, despite repeated warnings from a minority, made a serious mistake in
allowing the entrists and their supporters within it to nearly bankrupt PSC (and enrich its enemies)
by allowing the editorial board of PSC News to indulge in absurdly grandiose expenditures and
accept inflated tenders from favoured Trotskyists, I was just as mistaken, maybe more so, to throw
in the towel. PSC survived, not only survived the attack but, as Giles Hart's account relates, both the
the invaders and those who aided and encouraged them from within eventually vanished from the
scene. I regret now not being there to speed and celebrate their departure.
I also want to pay tribute to those who, even if they in some cases might have been a little
slow to grasp exactly what the entrists were up to, stuck it out and by doing so, kept the body and
original spirit of PSC alive.
What was I doing? Well, though I had (wrongly) given up on PSC I didn't give up on the cause. I
spoke regularly for 'Solidarity With Solidarity', an organisation which, despite the eccentricities of
its founder, had for me at least the virtue of being Leninist free. Now that the same can be said (with
some reservations) of not only Poland, but the whole of the former Bolshevik empire, PSC's work is
probably done. It was certainly the best and most fruitful political activity I have ever engaged in,
and my only regret is that I didn't see it through to the end in the way I could have and should.
WHY I LEFT PSC AND WHY I REJOINED.
by Karen Blick
In my 'Introduction' I deliberately avoided personal comment, though unavoidably my account is
coloured by my own approach to history and politics and, in describing the motivation of the British
founders of PSC I have explained my own involvement and enthusiasm for the cause of
Solidarnosc. Initially I (and Robin was very much of the same opinion) decided not to make any
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more personal contribution because this would necessarily include writing about my reasons for
leaving PSC. I decided to avoid this partly because I believe that raking over all old quarrels, as a
rule, serves no good purpose and partly because it was a painful episode in my life. But, through
being very much involved in producing the book, I necessarily became acquainted with parts of
other members' reminiscences. I also felt I should respond to the enormous efforts that Giles was
making to get as full a picture as possible of PSC through members' different perceptions. So I then
decided to make some comment of my own concerning my departure from PSC and then my later
renewal of membership.
I was brought up in the Communist Party and spent ten years in Trotskyist groups in all of which
organisations so-called 'democratic centralism' reigned. My more recent Labour Party experience
had shown me the benefits of a democratically-based organisation (with all its problems) and reinforced my determination that PSC should be as democratic as possible. I found the commitment to
this style and the comradely (in the true sense) relations amongst PSC members refreshingly agreeable. Disagreements which are bound to occur in organisations didn't in my experience descend into
personal vendettas, were openly expressed and did not cloak a hidden agenda. In general, though
members came from very different backgrounds and had different approaches, we had broad agreement on our principles and objectives, did not abandon these for expediency and did not see PSC as
a vehicle for our political, religious etc. beliefs .
In the middle of 1981 I became chair(wo)man of PSC and in this new position my experience of
PSC's ethos continued to be the same. Then, after the Declaration of Martial Law, I sensed a
change. It was of course to be expected that friction within the movement would increase, that
sharper arguments about tactics would take place. The departure of Tadek Jarski was one such
event. But I felt that we were experiencing difficulties above and beyond what was to be expected.
At least two Trotskyist groups were targetting PSC, their motivation being, as I saw it, to build their
own groups rather than to promote the interests of Solidarnosc. Poland was in the news and the latest band-wagon to jump on. No doubt because of my inside knowledge of the way these groups
worked, I was hyper-sensitive and emotionally vulnerable to the attentions they were paying PSC. I
found any contact with this type of politics and the sort of conflicts it engendered very difficult,
because I had hoped that I had left all thai behind. I remember one particularly unpleasant experience at a meeting hosted by PSC in POSK in February or March 1982. Various belated self-styled
supporters of Solidarnosc, from the Manchester (Trotskyist) International Marxist Group (whom I
had never seen before) had just set up an ephemeral Solidarity group and spent the meeting shouting
at me for my views on the conduct of our campaign. I realise that for many other leading members
of PSC the activities of the Trotskyists, though unwelcome, were not so personally threatening as
they were for someone like myself, reared as I had been on an unquestioning attitude to the rulers of
the Soviet Empire. But I still believe that the damage they did to PSC outweighed the contact it was
thought they would (wrongly as it turned out) bring us with trades unionists.
At the 1982 AGM (which I chaired) an attempted take-over by one group of Trotskyists was
defeated. But after the AGM I felt depressed and debilitated. I know that Robin and Adam Westoby
also felt very disturbed by the AGM. I continued on PSC committee (though not in the chair
because our rules called for an annual change of chair and secretary) but with some reservations. In
my opinion the general political style and orientation of the Trotskyists was to some extent continuing to influence the decisions made by PSC. I felt that because of the political leanings of its editor
PSC News was, to some degree, subject and susceptible to their pressure. It was because of issues
surrounding the publication of PSC News that I resigned from the committee and eventually left
PSC. By far my strongest reason for leaving the committee was my objection to the way in which
PSC funds (given by a wide public to aid Solidarnosc) were being consumed in a costly production
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of PSC News. I saw this as an editorial ego-trip which was of very debatable assistance to
Solidarity. Giles in his 'History' describes how this impending financial crisis came to a head and
was eventually resolved. My other concern was my suspicion that the selection of articles to the
Journal was being tailored to the sensitivities of Trotskyists and other like-minded people for whom
the 'progressive' origins of the Soviet Union outweighed its contemporary oppressive features. As
the money being consumed by PSC News was for me a matter of principle I still think my only
course of action was to resign from the committee. But in retrospect it would have been better to
remain a member of the organisation, staying in the background and letting others for whom the
issue was less personal deal with the situation, until the Trotskyists' interest in PSC waned and they
passed on to more fruitful recruiting grounds.
After 1982 I intermittently attended demonstrations organised by either PSC or SWS. Even if I
had not had differences with PSC my family commitments may well have meant a reduction in the
time I could give to the organisation. I was well aware that December '81 had not been an ideal
Christmas for my children. I suspect my participation would have been greatly reduced during the
middle eighties because for me at least, being a parent to teenagers was a much less 'joyous', much
more aggravating and draining experience than bringing up younger children. In the late eighties
on a PSC or Afghan demonstration, I met Giles Hart again and he persuaded me to rejoin the
campaign. In 1990, and with some reservations, I agreed to become convenor of PSC, initially on a
temporary basis, and have continued in this post to the present day. The activity has been far more
low-key than in the eighties but nevertheless stimulating and rewarding. To hold a meeting with a
former Solidarity member, now an embassy official inside the once Stalinist citadel of the Polish
Embassy; to auction off pieces of the Berlin Wall at an LSE Seminar; to speak in favour of the
independence of the Baltic States in a Trafalgar Square Rally; to beard the Home Office bureaucrats
in their Lunar House den in Croydon over their indefensible insistence on Polish visas; these have all
been worthwhile and memorable experiences.
AGE OF INNOCENCE
by Wanda Koscia
I cannot remember how I heard about PSC but I think it was around about the spring of 1981
when everything was already in full swing. I am a Polish Londoner by birth and when 'Solidarnosc'
erupted in the summer of 1980 I had just returned from two years in Poland on a British Council
scholarship. 'Solidarnosc' was the most wonderful thing that had ever happened. Looking back now
it was a true 'age of innocence', a 'festival of liberation'. A time when the issues were clear cut,
black and white, and we were in the right. David was slaying Goliath but without violence and with
total self-control. It was impossible not to get involved. Initially I did some work for a British TV
company and in the spring of 1981 Gienek Smolar asked me to organise an exhibition of
'Solidarity' material at POSK. (We had done a similar exhibition about the Workers Defence
Committee (KOR) a few years earlier.) I think it was then that someone (Anna Lubelska?) told me
about PSC. At that time the membership was predominantly British and I was impressed that nonPoles could be moved to get actively involved in supporting a cause 'in a far off country of which
(the British) know little.'
The function of PSC in 1980-81 was to give support to 'Solidarity', both in material and in propaganda terms. The focus was specifically on the British Trade Union and Labour movement. It was a
very sensible strategy. This was still the Cold War (albeit not that icy at the time). Support for
'Solidarity' from anti-communist quarters and the right ('Reagan-Thatcher') was natural and clearly
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voiced. Far more ambiguous was the response from the left, many of whom did not really wish to
confront the uncomfortable reality of workers protesting against a so-called workers' state. Inside
the labour movement there was a strong lobby of Soviet loyalists and 'tankists' opposed to any
recognition, let alone support for Solidarity. The founding members of the PSC were themselves
very often of the British labour movement and addressed their campaign primarily to that movement. In the early days, PSC helped 'Solidarnosc' acquire a voice on this arena. Individual union
contacts were facilitated and technical assistance was provided.
When Jaruzelski imposed Martial Law in Poland on 13 December 1981, PSC organised a mass
demonstration in London which took place within a week. London was fly-posted, considerable
sympathetic media coverage was achieved, and despite sleet and snow there was a huge turnout.
These were not only emigre Poles but many British trade unionists, politicians ranging from
Conservatives to communists (the latter were not on the platform!) and many ordinary people.
In the wake of Martial Law, PSC helped set up the 'Solidarity' Trade Union Working Group
which consisted of 'Solidarnosc' members who had found themselves stranded in the UK and which
took over the role of 'spokesmen' for Solidarnosc. PSC itself grew immensely in the early months
of 1982. Its members were involved in a large number of activities including humanitarian aid for
internees and their families, a campaign of adoption of internees, help for the 'Solidarnosc' underground, etc. PSC continued to lobby inside the Labour movement with stands and stalls at conferences and public meetings. However, the growth in membership also led to a gradual change of profile as many who joined were not very interested in hard politics nor in the intricacies of committee
room lobbying and even less in the moral dilemmas of the labour movement and the subtleties of
weaning it off the last vestiges of its allegiance to the Soviet Union. They wanted more demonstrations and a more direct expression of their disgust with Martial Law.
The more extreme proponents of the 'direct action' school of thought (which held that the more
passionate and energetic their efforts, the greater the effects would be in real terms - the more they
shouted on the streets of London, the better things would be in Poland) found their place in Tadek
Jarski's 'Solidarity With Solidarity', which he set up immediately after the PSC demonstration in
Hyde Park which he had helped organise. Unfortunately this parting of the ways created confusion
and did not occur without acrimony and some mud slinging, chiefly from the hand of Tadeusz Jarski
who circulated letters to the Polish community maligning PSC as being 'red'. I still cannot understand his real motive for doing this. The whole incident was very unpleasant and stupid. Many of us
suspected that there were a few too many people who wanted to be the 'London Walesa'.
Notwithstanding, 'Solidarity With Solidarity' can be credited with some very energetic (if not
always wise) campaigning. It was they who continued to hold regular demonstrations outside the
Polish Embassy on the 13th of each month for years. There was also some cooperation between the
various 'Solidarity' support groups, so things were not so black.
Gradually with time, I became less and less involved in PSC as I felt it was no longer needed.
'Solidarnosc' in Poland had developed its own direct channels to politicians, trade unions and institutions in the west; it had its own 'embassy' in Brussels; western public opinion was fairly clear on
the rights and wrongs of the case and Gorbachev was himself dissolving the Soviet Union. Certainly
after the Round Table Talks and the semi-free elections of 1989 I saw no need for PSC as such
though the political activities of certain individual members (for instance Wiktor Moszczynski)
remain valuable.
Not having ever been seriously involved in politics, PSC was an education to me; not only did I
learn a great deal about the inside workings of the British Labour movement, I also witnessed and
participated in committee politics British-style. Whether it is due to the British character or to centuries of stable government and the existence of tried and used institutions, or a combination of
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both, the British do it in style: they are democratic, self-disciplined and restrained. Such was PSC at
its best.
The achievement of 'Solidarnosc' was of course due to the actions and courage of people in
Poland itself. But I would like to think that PSC helped to drive the point home in the UK.
Wanda Koscla 4 May 1994
POLISH SOLIDARITY CAMPAIGN - EXPERIENCE OF DEMOCRACY
by Katarzyna Budd
I came to England in summer of 1980, the summer of Solidarnosc. As in Poland I was close to
the opposition movement. When I learnt through my friend Zofia Hart about the Polish Solidarity
Campaign, I went to the meeting to see what they were doing and how they were trying to help the
struggle of the Polish people against the communist regime. It was my first contact with the English
organisation and I was very impressed by the way it tried to achieve its goals. I was aware that the
PSC was set up mainly by people one way or the other associated with the Labour Party, but for
me it was a secondary issue.
I was not involved in the Committee, but for many months I and my husband Martin Budd were
quite active, helping with PSC News, preparing the Press Releases, going to demos etc. For me it
was not only a way of working for Poland but also of getting to know England and I made some
good friendships at the time, which have lasted until now.
Obviously, we got more active after Martial Law was introduced in Poland. The biggest event
for us was a demo on 20 December 1981 with thousands of participants. A few months afterwards
we organised an exhibition of photos, posters and documents in a gallery in Highgate. I do not
remember all the people involved but they included Zofia Hart, Zofia Malakowska, Wanda Koscia,
and Wiktor Moszczynski who on the behalf of the Committee opened the exhibition which was
attended by the Mayoress of the borough.
At that time my husband and I wrote letters to several MPs and members of cabinet to ask them
to state their position on Poland and the Polish crisis. I received about twenty replies, including one
from the personal secretary of Mrs Thatcher.
At that time the Solidarity Working Group was set up and soon we started to help them with
printing Voice of Solidarity and this co-operation lasted for the next three years. It was very
demanding work which had to be done to a deadline.
