The RSW Prasa-Książka-Ruch literally the Workers' Publishing Cooperative abbreviated to RSW (), was a state-owned newspaper monopoly in communist

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

founded on 1 January 1973 by the

Polish United Workers' Party The Polish United Workers' Party (, ), commonly abbreviated to PZPR, was the communist party which ruled the Polish People's Republic as a one-party state from 1948 to 1989. The PZPR had led two other legally permitted subordinate minor parti ...

(PZPR). It operated a system of printing houses and distribution outlets (see also:

Empik Empik (stylised as empi̓k) is a Polish commercial chain selling books, international Print media, press and media products (including film, music, and software). The chain also owns a photo company, Empik Foto, as well as a foreign language schoo ...

), and owned vast real estate including resort and recreation property also rented out.

Operation

The RSW practically financed the Communist Party in the

People's Republic of Poland The Polish People's Republic (1952–1989), formerly the Republic of Poland (1947–1952), and also often simply known as Poland, was a country in Central Europe that existed as the predecessor of the modern-day democratic Republic of Poland. ...

throughout the 1970s and 1980s until the collapse of the Soviet empire. The company was exempt from paying taxes on its own revenue (in 1988 the RSW held back taxes amounting to 52 billion zlotys used for the exuberant bonuses of party officials, along with their political campaigns). The RSW was liquidated by the Act of Polish Parliament on 22 March 1990.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prasa-Ksiazka-Ruch Publishing in Poland Publishing companies of Poland