Workers’ Defense Committee. Strength in Unity

„Komitet Obrony Robotników. Siła w jedności”

Curators: Maria Krawczyk, Katarzyna Bizacka

Partner: Fundacja Ośrodka KARTA

The exhibition tells one of the most important experiences of the Polish democratic opposition – from the workers’ revolt in Radom, Ursus and Płock in June 1976, through the founding of KOR in September of that year, to the dissolution of the Committee during the 1st Congress of NSZZ “Solidarność” in September 1981.

It is the history of how civil society took shape: organizing aid for the repressed, breaking the state’s information monopoly, independent publishing and education, the work of the Intervention Bureau, and cooperation with the Free Trade Unions and with the opposition in other countries of the Soviet bloc. It is also the history of people who, through everyday, grassroots activity, prepared the ground for the mass social movement that “Solidarność” became.

19 exhibition panels lead through the successive stages of this history:

01 | June ’76. Workers’ revolt Radom, Ursus and Płock. Protest against price increases, brutal repression and aid given to people affected by repression.

02 | Founding of KOR On 23 September 1976 the Workers’ Defense Committee is founded – the first open opposition organization, whose aim is material and legal aid for the repressed.

03 | Between KOR and the Church Contacts between the opposition and the Church, and the meeting with Cardinal Karol Wojtyła.

04 | Information centre Jacek Kuroń’s flat becomes a centre for collecting and passing on information about repression. The data reaches, among others, Radio Wolna Europa and the BBC.

05 | Pyjas’s death and the students The death of Stanisław Pyjas in May 1977 provokes student protests and leads to the creation of the Student Solidarity Committee.

06 | KSS: joint self-defence Arrests of KOR members, a hunger strike in the St. Martin’s church, and the transformation of the Committee into the Social Self-Defence Committee “KOR”.

07 | Free word “Komunikat”, “Biuletyn Informacyjny”, “Robotnik” and “Zapis” – independent publications breaking the state’s information monopoly.

08 | Intervention Bureau Zofia and Zbigniew Romaszewski and collaborators document cases of human rights violations and organize aid for those in need.

09 | NOWa beyond censorship The Independent Publishing House is founded – the first publisher in the country operating beyond state censorship.

10 | Flying knowledge “Flying University” and the Society of Scientific Courses create a space for independent education and the exchange of ideas.

11 | Free Trade Unions In Katowice and the Tri-City, the first free trade unions in the Soviet bloc are formed. Bogdan Borusewicz is among those involved in the work of the WZZ Wybrzeże.

12 | Crossing borders KOR establishes contacts with opposition figures from Czechoslovakia and the USSR, including signatories of Charter 77 and Andrei Sakharov.

13 | Method: social movement Private flats and meeting places become spaces for discussion and for shaping the idea of grassroots social action.

14 | KOR and the Pope’s pilgrimage John Paul II’s first pilgrimage to Poland in 1979 shows the power of social mobilization and people’s ability to organize outside the structures of the state.

15 | Fulfilment: „Solidarność” The strikes of 1980, agreements with the strikers, and the emergence of “Solidarność”. The activities of KSS “KOR” help pass on information about the protests.

16 | Dissolution of KOR In September 1981, during the 1st Congress of “Solidarność”, KSS “KOR” is dissolved. Its members recognize “Solidarność” as the natural successor of their activity.

17 | KOR members without the Committee Martial law, internment, repression, prison and emigration. Former KOR members remain a target of the authorities.

18 | Coda of a decade On 19 September 1986 former members and collaborators of KOR meet at Jacek Kuroń’s home to mark the tenth anniversary of the Committee’s founding.

19 | Members of KOR and KSS „KOR” Biographical notes and profiles of the activists and collaborators of the Committee…