Summary

Bibliography of the Polish independent press circulation in the three ‘Solidarity’ Regions: Silesia-Zaglebie, Podbeskidzie and Czestochowa, 1980–1990

The ‘second circulation publishing’ is a Polish social phenomenon resulting from the imposition of Russian communism on Poland after 1945 and then during the Cold War. This new occupation, following the German one, led to the imposition of a whole system of restrictions on Polish civil liberties. One of these was the creation of the Main Office of Press, Publication and Audience Control [Glowny Urzad Kontroli Prasy, Publikacji i Widowisk – GUKPPiW], which acted as a censor through which every printed word had to pass.

In response to the lying propaganda and aggressive communist censorship of the Polish People’s Republic, many communities, ideologically and socially diverse, started publishing independent prints outside the reach of the state control apparatus. They became part of the independent publishing movement between 1976 and 1990. Its impressive development fell in the 1980s. The election of the Polish cardinal, Karol Wojtyla, as Pope in 1978 and his first visit to Poland strongly stimulated activity within Polish society and contributed to the creation of the multi-million strong Independent Trade Union ‘Solidarity’ in 1980. This was led by Anna Walentynowicz and Lech Walesa among others. The struggle of this union for the possibility to act freely unleashed enormous social energy, which exploded in the form of the publication of hundreds of journal titles, published outside the control of censorship. It was then that the first journals reporting on human rights violations appeared, recording repression and publishing banned texts.

It is estimated that by 1990, i.e. the moment censorship was lifted in Poland, more than 6,000 titles of independent periodicals (journals, newsletters, and services) were published by the nascent anti-communist opposition and independent trade union movement.

Independent printing, known today under the term ‘second circulation publishing’, or ‘clandestine publications movement’, should be considered in four periods, taking into account the significantly changing conditions for independent publishers and the scale of repression applied:

1. The pre-August period (1976 – 31 August 1980)
2. The ‘Solidarity’ period (1 September 1980 – 12 December 1981)
3. The underground period (13 December 1981 – 31 December 1988)
4. The ‘civic’ period (1 January 1989 – 31 May 1990)

During the first and third periods, these activities were fraught with great risk and harsh sanctions applied by the political police and the communist government. In the period of ‘Solidarity’s’ legal operation and since the beginning of the talks about the Polish Round Table Agreement (during the second and fourth periods), there were far fewer instances of repression and harassment. Nevertheless, during the entire time of second circulation publishing, editors and printers were exposed to draconian prison sentences (especially in the first months of martial law in years 1981–1983), beatings or dismissals.

The Center for Research and Documentation of Polish Struggles for Independence in Krakow has been collecting these publications for 25 years. It has also undertaken a project to compile a bibliography of all the independent writing in this field: the serial, continuous and ephemeral prints.

The first step towards realising this intention was the publication in 2019 of a bibliography of continuous prints of the second circulation publishing in Krakow and Lesser Poland (Od "Indeksu" do "Hutnika" which is available here: https://books.akademicka.pl/publishing/catalog/book/338). This publication describes 750 continuous titles published in that area outside the censorship and determines the personal compositions of editorial colleges and printing teams – which was not easy due to the aforementioned historical context. This was the first attempt at revealing the personal compositions of the creators of these initiatives – hitherto available bibliographies and catalogues only collected individual titles, without the editorial teams.

The presented bibliography continues the intention to compile a nationwide bibliography of continuous prints during second circulation publishing. It takes into account three regions of the ‘Solidarity’ movement: Silesia-Zaglebie (based in Katowice), Podbeskidzie (based in Bielsko-Biala) and Czestochowa, which make up the current Silesian Voivodeship.

This arrangement by ‘Solidarity’ regions applied to research on independent writing stems from the intention to compare individual publishing centres in different parts of Poland. The structure of the ‘Solidarity’ movement, the largest opposition organisation, served as a point of reference for research on other structures operating in the area (farmers' and students' trade unions, political parties and other organisations).

As a result of the research, it was possible to collect information on almost 600 titles published in the area of activity of the above-mentioned ‘Solidarity’ regions. This electronic publication (living book) contains descriptions of 578 titles from this area (Silesia-Zaglebie – 424, Podbeskidzie – 69 and Czestochowa – 85 titles).