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Tribute to victims of 1981 communist crackdown on Polish miners

16.12.2021 11:00
The Polish prime minister on Thursday paid tribute to the victims of a 1981 crackdown by the country's former communist authorities on striking miners in the southern city of Katowice.
A monument to nine coal miners killed by communist riot police on December 16, 1981 in Katowice, southern Poland.
A monument to nine coal miners killed by communist riot police on December 16, 1981 in Katowice, southern Poland.Photo: PAP/Andrzej Grygiel

In a social media message, Mateusz Morawiecki marked the 40th anniversary of the bloody crackdown, which left nine miners dead and 21 wounded on December 16, 1981.

Morawiecki said in a Facebook post that the victims of communist terror should never be forgotten.

"We have not forgotten and pay tribute every year on the anniversary of those crimes," he added.

His office tweeted that the 1981 crackdown at the Wujek mine in Katowice was the deadliest incident in communist-era Poland during the martial law period of 1981-1983.

Miners from the Wujek coal mine in Katowice went on strike on December 13 1981, the day that martial law was declared by Poland’s communist authorities to stifle rising opposition headed by the Solidarity movement.

The strikers called for an end to martial law, during which the authorities brought tanks to the streets, cut telephone lines and introduced a strict curfew.

The strike was brutally suppressed by a special platoon in the communist riot police which opened fire on the miners.

Monday marked 40 years since Poland's former communist authorities imposed martial law.

(gs)

Source: PAP