PSC also organised many open meetings which were sometimes attended by hundreds of people
with some important politicians like Eric Heffer, Peter Shore and others. A few times I was asked to
give lectures to the Labour Party constituencies. I found those meetings very rewarding. I shared my
experience of what it was like to live in communist Poland and at the same time I was learning how
political life operates here in England. As a new comer to this country I was impressed by the
democracy here and by the democratic way the PSC was run.
During the first few months of Martial Law in Poland PSC was growing very quickly. Some of
the new members started to be very active. These were all together the good months for the organisation which got several hundred new members per month. At the same time the meetings started to
be longer and longer as different views started to emerge and I found that for some people work for
PSC was not so much work for Poland but more work for their own career.
Soon after 13 December of 1981 the new organisation which was a splinter group from PSC,
Solidarity With Solidarity, emerged. The members of this new group were mainly the Polish people
who stay in England after Martial Law and got the Exceptional Leave to Remain. This new
organi104
sation, run by Polish people, had somewhat more appeal to them than did PSC, which was English
dominated and held meetings completely in English. (Many of the Poles at that time did not speak
English). The other reason why Poles found PSC distant to them was the left wing approach of
many of its activists and this, after the experience of communism, was difficult for Poles to accept.
The competition between those two organisations was very apparent and for me distressing. I felt
that much time and effort was wasted by this competition, especially with the Solidarity Working
Group (later on Solidarity Office in England) being the third element and bringing more antagonism
between the three organisations.
The main objectives of PSC - abolition of Martial Law, compliance with the human rights by the
regime in Poland and re-legalisation of Solidarnosc - were at the end achieved, but I do not think
that the pressure by PSC had much to do with it; rather the opposition in Poland itself and the development of the international situation. PSC was much more effective in publicizing the cause of
Solidarnosc in British society.
With time passing PSC somewhat lost its impact, membership levels were shrinking and the role
of that organisation was less and less important. But by that time I was not a member of PSC. For
me the PSC did not present the main objective: free and independent Poland. During the meetings
they were rather talking about 'Finlandisation' of Poland. I thought, 'I am between these English
people who look at us in their own way and do not understand what we really want. When they stop
fighting for Poland, they will find some other worthy cause to fight for. What I am doing here?'.
But still I consider my involvement in PSC as one of my very important experiences, especially
as it was the only organisation in my life - in Poland and in England - that I was a member of.
Additionally PSC provided my first experience of editing and journalism, which I subsequently
developed as a career -I am now the editor of ' Dziennik Polski' ('Polish Daily')..
Katarzyna Budd
PSC AND ME
by Maris Ozols
I first heard about PSC through a Latvian friend who had met Wiktor Moszczynski, although I
can't remember how. I think it was before the coup of December 1981.1 did not immediately consider joining. The organisation seemed to be overly concerned with its connections with the Trade
Unions.
I had more than average interest in Poland. I had visited Poland four times in the seventies - two
of those times before I had met and married my Polish wife, Nina Ozols. Up to the coup, I remember following events in Poland with great interest. No such post-war challenge to communist totalitarianism had yet been mounted. Also, since more than thirty years had passed since Moscow had
imposed its will on Eastern Europe, it was clear that the experiment had not worked and that the
people were ready to throw off their shackles. If that was the mood in Poland, something similar
must surely exist in the remainder of Eastern Europe, including the Baltic states which interested me
most.
When the coup came it was difficult to believe. On the other hand, it was difficult to predict
where the preceding 20 months were leading. The only options seemed to be the complete collapse
of the Polish state- or repression from above. When the latter occurred I simply could not accept the
fact that yet another insurrection, this time peaceful, against the communists was likely to be put
down. I had to do something. The first opportunity to find expression for one's views came with the
mass demonstration of 20th December 1981, organised by PSC. The feeling of being among 13,000
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like-minded individuals was uplifting. It clearly inspired a lot of people for in the period that
ensued, I believe that PSC enjoyed a massive increase in members, including me.
I don't think I expected miracles of PSC. The best that could be hoped for was a constant irritation for the Polish government. I now had come to feel that the best opposition to the Polish junta
was one rooted in the left wing. Any opposition coming from the right wing was bound to be passed
off as in the political interests of the right. Left wing support for Solidarnosc could not be faulted
especially since many on the left had flirted with Moscow in one form or another. Or so I thought.
Until I joined PSC my familiarity with Trotskyist politics had been sketchy at best. Now I discovered that it was politically expedient for the Trotskyists to attack the communists because of their
own ideological positions. This discovery severely depressed some of us who came to feel that no
one was supporting Solidarnosc for genuine reasons. In any case, as long as Poland remained in the
news, the Polish government would have to continue to publicly offer some kind of defence of its
actions.
It was fascinating to observe the motley crew that made up PSC. It was good that the majority of
its members were non-Poles. The last thing I was looking for was a passionate emigre grouping. On
the other hand, I sometimes felt that PSC was a repository for people who were too idealistic to live
normal lives outside it. Since I was of a similar disposition this did not trouble me.
I suppose gradual estrangement came as PSC became bogged down in day to day administration
and also seemed not really to be taken seriously by anyone (outside PSC). Equally dispiriting was
the visit of (Solidarnosc spokesman) Janusz Onyszkiewicz (later a minister in the Polish government) to Britain during which he was unable to find time to see PSC members. Another factor
which nurtured the rot was the lack of interest shown by both emigre Poles and Poles visiting from
Poland who were more concerned with working in the British black economy.
I fear that PSC did not really influence anyone or anything and was purely a vehicle for massaging a lot of egos. This had an effect on me later when I did not become involved in any organisations as the Baltic States moved towards freedom, believing that if it was going to happen it was
going to happen.
Of encouraging experiences I can say that it was good to come into contact with people far more
interesting than one meets going about one's business in everyday life. It was of course, also an
invaluable political education.
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ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL
by John Taylor
1
My involvement with Solidarnosc began to take shape shortly after the great strikes broke out on
the Baltic coast in mid-August 1980. The heroism and collective defiance of the strikers excited and
inspired me, as it did many others; but it was only when I went to a cinema in the Haymarket in
London to. see the film of Gunter Grass' novel 'The Tin Drum', set in and around Gdansk, that it
occurred to me that I might actually go there. There was daily fear of Soviet intervention. I was
unemployed, and it seemed to me that if the strikes were crushed, then the more Western witnesses
the better. I felt I could make this demonstration of solidarity, and if repression did not occur would
have the opportunity to be present at a momentous juncture of popular self-assertion.
I should say that at this point of decision I had no contacts in Poland whatsoever, though along
with other countries in Central Europe I had a strong passive interest in it and some knowledge of
its recent history. For example, I had read about the Warsaw uprising and had eagerly followed the
events of 1956 and 1970. Solzhenitsyn was a hero to me in the 1970s, and not just as a writer. I followed with admiration his battles and those of other Soviet dissidents.
I had however plenty of contacts on the Left in Britain and thought it prudent to secure a lifeline
in this quarter before launching myself into the unknown. My first approach was to the historian E.
P. Thompson whom I knew from my work as a tutor with the Workers' Educational Association; he
lived outside Worcester, not far from me in Dudley. He was the leading force, through his pamphlet
'Protest and Survive', a polemic against Cruise missiles, in reviving C.N.D. (Campaign against
Nuclear Disarmament ) and establishing its new semi-independent extension European Nuclear
Disarmament (E.N.D.)
Thompson responded enthusiastically, quickly seeing my trip as a means of establishing a link
between the Polish strikers and the newly renascent European peace movement. I think he must
have met me off the train in Worcester, from where he drove me out to his rural mansion at Wick
Episcopi. I recently turned up the list of contacts he gave me there, which includes the name of
Wiktor Moszczynski, 'leading member of British Information Centre for Polish Affairs. Friendly'. I
did not get in touch with Wiktor for some reason but I did approach the Oxford philosopher Steven
Lukes who invited me to stay with him and his wife and arranged a dinner party or at least a meeting with two exiled Polish intellectuals : the philosopher Leszek Kolakowski (to whom Edward
Thompson had once addressed a famous open letter about the humanist potential of communism)
and the economist W. Brus. Both men affected a wry fatalism about events in Poland, a pose rather
undermined in Kolakowski's case by a large badge he wore which said ' Kiss me, I'm Polish'. Both
were sceptical about my projected visit. I don't think they saw the point.
Steven Lukes was much more positive. His interest derived from his involvement with the cause
of intellectual freedom in the communist bloc. He gave me the names and addresses of two academic contacts in Warsaw. One was the economist Tadeusz Kowalik: the other I forget. These were the
only names and addresses I took with me to Poland. I looked them both up, but only after I was well
settled in. On Edward Thompson's advice I also rang Ken Coates, of the Bertrand Russell Peace
Foundation in Nottingham. He too was encouraging about my trip and undertook to do what he
could to haul me out of trouble should the need arise.
And so I set out, leaving London by train on September 3, four days after the victorious conclusion of the great Baltic strikes. I delivered the resolution from END which Edward Thompson had
entrusted me. On my first visit to the Hotel Morski I handed it over to the young man I met in the
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interpreters' room who promised to pass it on to Walesa. In the following weeks I also distributed
copies of the END leaflet I had brought with me. But I did so with diminishing commitment as I
became absorbed into the excitements of Solidarnosc's high-risk confrontation with the authorities.
The dangers of nuclear destabilisation seemed metaphysical in comparison.
2
I went to Poland on a two week visitor's visa but stayed much longer, for reasons
explained in my book 'Five Months with Solidarity'*. The disorientation of my swift expulsion
after this length of time turned into a sort of agitated depression when I found myself back in
England at the end of January (1981), suddenly very remote from the tense euphoria that reigned that
winter in Poland. Edward Thompson, I fear, found me a most disappointing emissary with him
early the following month. I passed much of my visit stomping over the misty landscape.
I knew what I had to do however: mobilize support for Solidarnosc among British trade unions
and on the Left generally. This I had agreed with Magda Wojcik, who comprised one half of
Solidarnosc's international department where I latterly spent much of my time.
Edward Thompson started me off in a number of helpful directions. He suggested I write to his
old comrade-in-arms Lawrence Daly, general secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers. I did
this, and while in London succeeded in door stepping a couple of other major unions. At the
Transport and General Worker's Union I saw Ron Todd, then National Officer, and at the
Association of Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staff (A.S.T.M.S.), Roger Lyons, whose title I
forget. Both men listened sympathetically but were non-committal on action. Daly meanwhile did not
reply, so when in Bradford the following month I wrote to Arthur Scargill, the N.U.M. president,
offering to come and see him in Barnsley. He wrote back that he was too busy. Edward Thompson
also suggested I make contact with Wiktor Moszczynski. I rang him up from Thompson's place and
later met him in some pub in central London. It was then, I suppose, I first learnt about PSC.
It was Thompson finally who launched me as a travelling speaker on behalf of Solidarnosc. The
very first public meeting I did, some time in February 1981, took place in the Guildhall, Newcastle
under Lyme, and was organised under the auspices of the local CND by an old friend, Robert Fyson.
This however was a one-off, until Thompson rang me up in late March and said that CND groups in
West Yorkshire (no doubt prompted by him) were interested in hearing me speak. So it was I found
myself addressing meetings on successive evenings in Hebden Bridge, Halifax and Leeds. This last I
seem to remember was a flop in terms of attendance, but the other two each attracted 30-odd people.
Shortly after I got to meet further members of the PSC, among whom I remember Naomi
Hyamson, Giles Hart and Steve Murray. The occasion was a modest Sunday demonstration, sponsored by the Labour Party and various left grouplets, which marched from Hyde Park Corner to the
Soviet Embassy in Notting Hill Gate under the slogan 'Hands off the Polish Workers'. It was April
12th, shortly after the Brixton riots. What I chiefly remember is that Naomi and I got into a heated
argument with certain other marchers who were chanting some slogan equating Brixton with Gdansk.
I remained only loosely attached to the campaign (PSC) since I was based that summer first in
North Staffordshire and then in Birmingham. However I had found my feet and now saw how I
could campaign for Solidarnosc: by addressing more meetings and by writing something. At first I
had an article in mind. Then in the first half of May I attended what I think was the national conference of END, held at the University of Keele. It was a conversation there with Ken Coates - written
to and telephoned but never met - that put the idea of the book into my head. With this new resolve
I returned to Newcastle, but made only minimal progress as I sat day after day in my friend Fyson's
* For more details of what John Taylor did in Poland in 1980/81 see Section 7 of the 'Brief History of PSC'.
108
study, gazing out of the window into the green and gold of early summer.
Maybe it was this writer's block that drove me out on to the speaking trail; more probably I
received further invitations. At this distance of time I can no longer construct my precise itinerary. I
know I spoke to CND groups in Sheffield and in Hull, both modest gatherings. I spoke in Bradford
at a meeting of Labour Party and CND types organised by my friend Maggie Pearse. I spent a couple of separate weeks on Tyneside, where I used to live, pulling on my contacts to get in to speak at
CND meetings in Jesmond and central Newcastle, at a meeting of the Socialist Workers' Party, at
both Gateshead and South Shields Trades Councils. I did a Labour Party meeting in Sunderland, and
even spoke at Stanley in north west Durham.
In the Midlands, where I had also lived, I addressed the AGM of the Coventry Trades Union
branch of the Workers Educational Association; and spoke at a shop floor meeting of the MasseyFerguson tractor works (which had a sister factory at Ursus, outside Warsaw) .1 was given a spot at
a meeting of the Kidderminster Trades Council. I spoke to Bristol CND. I shared an audience of 150
plus with Zdena Tomin - and someone else, now forgotten - at a major END gathering at Shepton
Mallet: not one of my best performances. I was too long and over-emphatic.
