The Polish 1968 political crisis, also known in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

as March 1968, Students' March, or March events ( pl, Marzec 1968; studencki Marzec; wydarzenia marcowe), was a series of major student, intellectual and other

protest A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one. Protests can be thought of as acts of cooper ...

s against the ruling Polish United Workers' Party of the

Polish People's Republic The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million ne ...

. The crisis led to the suppression of student strikes by security forces in all major academic centres across the country and the subsequent repression of the Polish dissident movement. It was also accompanied by mass emigration following an

antisemitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Ant ...

(branded "

anti-Zionist Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism. Although anti-Zionism is a heterogeneous phenomenon, all its proponents agree that the creation of the modern State of Israel, and the movement to create a sovereign Jewish state in the region of Palesti ...

") campaign waged by the minister of internal affairs, General

Mieczysław Moczar Mieczysław Moczar (; birth name Mikołaj Diomko, pseudonym ''Mietek'', 23 December 1913 in – 1 November 1986) was a Polish communist politician who played a prominent role in the history of the Polish People's Republic. He is most known for h ...

, with the approval of First Secretary Władysław Gomułka of the Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR). The protests overlapped with the events of the

Prague Spring The Prague Spring ( cs, Pražské jaro, sk, Pražská jar) was a period of political liberalization and mass protest in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected First ...

in neighboring

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

– raising new hopes of democratic reforms among the

intelligentsia The intelligentsia is a status class composed of the university-educated people of a society who engage in the complex mental labours by which they critique, shape, and lead in the politics, policies, and culture of their society; as such, the i ...

. The Czechoslovak unrest culminated in the

Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia The Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia refers to the events of 20–21 August 1968, when the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was jointly invaded by four Warsaw Pact countries: the Soviet Union, the Polish People's Republic, the People's Rep ...

on 20 August 1968. ''Excel HSC modern history'' By Ronald E. Ringer. Page 384.
/ref> ''Encyclopedia of the Cold War'', Volume 1 By Ruud van Dijk. Page 374.
Taylor & Francis, 2008. . 987 pages. The anti-Zionist campaign began in 1967, and was carried out in conjunction with the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nati ...

's withdrawal of all diplomatic relations with

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

after the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 ...

, but also involved a power struggle within the

PZPR The Polish United Workers' Party ( pl, Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza; ), commonly abbreviated to PZPR, was the communist party which ruled the Polish People's Republic as a one-party state from 1948 to 1989. The PZPR had led two other leg ...

itself. The subsequent purges within the ruling party, led by Mieczysław Moczar and his faction, failed to topple Gomułka's government but resulted in an exile from Poland of thousands of communist individuals of Jewish ancestry, including professionals, party officials and secret police functionaries appointed by

Josef Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...

following the Second World War. In carefully staged public displays of support, factory workers across Poland were assembled to publicly denounce

Zionism Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...

Dariusz Stola Dariusz Stola (born 11 December 1963 in Warsaw, Poland) is a professor of history at the Institute of Political Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences."The Anti-Zionist Campaign in Poland of 1967–1968."
The American Jewish Committee research grant. See: D. Stola, Fighting against the Shadows (reprint), in Robert Blobaum, ed.; ''Antisemitism and Its Opponents in Modern Poland''. Cornell University Press, 2005.''The world reacts to the Holocaust'' By David S. Wyman, Charles H. Rosenzveig. Ibidem. Pages 120-122.
/ref> At least 13,000 Poles of Jewish origin emigrated in 1968–72 as a result of being fired from their positions and various other forms of harassment.

Dariusz Stola Dariusz Stola (born 11 December 1963 in Warsaw, Poland) is a professor of history at the Institute of Political Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences.he Anti-Zionist Campaign in Poland 1967–1968 pp. 213, 414, published by Instytut Studiów Politycznych Polskiej Akademii Nauk, Warsaw 2000, Andrzej Leon Sowa, Historia polityczna Polski 1944–1991

he Political History of Poland 1944–1991 He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

pp. 346–347, Wydawnictwo Literackie, Kraków 2011,
''Book review at Historia.org.pl.''
/ref>Monika Krawczyk (March 2013)
Nie zapomnę o Tobie, Polsko! (I will not forget you, Poland).
Forum Żydów Polskich.

Background

The political turmoil of the late 1960s was exemplified in the

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

by increasingly violent protests against the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

and included numerous instances of protest and revolt, especially among students, that reverberated across

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

in 1968. The movement was reflected in the

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...

by the events of the

, beginning 5 January 1968. A wave of protests in

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

marked the high point of a broader series of dissident social mobilization. According to

Ivan Krastev Ivan Krastev ( bg, Иван Кръстев, born 1965 in Lukovit, Bulgaria), is a political scientist, the chairman of the Centre for Liberal Strategies in Sofia, permanent fellow at the IWM (Institute of Human Sciences) in Vienna, and 2013-4 ...

, the 1968 movement in

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

, emphasizing individual sovereignty, was fundamentally different from that in the Eastern Bloc, concerned primarily with national sovereignty.Krastev, Ivan. (21 February 2018)
Will 2018 Be as Revolutionary as 1968?

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

. Retrieved 28 February 2018. In Poland, a growing crisis having to do with communist party control over universities, the literary community, and intellectuals in general, marked the mid-1960s. Those persecuted for political activism on campus included

Jacek Kuroń Jacek Jan Kuroń (; 3 March 1934 – 17 June 2004) was one of the democratic leaders of opposition in the People's Republic of Poland. He was widely known as the "godfather of the Polish opposition," not unlike Václav Havel in Czechoslovakia. K ...

, Karol Modzelewski, Adam Michnik and Barbara Toruńczyk, among others.Barbara Toruńczyk
Opowieści o pokoleniu 1968.
''Dwutygodnik'' No. 09/2009. A decade earlier, Poland was a scene of the Poznań 1956 protests and the Polish October events.

Reaction to Arab–Israeli war of 1967

Bundesarchiv Bild 183-F0417-0001-011, Berlin, VII

The events of 1967 and Polish communist leaders' necessity to follow the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

lead altered the relatively benign relations between People's Poland and

. The combination of international and domestic factors gave rise in Poland to a campaign of hate against purported internal enemies, among whom the Jews would become the most salient target.Dariusz Stola, Kampania antysyjonistyczna w Polsce 1967 - 1968, pp. 7–14 As the Israeli–Arab

started on 5 June 1967, the Polish

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states. Names The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian ''Politbyuro'' (), itself a contracti ...

met the following day and made policy determinations, declaring condemnation of "Israel's aggression" and full support for the "just struggle of the

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

countries". First Secretary Władysław Gomułka and Prime Minister Józef Cyrankiewicz went to

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

on 9 June for a

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

conference of communist leaders. The participants deliberated in a depressing atmosphere. The decisions made included the

Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP) or Treaty of Warsaw, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist republi ...

