The Workers' Defense Committee ( pl, Komitet Obrony Robotników , KOR) was a Polish
civil society
Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere.[June 1976 protests
The June 1976 protests were a series of protests and demonstrations in the Polish People's Republic that took place after Prime Minister Piotr Jaroszewicz revealed the plan for a sudden increase in the price of many basic commodities,] and ensuing government crackdown. KOR was an example of successful social organizing based on specific issues relevant to the public's daily lives. It was a precursor and inspiration for efforts of the
Solidarity
''Solidarity'' is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. It is based on class collaboration.''Merriam Webster'', http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictio ...
trade union a few years later.
It was established in September 1976 by
Antoni Macierewicz
Antoni Macierewicz (; born 3 August 1948) is a Polish politician and the former Minister of National Defence. He previously served as the Minister of Internal Affairs, Head of the Military Counterintelligence Service, and Minister of State in ...
and
Piotr Naimski
Piotr Aleksander Naimski (born 2 February 1951) is a Polish politician and academic who is a Member of the Sejm. He previously served as the Deputy Minister of Economy and the Head of the Office for State Protection.
Biography
Piotr Naimski was ...
. A year later it was reorganized into the
Committee for Social Self-defence KOR (''Komitet Samoobrony Społecznej KOR'').
History
This organization was the first major anti-communist civic group in Poland, as well as Eastern Europe. It was born of the outrage at the government's crackdown on the
June 1976 protests
The June 1976 protests were a series of protests and demonstrations in the Polish People's Republic that took place after Prime Minister Piotr Jaroszewicz revealed the plan for a sudden increase in the price of many basic commodities, . Its stated purpose was to create "new centers of autonomous activity." It raised money through sales of its underground publications, through fund-raising groups in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
and
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, and grants from Western institutions.
KOR sent open letters of protest to the government and organized legal and financial support for the families of political detainees. The leaders of the organization established an activities and coordination center and offered analysis on workers’ conditions within Poland. They often collaborated with
Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
journalists on writing and publishing articles. The group worked with sympathetic lawyers to get better representation for striking workers and obtained medical diagnoses from doctors which they presented as evidence of police brutality in court trials. The group smuggled in
mimeograph
A mimeograph machine (often abbreviated to mimeo, sometimes called a stencil duplicator) is a low-cost duplicating machine that works by forcing ink through a stencil onto paper. The process is called mimeography, and a copy made by the pro ...
machines to print its underground newsletter, ''
Komunikat'', which had a circulation of around 20,000 by 1978.
As a side project of KOR, an underground publishing house called
NOWA was founded using mimeograph machines owned by KOR. It printed material critical of the regime and reproduced banned writings from thinkers outside of the
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact (WP) or Treaty of Warsaw, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist republic ...
countries, such as
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitar ...
. NOWA had its own print shops, storehouses, and distribution network, and financed itself through sales and contributions.
In the fall of 1977 KOR collaborated with
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
intellectuals to establish the
Flying University, a series of lectures organized by unofficial student groups to discuss ideas about freedom that could not be debated in public. The government harassed KOR members as it did other civil society groups in Poland: beating up and jailing dissidents, infiltrating and interrupting lectures, and conducting searches of dissidents’ houses.
However, KOR became an inspiration for the nation as its efforts finally paid off when the Polish government declared an amnesty for jailed strikers in the spring of 1977. In that year, it was renamed the
Committee for Social Self-defence KOR (''Komitet Samoobrony Społecznej KOR'').
KOR went on to publish another
underground paper
The terms underground press or clandestine press refer to periodicals and publications that are produced without official approval, illegally or against the wishes of a dominant (governmental, religious, or institutional) group.
In specific rec ...
, ''
Robotnik'' ("The Worker"—the same title as
Józef Piłsudski
), Vilna Governorate, Russian Empire (now Lithuania)
, death_date =
, death_place = Warsaw, Poland
, constituency =
, party = None (formerly PPS)
, spouse =
, children = Wan ...