At this point, mid June perhaps, I withdrew from my travels to the flat in Birmingham of another
hospitable friend, Roberta McDonald, where I got down to serious writing. I had a much clearer
idea now, thanks to all the meetings, of what I needed to say and how to say it. I was invited to
address the regional council of ASTMS in support of a resolution to send Solidarosc a financial contribution. I spoke to CND people in Stourbridge. But mostly I just wrote in the cool and spacious
flat while summer blazed outside.
By the end of July I had virtually finished. By the end of August my savings were running out
and I started applying for teaching jobs. My last speaking engagement that summer was at a PSC
meeting held in Friends' House, Euston Road on September 17, the anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Poland. I shared a platform with Eric Heffer M.P. I remember his speaking notes written out
in old fashioned longhand. Likewise his splendid declaration in discussing Solidarnosc's socialist
credentials. 'I don't care whether they are socialists or not. They are democrats and trade unionists,
and that's enough for me'.
The following week I disappeared to the north of England. From October I was teaching in
Macclesfield, Cheshire. In November a letter arrived from Piotr Iglikowski, PSC secretary, saying
that the committee wanted me to act (in effect) as the Campaign's regional organiser. I attended a
Saturday conference held at Ruskin College, Oxford, but otherwise I don't recall I did anything else
that autumn.
The publication of my book in December coincided with the imposition of Martial Law and mass
arrests in Poland. Such topicality helped sales: and brought me further speaking engagements. The
first invitation, in January, was to Milton Keynes. The last, in July, was to address South Ribble
Trades Council in Leyland, Lancashire. There were not so many in fact when I came to count up. I
remember only Liverpool, New Mills, a couple of meetings in Macclesfield and a return visit to
Hull. My hosts this time were the local Anarchist group. I spoke to a crowded meeting upstairs in a
pub called the Black Boy.
Various bits of correspondence are extant from this period. The reference in a letter of June 15
from the I.C.I. Macclesfield branch of ASTMS to imports from Poland relates to PSC's attempts to
secure a boycott of Polish goods and materials, as happened at the Massey-Ferguson plant. On an
earlier trip to Teeside - the subject of another letter - I made contact with the ICI shop stewards as
well as peace activists, and for the same reason.
I think I'll stop there before these memoirs run away with me. I now played in any case a more
mainstream role with PSC and the Solidarity Trade Union Working Group in their campaigns
109
against Martial Law. I remained an erratic presence all the same since these were my middle aged
'Wanderjahre' (years of wandering). Unable to return to Poland I disappeared to France and Spain
in August 1982 and did not renew my involvement with PSC until the following year.
From April 1983 however I took up a teaching post in London and once again became a regular
activist. One particular initiative from this period involving me was the publication of a 24 page
PSC 'special report ' entitled ' Solidarity Underground '. The idea was Jacek Rostowski's. Wanda
Koscia and I were his co-authors, the other two writing under pseudonyms. We secured a cover
design from the illustrator Jan Pienkowski. I saw the publication through the press in time for sale at
our demonstration to mark Solidarnosc's third birthday.
In November 1983 I flew off to Australia and did not return for over 18 months. That was the
end of my involvement with PSC.
3
I calculate that I addressed about 30 meetings altogether. In seeking material for the PSC archive
I discovered some old speaking notes. They show my concern to allay doubts and suspicions widely
held on the Left. These were firstly to define Solidarnosc and its goals in our naive left/right terms:
was it socialist or anti-socialist? Secondly to explain its Roman Catholic manifestations. And thirdly
to dissociate it from its right wing champions in the West.
My audiences, by and large, responded sympathetically to my account of the elan, idealism and
self-disciplined solidarity of the Polish union. To CND listeners I had to explain the indifference of
Solidarnosc members to issues of nuclear warfare, and specifically their lack of concern about
NATO's Cruise missile programme. However sympathetic they were though and despite the best
efforts of Edward Thompson and END, these audiences took a cool geopolitical view which subordinated all varieties of human rights to the overriding need to avoid destabilization which might end
in nuclear conflict between East and West.
S.W.P. (Socialist Workers Party) hearers were the most appreciative of the self-acting creativity
of the Polish workers, though they were also distressed at the lack of any Marxist-Leninist credo.
During questions, almost always, defenders of the old regime made themselves heard. These were
not just members of the Communist Party or other Stalinist fragments. Solidarnosc acted as a litmus
paper which identified a whole segment of fellow travellers - or more charitably, naive apologists within the Labour Party and the unions. At national level their influence combined with the slowmoving conservatism of these bodies to view Solidarnosc like a dangerous shop-stewards' movement. I met these apologists at the local level. At bottom theirs was a simple-minded nominalism
which went 'We are socialists. They (the communist regimes) are socialists. We must be
brothers'. It was a view underpinned by references to the defeat of Nazism and 'the achievements
of socialism' and memories of fraternal visits.
These elements apart, my talks around the country were met, as I say, with a lively sympathy.
But that was as far as it went, despite PSC, until after Martial Law. It was only then, too late in an
important sense, that the left mobilized in support of Solidarnosc. Only then did the little red badges
become fashionable.
One is tempted to theorize that many on the Left prefer symbolic gesture politics to politics
which tries to influence actual situations. In support of this thesis one might compare the mass campaigns ten years ago against a potential nuclear holocaust to the recent silence about an actual holocaust in Bosnia. Which is the issue for me now.
JT April 1994
110
ONE UNION'S SUPPORT FOR SOLIDARNOSC
By John Spellar M.P.
(Political Officer, A.E.E.U. Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union)
llth July 1994
Dear Giles,
As you know I had worked with the E.E.P.T.U. since 1969. The experience of the previous
Communist regime in the old E.T.U. had always made the union particularly sensitive to the issues
involved in the Cold War and the repression in East Europe and the Soviet Union. In this we had to
face the opposition of the TUC bureaucracy influenced partly by the C.P. (Communist Party) and
partly by the Foreign Office.
We kept up a steady pressure through resolutions and letters on the TUC often helped by the
C.P.S.A. (Civil and Public Servants Association). We provided facilities and [platform] stewarding
for the demonstration in Hyde Park after the military takeover.We realised that the best weapon of
the Communist authorities was inertia and boredom. Our task as we saw it was to facilitate those
who would keep concern alive particularly in the Labour movement.
Amongst others we worked with Marek Garztecki and through him came to PSC. We provided
platforms at our Conferences and articles in Union journals. However, our most important facility
was the provision of printing facilities which we hoped helped to sustain the cause.
Our main fear all along was getting entangled in emigre politics and I think we evaded that fairly
successfully.
Yours sincerely,
John Spellar
111
SOLIDARITY IN THE WEST MIDLANDS
by Jo Quigley
[Jo was the Secretary of a group affiliated to PSC- the Birmingham Polish Solidarity Committee. He
was a member of the PSC committee for 82/83]
When Giles asked me to provide an account of solidarity work in the West Midlands, I thought
nothing could be so easy as to chronicle accurately events that were so vivid and so politically decisive at the time. This in practise has proved to be far from the case, so instead of an unfolding history, the only reliable thing I can offer is a collection of memories.
hi late 1980 or perhaps early 1981 there was a group organising medical supplies for Poland
based around the Polish Club at Digbeth, outside Birmingham. I was the trade union liaison officer
with this group. As a trade union official for the G.M.B. (General Municipal and Boiler Makers
union) I was approached by a Polish businessman called John. He had been a member of the Polish
Socialist party before the second world war and was now a member of the Polish Socialist Party in
Exile. He believed my skills as a Union Health and Safety Adviser would be better appreciated in
Gdansk than he thought they were in Birmingham. I did not dissent, but the promised transfer he
believed he could arrange never materialized - and of course after Martial Law (13/12/81) would
have been impossible.
My friend, John Fisher, who also works for a trade union MSF (Manufacturing, Science &
Finance Trade Union), had visited Poland in 1980/1, and was planning to return when the military
clampdown took place in December 1981. Marek Garztecki and Piotr Kozlowski (who were visiting
Britain for differing reasons in December 1981) found themselves condemned to live in Britain for
far longer than they had planned once General Jaruzelski struck, and started touring Britain on
behalf of' Solidarity'.
John made contact with them, and arranged a number of meetings in Coventry at which they
spoke. Perhaps the most significant was Piotr's translated call to a mass meeting of Massey Ferguson
workers to black the sending of any parts to the Ursus tractor Plant in Warsaw, where Piotr had been
a shop steward. This was unanimously carried. Sharing the platform with Piotr was Jimmy Dunn,
then the senior steward at Massey Ferguson. He was a committed supporter of Solidarnosc and spoke
at PSC meetings in London. He now lectures for the Workers' Education Association.
Piotr appeared to drift away after a time - Marek explaining he was taking to emigre life less
well than himself, though he found it difficult. Some of his resources for surviving in the United
Kingdom he displayed after a meeting back at my flat, where he stayed for a little while. Late at
night he was talking about Solidarnosc while the radio played pop music. As I tried to guess the
name of each record on hearing the opening notes, Marek displayed his considerable knowledge of
my Country's popular music by beating me every time!
Marek spoke at a number of public and trade union meetings. Not all were enthusiastic at what
they heard.
The Trade Union, the GMB, were unqualified in their pleasure at what Solidarnosc was pioneering in Poland, and Marek received very warm welcomes when he addressed the Shop Stewards'
Council at Dunlop in Erdington (where my father had once been the senior shop steward), and when
he addressed the eighty strong membership of the GMB's Regional Council in March 1982.
The Regional Committee maintained their link after Marek's visit, with a bulk order of PSC
Campaign News - and later the 'Bloc'.
At the Polish Club in Digbeth one Sunday, both Piotr and Marek spoke in Polish, and while not
being able to follow the argument, the tone clearly indicated some strongly dissented from what
112
Piotr and Marek especially, were saying.
According to Marek's subsequent analysis his and Piotr's appearance was both welcome, but a
cause of perplexity and pain for some in attendance, especially a priest with whom Marek was in
open disagreement.
Many in the Club viewed opposition to the Polish regime as heralding a return to the pre-World
War Two social order. For them, socialism and communism were interchangeable terms, while
Marek's socialism and Piotr's independent trade unionism looked to the future rather than the recapturing of a world that had been forever lost.
At Birmingham University, the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies treated Marek to a
cool civility that did not disguise that Marek's urgent preoccupation with the problems of the real
world were very far from theirs.
I was elected to the PSC National Committee at the 1982 AGM (as was John Fisher). I
attended a number of PSC National Committee meetings at POSK (Polish Social and Cultural
Centre) in Hammersmith, and tried to sell my quota of t-shirts. I have blurred memories of enjoying
the hospitality of Wanda Koscia and Jacek Rostowski, and the beauty of Anna Lubelska.
In the mid-1980's I drifted away from a practical involvement in PSC, though Solidarnosc continued to preoccupy my political thinking. Those like myself, with a Marxist background, reacted
very differently to the emergence of this genuinely independent trade union. Those who wanted the
Stalinist apparatus throughout Eastern Europe overthrown, saw and enthused over the democratic
character of the movement. Those who felt some affinity with the Stalinist bureaucracy, expressed
their hostility to Solidarnosc by dwelling upon its 'Catholic' character. Yet ironically, these same
anti-clericalists have happily supported for over twenty years, a campaign of sectarian terror waged
by the Catholic IRA against the Protestant majority in Northern Ireland.
Although Trotskyist groups in theory were supposed to be implacably hostile to the Stalinist
regimes throughout Eastern Europe, in practice they found themselves in a dilemma whenever
called upon to give support to the victims of Stalinist rule. This dilemma became even more acute
when the victims fought back. For not only were the Trotskyists opposed to Stalinism, they were
also enjoined to defend the 'workers' states', the so called gains of the October Revolution. As the
Stalinist rulers were in every meaningful sense the guardians of those 'workers' states', any and
every attack upon those rulers unavoidably put at risk the revolutionary conquests of 1917.
Thus Trotskyists found themselves obliged to qualify their support for those fighting bureaucratic terror by imposing conditions upon how the victims could resist. Resistance, to merit Trotskyist
support, must not disturb or threaten the statised property forms, though paradoxically the bureaucracy's power and authority resided precisely in their control and management of state property.
Their dilemma was captured in a humorous satire that Michael Frayn once wrote for the
Observer newspaper. Called 'the Perfect Strike', Frayn explored the conflict between respectable
opinion's acknowledgement of a workers democratic right to withdraw his labour and respectable
opinion's hostility to strikes!
The solution to this conflict was for workers to strike in their lunchtime when their affirmation of
their democratic rights wouldn't disturb anyone. Trotskyist support for those who resisted the rulers
of Eastern Europe had a similar character.
When Solidarnosc emerged in Poland I was a member of a Trotskyist organisation, and I experienced this dilemma at first hand. While the leadership of the Workers Socialist League debated its
attitude towards 'Solidarnosc' individuals like Ian Macalman in Glasgow, and myself in the
Midlands, joined the Polish Solidarity Campaign and busied ourselves in organising support.
The W.S.L. leadership, like other Trotskyist groups, finally decided that while it could not avoid
supporting 'Solidarnosc', it did not like the Polish Solidarity Campaign. So, along with other
113
Trotskyist groups, it tried to set up a rival solidarity organisation on 'correct political lines'. This
was to come to nothing and the Trotskyist groups then made equally half hearted attempts to work
within and take over PSC.
But while trying to establish a rival sectarian alternative to the PSC, the WSL leadership tried to
drive out of PSC its members like myself, who had been working for some time with PSC. The
bureaucratic device for doing this was to demand that I sign a petition calling for the establishment
of a rival solidarity campaign. When I refused to do so all kinds of threats of Leninist discipline
were proposed against me!