's continuation of military and financial support for the Arab states and the breaking of diplomatic relations with Israel, in which only

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

refused to participate.Dariusz Stola, Kampania antysyjonistyczna w Polsce 1967 - 1968, pp. 29–46 A media campaign commenced in Poland and was soon followed by "anti-Israeli imperialism" rallies held in various towns and places of employment. After the government delegation's return to Warsaw, Gomułka, pessimistic and fearful of a possible nuclear confrontation and irritated by the reports of support for Israel among many Polish Jews, on 19 June proclaimed at the Trade Union Congress that Israel's aggression had been "met with applause in Zionist circles of Jews – Polish citizens." Gomułka specifically invited "those who feel that these words are addressed to them" to emigrate, but

Edward Ochab Edward Ochab (; 16 August 1906 – 1 May 1989) was a Polish communist politician and top leader of Poland between March and October 1956. As a member of the Communist Party of Poland from 1929, he was repeatedly imprisoned for his activities u ...

and some other Politburo members objected and the statement was deleted before the speech's publication. Gomułka did not issue a call for anti-Jewish personnel purges, but the so-called "anti-Zionist" campaign got underway anyway, supported by his close associates

Zenon Kliszko Zenon Kliszko (Łódź, December 8, 1908 – September 4, 1989, Warsaw), was a politician in the Polish People's Republic, considered the man of Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR) leader Władysław Gomułka. Kliszko graduated from Warsaw Univ ...

and Ignacy Loga-Sowiński. It was eagerly amplified by General

, minister of internal affairs, by some military leaders who had long been waiting for an opportunity to "settle with the Jews", and by other officials. A list of 382 "Zionists" was presented at the ministry on 28 June and the purge slowly developed, beginning with Jewish generals and other high-ranking officers of the Polish armed forces.Andrzej Leon Sowa, Historia polityczna Polski 1944–1991, pp. 334–336 About 150 Jewish military officers were fired in 1967–68, including Czesław Mankiewicz, national air defense chief. Minister of Defense Marian Spychalski tried to defend Mankiewicz and by doing so compromised his own position.Dariusz Stola, Kampania antysyjonistyczna w Polsce 1967 - 1968, pp. 69–78 The Ministry of Internal Affairs renewed its proposal to ban the Jewish organizations from receiving foreign contributions from the

American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, also known as Joint or JDC, is a Jewish relief organization based in New York City. Since 1914 the organisation has supported Jewish people living in Israel and throughout the world. The organization i ...

. This time, unlike on previous occasions, the request was quickly granted by the Secretariat of the PZPR's

Central Committee Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party organizations, the ...

and the well-developed Jewish social, educational and cultural organized activities in Poland faced stiff reductions or even practical liquidation.Dariusz Stola, Kampania antysyjonistyczna w Polsce 1967 - 1968, pp. 47–68 About 200 people lost their jobs and were removed from the party top leadership in 1967, including

Leon Kasman Leon Kasman, pseudonyms "Adam," "Bolek," "Janowski," "Zygmunt" (born 28 October 1905 in Łódź; died 12 July 1984 in Warsaw) was a Polish communist journalist and politician of Jewish descent. Head of the propaganda and agitation department of ...

, chief editor of '' Trybuna Ludu'', the party's main daily newspaper. Kasman was Moczar's hated rival from the time of the war when he arrived from the Soviet Union and was parachuted into Poland. After March 1968, when Moczar's ministry was finally given the freehand it had long sought, 40 employees were fired from the editorial staff of the

Polish Scientific Publishers Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN (''Polish Scientific Publishers PWN''; until 1991 ''Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe'' - ''National Scientific Publishers PWN'', PWN) is a Polish book publisher, founded in 1951, when it split from the Wydawnictwa Szkolne i P ...

(PWN). This major state publishing house had produced a number of volumes of the official '' Great Universal Encyclopedia''. Moczar and others protested in the fall of 1967 the supposedly unbalanced treatment of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

issues, namely stressing Jewish martyrdom and the disproportionate numbers of Jews killed in

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

extermination camp Nazi Germany used six extermination camps (german: Vernichtungslager), also called death camps (), or killing centers (), in Central Europe during World War II to systematically murder over 2.7 million peoplemostly Jewsin the Holocaust. The v ...

s. In the words of Polish scholar Włodzimierz Rozenbaum, the Six-Day War "provided Gomułka with an opportunity 'to kill several birds with one stone': he could use an "anti-Zionist" policy to undercut the appeal of the liberal wing of the party; he could bring forward the Jewish issue to weaken the support for the

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

faction (in the party) and make his own position even stronger..." while securing political prospects for his own supporters.Włodzimierz Rozenbaum, CIAO: Intermarium, ''National Convention of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies'', Atlanta, Ga., 8–11 October 1975. On 19 June 1967, Gomułka warned in his speech: "We don't want an establishment of a

fifth column A fifth column is any group of people who undermine a larger group or nation from within, usually in favor of an enemy group or another nation. According to Harris Mylonas and Scott Radnitz, "fifth columns" are “domestic actors who work to un ...

in our country". The sentence was deleted from a published version,Dariusz Stola, Kampania antysyjonistyczna w Polsce 1967 - 1968, p. 274 but such views he repeated and developed further in successive speeches, for example on 19 March 1968. On 27 June 1967, the first secretary characterized Romania's position as shameful, predicted production of nuclear arms by Israel and spoke generally of consequences faced by people who had "two souls and two fatherlands".Dariusz Stola, Kampania antysyjonistyczna w Polsce 1967 - 1968, pp. 277–279 Following Gomułka's anti-Israel and anti-Jewish rhetoric, the security services began screening officials of Jewish origin and looking for 'hidden Zionists' in Polish institutions.

Protest in Warsaw

The outbreak of the March 1968 unrest was seemingly triggered by a series of events in Warsaw, but in reality, it was a culmination of trends accumulating in Poland over several years. The economic situation was deteriorating and a drastic increase in the prices of meat came into effect in 1967. In 1968, the market was destabilized further by rumors of upcoming currency exchange and the ensuing panic. Higher norms were enforced for industrial productivity with wages reduced at the same time. First Secretary Gomułka was afraid of all changes. The increasingly heavy censorship stifled intellectual life, the boredom of stagnation and the mood of hopelessness (lack of career prospects) generated social conflict.Andrzej Leon Sowa, Historia polityczna Polski 1944–1991, p. 346 The disparity between the expectations raised by the Polish October movement of 1956 and the actuality of the " real socialism" life of the 1960s led to mounting frustration.Dariusz Stola, Kampania antysyjonistyczna w Polsce 1967 - 1968, pp. 13–27 At the end of January 1968, after its poor reception by the Central Committee of the ruling

, the government authorities banned the performance of a Romantic play by

Adam Mickiewicz Adam Bernard Mickiewicz (; 24 December 179826 November 1855) was a Polish poet, dramatist, essayist, publicist, translator and political activist. He is regarded as national poet in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. A principal figure in Polish Ro ...

called '' Dziady'' (written in 1824), directed by

Kazimierz Dejmek Kazimierz Dejmek (17 May 1924 – 31 December 2002) was a Polish actor, theatre and film director, and politician. During his career he managed the New Theatre in Łódź (since 2008 named after him), the National Theatre, Warsaw, and the Teatr ...

at the National Theatre, Warsaw. It was claimed that the play contained Russophobic and anti-Soviet references and represented an unduly pro-religion stance. ''Dziady'' had been staged 14 times, the last time on 30 January. The ban was followed by a demonstration after the final performance, which resulted in numerous police detentions.Adam Leszczyński, ''Marzec '68''

arch 68 An arch is a vertical curved structure that spans an elevated space and may or may not support the weight above it, or in case of a horizontal arch like an arch dam, the hydrostatic pressure against it. Arches may be synonymous with vau ...

