Polish president proposes June 28 as national day for anti-communist opposition on Poznań 1956 anniversary
At commemorations for the 70th anniversary of the Poznań 1956 uprising, President Karol Nawrocki signed a legislative initiative to establish June 28 as the Day of Anti-Communist Opposition Activists and Persons Repressed for Political Reasons.
70th anniversary in Poznań
President Karol Nawrocki attended Sunday's observances marking 70 years since the Poznań June 1956 uprising, the first anti-communist revolt in post-war Poland. The main ceremony took place in the Adam Mickiewicz University auditorium, joined by the leaders of Hungary, Albania and Latvia, as well as defence minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, primate Wojciech Polak, archbishop Zbigniew Zieliński and Poznań mayor Jacek Jaśkowiak.
I bow my head before you, dear heroes of Poznań June.
A new state holiday
During his address the president announced he had signed a legislative initiative to make 28 June the Day of Anti-Communist Opposition Activists and Persons Repressed for Political Reasons. He framed the proposal as a way to honour veterans of all major anti-communist protests in Poland's history.
As president of the Republic of Poland, I feel obliged today and I have signed a legislative initiative so that June 28 in the Polish calendar becomes the day of anti-communist opposition activists and persons repressed for political reasons.
Nawrocki expressed hope that the date would become a point of cross-party compromise in parliament, calling on lawmakers to give veterans their own day. He linked the Poznań uprising to later resistance milestones: March 1968, December 1970, June 1976 strikes and the Solidarity movement of the 1980s.
I deeply believe that on this date we will close all Polish months - Poznań June of '56, March of '68, and the Decembers of 1970. We will pay honour and respect to those who went on strike in June '76 and the great people of Solidarity of the 80s.
"Soviet colony"
The president described Poland after 1945 as a Soviet colony whose rulers wanted to strip Poles of both body and spirit, but said resistance prevented full subjugation. He called the Poznań workers and students who joined them a signal that the nation remained attached to dignity, freedom and sovereignty.
Poland after 1945 remained nothing more than a Soviet colony. And the colonizers from Moscow wanted to take not only our body, but also wanted to take our spirit.
What happened in Poznań in 1956
On the morning of 28 June 1956 workers at Poznań's Stalin Works (now Cegielski) refused to start their shift and began a general strike that turned into a mass street demonstration, then into bloody clashes with militia, security forces and army units. The first reports reached the world that evening via Radio London, followed by Radio Free Europe. According to IPN research, at least 58 people were killed and several hundred wounded. Other accounts put the death toll above 50 with around 650 injured.
- Workers at Poznań's Stalin Works (today Cegielski) refuse to start the morning shift and begin a general strike.
- Strike turns into a mass street demonstration, then into bloody clashes with militia, security forces and army units.
- Radio London broadcasts the first news of the dramatic events in Poznań to the outside world.
Parliamentary path forward
The initiative now moves to the Sejm. Nawrocki said he was looking at the prime minister and the speaker of parliament when he voiced confidence that the day would become a moment of compromise. No timetable for a vote was given during Sunday's ceremony.