While writing this piece I discovered a copy of my response to those threats (see below). It was
both pleasing and a relief to see that my defence of my membership of PSC was so robust. The letter I think is illuminating about the ambiguous and sectarian spirit that Trotskyists entertained
towards opposition in the Stalinist regimes, as well as providing further detail of practical solidarity
work that was carried on in the Midlands.
In the mid-1980's I undertook an MA in Sociology at Warwick University. Polish Solidarity
loomed large in my research, and also influenced an essay I wrote on Lenin and Trade Unions.
Thanks to Solidarnosc I was finally able to put to bed an unquiet spirit that had disturbed my peace
since the late 1960's. Jo Quigley, July 14th 1994
The 'comrade' to whom this letter is addressed is lohn Lister who was at the time National
Secretary of the Workers Socialist League.
The practise of members assuming party names was practised by a number of organisations
including this one. Thus Colin Morrow is the party name of a Peter Flack of Leicester, MacVittie is
Ian Macalman. My feelings about this theatre of the absurd are well expressed by my choice of
party name, Amos Q Sinclair.
Birmingham
15 February 1982
Dear Comrade
Thank you for your letter of 21 January. I did indeed refuse to sign your labour movement petition.
For many months now I have been an active member of the Polish Solidarity Campaign. No one at
either local or national level has ever questioned my membership of or work within that campaign.
To expect me therefore to sign a petition calling for a rival campaign appears to me as most unreasonable.
In any case there is not adequate justification for forming a rival campaign. In the Communist
Manifesto, Karl Marx claimed that Communists have no interests separate from the working class.
By which he meant the interests of a party, or a faction, or a group, should never be counterposed to
the interests, nor placed higher than the interests of the working class. Can you honestly say you had
the interests of the Polish working class in mind when you initiated your ill considered rival campaign? Experience should have taught us all by now that splits even when principled, unavoidable
and necessary, demoralise and dissipate. They should only be contemplated after strenuous and honest efforts at unity have been tried. Have you made such efforts?
Your petition is not only as I told your petitioner, sectarian and splittist, it must also I am afraid
be described as opportunist. Surely it is remarkable that a campaign claiming to be a labour movement campaign should omit all mention of the programme of the campaign. Is this because the
Socialist Challenge, London Labour Briefing, and the Socialist Labour Group (through their co114
thinker Reg Race), are opposed to what Solidarnosc and the PSC are calling for?
i) Blacking
ii) Withdrawal of recognition from fraudulent state company unions.
You claim to support these two basic demands, yet for diplomatic reasons you dropped them to
accommodate the other signatories. This is precisely the kind of behaviour that Marx so strongly
condemned. You have placed tactical advantage and manoeuvre within the family of Trotskyist
groups (tainted as they are to different degrees with Stalinism) above the interests and needs of both
the Polish and British working classes.
Already in a very short period of time your sectarian and opportunist campaign against the P.S.C.
has forced you to :
i) fail to report the key role that P.S.C. played in getting blacking adopted at Massey-Ferguson
ii) re-write reports of work in Glasgow and Birmingham, so that the role of P.S.C. is obscured
iii) totally suppress an article from Glasgow, showing how the IMG collaborated with the CP to
oppose blacking
iv) start a malicious whispering campaign in the organisation that, without any basis whatsoever,
and without even attempting to use the easily available means of verification claim that the
'Solidarity trade union working group in the U.K' has refused to affiliate to the P.S.C. because of its
reactionary politics. Predictably enough the source of this poisonous gossip is one Colin Morrow.
I would urge you to stop and carefully think where your sabotage of a unified solidarity campaign is leading. As Trotskyists you doubtlessly would wish to convince Polish Solidarnosc members that your Leninism has nothing in common with the official state Leninism which they have
experienced in their own country as a massive system of lying and manipulation. Is it not the case
that your performance to date is more likely to convince Poles that there is not much difference
between Trotskyism and Stalinism?
It seems odd and discriminatory in any case to make such a fuss about my signature. Many members of the League have not been asked to sign and would refuse if requested for reasons not dissimilar from my own. In my own branch and area I have not been asked to sign, know no one in the
branch who has.
Can the EC claim any authority for its action. No real discussion has taken place, and it now
seems to me you wish to prevent discussion by polarising things in such a way that narrow group
loyalty determines the group's position rather than what is the correct principled and honourable
thing to do.
It is however quite wrong to say I obstructed or attempted to obstruct your petition. I arrived in
the hall sat down by a friend, Austin Morgan, and almost immediately was presented with the petition to sign. I refused to sign a splittist sectarian and opportunist petition. Morgan was then invited
to sign and to help him make up his mind he asked me to repeat my reasons for refusing to sign.
This I did, whereupon he too declined. Your petitioner then passed on to the row in front where he
met no obstruction from me.
As for information about P.S.C. activities, may I suggest that for national activities you contact
the P.S.C. in London. As for my work in the Midlands, I have been engaged in:
i) organising a three day tour for two Solidarnosc members from Warsaw. It included :
Public meetings in Birmingham, Coventry and Telford Address to Birmingham Trades
Council Press Conference in Birmingham
Address to shop stewards' committee at Dunlop, Birmingham
Address to Labour Club at Birmingham Polytechnic, Perry BanMarch through Birmingham City Centre
115
Address to Polish Club.
ii) I have also spoken at L.P. meetings at
Madeley Branch, Wrekin CLP GMC, Shifnal, Bridgnorth, Telford, Birmingham University
Labour Club
iii) Secretary of Birmingham Polish Solidarity Committee iv)
sale of PSC literature
v) helped form aid groups for Poland in Wolverhampton and Bridgnorth and represent trade union
liaison on Polish community's aid committee in Birmingham.
It is very good that you are seeking information about what PSC is doing. I must say however
that it would have been better for you to have sought this knowledge before rather than after you
decided to form a rival campaign. In your pursuit of knowledge you might find it fruitful to ask i)
what does the Polish Trade Union working group in the U.K. think of the P.S.C? ii)what does it
think of the idea of forming rival committees and campaigns? iii) those who are so critical of my
efforts could provide details of what they have done or are doing on behalf of Solidarity.
I don't at all disagree with the point you make about submitting material to the I.E. However you
seem to be arguing rather like the Law Lords against Harriet Harman in trying to claim that my and
MacVittie's resolution should be treated as an internal document. It had already been seen and discussed by the full NC, some 50 people.
On Wolverhampton I will only say that it is regrettable that you should so effortlessly hold the
EC up to contempt. In the Midlands it is well known what took place, and an honest admission of
that would have earned you more respect than the artless cover up job you attempt. The quality of
the EC's so called investigation is exposed by the simple fact that the one remaining member of the
Wolverhampton branch was not even approached for her opinion! What would we say of a police
investigation into a murder case when it was discovered that they hadn't even bothered to interview
the one surviving witness?
p.s. As the allegations against me have been printed in internal minutes, I request that my reply
be published internally for the members to judge for themselves.
Yours,
Amos Q Sinclair
116
Appendix 1
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF POLISH SOLIDARITY CAMPAIGN 1980-90
How did PSC change over the years, in terms of what it stood for? Any changes in the aims and
objectives may (or may not) be revealing in this respect.
September 1980
A three point 'declaration of principle' was agreed upon at one of the first meetings of PSC
(September 1980) and was formally adopted (with the small change from 'We campaign ' to 'To
campaign') at the 1981 AGM (May 1981) as the 'Aims and Objectives ' of PSC, as below:
To campaign to :
1) Support and defend the struggle for all working class and democratic rights in Poland.
2) Gain recognition in Britain for Polish working class and democratic organisations: and for the
withdrawal of support and recognition from state employer-run puppet organisations.
3) Encourage and assist all forms of contact between working class and democratic organisations
in Britain and Poland.
1982 AGM
To campaign to:
1) Support and defend the struggle of the Polish people for democratic rights and particularly the
struggle of Polish workers for trade union rights.
2) Retain British Trade Union recognition and support of the Independent Autonomous Trade
Union 'Solidarnosc' and to uphold all free trade union activities in Poland.
3) Terminate official recognition and sever all organisational, political and social links between
British trade unions and political parties, and the ruling political parties and state controlled puppet
trade unions in all Warsaw pact countries.
4) Encourage all forms of contact and exchange between trade union and democratic organisa
tions in Britain and Poland.
1986 AGM
As for 1982, except that 4/ was changed and 51 was added:
4) Encourage all forms of contact, solidarity and exchange between organisations and groups in
Poland independent from the government and working for democratic rights, and trade union and
democratic movements in Britain and organisations working in Britain on behalf of independent
democratic movements in the Warsaw Pact countries.
5) Assist independent organisations and/or groups in Poland and other Eastern European states in
their long term struggle for freedom and independence and to campaign in Britain to achieve this
aim.
1989 AGM
Revised to read as follows:
1) To campaign for the retention of British recognition and support of the Independent Self-gov
erning Trade Union 'Solidarnosc' and its associate organizations and to encourage and facilitate all
forms of contact and cooperation with independent, democratic organizations in Poland.
This recognition should also be extended to all independent trade unions that are formed in the
Eastern Bloc.
2) To encourage British political parties to foster links with Eastern bloc political representatives
enjoying popular support rather than with party functionaries.
117
3) To assist independent Polish organisations, groups and ventures in their struggle for human
rights, democracy, freedom and independence and particularly the struggle of Polish workers for
trade union rights.
4) To publicise in Britain the activities of Polish independent democratic organizations and
groups and to support, expand and develop amongst the British people a knowledge, understanding
and awareness of Polish independent political and cultural life.
5) Assist independent organisations and/or groups in Poland and other Eastern European states in
their long term struggle for freedom and independence and to campaign in Britain to achieve this
aim.
1990 AGM
Updated to read:
1) To assist the activities of Polish democratic organizations .groups and ventures whose goals
are freedom, justice and democracy.
2) To publicize in Britain, the activities of Polish independent democratic organizations, groups
and ventures, and to develop amongst British people a knowledge and understanding of Polish
social, political and cultural life.
3) To campaign in Britain in support of independent trade unions, political and ecological orga
nizations in East European states in their long-term struggle for democracy, freedom and indepen
dence.
118
Appendix 2
PSC COMMITTEE CHAR T198 -90
80/1
C*
a Robin Blick
S
a Karen Blick
C*
a Steve Murray
*
a Julia Jensen
T
S
e Piotr Iglikowski
*
*
e Wiktor Moszczynski c
T
a Giles Hart
c
*
a John Taylor
c
*
e Anna Lubelska
*
e Ed Switalski
a Naomi Hyamson
a Charles Raby
a JoJJuigley
a Tony Richardson
a John Fisher
a Judy Barker
b Ryszard Stepan
e Henry Wizgier
a Walter Kendall
f Maris Ozols
a Peter Ludbrook
a Marion Pitman
e Jacek Rostowski
d Jurek Jerozalski
a Nick Butler
a Sue Chinnick
e Richard Janecki
d Marek Ciborowski
e Zofia Malakowska
d Artur Swiergiel
e Wanda Koscia
d Tesa Ujazdowska
a Terry Liddle
e Artur Oborski
a Michael Lewis
e Bernadette Tendyra
c Ewa Cwirko-Godvcka
b Barbara Lubienska
e Adam Robinski
e Wiktor August
e Wojtek Dmochowski
c Taduesz Warsza
e Joanna Switalska
d Barbara Wicher-Kucharska
e Anna Zaranko
d Marek Garztecki
d Agnieszka Huston
a Chas Greetham
c Zofia Hart
d Stan Prochniak
d Sylwester Grabowski
a John Spellar(M.P.)(Labour)
a Cllr. Colin
live)
80/81 81/2
82/3 83/4 84/5 85/6 86/7
87/8
88/9 89/90 _
*r
*
*
C
aT
*
S
Tr
*r
*
*
*
*
S
C
*
*
*
*
*
C
C
aC
*
*
*
*
S
*
*
*
*
*r
*
*
C
C
S
*r
*r
*f
*T
T
*
*
*r
T
T
T
T
*
c
*
*
*
*
*
*
*r
*r
*
*
*
Sr
*r
*r
*
*
*
*
*
S
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*r
*
*
*
*
S
*
*r
*
C
*
Cr
*
*
T
*
*
*
T
82/3 83/4
84/5 85/6 86/7
119
87/8
88/9 89/90
WHO SERVED ON THE PSC COMMITTEE? 1980-1990
(notes by Giles Hart)
The attached chart shows the names of all those elected to the PSC Committee, year by year,
in the first ten years of its existence i.e from the strikes in Gdansk (1980) to the 'Round Table
Elections' and the first Solidarnosc government. The chart is mostly self explanatory.
(1) the column on the left lists all those elected or serving on the committee at some point during
the period 1980-1990 (the name is preceded by a 'nationality background category' a,b,c,d,e,or f,
explained in the'Brief Analysis ' below).
(2) The other columns show the years (e.g 81/82 is from the May 81 AGM to the March 82
AGM), and the markings in the columns show the person is a committee member in the period of
the column.
C= Chairman or Chairwoman, S= Secretary, T= Treasurer, other committee posts are marked
by *.*
c= co-opted onto the committee to fill a vacancy created by resignation. Tr or Sr or Cr or *r
shows the person elected resigned during the year (from Treasurer, Secretary etc. as applicable).
aT or aC show the committee member became the acting Treasurer or Acting Chairman, as
applicable.
(3) Thus by reading across one could follow a particular person's committee membership
through year by year: by reading down for a particular year one could see the committee composi
tion in that year.
