The Intelligentsia and the Opposition in Wroclaw, Poland, 1968-1988

• In Event: Steps to Liberation: Poland and Czechoslovakia

Abstract

This paper examines the opposition activity of professors, students and the intelligentsia in Wroclaw, Poland between 1968 and 1988. The analysis begins with the university student strikes and faculty support in Spring 1968, follows through with the formation of SKS (Students Solidarity Committee) and their cooperation with KOR (Workers Defense Committee) in the late 1970s, and then looks at the role the intelligentsia played in the Solidarity movement in 1980-1981, with particular attention to Radio Solidarity. During martial law (1982-1983), a significant number of professors and students from this region were imprisoned and after they were released, they contributed to the underground publishing industry. Data for this study come from interviews with Solidarity activists from Wroclaw, contemporary public exhibits in Wroclaw, and historical documents.

Author

• Mary Patrice Erdmans, Case Western Reserve U