7 March 2014
Marzec '68
. wyborcza.pl. Retrieved 10 March 2014. Dejmek was expelled from the party and subsequently fired from the National Theatre. He left Poland and returned in 1973, to continue directing theatrical productions. In mid-February, a petition signed by 3,000 people (or over 4,200, depending on the source) protesting the censorship of ''Dziady'' was submitted to parliament by student protester

Irena Lasota Irena Lasota (born 25 July 1945 as Irene Hirszowicz) is a Polish philosopher, publicist, publisher, social and political activist, and president/co-director of the Institute for Democracy in Eastern Europe. Lasota began her political activism as ...

. Gathered for an extraordinary meeting on 29 February with over 400 attendees, the Warsaw chapter of the

Polish Writers' Union The Polish Writers' Union or the Union of Polish Writers ( pl, Związek Literatów Polskich, ZLP) was established at a meeting of Polish writers and activists in Lublin behind the Soviet front line, during the liberation of Poland by the Red Army ...

condemned the ban and other encroachments on free speech rights.Andrzej Leon Sowa, Historia polityczna Polski 1944–1991, p. 338 The speakers blamed the faction of Minister Moczar and the party in general for antisemitic incidents, as that campaign was gaining traction. On 4 March, the removal from the

University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw ( pl, Uniwersytet Warszawski, la, Universitas Varsoviensis) is a public university in Warsaw, Poland. Established in 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country offering 37 different fields of ...

dissident A dissident is a person who actively challenges an established political or religious system, doctrine, belief, policy, or institution. In a religious context, the word has been used since the 18th century, and in the political sense since the 20th ...

s Adam Michnik and

Henryk Szlajfer Henryk Szlajfer (born 7 November 1947, Wrocław) – Polish economist and political scientist of Jewish origin, professor at the University of Warsaw, in the years 1993–2008, director of the Department of Strategy and Policy Planning, then o ...

, members of the ''

Komandosi The Komandosi ("The Commandos") was a name used for a group of left wing Polish students in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The group included prominent dissident students such as Seweryn Blumsztajn, Teresa Bogucka, Jan T. Gross, Irena Grudziń ...

'' group, was announced by officials. A crowd of some 500 (or about 1,000) students rallying at the university on 8 March was attacked violently by organized "worker activists" (probably plainclothes police) and by police in uniform. Nonetheless, other institutions of higher learning in Warsaw joined the protest a day later.

Student- and intellectual-led movement

Dariusz Gawin Dariusz Gawin (born February 2, 1964) is a Polish historian and sociologist, deputy director of the Warsaw Uprising Museum (''Muzeum Powstania Warszawskiego'') dedicated to the memory of the Warsaw Uprising of 1944, and located in the Wola distri ...

of the

Polish Academy of Sciences The Polish Academy of Sciences ( pl, Polska Akademia Nauk, PAN) is a Polish state-sponsored institution of higher learning. Headquartered in Warsaw, it is responsible for spearheading the development of science across the country by a society o ...

pointed out that the March 1968 events have been mythologized in subsequent decades beyond their modest original aims, under the lasting influence of former members of ''

'', a

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

student political activity group. During the 1968 crisis, the dissident academic circles produced very little in terms of written accounts or programs. They experienced a moral shock because of propaganda misrepresentations of their intentions and actions and the unexpectedly violent repressions. They also experienced an ideological shock, caused by the reaction of the authorities (aggression) and society (indifference) to their idealistic attempts to bring about revolutionary reform in the Polish People's Republic. The alienation of the reform movement from the ostensibly socialist system (and their own leftist views) had begun. The students were naïve in terms of practical politics, but their leaders professed strongly leftist convictions, expressed in brief proclamations distributed in 1968. Following the spirit of the 1964 " revisionist" manifesto by Karol Modzelewski and

, they demanded respect for the ideals of the Marxist–Leninist "dictatorship of the proletariat" and principles of socialism. The protesting students sang "

The Internationale "The Internationale" (french: "L'Internationale", italic=no, ) is an international anthem used by various communist and socialist groups; currently, it serves as the official anthem of the Communist Party of China. It has been a standard of t ...

" anthem.Barbara Polak
Pytania, które należy postawić. O Marcu '68 z Andrzejem Chojnowskim i Pawłem Tomasikiem rozmawia Barbara Polak.
Pages 2 through 14 of the ''Biuletyn Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej'', nr 3 (86), Marzec 2008. PDF file, direct download 4.79 MB. Internet Archive. The storming of Warsaw University by the (fake) factory worker activists thus came as a total surprise to the students.Dariusz Gawin (19 Sep 2005)
''Marzec 1968 – potęga mitu'' ('March 1968 – the power of the myth')
Ośrodek Myśli Politycznej. The participants of the 8 March rally were met with violent beatings from ORMO volunteer reserve and ZOMO riot squads just as they were about to go home.Piotr Osęka (08.03.2008), .

Gazeta Wyborcza ''Gazeta Wyborcza'' (; ''The Electoral Gazette'' in English) is a Polish daily newspaper based in Warsaw, Poland. It is the first Polish daily newspaper after the era of " real socialism" and one of Poland's newspapers of record, covering the ...

. The disproportionately brutal reaction of the security forces appeared to many observers to be a provocation perpetrated to aggravate the unrest and facilitate further rounds of repression, in the self-interest of political leaders. A comparable demonstration originated on 9 March at the Warsaw University of Technology and was also followed by confrontations with the police and arrests. Kuroń, Modzelewski and Michnik were imprisoned again and a majority of the ''Komandosi'' members were detained.Andrzej Leon Sowa, Historia polityczna Polski 1944–1991, pp. 339–340 In later accounts, however, the founding mythology of Poland's

civil society Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere. Within a few days protests spread to

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula, Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland un ...

Lublin Lublin is the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the center of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin is the largest Polish city east of ...

Gliwice Gliwice (; german: Gleiwitz) is a city in Upper Silesia, in southern Poland. The city is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Kłodnica river (a tributary of the Oder). It lies approximately 25 km west from Katowice, the regional capi ...

Katowice Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowicy; german: Kattowitz, yi, קאַטעוויץ, Kattevitz) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. It is the 11th most popu ...

, and

Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of ca ...

(from 11 March),

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, r ...

Gdańsk Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...

, and

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...