The chart is complete for all those elected at the AGM during the period: those listed for the
year 80/81 (i e August 80 to May 81) were either elected at a very early meeting, or co-opted later
(with the approval of committee members and other members present) - there was not an actual
AGM till May 1981 Possibly there were two or three more resignations from the committee
during 80 to 90 than I have indicated - sometimes if a committee member did not attend and there
was nobody to replace them whether they resigned or not became purely academic.
,
A Brief Analysis
Tr
Altogether there were 53 committee members in the period 80/90, filling up 118 post/years. If we
ignore the fact that many committee members did not serve for the full year for which they were
elected we arrive at an average of approx. 2 years committee membership per person which
reflects the high turnover which was sometimes demoralising to those who stayed on - how demoralising depended on how much use the committee member was. The 'burn-out' could be due to differences of policy, exhaustion, failure to realize the degree of commitment involved when
standing for the post increasing non-PSC commitments, or despair that our efforts could make no
difference to the situation in the seemingly eternal Soviet block. What were the nationality
backgrounds of the committee members? From my knowledge of the committee members I have
made the following breakdown which is almost certainly very accurate.
120
Men
a: British, born of British parents.
Women
Total
16
6
22
b: Poles settling in Britain as a result of
the 2nd World War
1
1
2
c: Poles settling in Britain in the 1970s.
1
2
3
d: Poles (Solidarnosc members) staying on
because of Martial Law - plus Poles coming to
Britain after Martial Law
6
3
9
10
6
16
e: British born, of one or more Polish
parents
f: British born, of Latvian parents
TOTAL COMMITTEE MEMBERS 80/90
1
1
35______ 18 ______ 53
The following points may put the chart in context.
(1) Some people who were not committee members in particular years contributed a lot more to
the PSC than others who were committee members. Some committee members did little other than
turn up to committee meetings, and some turned up to few or in one or two cases none at all (before
resigning).In no way therefore can this chart be a measure of how much people did for PSC, how
valuable they were etc.
(2) An immense amount of work was done on PSC News, mostly by committee members dou
bling up on the Editorial board. The composition of the editorial board was as follows :
PSC News l(March 81) - R. Blick, P. Iglikowski, J. Kellet, W. Moszczynski, S. Murray, E.
Switalski, Liz Willis PSC News 2-no credits PSC News 3 (Sept 81) - P. Iglikowski, W.
Moszczynski, S. Murray, J. Taylor, N. Hyamson,
David Rees~, Chris Cieszkowski~ Anna Tomlinson.~
PSC News 4 ( Oct 81) - R. Blick, P. Iglikowski, A. Lubelska, W. Moszczynski, S. Murray
PSC News 5- no credits
PSC News 6 ( March 82) - P. Iglikowski, A. Lubelska, W. Moszczynski,S. Murray PSC
News 7 ( May /June 82) - S. Murray, P. Iglikowski, J. Quigley, C. Raby, E. Switalski PSC
News 8, 9, 10 (Dec82/Jan83) As for no.7
PSC News 11 ( July/August 83) - E. Switalski ,N. Hyamson, M. Ozols PSC News 12, 13 (Spring
84) - no credits- but probably as for 11 with J. Taylor, Kasia Budd ~ ~ indicates someone who
did not at any stage become a committee member.
(3) The PSC auditors were usually Mr. S. Wasik and Mr. T. Prokopowicz
(4) This chart does not record the committee members for years subsequent to 1990 when, the
PSC objectives having been achieved, our main activities were campaigning about the Baltic states,
and campaigning against British visas for Polish visitors. Inevitably the total PSC level of activity
lessened, but the main roles of Karen Blick (Convenor throughout), Agnieszka Huston, and Barbara
Lubienska during this period should be recorded.
To return to the second chart I should add that PSC never thought in terms of quotas by sex or
background! Certainly it was true that the more varied the background of the committee membership, the more varied the communities and political groupings we could campaign in effectively,
and the more we were a broad based organisation which anyone supporting our basic aims could
feel comfortable in, and take an active part in. Obviously we wanted Poles, or those of Polish
descent, for their linguistic skills, contacts with Poland, and knowledge of Poland, and we wanted
British people for their knowledge and contacts in Britain and so that PSC would not be, and would
not be seen to be, an exile organisation. (The disadvantage of this of course would be, with all
respect to exile communities, that (to simplify) politicians respond to numbers of voters, and an
organisation seen as representing a comparatively small exile community would be perceived as
representing the concerns of less people than an organisation representing the broad British community, as well as the exile community).
With some people, e.g. Wiktor Moszczynski we had the best of both worlds - Polish knowledge,
contacts etc. etc, and as Wiktor was a Labour activist, the knowledge and contacts in the British political scene. Basically, when it came to electing PSC committee members, those present at the AGM
were probably most concerned, not with categories at all, but with what the candidates could offer
PSC in terms of skills, energy, time, knowledge, commitment: how valuable the candidate would be to
PSC. In those years when the committee posts were uncontested, we were pleased to get people to fill
them! As far as political background is concerned, PSC did start out from the Left. But almost immediately people like P. Iglikowski and myself (I tend to vote for the Liberals, though I am not a member
of any political party) got involved, and the only 'political' criteria for PSC was that members supported our aims, and therefore would be in favour of democracy, trades union rights etc. We did not want
racists or anti-semites, and most of us did not want those on the far left who supported those who
founded the totalitarianism we were fighting against: we also did not want to be taken over by some
other group. For what it is worth, I estimate that of our 22 British (of British parentage) committee
members, 15 were from the Labour party or Labour movement background, or 'on the Left ', one a
Conservative Councillor, one an uncommitted Liberal, the other five either unclassifiable - or I do not
know. I can't give an estimated breakdown for other categories (B to E),and for those recently from
Poland (category D) to have defined their attitudes in terms of British politics would be a difficult and
possibly misleading or meaningless task.
From the '84 AGM to '90 AGM none of the 15 referred to above (as being of the 'Left' ) were
occupying the key positions of Chairman, Secretary or Treasurer. Some people might think this significant, a sign of PSC changing its character etc. Others might think it just happened to be a matter
of who was prepared to carry out certain work! In a way both opinions are right - every time any
active member drops out, or a new one joins there will be some kind of change - every time an
organisation does more or less of a particular kind of activity it is changing. And as PSC expanded
(up to 1982) and then contracted, in terms of total membership, and responded to the changing situation in Poland and elsewhere, in terms of its campaigning activities clearly it was changing in some
way all the time. Even if one has the same people doing the same things year after year, then that is
a change - the people are either more experienced, or more exhausted or 'cosy', more set in their
ways, more 'ossified '.
So, while there might be some significance say in Ryszard Stepan being voted in as Chairman in
'84 (the first Chairman who was born in Poland) as opposed to Walter Kendall (founder member,
the 83/84 PSC Chairman, as such probably the choice of the majority of the 83/84 committee) it
would be too simple, or downright incorrect to see this as a matter of British Labour movement versus Polish exile community. Ryszard was also a Labour supporter (and as such unpopular with some
quarters in the Polish exile community), and after his year as Chairman we did not have another
122
Chairman (or candidate for Chairman) from the exile community (as distinct from Solidarnosc
member Marek Garztecki in 88/89,89/90). All the same the choice of Ryszard Stepan led to the conflicts detailed elsewhere concerning our decision-making processes, and our areas of campaigning,
the resignation of Walter Kendall (the last of the active 'Brits' from the August 1980 founding
meeting, until Karen Blick returned) and the contest between Naomi Hyamson and myself for the
position of Chair at the '85 AGM. (Ryszard Stepan was unable to carry on, except doing essential
work connected with the production of the circulars etc., in the background).
Possibly the election of Ryszard in '84, and myself in '85,86,87 had no significance other than the
members wanted to elect those who they felt would work very hard indeed. Possibly some members
felt that Ryszard and myself, not being clearly linked with the Labour party, would be seen to be more
independent of it when campaigning - and possibly the whole 'Letter to Neil Kinnock' row seemed to
confirm this, although other issues were involved. But I think that the consequences of Ryszard's and
my election were rather different. To some of us in 83/4,84/5 it appeared that PSC was doing less and
less - activities such as the August demo were being conceded to Solidarity With Solidarity (who
were also holding monthly demos in front of the Polish embassy ). Active committee members had
dropped out, or were less active. In place of the activities conceded to SWS we had alternative actions
(e.g. exhibitions, seminars) some of which never materialized. The Dec. '83 'Lech Walesa Nobel
Prize Rally' and the Dec. '84 'Solidarnosc Teach-In' were events organized by very few committee
members, at the last moment almost, to ensure we were doing something worthwhile and visible!
Thus both Ryszard and I felt that the time for the PSC Chairman to be a sort of moderator or referee at the committee meetings had gone. This was a valuable function, and quite appropriate when
the PSC Committee was full of people willing to do lots of things, with often conflicting ideas of
what these things should be. The PSC Chairman had to be seen to be impartial then, trying not to
take sides, something like the Speaker in the House of Commons: trying to ensure that the business
of the agenda was got through, but (unlike the Speaker) occasionally offering advice and experience. (Also unlike the Speaker the Chairman could be highly active in carrying out the decisions of
the Committee and doing other things for PSC: Wiktor Moszczynski's diary shows how active he
was in 82/83 while being an 'impartial/Speaker/Moderator' type Chairman, at committee meetings).But by 84/85, and even more by 85/6 the conflicting elements in the PSC Committee had
gone, and the committee was not full of people wanting to do things - some felt that less should be
done, others were not willing to do much, others did not carry out what they had undertaken - and
others, we didn't know what they thought as they rarely turned up for the Committee. To Ryszard,
and myself the time to be neutral or impartial had gone: we could be neutral or impartial perhaps
between different alternatives of actions, but we could NOT be neutral or impartial between being
active, or doing nothing: between missing deadlines or meeting them: between turning up at meetings, or not turning up, between carrying out the tasks we had been mandated to do at the AGM or
letting the PSC grind to a halt. So perhaps we became the 'leader' type Chairman; proposing courses
of action; making it clear that the actions mandated by the AGM (some of course which we had
proposed at the AGM) must be carried out, even if we had to do them ourselves; making clear our
views on many matters. But this did not preclude the democratic process - all actions would only
take place if the committee voted for them. The point was that once the committee could see that the
event was possible, that one or two people were determined to carry them out if allowed to, they
would be more likely to vote for these actions, where possibly in other circumstances they might not
have proposed them, or not have voted for them if they felt there was nobody with the time and
energy to ensure they were implemented. (Incidentally I don't think this 'leadership' approach was
very different from the way that Robin Blick chaired the meetings in the year 80/81 while building
up the PSC from its first meetings to a highly active group with many active members by the time of
123
the first AGM -1 don't know if Robin would agree on this).
Perhaps I seem to have strayed from the subject of analyzing the committee composition! But
my point is that what I have said above, about changes in the committee - the significant changes in
my opinion for the years 84/5 onwards, are not changes one could deduce from the committee chart,
the analysis of backgrounds national or political. In other words, although the data is hopefully
accurate and interesting, beware of hasty conclusions - there are lots of other factors which are not
contained in the data that might be more significant.
Having said that, one can observe certain things - that as the years went by the proportion of
members of British parentage steadily dropped on the committee, and the proportion of Poles, or
people of Polish parentage steadily rose. Interestingly enough these members were not mostly from
the two expected sources of active supporters - the Solidarity Working Group, and the Polish
Students Association of Great Britain. Some were individuals not associated with either group who
either joined PSC in the later years (due to the efforts of Barbara Lubienska perhaps, or due to only
just becoming aware of us) or were individuals who had been in PSC for many years and either due
to changed circumstances, increased confidence, or increasing involvement eventually arrived on
the committee. Why the two obvious 'source ' organisations did not provide as we hoped for is a
question I won't attempt to answer here.
124
Appendix 3
CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS IN POLAND
by Robin Blick
875
(circa) Foundation of Vistulan dynasty. First Christian conversions.
900
(circa) Magyars arrive.
966
Birth of Polish state under Mieszko I.
969
Bishopric of Krakow founded.
992-1025 Boleslaw I founds Kingdom of Poland.
1225
Teutonic Knights arrive on Baltic.
1241
Mongol incursions begin.
1320
Wladyslav I crowned King of Poland.
1331
Victory over Teutonic Knights.
1333-70 Casimir III (The Great) extends Kingdom (L'vov). Founds Krakow University.
1370-82 Louis I introduces religious toleration for Greek Orthodoxy and Jews.
1382-1572 Rein of Jagielo dynasty. Rise of elected monarchy. Birth of Sejm parliament. Union
with Lithuania. Copernicus founds modern astronomy.
1447-92 Casimir IV extends borders from Baltic to Black Seas.
1475
Ottoman incursions begin.
1486
Russian attacks begin (Ivan III).
1517
Germans (Albrecht of Hohenzollern) ally with Russians against Lithuania.
1524-29 Suleyman I attacks Hungary, Vienna.
1548
Sigismund II allies with Emperor Charles V against Turks and Russians.
1575
Compact Of Warsaw establishes equality of all religions.
1572-1697 Reign of Vasa dynasty. 1618-1648 Thirty Years War. Poland attacked by Swedes,
Turks, Russians. Counter-Reformation
gathers pace. Rise of Jesuits. 1648-68 Rein of Casimir II. War with Ukrainian
Cossacks, Sweden, Brandenburg, together with
plague, reduces population by half. End of religious toleration. 1697-1733 'Saxon' era
begins with reign of Augustus II. He allies with Russia (Peter The Great)
against Sweden in 'Northern War'. 1733-63 Augustus III elected with Russian
support. Frederick II (The Great) of Prussia expands
kingdom in war with Austria (Silesia).
