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London Focus on Eastern Europe, Vol. 1 No. 5, November–December 1977, pp. 16–17.
Transcribed & marked up by Einde O’ Callaghan for the Encyclopaedia of Trotskyism On-Line (ETOL).
Almost imperceptibly something new in East European politics is beginning to emerge in Poland. Organised political currents are appearing, at least in embryonic form, in open opposition to the ruling Communist Party.
On 20 October, a new body called the “Democratic Movement” was announced in a declaration signed by 110 people from cities throughout Poland. The declaration (published in full in this issue of Labour Focus) makes clear that the Democratic Movement is by no means simply a committee for the defence of civil rights like the Workers’ Defence Committee or other such movements in Eastern Europe. It will campaign for a positive programme of political change which would carry Poland a very long way from its present political system.
Alongside the Democratic Movement other independent political currents are becoming visible. They can be seen not so much in the form of definite political groups as in the shape of unofficial newspapers, and documents. Since the spring a body called the Movement for the Defence of Human and Civil Rights has been publishing a thick monthly paper called Opinia (Opinion). Although this movement itself was formally constituted on a human rights basis its official publication has, at least implicitly, developed a wider political scope. It carries a wide range of information about political events, Church activities, etc., which are not directly related to repression, and it also includes analysis of, and comment upon, the general situation in the country.
There can be no doubt that the leaders of the movement around Opinia and the Movement for the Defence of Human and Civil Rights represent a distinct current of opinion not shared by the leaders of the Democratic Movement. It was formed last March at a time when the Workers’ Defence Committee (KOR) was itself discussing the establishment of a permanent body to defend human rights in general. A majority of KOR members almost certainly regarded the creation of the Human Rights Movement as, at best, a diversion. As times goes on relations between the members of the Human Rights Movement and members of KOR seem to have become more distant: two members of KOR who initially signed the founding statement of the Human Rights Movement later withdrew their support, while on 3 September people who were members of both bodies resigned from the KOR.
Since there is no written debate between the two groups it is not possible to spell out precise political differences, but in ideological terms, the Opinia current is clearly to the right of the leaders of KOR and of the Democratic Movement. There is no indication that the Opinia group includes socialists and some of its members could be described as Christian Democrats with a strong nationalist bias. The leaders of KOR and the Democratic Movement, on the other hand, generally consider themselves to be socialists and some would call themselves Marxists.
From such ideological differences, Western readers might draw the conclusion that the regime in Poland would be more hostile to Opinia than to the Democratic Movement. But such a conclusion would be quite wrong. The KOR leaders have born the brunt of repression and harassment and it would appear that elements within the Party and Government leadership are more favourably disposed to a more clearly rightist opposition. Opinia is undoubtedly a strongly based force within the opposition but it is possible that the regime finds it a less serious challenge to political stability than the movement around KOR.
At the end of September, KOR transformed itself from an ad hoc body tackling the repression that followed the June 1976 strike movement into a permanent Committee for Social Self-Defence. The new body will fight against all forms of political repression and discrimination, against illegal action by the authorities and to promote institutional guarantees for civil rights.
In the student field, the Student Solidarity Committee, formed in Krakow after the death of Stanisiaw Pyjas, a student activist, last May, has expanded its network of contacts in order to develop a movement throughout Polish universities during the autumn and winter. In this issue of Labour Focus we print the Declaration of the SKS, outlining its aims and methods of work.
Yet another initiative of the opposition forces around KOR has been the creation of a paper called Robotnik (The Worker). Although this is the same name as the paper of the Polish Socialist Party in exile, Robotnik does not appear to be a party paper. Its aim is to be a channel of communication for workers attempting to win their immediate demands in the face of the “moribund official unions”, as Robotnik calls them.
The active oppositional forces outside the Party are today far more numerous and better organised than the opposition in any other country of Eastern Europe. This brief survey gives a far from complete picture of the currents of opinion and debates within the opposition. For example, there is evidence of significant revolutionary Marxist trends – an interesting analysis of the Polish situation under the name of Stephan Horton which is due to be published in the next issue of Capital and Class is a good example of such a trend. There are also evidently significant oppositional groupings emerging within the Party itself, although their weight and character cannot be judged by an outside observer.
Since the Amnesty in the summer the Party leadership has resisted the temptation to launch a new campaign of administrative repression against the opposition. Some remarks on the opposition by Party leader Gierek at a private meeting for leading journalists (reprinted in this issue of Labour Focus) indicate the restrained attitude of the Polish authorities – a caution which contrasts strikingly with the activities of the regimes in Poland’s 3 neighbouring states – Czechoslovakia, the Soviet Union and the GDR.
A vivid illustration of the new relationship of forces inside Poland was provided by a strike that took place in Pabianice near Lodz in the second week of August. 3,000 workers at an electric light bulb factory there struck after the management had cut their wages. The wage cut had been in response to a fall in production which in turn had arisen from raw material shortages and high levels of sick leave. When promised that the wage cuts would be restored the workers ended their strike. But the wage cuts were not restored so the workers struck again. Finally a representative from the Party Central Committee arrived from Warsaw and sacked the factory director and his deputy. The KOR was in touch with the strikers during the dispute and there has been no report of victimisations of strike leaders since the dispute ended. The reaction of the central authorities to the dispute indicates a determination to avoid confrontation with the working class at all costs at the present time. The Party leadership, faced with a continuing economic crisis of very serious proportions, is preparing for an important Party conference in January 1978 which must produce some new policy for tackling the issue of prices.
The authorities clearly wish the conference to take place in the calmest possible political atmosphere. A serious clash with the political opposition could destroy such preparations. In the meantime the opposition grows stronger and extends its influence with every passing week.
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Last updated: 15 February 2023