(12 March). The frequent demonstrations at the above locations were brutally suppressed by the police. Mass student strikes took place in Wrocław on 14–16 March, Kraków on 14–20 March, and Opole. A student committee at Warsaw University (11 March) and an inter-university committee in Kraków (13 March) were formed; attempts to organize were also made in Łódź and Wrocław. Efforts aimed at getting industrial workers involved, for example, employees of the state enterprises in Gdańsk, Wrocław and Kraków's Nowa Huta produced no tangible effects. But on 15 March in Gdańsk, 20,000 students and workers marched and fought several types of security forces totalling 3,700 men, into the late evening.Andrzej Leon Sowa, Historia polityczna Polski 1944–1991, p. 342 University students comprised less than 25% of those arrested for participating in opposition activities in March and April 1968 (their numerical predominance in the movement was a part of the subsequent myth, wrote historian

Łukasz Kamiński Łukasz Andrzej Kamiński (born 3 June 1973) is a Polish historian, specializing in the history of Poland after 1945, particularly the period of Soviet occupation and the Polish People's Republic. He is the President of the European Union's Pl ...

). The leading role in the spreading countrywide street protests was played by young factory workers and secondary school students.

Protesty studenckie. Historia.
Marzec1968.pl IPN.

Repressions

A media campaign besmirching targeted groups and individuals was conducted from 11 March. The

Stalinist Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the theory ...

and Jewish ("non-Polish") roots of the supposed instigators were "exposed" and most printed press participated in the propagation of slander, with the notable exceptions of '' Polityka'' and '' Tygodnik Powszechny''. Mass "spontaneous" rallies at places of employment and in squares of major cities took place. The participants demanded "Students resume their studies, writers their writing", "Zionists go to

Zion Zion ( he, צִיּוֹן ''Ṣīyyōn'', LXX , also variously Romanization of Hebrew, transliterated ''Sion'', ''Tzion'', ''Tsion'', ''Tsiyyon'') is a placename in the Hebrew Bible used as a synonym for Jerusalem as well as for the Land of Isra ...

!", or threatened "We'll tear off the head of the anti-Polish hydra". On 14 March, regional party secretary Edward Gierek in

used strong language addressing the

Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( pl, Górny Śląsk; szl, Gůrny Ślůnsk, Gōrny Ślōnsk; cs, Horní Slezsko; german: Oberschlesien; Silesian German: ; la, Silesia Superior) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, locate ...

n crowds: (people who want to) "make our peaceful Silesian water more turbid ... those Zambrowskis, Staszewskis, Słonimskis and the company of the

Kisielewski Kisielewski (feminine: Kisielewska) is a Polish surname and can refer to: * Jan August Kisielewski (1876–1918), a Polish writer, brother of Zygmunt Kisielewski * Jacek Junosza Kisielewski (born 1952), a Polish biologist and diplomat * Józef ...

and Jasienica kind ... revisionists, Zionists, lackeys of imperialism ... Silesian water will crush their bones ...".Andrzej Leon Sowa, Historia polityczna Polski 1944–1991, pp. 340–341 Jerzy Eisler, ''Siedmiu wspaniałych poczet pierwszych sekretarzy KC PZPR'' he Magnificent Seven: First Secretaries of KC PZPR Wydawnictwo Czerwone i Czarne, Warszawa 2014, , pp. 272-275 Gierek introduced a new element during his speech: a statement of support for First Secretary Gomułka, who so far had been silent on the student protests, Zionism and other currently pressing issues. This initial reluctance of the top leadership to express their position ended with a speech by Gomułka on 19 March. He eliminated the possibility of government negotiations with the strikers, extinguishing the participants' hope for a quick favorable settlement. Gomułka's speech, delivered before three thousand ("outstanding during the difficult days") party activists, was full of anti-

accusations. The party management realized, he made it clear, that it was too early to fully comprehend and evaluate the nature and scope of the present difficulties. Gomułka sharply attacked the opposition leaders and named the few writers he particularly abhorred (Kisielewski, Jasienica and Szpotański), but offered a complex and differentiated analysis of the situation in Poland (Słonimski was named as an example of a Polish citizen whose sentiments were "

cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...

").Dariusz Stola, Kampania antysyjonistyczna w Polsce 1967 - 1968, pp. 115–135 The first secretary attempted to pacify the growing antisemitic wave, asserting that most citizens of Jewish origin were loyal to Poland and were not a threat. Loyalty to Poland and socialism, not ethnicity, was the only criterion, the party valued highly those who had contributed and was opposed to any phenomena of antisemitic nature. It was understood that some people could feel ambivalent about where they belonged, and if some felt definitely more closely connected with Israel, Gomułka expected them to eventually emigrate. However, it may have been too late for such reasoned arguments and the carefully screened audience did not react positively: their collective display of hatred was shown on national television. Gomułka's remarks (reviewed, corrected and approved in advance by members of the Politburo and the Central Committee) were criticized a few days later at the meeting of first secretaries of the provincial party committees and the anti-Zionist campaign continued unabated.Andrzej Leon Sowa, Historia polityczna Polski 1944–1991, p. 343 The internal bulletin of

's Ministry of Internal Affairs spoke of a lack of clear declaration on Zionism on Gomułka's part and of "public hiding of criminals". Such criticism of the top party leader was unheard of and indicated the increasing influence and determination of Moczar's faction. In public, Moczar concentrated on issuing condemnations of the communists who came after the war from the Soviet Union and persecuted Polish patriots (including, from 1948, Gomułka himself, which may in part explain the first secretary's failure to dissociate himself from and his tacit approval of anti-Jewish excesses). The purges and attempts to resolve the power struggle at top echelons of the party entered their accelerated phase. The mass protest movement and the repressions continued throughout March and April. The revolt was met with the dissolution of entire academic departments, the expulsion of thousands of students and many sympathizing faculty members (including Zygmunt Bauman,

Leszek Kołakowski Leszek Kołakowski (; ; 23 October 1927 – 17 July 2009) was a Polish philosopher and historian of ideas. He is best known for his critical analyses of Marxist thought, especially his three-volume history, ''Main Currents of Marxism'' (1976). ...

and Stefan Żółkiewski), arrests and court trials.Andrzej Brzeziecki, ''Marcowy rechot Gomułki'' omułka's March gurgle of laughter 12 March 2013
Marcowy rechot Gomułki
wyborcza.pl. Retrieved 14 March 2014. National coordination by the students was attempted through a 25 March meeting in Wrocław; most of its attendees were jailed by the end of April. On 28 March, students at the University of Warsaw reacted to the firing of prominent faculty by adopting the Declaration of the Student Movement, which presented an outline of mature systemic reforms for Poland. The document formulated a new framework for opposition activities and established a conceptual precedent for the future Solidarity opposition movement postulates. The authorities responded by eliminating several university departments and enlisting many students in the military.Andrzej Leon Sowa, Historia polityczna Polski 1944–1991, pp. 344–345 The student protest activities, planned for 22 April, were prevented by the arrest campaign conducted in Warsaw, Kraków and Wrocław. At least 2,725 people were brutally beaten and arrested by police between 7 March and 6 April. Some were exiled or executed. According to internal government reports, the suppression was effective, although students were still able to disrupt the

May Day May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. Festivities may also be held the night before, known as May Eve. Tr ...

ceremonies in Wrocław. Except for the relatively few well-recognized protest leaders, the known participants of the 1968 revolt generally did not reappear in later waves of opposition movement in Poland. Andrzej Friszke,, Intermarium, Volume 1, Number 1, 1997; translated from Polish. Original published in Wiez (March 1994). By mid-March, the protest campaign had spread to smaller towns. The distribution of fliers was reported in one hundred towns in March, forty in April, and, despite numerous arrests, continued even during the later months. Street demonstrations occurred in several localities in March. In different cities, the arrests and trials proceeded at a different pace, in part because of the discretion exercised by local authorities. Gdańsk had by far the highest rate of both the "penal-administrative procedures" and the cases that actually went to courts. The largest proportion of the arrested and detained nationwide during the March/April unrest belonged to the "workers" category. A few dared to openly defend the students, including some writers, bishops, and the small parliamentary group of

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

deputies '' Znak'', led by

Jerzy Zawieyski Jerzy Zawieyski, born Henryk Nowicki, (2 October 1902, Radogoszcz, Piotrków Governorate – 18 June 1969, Warsaw) was a Polish playwright, prose writer, Catholic political activist and amateur stage actor. He wrote psychological, social, moral ...