1756-63 Seven Years' War. Russia uses northern Poland as base against Prussia.
1762-96 Catherine the Great.
1772
Russia combines with Prussia and Austria in First Partition. Poland loses 28% of territory1775.
Liberal reforms, first central government established. Peasant emancipation. Economy
revives. Education re-organised.
1789
French Revolution begins.
1791
Constitution adopted by Sejm. First in Europe.
1792
Catherine invades Poland to destroy reforms.
1793
Second Partition. Russia seizes Ruthenia.
1794
Poles rise against Prussia and Russia.
1795
Rising defeated, ends in Third Partition. Austria takes Krakow, Prussians take Warsaw.
Poland removed from map.
125
1798
Secret patriotic-democratic society founded in Warsaw, 'Society of Polish
Republicans'.
1807
Napoleon I defeats Austrians and Prussians, creates Duchy of Warsaw under King of
Saxony, Frederick Augustus. Peasants emancipated from serfdom.
1813
Napoleon defeated at 'Battle of Nations' (Leipzig). Poland returns to Russian rule under
Alexander I. 1814-15 Congress of Vienna re-partitions Poland between
Russia, Prussia and Austria.
1830
July Revolution in France. Rising in Poland against Russian rule (Nicholas I).
1831
Rising defeated. Leaders emigrate to France (Chopin).
1832.
Constitution of 1791 abolished, replaced by Organic Statute incorporating Poland into
Russia.
1846.
Insurrection in Krakow against Austrian rule, defeated.
1848
Year of Revolutions in Europe. Support for Polish independence grows in West.
1853-56 Crimean War. Russia defeated.
1861
Alexander II of Russia abolishes serfdom.
1863
New insurrection in Warsaw against Russia, defeated.
1864
International Workingmen's Association founded (Marx). Campaigns for Polish inde
pendence.
1864 on. Russification of Poland intensifies.
1869
Warsaw University Russified.
1869-85 All Polish schools Russified.
1881
Alexander II assassinated, succeeded by ultra-nationalist son Alexander III.
1885 on
Poland begins to industrialise. Beginnings of Polish socialism. 1886 Polish League,
later National League, founded.
1892
Polish Socialist Party founded (Pilsudski).
1905
Revolution throughout Russian Empire. Nicholas II concedes reforms.
1906
Elections to Duma. Repression in Prussian Poland.
1907
Manhood suffrage in Hapsburg Poland. Polish Peasant Party founded.
1914-18 First World War. Central Powers and Russia each promote Polish independence movements against the other.
1917.
Revolution in Russia. Nicholas II overthrown in March. Bolsheviks seize power in
November, promise Polish independence.
1918
Central powers lose war. Polish independence proclaimed in Lublin, Nov. 7. Republic
proclaimed Nov. 11. Pilsudski Head of State.
1919
Paderew ski Prime Minister.
1920
Trotsky (War Minister) concludes secret pact with German Army (Von Seeckt) to re
partition Poland. Spring, Poland invades Soviet Ukraine. August, Red Army defeated at
'Miracle on Vistula' outside Warsaw.
1921
Treaty of Riga establishes Polish-Russian border. Poland forms alliance with France,
Romania.
1921 on German Army trains secretly in Russia.
1926
Pilsudski seizes power in coup, with some left support.
1926-30 Authoritarian-nationalist regime headed by Pilsudski.
1929
Poland hit by world slump.
1930
Pilsudski loses elections to centre-left.
1931
Economic crisis worsens. One third unemployed.
1932.
Poland concludes non-aggression pact with USSR.
126
1933
1934
1935
1935
1936
1937
1938
1938
1938
1939
1939-41
1940
1940
1941
1942
1943
1944
1945
1947
1948
1949-53
Hitler comes to power in Germany.
Poland concludes non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany.
New, more authoritarian constitution adopted. Pilsusdki dies.
Opposition boycotts elections.
Strike wave, workers occupy factories.
Pro-government 'Camp of National Unity' formed.
Elections boycotted again.
Czech crisis, Nazis occupy Sudetenland.
Stalin disbands Polish Communist Party, executes most of its leaders.
Stalin overtures to Hitler. Nazis respond. Hitler begins campaign over Danzig and
Polish corridor. Britain pledges support to Poland. Nazi-Soviet Pact agrees new parti
tion of Poland. Hitler invades Poland. Second World War begins. Stalin invades Poland
from East. Poland surrenders (Oct. 5). Britain (Lord Halifax) accepts Soviet annexa
tions. Polish Government-In-Exile established in West under General Sikorski, former
democratic opponent of Pilsudski. Resistance begins in Nazi- and Stalin-occupied
Poland.
Mass deportations of Poles to Eastern Siberia (approx 2 million).
Nazis turn West, occupy Norway, Denmark, Low Countries, France. Exile Government
moves to London.
Nazis begin use of Polish slave labour. I.G. Farben plant built at Auschwitz. NKVD
murders 15,000 Polish officers at Katyn Forest and camps in Russia.
Nazis invade USSR (June). Japan attacks Pearl Harbour (Dec.).
'Final Solution' begins in Polish Death Camps. Stalin revives Polish Communist Party,
now called Polish Workers' Party. Gomulka emerges.
Germans defeated at Stalingrad. Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Tide turns for Allies.
Landings in Sicily, then Italy. Italy surrenders, then joins Allies. Stalin breaks links
with Polish Exile Government over Katyn. Sikorski killed in plane crash. Churchill,
Roosevelt accept Stalin's annexation of East Poland at Tehran Conference. Stalinist
puppet 'National Home Council' launched under Gomulka, Bierut, Dec.
Normandy landings (June). Stalinist puppet 'Lublin Committee' founded in July. Red
Army enters Poland. Warsaw Uprising betrayed by Stalin. 200,000 die in fighting,
700,000 deported by Nazis. Puppet 'Lublin' 'Provisional Government' formed in
Moscow.
Red Army enters Warsaw (Jan.). At Yalta Conference (Feb.), Stalin, Churchill,
Roosevelt, recognise Lublin Government. Poland's new borders agreed. War in Europe
ends (May) and in East (Sept). Potsdam Conference confirms division of Europe.
Poland allotted to Soviet sphere. Free elections promised by Stalin. Repression of oppo
sition begins. Arrests, bans, executions. Land reform, industry nationalised.
'Democratic Bloc' formed by Stalinists, Socialist Party and Democratic Party.
Elections (Jan.). Bloc gets less than 20% of votes, but awarded 383 seats out of 444.
Puppet government strengthens grip. Stalin forms 'Communist Information Bureau'
('Cominform') to control East European parties and regimes.
Stalinists impose merger with Socialist Party to form 'Polish United Workers' Party'. Tito
breaks from Stalin, expelled from Cominform. Stalin launches purge of East European
Communist Parties. Gomulka sacked, then jailed (1951). Agriculture collectivised.
Purges, arrests, trials, executions throughout East Europe. Stalin launches drive against
Jews.
127
1952
1953
1954
1956
1957
1958
1962
1963
1964
1966
1967
1968
1970
1970-73
1974
1976
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1988
1989
1989
1990
New Stalinist Constitution adopted. Bierut becomes Premier.
Stalin dies (March). Cardinal Wyszyinski interned for defending Church independence
(Sept.). Workers' rising in East Germany put down by Red Army. Revolt in Vorkuta
Slave Camp (Summer). Thaw' begins in USSR.
Cyrankiewicz (renegade socialist) replaces Bierat as Premier.
Khrushchev denounces Stalin in 'Secret Speech'. Bierut dies (March), replaced as Party
chief by Ochab. Gomulka rehabilitated. Strikes, demonstrations, riots in Poznan, for
higher wages, free elections, removal of Russians. Tanks called in, 70 killed. Unrest
spreads to rest of Poland. Gomulka returns to Centra! Committee. Khrushchev arrives in
Warsaw (Oct.), threatens invasion. Gomulka elected First Party Secretary. Agrees Red
Army to stay. Revolution in Hungary, put down by Red Army (Nov.).
Gomulka stabilises regime, winds up workers' councils.
Political trials begin in Poland, 'Kultura' circle. Anti-semitic 'Partisan' faction on rise
(Gen. Moczar). 'Crooked Circle Club' formed.
Crooked Circle Club closed down. More trials.
Censorship tightened.
Fall of Khrushchev, Brezhnev begins partial re-Stalinisation.
More arrests and trials (Kuron).
Six Day War triggers anti-Semitic campaign. Power bid by 'Partisans'.
Student demonstrations in Warsaw put down by riot police. Czech 'Prague Spring'
crushed by Warsaw Pact invasion. Gomulka leadership re-Stalieises.
Strikes on Baltic (Dec.). Gomulka calls in riot police. Workers massacred under direction of Gen. Jarulselski (Szczecin). Gomulka sacked, replaced by Gierek.
Gierek reflates economy on western loans.
Western recession triggers economic crisis in Poland.
Price rises (60%) provoke strikes (June). Violently repressed. But increases reversed.
KOR formed (Kuron etc.) to aid victims.
Cardinal Wojtyla elected Pope John Paul II.
Pope visits Poland.
Strikes begin on Baltic, strikers demand free trade unions.
Strikes spread to rest of Poland. Birth of Solidarnosc. Gdansk Agreement, August 31.
Gierek sacked, replaced by Kania. Regime recognises Soiidamosc (Oct.) Kremlin
begins campaign against Soiidamosc, threatens invasion. Solidarnosc membership
reaches 13 million (10 million industrial, 3 rural).
Kania sacked, replaced by Jaruzelski, who stages coup, Dec. 13. Martial Law pro
claimed, Soiidamosc leaders and activists arrested.
Solidarnosc outlawed (Oct.) Economic crisis worsens, more strikes.
Martial Law lifted (July).
Regime begins talks with Soiidamosc.
Soiidamosc legalised (April). Election pact to share seats, Soiidamosc wins all contest
ed seats in June (65%). Jaruzelski elected President by Sejm and Senate (July). Chooses
Walesa aide Mazowiecki as Prime Minister, who then forms coalition of Soiidamosc
and former pro-regime United Peasant Party and Democratic Party.
Revolutions in East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Romania, fall of old guard in Hungary.
Bulgaria. Collapse of Kremlin empire in East Europe.
Polish United Workers' Party disbands, divides into sundry factions and new parties.
Industrial output falls by 12%. Presidential elections (Nov. Dec.). Walesa defeats
128
1991
1992
1993-4
Mazowiecki. accelerates drive to market economy.
Bielecki appointed Prime Minister (Jan.), followed by Olszewski (Dec.). Inflation now
at 50%. Failed coup in Moscow (Aug.) leads to break up of USSR. Poland accepted as
associated member of EC. General election (Oct.), only 43% turn out. 120 parties con
test, 20 elected to Sejm. Democratic Union 51 seats, Democratic Left Alliance 49 (both
Solidarnosc) win between them 12% of vote. Confederation for an Independent Poland
51 seats, Christian National Union 49, Centre Alliance (Catholic) 44.
Olszewski cabinet falls amidst rumours of coup (June). Replaced by Hanna Suchocka,
forms centre-right coalition. Living conditions continue to stagnate or worsen. Strike
wave in summer as privatisation continues.
Ecomomic revival, signs of political stability.
129
Appendix 4
BIBLIOGRAPHY
by Robin Blick and Marek Garztecki
HISTORIES OF POLAND
Davies, N. 'God's Playground: A History of Poland'
Vol.1 'The Origins to 1795'
Vol.2 '1795 to the Present', Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1981. Zamoyski, A. 'The
Polish Way. A Thousand-Year History of the Poles and their Culture', John
Murray Publications, London, 1987.
MODERN POLAND
Albright, M. 'Poland: The Role of the Press in Political Change', The Washington
Papers, N.Y.,1983.
Bethell, N. 'Gomulka', Penguin, London, 1969. Coutouvidis, J.& Reynolds, J. 'Poland
1939-1947', Leicester University Press,
1986.
Garlinski, J. 'Poland in the Second World War', Macmillan, 1987. Kot, S. (Ed.)
'Conversations with the Kremlin and Dispatches from Russia', OUP,
1963.
Leslie, R.F. 'The History of Poland since 1863', Cambridge 1983. Michnik, A. 'Dissent in
Poland 1967-77' (Intro), Association of Polish Students and
Graduates in Exile, 1979. Piesakowski, T. 'The Fate of Poles in the USSR 19391989', Gryf Publications
Ltd., London, 1990. Raina, P. 'Independent Social Movements in
Poland', London School of
Economics, London, 1981. Raina, P. 'Political Opposition in Poland 1954-1977',
Poets and Painters Press,
1978. Westoby, A. & Blick, R. 'Early Soviet Designs on Poland' in 'Survey',
Autumn
1982, Part Two. Zamoyski, A. 'The Polish Way', John Murray,
London, 1987.
SOLID ARNOSC
Ascherson, N. 'The Polish August', Penguin Books, London, 1981.
Ascherson, N. (introd. by) 'The Book of Lech Walesa', Penguin, Harmondsworth,
1982. Barker, C. & Weber, K. 'Solidarnosc: From Gdansk to Military
Repression',
'International Socialism' No. 15, London, 1982. Barker, C. 'Festival of the
Oppressed: Solidarity, Reform & Revolution in Poland
1980-81', Bookmarks, London, 1986. Berlinguer, E. 'After
Poland' Spokesman, Nottingham, 1982.
Craig, M. 'The Crystal Spirit: Lech Walesa and his Poland', Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1886.
Brolewicz, W. 'My Brother Lech Walesa', Robson Books, London, 1983. Dede, S. 'The CounterRevolution within the Counter-Revolution: about the events
of the Years 1980-1983', 8 Nentori Tirana, 1983.
