Russian Tanks! No Thanks! - Solidarność (Solidarity)

[StefanM]

Another variant of the 1980's "Soviet Tanks, No thanks" pin badge:

[StefanM]

A two colour (black and silver ink) 250 zl postal note (A5 size) printed in 1989 by Solidarity memorialising the murder of Father Jerzy Popiełuszko the Roman Catholic priest murdered in 1984 by agents in the Polish Security Service in 1984.

[StefanM]

Another recent addition to my growing Solidarnośc (Solidarity) collection:

Animal Farm (Folwark zwierzęcy) by George Orwell.



For obvious reasons Orwell's Animal Farm with its parody of the communist system of where "everyone is equal but some are more equal that others" became a popular book to publish by the clandestine Solidarnośc press in Poland. This little A5 edition was printed in 1981 by the publisher “Po Prostu Bis” in cooperation with the publishing house "Konstytucji 3 Maja" of Warsaw.

It is hard to imagine what personal courage it took to publish these "illegal" books under the Polish communist regime—printers were liable to arrest and prison as were persons distributing such books. It was illegal to own copies.

At the same time as Animal Farm was translated into Polish in Poland, it was also translated into Polish and published by Odnowa in England.

[StefanM]

Another interesting addition to the Solidarnośc (Solidarity) protest button badges:



The button slogan "Głodny Naród Może Zjeść Władze" translates best as; "The Hungry Will Eat the Authorities" and was issued in response of the summer 1981 hunger demonstrations in Poland.

The dire economic crisis in communist Poland produced food shortages and meant people often spent days, if not weeks, in queues to buy what little food and necessary products were available. In many cases, special Queue Social Committees were formed, which nominated the Head of the Queue - a person who drew up a list of those waiting, and at appointed times, checked the names. Those who did not show up, lost their place in the queue. Even toilet paper was in extremely short supply.

A poster also appeared on the streets which showed a black skull with a crossed knife and fork under it. The poster can be seen on the side of a bus in the photo below.




Summer 1981 hunger demonstrations in Poland

[StefanM]

Tymczasowa Legitymacja NSZZ Solidarność - Temporary ID card member of NSZZ Solidarity Warsaw Branch

[StefanM]

Fundusz Solidarności Walczącej (Fighting Solidarity Fund) 200 zł note



Front

The Fighting Solidarity Fund

Obverse

The Fighting Solidarity Fund is a form of social self-defence.

It is dedicated to help those who are being persecuted for political and union activities, as well as for those families of imprisoned union activists suffering financial hardship.

FREE PEOPLE SHOW SOLIDARITY

[StefanM]

A small group of Solidarność Toruń documents together with the original letter in which the papers were sent. The group included the two Solidarność Toruń badges:










Solidarność in the Polish city Toruń was probably best known for its "TV Solidarity (Telewizja Solidarność)" action—a brilliant piece of hacking or to use its technical term "Broadcast signal intrusion" involving the disruption of the transmission of the official Polish Television (TVP) in Toruń by underground "Solidarity" in 1985.

Astronomer John Hanasz and three colleagues ingeniously designed an electronic system based on an ordinary TV hooked up to a Sinclair ZX Spectrum computer that was able to emit TV signals and synchronize them with the transmitter signals from the Polish TVP. In practice this meant the possibility of overlaying over the programmes broadcast by TVP simple geometric designs and texts.



Above: The "TV Solidarity" system.





Above: "Solidarity Toruń " graphics overlaid on an official TVP transmission.


The first takeover by "TV Solidarity" took place on 14 September 1985 and lasted for about 4 minutes in which time two slogans with the logo of Solidarity: "Enough price increases, lies and repression. Solidarity Toruń. "and" Boycotting the elections is our duty. Solidarity Toruń. " were broadcast. The slogans and logo were seen on television screens across the old town of Toruń. The "TV Solidarity" reception range also included barracks and the headquarters of the Urzędu Spraw Wewnętrznych (Office of Internal Affairs)!

A few days later there was another transmission. Solidarity slogans appeared in prime time programmes on the official television station output and were seen on the theTV sets of some 30-thousand residents of the estate of Torun Rubinkowo. However the Solidarity activists were caught and arrested by the security police in the apartment that operated as the "TV Solidarity" studio.




For the electronics engineer the schematics for "TV Solidarity" can be found here:

Torun Radio Astronomy Observatory

[A.J. Zawadzki]

Excellent posts Stefan! Well constructed and researched, and very interesting

Regards,
Tony

[Shadwellarmy]

Bet you can sell a lot of those badges in Ukraine right now

[StefanM]

Excellent posts Stefan! Well constructed and researched, and very interesting

Regards,
Tony

Dziękuję bardzo Tony,

I have become really interested in this period of history which has echoes of the struggles of the Polish underground in WWII and uses much of the symbolism of Polish resistance throughout its long history of being occupied and repressed by its rapacious neighbours.