Zbigniew Eugeniusz Godlewski (3 August 195217 December 1970) was a Polish man shot dead by security forces during the

1970 Polish protests The 1970 Polish protests, also known as the December 1970 Events () and the Coast Massacre (), occurred in northern Poland from 14–19 December 1970. The protests were sparked by a sudden increase in the prices of food and other everyday items ...

in the city of

Gdynia Gdynia is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With an estimated population of 257,000, it is the List of cities in Poland, 12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in the Pomeranian Voivodeship after Gdańsk ...

. The event was popularized across the country in the poem and song, known by the name of ' ().

Biography

Polish 1970 protests - Zbyszek Godlewski body

On 17 December 1970, during

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

's demonstrations against the Communist regime, the army fired into the crowd of workers emerging from a commuter train in

, under the pretext of preventing an industrial sabotage action. At least 40 innocent people were killed by police. The image of an anonymous young man's body carried on a door panel through the cordons of police and tanks inspired author Krzysztof Dowgiałło to write the poem about him. The name Janek Wiśniewski was invented by Dowgiałło for the ballad to symbolize an 18-year old worker killed by the military or the militia. Not knowing his real name, the author gave him a symbolic name sounding typically Polish; it proved quite enduring. Later it was established by the opposition that the man shot dead was named Zbigniew Godlewski and had lived in nearby

Elbląg Elbląg (; ; ) is a city in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, in northern Poland, located in the eastern edge of the Żuławy region with 127,390 inhabitants, as of December 2021. It is the capital of Elbląg County. Elbląg is one of the ol ...

Remembrance

The event was popularized across the country in the poem and song, known by the name of ' (); the work is also sometimes known as ''Pieśń o Janku z Gdyni'' (''Song about Janek from Gdynia''). The text was written by and music for the song by Mieczysław Cholewa. The song, along with the story of Janek Wiśniewski, was popularized when it was performed at the end of the 1981 movie ''

Man of Iron ''Man of Iron'' () is a 1981 film directed by Andrzej Wajda. It depicts the Solidarity labour movement and its first success in persuading the Polish government to recognize workers' right to an independent union. The film continues the story ...

'' (by actress

Krystyna Janda Krystyna Jolanta Janda (; born 18 December 1952) is a Polish film and theatre actress, director, and singer. She is best known internationally for playing leading roles in several films by Polish film director Andrzej Wajda, including '' Man of ...

along with

Jacek Kaczmarski Jacek Marcin Kaczmarski (22 March 1957 – 10 April 2004) was a Polish singer, songwriter, poet and author. Life He was the son of painter Anna Trojanowska-Kaczmarska, a Pole of Jewish background, and the artist Janusz Kaczmarski. Kaczmarski ...

). After the fall of communism in Poland, a major street in Gdynia was named after Janek Wiśniewski and also a street in Elbląg was named after Zbigniew Godlewski. In 2011, a Polish film about the events of 17 December, titled ''Czarny Czwartek - Janek Wiśniewski padł'' ("Black Thursday - Janek Wiśniewski Has Fallen"), was released in cinemas. The title was inspired by a line in ''Pieśń o Janku z Gdyni.'' The song was covered by

Kazik Staszewski Kazimierz Piotr Staszewski (born 12 March 1963), also known as Kazik, is a Polish singer and songwriter. He is the son of the architect and poet Stanisław Staszewski. He is the frontman of the band Kult, which he founded in 1982; their latest ...

and used in the film trailer. Because of an error in the journal repository, the second part of the article is availabl
here
.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wisniewski, Janek 1952 births 1970 deaths Fictional characters based on real people Legendary Polish people Polish murder victims Polish poems Polish songs Victims of human rights abuses Anti-communism in Poland Deaths by firearm in Poland