130
Dobbs, M. Karol, K. Trevisan, D. 'Poland - Solidarity - Walesa', McGraw-Hill,
NY, 1981.
Garton-Ash, T. 'The Polish Revolution', Johnathan Cape, London, 1983. Karpiuski, J. 'Countdown
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Missing Link - The Classic Open
Letter to the Party', Bookmarks, London, 1982. Lebedz, L. (Foreword) 'Pictures
from a Strike' (editor anon), Puls
Publications, London, 1981.
Lebedz, L. (Ed.) 'Poland Under Jaruzelski', Charles Scribener's Sons, NY, 1983. Macshane, D.
'Solidarity: Poland's Independent Trade Union', Spokesman,
1981. Mur, J. 'A Prisoner of Martial Law', Harcourt-Brace Jovoniowich, New York,
1984.
Myant, M. 'Poland: A Crisis for Socialism', Lawrence and Wishart, London, 1982. Persky, S. 'At the
Lenin Shipyard', New Star Books, Vancouver, 1981. Persky, S. (Ed.) The Solidarity Source Book',
New Star Books, Vancouver, 1982. Potel, J. 'The Summer Before the Frost: Solidarity in Poland',
Pluto, 1982. Robinson, W. (Ed.) 'August 1980 - The Strikes in Poland', Radio Free Europe
Research, Munich, 1980.
Rouane, K. 'The Polish Challenge', BBC Books, London, 1982. Sanford, G. 'Polish Communism in
Crisis', Croom Helm, London, 1983. Sebastian, T. 'Nice Promise', Chatto & Windus, London,
1985. Sikorska, G. 'Jerzy Popieluszko - A Martyr for Truth', Collins, London, 1985. Simon, H.
'Poland 1980-82: Class Struggle and the Crisis of Capital', Black & Red,
Detroit, 1985.
Spasowski, R. 'The Liberation of One' Harcourt Brace, NY, 1983. Starr, R. (Ed.) 'Transition to
Democracy in Poland', St. Martins Press, NY, 1993. Sterski, S. 'Class Struggle in Classless Poland',
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London, 1981. Touraine, A. 'Solidarity-Poland 1980-81', Cambridge Univ. Press, 1983.
Weschler, L. 'In the Season of its Passion', Simon & Schuster, NY, 1981. de Weydenthal, J.et al.
'The Polish Drama 1980-1982', Lexington Books,
Lexington & Toronto, 1983.
Yardley, M. 'Poland A Tragedy', Dorset Publishing, Sherborne, 1982. Zalewska, M.,
Gawinski, J. (Kosia, W., Rostowski, J.) & Taylor, J. 'Solidarity Underground', PSC, 1983.
GENERAL
Blick, R. Book Review of Roberts, G. 'Unholy Alliance: Stalin's Pact With Hitler',
in 'Revolutionary History', Vol.3, No.4, Aut. 1991. Fejto, F. 'A History of People's
Democracies: Eastern Europe Since Stalin',
Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1974. Fowkes, B. 'The Rise and Fall of Communism in Eastern
Europe', Macmillan,
1993.
Garton-Ash, T. 'The Uses of Adversity', Granta Books, Cambridge, 1983. Garton-Ash, T. 'We
The People: The Revolution of 89', Granta Books, 1990.
131
Harman, C. 'Class struggles in E. Europe 1945-83', Bookmarks, London, 1988.
Schopflin, G. 'Politics in Eastern Europe', Blackwell, 1993.
Westoby, A. 'Communism Since World War IF, Harvester Press, 1981.
Westoby, A. 'The Evolution of Communism', Polity Press, 1989.
Zinner, P. (Ed.) 'National Communism and Popular Revolt in Eastern Europe: A Selection of
Documents on Events in Poland and Hungary Feb.-Nov. 1956', Columbia University Press,
1956.
FICTION
Gee, Sue 'The Spring Will Be Ours', Century Press, 1988. (a novel which includes
an account of PSC). Michener, J. 'Poland', Corgi
Books, 1984.
PERIODICALS
'PSC NEWS' Available in PSC Archives, POSK Library, 234-246 King St.
London W.6. 'Voice of Solidarity' (also known as 'Solidarnosc News', & 'The Bloc'),
published
by Solidarnosc Information Office, London.
132
Index
Compiled by Robin Blick
Aberdeen, PSC in
25
Aetherius Society
Afghanistan
Allaun, F., MP
Alliance of the Democratic Left
Amnesty International
Anglo-Soviet Friendship Society
Annual General Meeting of PSC,
71
8,42,48,101
19,95
56
19,33,60,95
30
1982 26,27,28,29,37,52,69,
87,96,100,101,113,117
APEX (Association of Professional Executive Staff) 10
Ascherson, N.
62,64
Ashdown, P., MP
36,98
Asssociation of Polish
Students and Graduates (UK)
33,60,64,65,66,71,76,77,80,81,88,124
ASTMS (Association of Scientific,
Technical and Managerial Staff)
64,109,112
AEEU (Amalgamated Angineering
AUEW (Amalgamated Union of Engineering
Workers)
96,111
August, W.
44,119
Australia
110
Austria
7
Avebury, Lord E.
19,36,95
Averyanov, B.
14
Baltic Council
Baltic States
Baltic Strikes (1980)
Baltic Strikes (1970)
Baluka, E.
Barker, J.
Bartoszewski, Prof.
BBC
67
6,37,38,49,58,105,106
107
60,101
9,63,94
31,33,119
71
20,21,33,40,41,42,54,
57,61,62,70,77,87,90,95
8,40
18
76
9
10,36,63,96
107
66
32
22
Belgium
Benn,T., MP
Berlin
Berlin Wall
Bethell, Lord N.
Betrand Russell Peace Foundation
Bielorussia (Belorus)
Biernat, M.
BIFU (Banking, Insurance and Finance Union)
133
Birmingham, PSC in
Birmingham Polytechnic, PSC at.
Birmingham University, PSC at
Blackpool, PSC in
Blick, K.
25,112,114,116
115
113,116
81,84
l,6,13,14,20,21,25,27,28,31,32,44,48,
49,51,52,53,54,55,57,59,70,87,
96,99,100, 101,119,121,123,123,124
10
9,13,14,15,16,21,22,25,
27,28,31,32,36,51,52,53,54,
55,58,61,67,70,76,77,92,
94,96,99,100,101,119,121,123,124
8
9
31,73,110
43
33
20
54,96
25,109
10,19,36,95
14,.42,97
52,119
8
25,95,96,97
14,20,37
25,83,109
80
Blick, M.
Blick.R.
Bobczynski, Captain
Borisov, V.
Bosnia
Bossowski, Mr.
Boszko, A.
Botsford, B.
Bournemouth, PSC at
Bradford, PSC in
Braine, Sir B., MP
Brandt, W.
Brewer, C.
Brezhnev, L.
Brighton, PSC at
Brighton TUC, 1980
Bristol, PSC in
Bristol University Polish Society
British National League for the
Independence of Poland
British Solidarity With Poland
British-Soviet Friendship Society
Brus, W.
Brussels
Budapest
Budd, K.
Budd, M.
Bujak, Z.
Bukovsky, V.
Bulgarian Secret Police
Burke, E.
Butler, N.
Bydgoszcz
7
34,65
97
107
92,96,97,98,103
64
32,47,51,69,104-105,121
104
94
30,57,96
25
7
119
67
Cadogan, P.
Cambridge, PSC in
Campaign for Labour Party Democracy
36
25
63
134
Campaign For Nuclear Disarmament (CND)
Campaign to Defend Polish Students
Canada
Callaghan, J.,MP
Cardiff, PSC in
Cardiff Labour Party
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
Chappie, F.
Chartists
Chicago
Chile
Chile Solidarity Campaign
China
Chinnick, S.
Chojecki, M.
Ciborowski, M.
Cieszkowski, C.
Ciolkosz, L.
Coates, K.
Committee to Defend Trade Unions
Communist Party of Great Britain
Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU)
Confederation for an Independent Poland (KPN)
Conference of Solidarnosc Support Organisations
(CSSO)
Conservative Party (UK)
Cooley, M.
Coventry, PSC in
CPSA (Civil and Public Servants Association)
Cremer, W.
Croatia
Crystal Palace, Pope visits
Cwirko-Godycka, E.
Czechoslovakia,
1968 invasion of
Czekierska, I.
15,36,37,53,107,108,109,110
65
54
19
77
25
27,52,64
10,94
7
76
56
14,100
47,76
34,51,85,119
19,67,94
33,119
121
61
107
63
13,110,111
10
40
' Daily Mirror'
Dalai Lama
Daly, L.
Dalewski, R.
Davies, N.
Deng Xiaoping
Dembinski, M.
Democratic Union
Denmark, PSC in
Derer, V.
11,20,42,50,98
58
107
69
30,76
76
81
56
26
14,63
135
41
9,21,36,39,52,56,58,61,63,77,90,95,96,103
64,95
25,109,112,115
10,20,23,111
7
31
41
20,33,51,82,87,119
37,44,48
19,39
80
Detente
Digbeth, PSC at
Dmochowski, J
Dmochowski, W.
Dubbs, A., MP
Duffy, T.
Dunn, I
Dzwigaj, D.
8
112
51
34,44,83,84,93,119
35,96
14,96
112
51,82,83
Baling, PSC and, in
Baling Council
East European Solidarity Campaign
East-West Peace People
Eccles, J.
EEPTU (Electrical, Electronic and
Plumbing Trades Union)
Edinburgh, PSC in
'Entryism'
Erdington, PSC at
European Economic Community
(Now European Union)
European Liason Group
European Nuclear Disarmament (END)
48,66,71,80,95,97
46
14,63,94,96
36
65,66
Falklands War (1982)
Federation of Poles of Great Britain
Feinburg, V.
Feickart, D.
Fighting Solidarity
Fisher, J.
Flack, P.
Focus Solidarity Campaign
Foot,M.,MP
Fotyga, A.
France
Frayn, M.
'Free Trade Unions'
Friends of Poland (19th Cent.)
Friends of Poland (1982)
62
34,48
9
69
40,45
112,113,119
114
61
19,97
15,95
54,63,110
113
63
7
24,33,34,66,90
Gardiner, C.
Garton-Ash, T.
Garztecki, M.
84,85
62,76,97
23,25,26,32,33,34,42,44,45,46,47,48,51,
53,54,55,56,58,69,70,72,87,98,111,
112,113,119,123
12,13,14,19,44,51,67,80,95,96,
107,108,112,120
41,89
10,15,20,23,44,69,111
6,46
26,70,99
112
73
39
15,36,95,97,107,108,109,110
Gdansk
Gdansk Accords (Aug. 1980)
136
Gee, S.
Germany
Germany, East
Ghengis Khan
Gierek, E.
Gill, K.
Glasgow, PSC in
Glasgow University
Glass, N.
Glemp, Cardinal
GMBU (General Municipal and Boiler Makers'
Union)
Gomulka, Professor
Gorbachev, M.
Gorzynska-Hart, D.
Gott, R.
Grabowski, S.
Grantham, R.
Grass, G.
Greater London Council (GLC)
Greater London Tribune Group
Green CND
Greenway, H., MP
Greetham, C.
Grzywaczewski, Mr.
'Guardian', The
16
7,10,59,63,73
36
27,52
65
64
25,28,53,113,115
76
62
65
Halifax, PSC at
Hands off Polish Workers Campaign
Harman, H., MP
Hart, G.
108
18,95,108
116
1,6,44,46,50,51,53,55,56,58,59,60,61,
72,74,75,83,85,86,87,88,89,90,98,100,
101,104,
108,111,112,119,120,123
42,45,46,51,75,83,87,90,91,104,119
19
13,61
108
10,18,19,20,21,35,52,95,104,109
8
60
60
58
10,36
109
37,44,48
19,39
15,95,112
57,95
36,47,56,103
20,33,90,91
30'
119
10
107
18,19,42,54,95
13,25
36
22,96
119
80
30,62,97
Hart, Z.
Hart, J..MP
Healy, G.
Hebden Bridge, PSC at
Heffer, E., MP
Helsinki Agreement (1975)
Herczynski, H
Herczynski, J.
Hong Kong
Hughes, S., MP
Hull, PSC at
Hungary
1956 invasion of
137
Huston, A.
Hyamson, N.
Hyde Park PSC rally, Dec. 1981
34,44,49,51,119,121
19,27,32,42,46,51,52,56,57,
58,61,70,96,108,119,121,123
21,22,25
Iglikowski, P.
15,26,31,33,61,65,69,76,77,80,
86,90,109,119,121
62
62
10,26,28,29,101,115
'Independent', The
Information Centre for Polish Affairs
International Marxist Group (IMG)
International Workingmen's
Association (First International)
IRA
Iraq
Ireland
Irving, D.
Islington Socialist Centre
ITV
ITN
Iwaszkiewicz, Mr.
7
113
66
64,113
18,25,56,61
94
21
62,95
24
Jagodzinski, Dr.
Janecki, R.
Jaraczewski, K.
Jarksi, T.
1
119
66
21,22,45,55,62,67,70,
73,81,90,97,99,101,103
11,42,62,64,79,96,103,112
95
64
9,13,25
94
15,32,33,52,53,76,92,94,119,121
33,119
65
10
97
Jaruzelski, Gen. W.
Jasinski, J.
Jenkins, C.
Jenkins, M.
Jenkins, T.
Jensen, J.
Jerozalski, J.
Jesuits
Johnson, R., MP
Jones, L.
Kaldor,M.
Katyn Massacre
Kavan, J.
Kendall, W.
Kennard, P.
Kerensky, A.
