The BBC Polish Section ( pl, Sekcja polska BBC) was one of the foreign-language services of the

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is an international broadcasting, international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the Government of the United Kingdom, British Government through the Foreign Secretary, Foreign Secretary's o ...

. It existed between 1939 and 2005.

History

A decision to establish the BBC Polish Section was made on 3 September 1939, after Great Britain declared war on Germany. First programme was broadcast on 7 September 1939. Programmes consisted of news, press reviews, commentaries, reports and interviews, and were also used for transmitting coded messages and orders to the Polish Underground using prearranged selection of songs and code phrases. After V-E Day, a decision was made to continue broadcasting in Polish. Like other broadcasts from behind the

Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the political boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The term symbolizes the efforts by the Soviet Union (USSR) to block itself and its s ...

, BBC Polish-language programmes were jammed and, in the 1950s, listeners on occasion would be persecuted as enemies of the people. Jamming stopped in the 1970s but was reintroduced in 1981 as the authorities clamped down on political freedom (see martial law in Poland). Jamming finally ended in 1988. During the post-war period, while still concentrating on impartial and uncensored news, programming was expanded to culture, technology, social matters, British life and daily English language lessons. In 1996, the office in Warsaw was opened. On 25 October 2005 it was announced that 10 foreign-language services, including Polish, will be closed to free resources needed to start a new Arabic-language television service. The last broadcast in Polish took place on 23 December 2005.

Key personnel

Heads of Polish Section

* Robin Campbell (1939–?) * Michael Winch (?–1942) * Gregory MacDonald (1942–1945) * Evelyn Zasio (1945–1953) * Józef Zarański (1953–1960) *

Stanisław Faecher Stanislav and variants may refer to: People *Stanislav (given name), a Slavic given name with many spelling variations (Stanislaus, Stanislas, Stanisław, etc.) Places * Stanislav, a coastal village in Kherson, Ukraine * Stanislaus County, Cali ...

(1960–1966) *

Zbigniew Błażyński Zbigniew () is a Polish masculine given name, originally Zbygniew . This West Slavic name is derived from the Polish elements ''Zby-'' (from ''zbyć, zbyć się, or pozbyć się'', meaning "to dispel", "to get rid of") and ''gniew'', meaning "ange ...

(1966–1973) *

Jan Krok-Paszkowski Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Numb ...

(1973–1980) * Krzysztof Pszenicki (1980–1988) *

Eugeniusz Smolar Eugeniusz Smolar (born December 31, 1945) is a Polish journalist and member of the opposition movement during the People's Republic of Poland. He is the brother of Aleksander Smolar who is the head of the Stefan Batory Foundation in Warsaw, establ ...

(1988–1998) *

Marek Cajzner Marek is the West Slavic (Czech, Polish and Slovak) masculine equivalent of Marcus, Marc or Mark. The name may refer to: * Marek (given name) * Marek (surname) * Marek, the pseudonym of Bulgarian communist Stanke Dimitrov (1889–1944) * The titl ...

(1998–2005)

Heads of Warsaw Office

Robert Kozak The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory ...

Leszek Jarosz Leszek () is a Slavic Polish male given name, originally ''Lestko'', ''Leszko'' or ''Lestek'', related to ''Lech'', ''Lechosław'' and Czech ''Lstimir''. Individuals named Leszek celebrate their name day on June 3. Notable people * Lestko * Les ...

External links

History of the BBC Polish Section
(Polish)
50 years of the BBC Polish Section
(Polish)
This Is London: The Wartime Story of the BBC Polish Section
1939 establishments in the United Kingdom 2005 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Polish Srction Radio stations established in 1939 Radio stations disestablished in 2005 Poland–United Kingdom relations {{BBC-stub