. ''Znak'' submitted an official interpellation on 11 March, addressed to the prime minister. They questioned the brutal anti-student interventions by the police and inquired about the government's intentions regarding the democratic demands of the students and of the "broad public opinion". Following the Politburo meeting on 8 April, during which

Stefan Jędrychowski Stefan Jędrychowski (19 May 1910 – 26 May 1996) was a Polish communist politician, economist and journalist, who served as deputy prime minister, foreign minister and finance minister in Poland. Early life and education Born in Warsaw on 19 ...

strongly criticized the antisemitic campaign but a majority of the participants expressed the opposite view or supported Gomułka's "middle" course, a ''

Sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland ( Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of ...

'' session indirectly dealt with the crisis from the 9th to the 11th of April. Prime Minister Józef Cyrankiewicz asserted that the

Radio Free Europe Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government funded organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and the Middle East where it says tha ...

used the ''Znak'' interpellation for its propaganda. Other speakers claimed that the interpellation was primarily aimed at getting the hostile foreign interests involved in Poland's affairs. Zawieyski spoke in a conciliatory tone, directing his comments and appealing to Gomułka and

, recognizing them as victims of the past (

) political persecution. He interpreted the recent beating by "unknown assailants" of

Stefan Kisielewski Stefan Kisielewski (7 March 1911 in Warsaw – 27 September 1991 in Warsaw, Poland), nicknames Kisiel, Julia Hołyńska, Teodor Klon, Tomasz Staliński, was a Polish writer, publicist, composer and politician, and one of the members of Znak, one ...

, a Catholic publicist, as an attack on a representative of the Polish culture. The party leaders responded by terminating Zawieyski's membership in the

Polish Council of State The Council of State of the Republic of Poland ( pl, Rada Państwa) was introduced by the Small Constitution of 1947 as an organ of executive power. The Council of State consisted of the President of the Republic of Poland as chairman, the Marsha ...

, a collective

head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and ...

organ, and banning him from holding a political office in the future. The participants in the public ''Sejm'' debate concentrated on attacking ''Znak'' and avoided altogether discussing the events and issues of the March protests or their suppression (the subjects of the interpellation). The effectiveness of the ORMO interventions on university campuses and the eruption of further citizen discontent (see

1970 Polish protests The 1970 Polish protests ( pl, Grudzień 1970, lit=December 1970) occurred in northern Poland during 14–19 December 1970. The protests were sparked by a sudden increase in the prices of food and other everyday items. Strikes were put down by t ...

) prompted the Ministry of Public Security to engage in massive expansion of this force, which at its peak in 1979 reached over 450,000 members.

Anti-Zionist/Jewish mobilization and purges, party politics

In March 1968, the anti-Zionist campaign, loud propaganda and mass mobilization were greatly intensified. The process of purging Jewish officials, ex-Stalinists, high-ranking rival communists and moral supporters of the current liberal opposition movement, was accelerated.Dariusz Stola, Kampania antysyjonistyczna w Polsce 1967 - 1968, pp. 79–114

Roman Zambrowski Roman Zambrowski (born Rubin Nassbaum; 15 July 1909 – 19 August 1977) was a Polish communist politician. Career Zambrowski was born into a Jewish family in Warsaw. He was a member of the Communist Party of Poland (1928–1938) and of the Cen ...

Stefan Staszewski Stefan Staszewski, also known as Gustaw Szuster or Gustaw Szusterman (born 13 November 1906, Warsaw – died 2 November 1989, Warsaw), was a Polish communist politician. An activist in the communist movement from the age of fourteen, he was in t ...

Adam Rapacki Adam Rapacki (24 December 1909 – 10 October 1970) was a leading Polish Communist politician and diplomat from 1947 to 1968. He started in the socialist movement but in 1948 joined the Central Committee of the new Polish United Workers' Par ...

and Marian Spychalski were among the top echelon party leaders removed or neutralized. Zambrowski, a Jewish veteran of the Polish communist movement, was singled out and purged from the party first (13 March), even though he had been politically inactive for several years and had nothing to do with the current crisis. Former First Secretary Ochab resigned his several high offices to protest "against the antisemitic campaign".Andrzej Leon Sowa, Historia polityczna Polski 1944–1991, p. 344 On 11 April 1968, the ''Sejm'' instituted changes in some major leadership positions. Spychalski, leaving the Ministry of Defense, replaced Ochab in the more titular role as the chairman of the Council of State.

Wojciech Jaruzelski Wojciech Witold Jaruzelski (; 6 July 1923 – 25 May 2014) was a Polish military officer, politician and ''de facto'' leader of the Polish People's Republic from 1981 until 1989. He was the First Secretary of the Polish United Workers' Party b ...

became the new minister of defense. Rapacki, another opponent of antisemitic purges, was replaced by

at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A new higher education statute was designed to give the government greater control over the academic environment. Gomułka considered revisionism rather than "Zionism" to be the main "danger". According to historian

Dariusz Stola Dariusz Stola (born 11 December 1963 in Warsaw, Poland) is a professor of history at the Institute of Political Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences. But he opportunistically and instrumentally allowed and accepted the anti-Jewish initiative of Minister Moczar and the secret services Moczar controlled. The campaign gave Gomułka the tools he needed to combat the intellectual rebellion, prevent it from spreading into the worker masses (by "mobilizing" them and channelling their frustration against the stealth and alien "enemy"), resolve the party rivalries ultimately to his own advantage and stabilize the situation in Poland at the dangerous for the party time of the