KGB
Kidderminster, PSC at
King, G.
Kinnock, N., MP
15,95
30,58,63,67,88
9,15,36,39,48,95
13,14,33,38,51,95,97,119
42
27
30,61
109
71
10,14,18,19,26,35,37,38,
47,52,57,58,63,67,95,98,123
138
Kiszczak (Polish Security Minister)
Know How Fund
Koestler, A.
Kolakowski, L.
Kolankiewicz, G.
Komornicka-Rice, A.
Kondratowicz, G.
KOR (Committee for Defence of Workers)
Korczynski, W.
Koscia, K.
Koscia, W.
Kowalik, T.
Kowalska, A.
Kozlowski, P
Kolakowski, L
Krakow
Krasso, G.
Kubsik, J.
Kulczycki, Mr.
'Kultura'
Kuron, J.
Kuzio, T.
54
73
19
76,94,107
60
78,79
77,78
13,65,67,94,95,97,101
19,95
66
21,32,51,66,69,99,102,103,104,110,113,119
107
19,23,95
26,54,96,112
76
68
39,48
65,81
62
62
94,97
66
Labedz, L.
'Labour Focus on Eastern Europe'
Labour Party (UK)
60,76,94
63
9,10,13,15,16,18,19,20,21,26,
35,37,38,39,40,42,51,52,56,58,61,
63,66,77,86,94,95,96,97,101,
104,109,110,122
60
25
39,99,105
57
97
25,65,66,69,94,96,108
25
6,
26,100,114
27,63,76,99,110,114,115
98
109
119
16,21,34,35,36,39,95,96,98,122
14,63,75,119
24
71,72
19,46,95
Lasalle, F.
Latala, L.
Latvia
Lawrence, J.
LBC Radio
Leeds, PSC in
Leicester, PSC in
Lelewel, J.
Lenin, V.
Leninists, Leninism
Lenska, R.
Leyland, PSC at
Lewis, M.
Liberal Party (UK)
Liddle,T.
'Lifeline To Poland'
Lipski, J.
Lis, B.
139
Lister, J.
Lithuania
Liverpool, PSC in
Livingstone, K., MP
Lodynski, A.
London Labour Briefing
London School of Economics
London Trades Council
London University
Losinska, K.
Lubelska, A.
Lubienska, B.
Ludbrook, P.
Lukes, S.
Lyons, R.
114
66
25,109
42,54,63
96
63,114
49,60,65,66,96,97
7
60,65
10,20
20,101,113,119,121
34,44,49,51,55,87,89,119,121,124
119
107
108
Macalman, I.
Macauley, T.
Macclesfield, PSC in
Macdonald, O.
Macdonald, R.
Malakowska, Z.
Malikauls, A.
Manchester, PSC in
Maresch, Mrs.
Markov, G.
Martial Law (Dec. 13, 1981)
113,114
7
25,109
63
109
44,75,82,87,104,119
66
25,26,28,29,66,69,78,101
1
25
6,8,10,18,20,21,23,24,25,27,30,
31,33,35,36,37,39,40,41,45,46,
52,60,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,69,
70,72,74,77,81,83,84,87,90,92,
94,99,101,103,105,110,112
7,8,60,114,121
113
71
55
11,42,56
24,33,34,65
15,36,95
60
57,94
43
23,46,47,54,96,97
26
109
40,72,98
40
115
Marx,K.
Marxism
Matraszek, M
Mazowiecki, Prime Minister
Maxwell, R.
Medical Aid For Poland
Medvedev, Z.
Meir-Jedrzejowicz, W.
Michnik, A.
Michorowski, Mr.
Milewski, J.
'Militant'
Milton Keynes, PSC at
Moczulski, L.
Morawiecki, K.
Morgan, A.
140
'Morning Star'
Morrow, C.
Moss, E.
Moszczynski, W.
40,57,64
115
51,52,53,54,55,56,57,58,59
9,13,14,15,19,21,22,24,25,27,
30,44,46,48,51,52,53,54,55,56,57,58,
61,65,70,94-98,103,104,105,107,
108,119,121,122,123
20
15,31,32,52,53,61,69,70,
76,92,94,108,119,121
Mullins, C.,MP
Murray, S.
NALGO (National and Local Government
Officers' Association)
National Union of Students (UK)
NATO
Nazi-Soviet Pact
Newcastle, PSC at
Newcastle-Under-Lyme, PSC at
New Communist Party (UK)
New Mills, PSC at
'New Worker'
Nikitin, V.
Nixon, R.
Nottingham, PSC in
November Uprising (1831)
Novocherkask
Novotny, P.
NUJ (National Union of Journalists)
NUM (National Union of Mineworkers)
10,16,95
65,66
64
30,110
109
108
64
109
64
64
8
25,29,66
6
64
45
23
10,37,108
Oborski, A.
Oborski, F.
Oborski, M.
'Observer', The
Odger, G.
Onyszkiewicz, J.
Ostaszewski, A.
Ostoja-Ostaszewski, Dr. A.
Owen, Dr. D., MP
Oxford, PSC at
Oxford University Polish Society
Ozols, N.
Ozols, M.
119
34
34
62,113
7,8
19,46,47,48,95,106
60
65
65,97
109
71
31,32,39,66,105
66,69,99,105,106,119,121
Page, C.
Pallis, C.
Pallis, J.
Paris
97
75,76
75
76
141
Parliamentary Human Rights Group
Patyna, J.
Pearse, M.
Peel, R., MP
Pelikan, J.
'Perspektywy'
Pick, H. "
Pienkowski, J.
Piesakowski, Dr.
Pilarska, J.
Pitman, M.
Plaid Cymru
Poland
Polish Air Force Club
Polish Craftsman and Workers Organisation (UK)
'Polish Daily'
Polish Educational Society
Polish Embassy (London)
19,95
15,95
109
7
9
40,41
30,62,97
32,110
55
98
34,44,51,80,119
25
passim
47,51,97
78
42,43,45,46,54,79,88,105
60
22,23,24,25,30,40,44,46,
48,54,55,57,67,83,85,94,96,97,98,101
34,35,45,49,51,54,55,56,61,71
1
64
31,33
48
9,13,18,34,48,71,78
passim
65
88
80
1
60,66
82,91,92
41,54,60,71,96
37,65
1,34,40,46,48,49,70,71,74,80,96,98,101,11;
62
98
76
9
34,48,121
119
66
7
15,16,26,29,31,32,52,53,65,68.69,
71,80,86,87,89,91,95,96,99,100,101,
102,112,121
Polish Government-in-Exile
Polish Library
Polish Red Cross
Polish Refugee Rights Group (1982)
Polish Socialist Party
Polish Socialist Party in Exile
Polish Solidarity Campaign, PSC
Polish Students Book Appeal
'Polish Weekly'
Polish YMCA
Polonia Aid Foundation Trust
Polonski, Prof.
Poloczek, A.
Pope John-Paul II
Popieluszko, Fr. J
POSK (Polish Social and Cultural Centre)
Pospieszalski, A.
Poznan (1956)
Prague
Prague Spring (1968)
Prokopowicz, T.
Prochniak, S.
Pronszyn, R.
Prussia
'PSC News'
142
Quigley, J.
99,112,113,114,115,116,119,121
Raby, C.
Race, R., MP
Radice, G., MP
Radio Free Europe
Radom Strikes (1976)
Reagan, President R.
Redaway, P.
Reid, J.
Reuters
Richardson, T.
Rising (Polish) of 1863
Robinski, A.
Rodgers, W.,MP
Roman Catholic Church
Romania
Rostowski,J.
Round Table Talks and Agreement, 1989
Ruskin College, PSC at
Russell, Lord J.
Russia
Russian (Bolshevik) Revolution
Rynkiewicz, Mr.
33,119,121
115
10,58
40,61,62,67
60,64
20,27,64,77,101
75
57,64,67,95
62
100,119
7,8
1,33,48,51,65,80,81,82,119
35
20,41,64,65,81,86,88,111,113
89
21,23,32,48,51,60,97,110,113,119
6,44,45,46,103,120
95,109
7,
6,7,8.8,66,67,73
113
34,96
Sabat, President
Sapper, A.
Scargill, A.
Schapiro, L.
Schopflin, G.
Scotland, PSC in
Sebastian, T.
Sekunda, N.
Sheffield, PSC in
Shepton Mallet, PSC at
Shivas, P.
Shore, P.,MP
Siberia
Sikorski, R.
Skalski, J.
Smolar, A.
Smolar, G.
SMOT (Soviet Free Trade Union)
Social Democratic Party (UK)
Socialist (Second) International
'Socialist Challenge'
Socialist Labour Group
Socialist Organiser (UK)
55
64
10,35,37,42,108
76
60,66
29,53
62
65,66
25
109
42
10,21,35,38,42,95,96,104
30,39
42,48
65
62
62,101
9,64
21,35,36,39
13
114
114
26,28,53,69
143
Socialist Workers Party (UK)
14,52,53,82,109,110
Sokolnicki, Mr.
Solidarity (UK Libertarian group)
Solidarity Information Office (Brussels)
Solidarity Information Office (UK)
Solidarity Educational Trust
Solidarity With Solidarity (SWS)
71
9,13,14,51,74,75,76
96
32,33,42,44,54,56,87,90,91,96
49
22,23,25,32,33,35,44,45,52,
54,55,56,57,70,81,82,84,85,
87,90,96,97,99,101,103,104
23,26,32,33,41,53,65,69,72,
78,90,91,96,97,103,106,109,115,124
passim
66
107
25
56
25
109
24,49,63,95
110
23,111,119
58,61,64,69,77,101,110,113,114,115
109
63
88
97
65
24,34,37,38,42,46,49,51,79,80,
86,119,122,124
109
33,119
119
1,15,21,31,32,33,60-73,
90,119,121
65
Solidarity Working Group (UK)
Soiidamosc
Solidarnosc Weekly'
Solzhenitsyn, A.
Southampton, PSC in
South Africa
South Wales, PSC in
South Shields, PSC at
Soviet Embassy (London)
Spain
Spellar, J..MP
Stalinism, Stalinists
Stanley, PSC at
Stannard, H.
Steel, D., MP
Steel, J.
Stepan, K.
Stepan, R.
Sunderland, PSC at
Swiergiel, A.
Switalska, J
Switalski, E.
Szczyt'
Taczalski, A.
Taylor,J.
51,57,58,80
15,19,28,32,36,51,61,
95,97,107,108,109,110,111,119,121
83
66,119
108
20,63,64,71,101
76
13,15,36,76,94,95,98,107,108,110
58
76
Teheran Conference (1944)
Tendrya, D.
TGW (Transport and General Workers' Union)
Thatcher, M., MP
Thompson, D.
Thompson, E.
Tibet
Ticktin, H.
144
'Time Out'
'Times', The
Todd, R.
Tomaszewski, W. (see Dmochowski, W)
Tomin, Z.
Tomlinson, A.
Trade Union Appeal Fund (of PSC)
Trade Union Congress (TUC)
85
62
108
44
39,98,109
65,66
19,39,40,94
7,10,14,15,29,30,36,37,40,
46,47,51,54,55,64,76,77,81,94,95,
96,111
9,10,13,15,21,36,40,41,55,
56,61,77,91,94,96,101,108,112,117
94
20
26,58
13,24,25,26,27,28,37,52,53,54,
58,61,63,64,69,70,75,76,77,
82,97,99,100, 101,102,106,113,114
73
25
Trade Unions (UK)
Tribune'
Tribune Group (of Labour MPs)
Trotsky, L.
Trotskyists, Trotskyism
Tyminski, S.
Tyne and Wear, PSC in
Ukraine
Ujazdowska, T.
Urban, J.
Ursus Factory
Ursus Strikes (1976)
USA
USSR
64,66
33,51,119
45,46,79,90
109
60,64
20,36,54,58
8,13,14,18,25,26,27,30,37,38,49,
50,52,53,56,58,62,63,64,74,76,81,86,
103,105,106,111
8
14,51
23,32,34,44,69,112
63,75
Versailles Treaty (1919)
Vietnam Solidarity Campaign
'Voice of Solidarity', later, The Bloc'
'Volya'
Walentynowicz, A.
Walesa, L.
19,71,74,95,97
24,30,36,42,45,46,47,48,
57,59,60,71,72,73,75,76,80,
85,87,96,97,103,108,123
15
54,62,67,68,94,107,109
67,117
60,107
114
40,45,51,56,57,119
9,13,14,15,34,48,61,78
Walsh, M.
Warsaw
Warsaw Pact
Warsaw Rising (1944)
Warwick University
Warsza, T.
WasikS.
145
Weetch, K., MP
Weller, K.
Welsh TUC
Wembley Stadium, Pope at
Westoby, A.
West Midlands, PSC in
Whitehead, P., MP
Whitehouse, R.
Wicher-Kucharska, B.
Williams, S., MP
Willis, L.
Wizgier, H.
Wojcik, M.
Wolverhampton
World War One
World War Two
Workers' Educational Association
Workers Revolutionary Party (UK)
Workers' Socialist League (UK)
Wyles, Prof.
Wyre Forrest, PSC in
18,95
14,76
25
41
9,13,14,21,51,52,61,74,75,76,92,
112
10,21,35,57,95,96
66
119
10,35,96,97
13,14,51,74,75,76,121
119
96,108
116
8
8,12,18,64,72,113
107,109,112
61
100,113,114,115,116
66
25,29,34
Yalta Conference (1945)
Young, Sir G., MP
Yugoslavia
8,37,38,58,71,84
48
48,58
Zambia, PSC in
Zamyatin, L.
Zaranko, A
ZOMO (Polish Security Police)
26
61
119
62,67
146