The commemorations marked 49 years since Poland’s former communist rulers in December 1970 ordered the army and police to open fire on protesting workers on the country’s Baltic coast, killing at least 45.
The protests at the time were “not in vain” because they ultimately “led to the emergence of a free Poland,” President Andrzej Duda wrote in a letter that was read out by an aide during a ceremony in the northern port city of Gdynia.
“The idea of solidarity, the power of a united working class and the spirit of social self-organisation had their roots in those December events,” Duda said in his letter.
Błażej Spychalski, press spokesman for President Andrzej Duda, reads a letter from the Polish head of state during a ceremony in front of the Memorial to the Victims of December 1970 in the northern city of Gdynia on Tuesday morning. Photo: PAP/Adam Warżawa
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said in a letter that "it is our duty to remember about the guilt and responsibility of those who sent thousands of soldiers and hundreds of tanks and armoured personnel carriers onto the streets in response to that effort by Poles to win freedom."
Deputy Infrastructure Minister Marcin Horała reads a letter from Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki in Gdynia on Tuesday. Photo: PAP/Adam Warżawa
In December 1970, drastic price rises gave rise to massive, more than weeklong protests in Gdynia as well as Gdańsk and Szczecin in northern Poland, triggering one of the most brutal crackdowns of the communist era.
At least 45 people were killed and more than 1,100 injured after police and soldiers opened fire on protesters, who also demanded a change of government and freedom of speech.
December 17, 1970, so-called "Black Thursday," marked the worst day of the crackdown.
(gs/pk)
Source: PAP