liberalizing movement in Czechoslovakia. Many Poles (irrespective of ethnic background) were accused of being Zionists. They were expelled from the party and/or had their careers terminated by policies that were cynical, prejudicial, or both. Long (sometimes conducted over several days) party meetings and discussions took place at the end of March and in early April within various state institutions and enterprises. They dealt with the "Zionism" issue and were devoted to the identification of those responsible and guilty (within the institution's own ranks), their expulsion from the party and demands for their removal from the positions they held. Attempts were made to steer the attention of the general public away from the student movement and advocacy for social reform, centered around the defense of freedom of speech for intellectuals and artists and the right to criticize the regime and its policies. Moczar, the leader of the hardline Stalinist faction of the party, blamed the student protests on "Zionists" and used the protest activity as a pretext for a larger antisemitic campaign (officially described as "anti-Zionist") and party purges. In reality, the student and intellectual protests were generally not related to Zionism or other Jewish issues. The propagated idea of the "Zionist inspiration" of student rebellion originated in part from the presence of children of Jewish communists among those contesting the political order, including especially members of the ''Komandosi'' group. To augment their numbers, figures of speech such as the "Michniks, Szlajfers, Zambrowskis" were used. The national strike call from Warsaw (13 March) opposed both antisemitism and Zionism.George Katsiaficas, ''The Imagination of the New Left: A Global Analysis of 1968'', pp. 66–70. One banner hung at a Rzeszów high school on 27 April read: "We hail our Zionist comrades." However, Gomułka warned that "Zionism and antisemitism are two sides of the same nationalist medal" and insisted that communism rejects all forms of nationalism. According to Gomułka, who rejected the Western allegations of antisemitism, "Official circles in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

have involved themselves in the dirty anti-Polish campaign by making statements accusing Poland of antisemitism. We propose that the ruling circles in the United States check whether American citizens of Polish descent have ever had or have now the same opportunities that Polish citizens of Jewish descent have for good living conditions and education and for occupying positions of responsibility. Then it would emerge clearly who might accuse whom of national discrimination." He went on to say that "the Western Zionist centers that today charge us with antisemitism failed to lift a finger when Hitler's genocide policies exterminated Jews in subjugated Poland, punishing Poles who hid and helped the Jews with death." The party leader was responding to a wave of Western criticism and took advantage of some published reports that were incompatible with the Polish collective memory of historical events,

and

the Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europ ...

in particular. The Moczar challenge, often presented in terms of competing political visions (he was the informal head of the nationalist communist party faction known as "the Partisans"), reflected, according to historian Andrzej Chojnowski, primarily a push for a generational change in the party leadership and at other levels, throughout the country. By 1968 Gomułka, whose public relations skills were poor, was unpopular and had lost touch with the population he ruled. Personnel changes, resisted by Gomułka, were generally desired and expected, and in the party, General Moczar was the alternative. Large numbers of generally younger functionaries mobilized behind him, motivated by the potential opportunity to advance their stagnant careers. Finding scapegoats (possibly by just claiming that someone was enthusiastic about the Israeli victory) and becoming their replacements meant in 1968 progress in that direction. The Moczar faction's activity was one of the major factors that contributed to the 1968 uproar, but the overdue generational change within the party materialized fully only when Edward Gierek replaced Gomułka in December 1970.Andrzej Werblan, ''Miejsce ekipy Gierka w dziejach Polski Ludowej''

he role of the Gierek's team in the history of People's Poland He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

br>The role of the Gierek's team
Przegląd socjalistyczny www.przeglad-socjalistyczny.pl. Retrieved 28 March 2014. Moczar himself campaigned ruthlessly in an ultimately failed attempt to become Gomułka's replacement or successor.

Emigration of Polish citizens of Jewish origin

In a parliamentary speech on 11 April 1968, Prime Minister Cyrankiewicz spelled out the government's official position: "Loyalty to socialist Poland and imperialist Israel is not possible simultaneously. ... Whoever wants to face these consequences in the form of emigration will not encounter any obstacle." The departing had their Polish citizenship revoked. Historian David Engel of the

YIVO YIVO (Yiddish: , ) is an organization that preserves, studies, and teaches the cultural history of Jewish life throughout Eastern Europe, Germany, and Russia as well as orthography, lexicography, and other studies related to Yiddish. (The word '' ...

Institute wrote: "The Interior Ministry compiled a card index of all Polish citizens of Jewish origin, even those who had been detached from organized Jewish life for generations. Jews were removed from jobs in public service, including from teaching positions in schools and universities. The pressure was placed upon them to leave the country by bureaucratic actions aimed at undermining their sources of livelihood and sometimes even by physical brutality."The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe: ''Poland since 1939'' by David Engel
/ref> According to

Dariusz Stola Dariusz Stola (born 11 December 1963 in Warsaw, Poland) is a professor of history at the Institute of Political Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences.Polish Academy of Sciences The Polish Academy of Sciences ( pl, Polska Akademia Nauk, PAN) is a Polish state-sponsored institution of higher learning. Headquartered in Warsaw, it is responsible for spearheading the development of science across the country by a society o ...

, "the term 'anti-Zionist campaign' is misleading in two ways since the campaign began as an anti-Israeli policy but quickly turned into an anti-semitic campaign, and this evident anti-Jewish character remained its distinctive feature". The propaganda equated Jewish origins with Zionist sympathies and thus disloyalty to communist Poland. Antisemitic slogans were used in rallies. Prominent Jews, supposedly of Zionist beliefs, including academics, managers and journalists, lost their jobs. According to the Polish state's

Institute of National Remembrance The Institute of National Remembrance – Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation ( pl, Instytut Pamięci Narodowej – Komisja Ścigania Zbrodni przeciwko Narodowi Polskiemu, abbreviated IPN) is a Polish state resea ...

(IPN), which investigated events that took place in 1968–69 in Łodź, "in each case the decision of dismissal was preceded by a party resolution about expelling from the party". According to Jonathan Ornstein, of the 3.5 million Polish Jews prior to World War II, 350,000 or fewer remained after the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

.Ornstein, Jonathan. (26 February 2018)
In Poland, a Grass-Roots Jewish Revival Endures

. Retrieved 17 March 2018. Most survivors who claimed their Jewish nationality status at the end of World War II, including those who registered with the

Central Committee of Polish Jews The Central Committee of Polish Jews also referred to as the Central Committee of Jews in Poland and abbreviated CKŻP, ( pl, Centralny Komitet Żydów w Polsce, yi, צענטראלער קאמיטעט פון די יידן אין פוילן, trans ...

in 1945, had emigrated from postwar Poland already in its first years of existence. According to David Engel's estimates, of the fewer than 281,000 Jews present in Poland at different times before July 1946, only about 90,000 were left in the country by the middle of 1947. Fewer than 80,000 remained by 1951, when the government prohibited emigration to Israel.Michael C. Steinlauf.
Poland.
In: David S. Wyman, Charles H. Rosenzveig. ''The World Reacts to the Holocaust''. The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996. . An additional 30,000 arrived from the Soviet Union in 1957, but almost 50,000, typically people actively expressing Jewish identity, left Poland in 1957–59, under Gomułka and with his government's encouragement. Approximately 25,000–30,000 Jews lived in Poland by 1967. As a group, they had become increasingly assimilated and secular and had well-developed and functioning Jewish secular institutions. Of the Jews who stayed in Poland, many did so for political and career reasons. Their situation changed after the 1967 Arab–Israeli war and the 1968 Polish academic revolt when the Jews were used as scapegoats by the warring party factions and pressured to emigrate ''en masse'' once more. According to Engel, some 25,000 Jews left Poland during the 1968–70 period, leaving only between 5,000 and 10,000 Jews in the country. From the end of World War II, the Soviet-imposed government in Poland, lacking strong popular support, found it expedient to depend disproportionately on Jews for performing clerical and administrative jobs and many Jews rose to high positions within the political and internal security ranks. Consequently, as noted by historian

Michael C. Steinlauf Michael C. Steinlauf is an Associate Professor of History at Gratz College, Pennsylvania. Steinlauf teaches Jewish history, theatre and culture in Eastern Europe as well as Polish-Jewish relations.

