On December 13, 1981, communist-era strongman Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski imposed martial law to stifle rising opposition, headed by the Solidarity movement.
It was the start of a dark chapter in modern Polish history that saw thousands of opposition activists jailed and dozens killed.
President Andrzej Duda on Friday handed out state decorations to former anti-communist opposition activists during a ceremony in Warsaw.
Speaking at the event in the early afternoon, he said that the 1981 crackdown was when the communist regime led by Jaruzelski “declared a war on the rest of Polish society.”
Duda also said that martial law “was an attempt to ultimately enslave the Polish people, throw our nation off its path toward freedom.”
He described the crackdown as “an attempt to tighten the noose around people’s necks, tighten the chains that bound us all this time since 1945 despite the often bloody attempts to break free.”
Duda told those at the ceremony that martial law was an example of the tragic turns Polish history sometimes took during the decades-long communist era after World War II.
Earlier in the day, officials placed flowers at the grave of Father Jerzy Popiełuszko, a Catholic priest who was killed by communist-era secret police.
A separate ceremony honoured Ryszard Kukliński, a high-ranking Polish army officer who worked for the CIA during the Cold War era.
Later on Friday, a religious service was due to be held at the former Rakowiecka Prison in the Polish capital to honour the victims of the communist-era crackdown.
According to a parliamentary report compiled at the start of the 1990s, more than 90 people were killed during martial law, which lasted formally until July 22, 1983.
On the night of December 13, 1981, more than 6,500 opposition activists were arrested and interned.
During martial law Poland’s communist regime suspended political and workers’ organisations and introduced a curfew.
(gs/pk)
Source: IAR