Zbigniew Eugeniusz Godlewski (3 August 195217 December 1970) was a Polish teenager shot dead by security forces during the

1970 Polish protests The 1970 Polish protests ( pl, Grudzień 1970, lit=December 1970) occurred in northern Poland during 14–19 December 1970. The protests were sparked by a sudden increase in the prices of food and other everyday items. Strikes were put down by t ...

in the city of

Gdynia Gdynia ( ; ; german: Gdingen (currently), (1939–1945); csb, Gdiniô, , , ) is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With a population of 243,918, it is the 12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in th ...

. The event was popularized across the country in the poem and song, known by the name of ' ().

Biography

Polish 1970 protests - Zbyszek Godlewski body

On 17 December 1970, during

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

's demonstrations against the Communist regime, the army fired into the crowd of workers emerging from a commuter train in

, under the pretext of preventing an industrial sabotage action. At least 40 innocent people were killed by police. The image of an anonymous young man's body carried on a door panel through the cordons of police and tanks inspired author

Krzysztof Dowgiałło Krzysztof () is a Polish given name, equivalent to English ''Christopher''. The name became popular in the 15th century. Its diminutive forms include Krzyś, Krzysiek, and Krzysio; augmentative – Krzychu Individuals named Krzysztof may choose to ...

to write the poem about him. The name Janek Wiśniewski was invented by Dowgiałło for the ballad to symbolize an 18-year worker killed by the military or the militia. Not knowing his real name, the author gave him a symbolic name sounding typically Polish; it proved quite enduring. Later it was established by the opposition that the man shot dead was named Zbigniew Godlewski and had lived in nearby

Elbląg Elbląg (; german: Elbing, Old Prussian: ''Elbings'') is a city in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland, located in the eastern edge of the Żuławy region with 117,390 inhabitants, as of December 2021. It is the capital of Elbląg County. ...

Remembrance

The event was popularized across the country in the poem and song, known by the name of ' (); the work is also sometimes known as ''Pieśń o Janku z Gdyni'' (''Song about Janek from Gdynia''). The text was written by and music for the song by Mieczysław Cholewa. The song, along with the story of Janek Wiśniewski, was popularized when it was performed at the end of the 1981 movie ''

Man of Iron ''Man of Iron'' ( pl, Człowiek z żelaza) is a 1981 film directed by Andrzej Wajda. It depicts the Solidarity labour movement and its first success in persuading the Polish government to recognize the workers' right to an independent union. Th ...

'' (by actress

Krystyna Janda Krystyna Jolanta Janda (born 18 December 1952) is a Polish film and theater actress best known internationally for playing leading roles in several films by Polish director Andrzej Wajda, including '' Man of Marble'' (''Człowiek z marmuru'', 197 ...

along with

Jacek Kaczmarski Jacek Marcin Kaczmarski (22 March 1957 – 10 April 2004) was a Polish singer, songwriter, poet and author. Life He was the son of painter Anna Trojanowska-Kaczmarska, a Pole of Jewish background, and the artist Janusz Kaczmarski. Kaczmarski ...

). After the fall of communism in Poland, a major street in Gdynia was named after Janek Wiśniewski and also a street in Elbląg was named after Zbigniew Godlewski. In 2011, a Polish movie about the events of December 17, titled "Czarny Czwartek - Janek Wiśniewski padł" ("Black Thursday - Janek Wiśniewski Has Fallen"), was released in cinemas. The title was inspired by a line in "Pieśń o Janku z Gdyni". The song was covered by

Kazik Staszewski Kazimierz Piotr Staszewski (born 12 March 1963), also known as Kazik, is a Polish singer and songwriter. He is the son of the architect and poet Stanisław Staszewski. He is the frontman of the band '' Kult'',Alexander Stephan, "The Americanizat ...

and used in the movie trailer. Because of an error in the journal repository, the second part of the article is availabl
here
.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wisniewski, Janek 1952 births 1970 deaths Fictional characters based on real people Legendary Polish people Polish murder victims Polish poems Polish songs Victims of human rights abuses Anti-communism in Poland Deaths by firearm in Poland