's underground paper)
Founding members
*
Jerzy Andrzejewski
Jerzy Andrzejewski (; 19 August 1909 – 19 April 1983) was a prolific Polish writer. His works confront controversial moral issues such as betrayal, the Jews and Auschwitz in the wartime. His novels, ''Ashes and Diamonds'' (about the immediate ...
*
Stanisław Barańczak
Stanisław Barańczak (, November 13, 1946December 26, 2014) was a Polish poet, literary critic, scholar, editor, translator and lecturer. He is perhaps most well known for his English-to-Polish translations of the dramas of William Shakespeare an ...
*
Ludwik Cohn
Ludwik () is a Polish given name.
Notable people with the name include:
* Ludwik Czyżewski, Polish WWII general
* Ludwik Fleck (1896–1961), Polish medical doctor and biologist
* Ludwik Gintel (1899–1973), Polish-Israeli Olympic soccer player
...
*
Jacek Kuroń
Jacek Jan Kuroń (; 3 March 1934 – 17 June 2004) was one of the democratic leaders of opposition in the People's Republic of Poland. He was widely known as the "godfather of the Polish opposition," not unlike Václav Havel in Czechoslovakia. Ku ...
*
Edward Lipiński
*
Jan Józef Lipski
Jan Józef Lipski (26 May 1926 in Warsaw – 10 September 1991 in Kraków) was a Polish critic, literature historian, politician and freemason. As a soldier of the Home Army ( Armia Krajowa), he fought in the Warsaw Uprising. Editor of collected w ...
*
Antoni Macierewicz
Antoni Macierewicz (; born 3 August 1948) is a Polish politician and the former Minister of National Defence. He previously served as the Minister of Internal Affairs, Head of the Military Counterintelligence Service, and Minister of State in ...
*
Piotr Naimski
Piotr Aleksander Naimski (born 2 February 1951) is a Polish politician and academic who is a Member of the Sejm. He previously served as the Deputy Minister of Economy and the Head of the Office for State Protection.
Biography
Piotr Naimski was ...
*
Antoni Pajdak
*
Józef Rybicki
*
Aniela Steinsbergowa Aniela Zofia Steinsbergowa, (born on 27 June 1896 in Vienna; died on 22 December 1988 in Warsaw) was a Polish lawyerRobert Jarocki, ''Aniela Steinsberg'', in: ''Polski Słownik Biograficzny'', tom XLIII, 2004–200online/ref> known for her work in d ...
*
Adam Szczypiorski
*Fr.
Jan Zieja
*
Wojciech Ziembiński
Wojciech () is a Polish name, equivalent to Czech Vojtěch , Slovak Vojtech, and German Woitke. The name is formed from two components in archaic Polish:
* ''wój'' (Slavic: ''voj''), a root pertaining to war. It also forms words like ''wojownik ...
See also
*
Movement for Defense of Human and Civic Rights Movement for Defence of Human and Civic Rights ( pl, Ruch Obrony Praw Człowieka i Obywatela, ROPCiO) was a right-wing political and social organization formed in People's Republic of Poland in March 1977. It tried to resist the regime by denouncing ...
(ROPCiO)
*
Jan Krzysztof Kelus
Jan Krzysztof Kelus, also known by his initials JKK, (born 1942) is a Polish singer, poet, composer, and a member of the democratic opposition in Poland between the 1960s and 1980s. A professional sociologist, Kelus is best known for a number of b ...
*
Committee for the Defense of the Unjustly Prosecuted
The Committee for the Defense of the Unjustly Prosecuted ( cs, Výbor na obranu nespravedlivě stíhaných; as a result the acronym VONS is used) was a Czechoslovak dissident organization founded largely by Charter 77 signatories. VONS was founded ...
- similar movement in Czechoslovakia
References
*
External links
PBS: A Force More Powerful
{{Authority control
1976 establishments in Poland
Anti-communism in Poland
Nonviolent resistance movements
Organizations established in 1976
Organizations disestablished in 1977
Solidarity (Polish trade union)