– "their group profile ever more closely resembled the mythic Żydokomuna" (see also

Jewish Bolshevism Jewish Bolshevism, also Judeo–Bolshevism, is an anti-communist and antisemitic canard, which alleges that the Jews were the originators of the Russian Revolution in 1917, and that they held primary power among the Bolsheviks who led the revo ...

).Michael C. Steinlauf.
Poland.
In: David S. Wyman, Charles H. Rosenzveig. ''The World Reacts to the Holocaust''. The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996. .Steven Elliott Grosby, Athena S. Leoussi.
Nationalism and Ethnosymbolism: History, Culture and Ethnicity in the Formation of Nations.
' Edinburgh University Press, 2007. Page 137-139. See also Michlic (2006), pp 271-277. For complex historical reasons, Jews held many positions of repressive authority under the post-war Polish communist administrations. In March 1968, some of those officials became the center of an organized campaign to equate Jewish origins with Stalinist sympathies and crimes. The political purges, often ostensibly directed at functionaries of the Stalinist era, affected all Polish Jews regardless of background. Prior to the 1967–68 events, Polish-Jewish relations had been a taboo subject in communist Poland. Available information was limited to the dissemination of shallow and distorted official versions of historical events, while much of the traditional social antisemitic resentment was brewing under the surface, despite the scarcity of Jewish targets. Popular antisemitism of the post-war years was closely linked to anticommunist and anti-Soviet attitudes and as such was resisted by the authorities. Because of this historically right-wing orientation of Polish antisemitism, the Jews generally felt safe in communist Poland and experienced a "March shock" when many in the ruling regime adopted the antisemitic views of pre-war Polish nationalists to justify an application of aggressive propaganda and psychological terror. The outwardly Stalinist character of the campaign was paradoxically combined with anti-Stalinist and anti-Żydokomuna rhetoric.Dariusz Stola, Kampania antysyjonistyczna w Polsce 1967 - 1968, pp. 145–150 The media "exposed" various past and present Jewish conspiracies directed against socialist Poland, often using prejudicial Jewish stereotypes, which supposedly added up to a grand Jewish anti-Polish scheme. West German-Israeli and American-Zionist anti-Poland blocs were also "revealed". In Poland, it was claimed, the old Jewish Stalinists were secretly preparing their own return to power, to thwart the Polish October gains. The small number of Jews remaining in Poland were subjected to unbearable pressures generated by the state monopolistic media, often dominated by sympathizers of Minister Moczar. Many Jews and non-Jews were smeared and removed by their local Basic Party Organizations (POP), after which they had to be fired from their jobs. Many professionals and non-members of the party fell victim as well.Dariusz Stola, Kampania antysyjonistyczna w Polsce 1967 - 1968, pp. 150–188 Most of the last wave (1968–69) of emigrants chose destinations other than Israel, which contradicted the government's claim of their pro-Israeli devotion. Disproportionately in Polish society, they represented highly educated, professional, and accomplished people. Some communist party activists had previously perceived this factor as an undue "density" of Jews in positions of importance, a remnant of Stalinist times, which resulted in calls for their marginalization and removal from the country.Dariusz Stola, Kampania antysyjonistyczna w Polsce 1967 - 1968, pp. 135–143 Over a thousand former hardline Stalinists of Jewish origin left Poland in and after 1968, among them former prosecutor

Helena Wolińska-Brus Helena Wolińska-Brus (born Fajga Mindla Danielak; 28 February 1919 – 26 November 2008) was a military prosecutor in postwar communist Poland with the rank of lieutenant-colonel (podpułkownik), involved in Stalinist regime show trials of the ...

and judge Stefan Michnik. The IPN had investigated Stalinist crimes committed by some of the March 1968 emigrants including Michnik, who settled in Sweden, and Wolińska-Brus, who resided in the United Kingdom. Both were accused of being an "accessory to a court murder". Applications were made for their extradition based on the European Arrest Warrants.Tadeusz M. Płużański
Stalinowscy uciekinierzy
Bibula, 2011, Baltimore-Washington, DC, ISSN 1542-7986, reprinted from Antysocjalistyczne Mazowsze, 2006''Nakaz aresztowania stalinowskiego sędziego już w Szwecji'' ('The arrest warrant for the Stalinist judge already in Sweden'). Gazeta.pl, 27 October 2010. Between 1961 and 1967, the average rate of Jewish emigration from Poland was 500–900 persons per year.
''

'',

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officiall ...

. Publication on Polish site of IPN: July 25th, 2007. In 1968, a total of 3,900 Jews applied to leave the country. Between January and August 1969, the number of emigrating Jews was almost 7,300, all according to records of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The security organs maintained comprehensive data on persons with "family background in Israel" or of Jewish origin, including those dismissed from their positions and those who did not hold any official positions but applied for emigration to Israel.

Termination of the anti-Zionist campaign

On 11 April 1968, Secretary of the Central Committee

Artur Starewicz Artur is a cognate to the common male given name Arthur, meaning "bear-like," which is believed to possibly be descended from the Roman surname Artorius or the Celtic bear-goddess Artio or more probably from the Celtic word ''artos'' ("bear"). O ...

gave Gomułka a comprehensive letter, in which he pointed out the destructiveness of the demagoguery, anti-Jewish obsession and other aspects of the campaign.Dariusz Stola, Kampania antysyjonistyczna w Polsce 1967 - 1968, pp. 235–255 In late April Gomułka realized that the campaign he allowed had outlived its usefulness and was getting out of control; many participants became overzealous and complaints from various quarters multiplied. However, ending it and restoring normal party control and discipline took several weeks of repeated warnings and other efforts. On 24 June, Gomułka sharply criticized

Stefan Olszowski Stefan Michał Olszowski (born 28 August 1931) is a Polish politician, who was a member of Polish United Workers' Party. He served as the foreign minister of the People's Republic of Poland for two terms. Biography Olszowski was born in Toru ...

