Biographical Files on Dissidents

Series

The series contains 83 individual and collective entries on Polish activists and intellectuals involved in the democratic opposition, as well as victims of state repression (including priests). The bulk of the series consists largely of news agency releases (both A-wire and B-wire, mostly in English and German) and xerox copies of clippings from underground periodicals (mostly in Polish) and western media (in German, English and French). It documents both the activities of dissenters (appeals, interviews and statements) and the counteractions of the state (murders, arrests, trials, releases, and amnesties). Other interesting items include: two biographical guides in “who-is-who” format published by Solidarity (in 1981 and 1989, some are inserted into the individual folders); a biography of Anna Walentynowicz by the poet Tomasz Jastrun; a number of documents related to court trials; political programs and random ephemera; instructions on how to monitor the 1985 elections. The series covers the post-Martial Law period (1981-1989) but focuses especially on the years 1984-1988. The largest dossiers relate to Solidarity leaders (Wałęsa, Walentynowicz, Gwiazda and Bujak), other underground leaders (Kornel Morawiecki, Leszek Moczulski) and dissident intellectuals (Kuroń, Michnik and others).

Not Expected

The series is arranged by names in Latin alphabetical order, with the exception of the first two files, containing collective biographical guides.

Not Restricted

Third party rights are to be cleared.

Processed by Piotr Wciślik, December, 2010; revised by Csaba Szilágyi, July, 2012.