, the party propaganda chief and the role played by the PAX publications. Both were heavily involved in the "anti-Zionist", but also "nationalistic" media campaign from 11 March. On 1 July, Leopold Domb ( Leopold Trepper), former chairman of the Sociocultural Association of Jews (in Poland), wrote a letter to his party boss Gomułka. Domb bitterly complained of the progressive liquidation of the thousand years of Polish-Jewish civilizational achievement and listed numerous instances of such destruction of society and culture taking place in contemporary communist Poland.Dariusz Stola, Kampania antysyjonistyczna w Polsce 1967 - 1968, pp. 379–380 On 5 July, Gomułka acknowledged "certain problems" with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and announced the removal of Minister Moczar from the cabinet position, which disconnected him from his power base at that department. Moczar's sidelining was presented as a promotion: he became secretary of the Central Committee and a deputy member of the Politburo.Andrzej Leon Sowa, Historia polityczna Polski 1944–1991, pp. 347–350 "Comrade Moczar is a disciplined man and he'll do as he is told", was how Gomułka saw the resolution. Gomułka's ability to decisively dismantle the Internal Affairs' anti-Jewish smear campaign and punish its perpetrators (for challenging the party leadership) shows that he could have done so earlier, had he chosen to act in a timely manner. During the XII Plenum of the Central Committee (8–9 July), Zenon Kliszko officially closed the "anti-Zionist" campaign. Internal attacks and obstruction within the party, the military and the security services ( SB), now directed against Gomułka and Kliszko, continued for some time. In reality, SB's "anti-Zionist" activities were never completely abandoned. During 1970–80, General Jaruzelski demoted to the rank of

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

1,348 Jewish officers who had emigrated, not only around 1968. Such continued activities were conducted in secret.Dariusz Stola, Kampania antysyjonistyczna w Polsce 1967 - 1968, pp. 257–268 The media propaganda machine was by early summer preoccupied with denouncing the

. In August, the Polish People's Army participated in the

.Andrzej Leon Sowa, Historia polityczna Polski 1944–1991, pp. 357–358

Consequences of the events of 1968

The Fifth Congress of the

took place in November, under Gomułka' s active lead. His position was confirmed. The gathering, numerically dominated by the supporters of Moczar, was maneuvered into complying with Gomułka faction's personnel decisions. The party now had 2.1 million members (only 40% were workers), after the recent purging of over 230,000. The Jewish activists were gone, but many other veterans remained, as the generational change in the communist leadership was beginning to take place. Gomułka was able to rule with his few close associates until December 1970, but his prestige suffered in Poland, abroad, and among the Soviet and other

leaders. A consequence of the protest events and their repercussions was the alienation of the regime from the leftist intelligentsia, who were disgusted at the official promotion of antisemitism and the adoption of nationalistic rhetoric.Andrzej Friszke, Andrzej Paczkowski, Roman Graczyk, ''Komunizm, intelektualiści, Kościół'' ('Communism, intellectuals, the Church')
Komunizm, intelektualiści, Kościół
13 October 2010, Tygodnik Powszechny www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl. Retrieved 07 March 2018. Many Polish intellectuals opposed the government campaign, often openly. Another effect was the activity by Polish emigrants to the West in organizations that encouraged opposition within Poland. The alienation of Polish intelligentsia had a long afterlife and eventually contributed to the downfall of the communist dictatorship: the 1968 events were a turning point in the ideological evolution of those who would challenge the system in the years to come.

, for example, twice a party member and an activist imprisoned for his participation in the 1968 events, later played important roles in the Workers' Defence Committee and the Solidarity workers' movement. The events of 1968, preceded by those in 1956 and followed by those of 1970, 1976 and 1980, showed that Poland, with its strong nationalist traditions, a civil society, and the powerful Catholic Church, was the source of instability and weakness in the Eastern Bloc. The dangers presented to the PZPR by the "reactionary" coalition of 1968, against which some had already warned back then, turned out not to be imaginary, but their realization took another two decades. The antisemitic, anti-intellectual and anti-student campaign damaged Poland's reputation, particularly in the West. Despite the worldwide condemnation of the March 1968 repressions, for many years the communist governments would not admit the antisemitic nature of the "anti-Zionist" campaign, though some newspapers published critical articles. In February and March 1988, the Polish communist government announced official apologies for the antisemitic excesses of 1968: first in Israel at a conference on Polish Jewry, and then in a statement printed in '' Trybuna Ludu''.David Ost, ''Solidarity and the Politics of Anti-Politics'', p. 231, 1990 Philadelphia,

Temple University Press Temple University Press is a university press founded in 1969 that is part of Temple University (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). It is one of thirteen publishers to participate in the Knowledge Unlatched pilot, a global library consortium approach ...

, A Central Committee report even suggested an introduction of double citizenship to improve relations with the Jews who left Poland.

Aftermath

After the fall of the communist rule, the ''

'' in 1998 issued an official condemnation of the antisemitism of the March 1968 events. In 2000, President Aleksander Kwaśniewski gave his own apology in front of a group of Jewish students "as the president of Poland and as a Pole". On the 30th anniversary of their departures, a memorial plaque was placed at Warszawa Gdańska train station, from which most of the exiled Poles took a train to

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. In March 2018 Polish President

Andrzej Duda Andrzej Sebastian Duda (; born 16 May 1972) is a Polish lawyer and politician who has served as president of Poland since 6 August 2015. Before becoming president, Andrzej Duda was a member of Polish Lower House (Sejm) from 2011 to 2014 and th ...

said "We are sorry you're not here today" and "those were deported then and the families of those who were killed – I want to say, please forgive Poland for that" in relation to the 20,000 Jews expelled or forced to flee in 1968. However, Duda said that his generation was not responsible for the actions of the past communist administration. Duda's distinction between the past Polish government whom he framed as culpable, and Polish citizens whom he framed as innocent, was seen as a non-apology by critics. Duda's statement also echoed

Jewish stereotypes Stereotypes of Jews are generalized representations of Jews, often caricatured and of a prejudiced and antisemitic nature. Common objects, phrases and traditions which are used to emphasize or ridicule Jewishness include bagels, the complaining ...

in framing the loss to Poland: "You are the elite of the intelligentsia but in other countries, you are people of remarkable success, respected, but in other countries, your creative powers, your scientific output, your splendid achievements have not done credit to the Republic of Poland".https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/03/09/polands-president-offers-a-nonapology-apology-for-68-anti-semitic-purge-the-holocaust-bill-is-still-on-the-books/ Poland's president offers a nonapology apology for '68 anti-Semitic purge. (The 'Holocaust bill' is still on the books.), Washington Post, 9 March 2018

Notes

''a.''The following was written in 1968 by Andrzej Werblan, a

publicist: "... a peculiar political alliance of several reactionary tendencies ... political pedigrees of the most aggressive speakers of the extraordinary general meeting of the Warsaw Chapter of the ZLP on 29 February 1968. Here are the representative figures of this political alliance: January Grzędziński – a

Piłsudskiite A Piłsudskiite () was a political supporter of Marshal Józef Piłsudski, the founder of the First World War Polish Legions and the first Chief of State of the Second Republic of Poland. The Piłsudskiites had a major influence on Polish poli ...

– a representative of backward Catholic circles, Paweł Jasienica – an active participant of the reactionary underground from 20 years ago,

Antoni Słonimski Antoni Słonimski (15 November 1895 – 4 July 1976) was a Polish poet, artist, journalist, playwright and prose writer, president of the Union of Polish Writers in 1956–1959 during the Polish October, known for his devotion to social justi ...

– connected with cosmopolitan and Zionist coteries,

– removed from the PZPR ranks for extremely revisionist views and activities a year and a half ago."Andrzej Werblan, Szkice i polemiki

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p. 143, published in 1970 by Książka i Wiedza, Warsaw

References

External links

March '68, Institute of National Remembrance

at Prague Writers' Festival
The Limits of Interpretation: Umberto Eco on Poland's 1968 Student Protests

Andrea Genest, ''From Oblivion to Memory. Poland, the Democratic Opposition and 1968''

Tom Junes, ''The Polish 1968 Student Revolt''