''Jedność'' (meaning ''Unity'' in English) was an independent Polish weekly magazine launched during the August 1980 strike in Szczecin Shipyard. Four months later it became the first opposition publication in the Soviet-dominated

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, wh ...

to be allowed by the authorities.

History

In the

Communist countries A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Cominte ...

, all publications needed a government license, in Poland called ''debit'', and were subject to

prior restraint Prior restraint (also referred to as prior censorship or pre-publication censorship) is censorship imposed, usually by a government or institution, on expression, that prohibits particular instances of expression. It is in contrast to censorship ...

. The rise of

Solidarność Solidarity ( pl, „Solidarność”, ), full name Independent Self-Governing Trade Union "Solidarity" (, abbreviated ''NSZZ „Solidarność”'' ), is a Polish trade union founded in August 1980 at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, Poland. Subseq ...

created a kind of grey zone: hundreds of local bulletins were launched without "debits", thus formally illegal, yet rarely prosecuted. ''Jedność'' (full title: ''Nasz rodowód – sierpień ’80 JEDNOŚĆ'', Our origin - August 1980 UNITY) was initially published and distributed in the

Szczecin Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ''Stetinum'') is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major s ...

region in this way. Unlike others, ''Jedność'' chief editor Leszek Dlouchy applied for a debit and surprisingly received it soon, with the first fully legal edition published on 3 January 1981. The countrywide

Tygodnik Solidarność ''Tygodnik Solidarność'' (, "Solidarity Weekly") is a Polish weekly magazine. Started and published by the Solidarity movement on 3 April 1981, it was banned by the People's Republic of Poland following the martial law declaration from 13 Decemb ...

, the official weekly of the free union's National Coordination Committee, had to wait until May for its "debit". Both papers struggled with the censors who would often ban half of a planned issue, and a sequence of dashes in square brackets,

--- The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

'', marking the cuts, was often seen in each article. Yet the ''debit'' spelled the right of sale in kiosks of the monopolist, state-owned Ruch, while underground and grey zone bulletins could only be distributed hand-to-hand. Out of 100,000 ''Jedność'' copies printed weekly, half was meant for Szczecin and the region, while union members in the national railway

PKP PKP may stand for: Organizations * Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas-1930, original Filipino communist party * Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas, underground Filipino Maoist party * Phi Kappa Phi, oldest all-discipline honor society in the United Stat ...

would distribute the other half to several Polish cities. J''edność'' attracted several prominent Polish authors and illustrators, the most notable being

Andrzej Mleczko Andrzej Mleczko (born 5 January 1949) is a Polish illustrator, mostly known for his satirical activities. He is also connected with painting, book illustrations, adverts, scenography and posters. He has worked with Polish and foreign magazines, ...

. The legal existence of both ''Jedność'' and ''Tygodnik Solidarność'' ended on 13 December 1981, when the Communists declared martial law in Poland. ''Jedność'' continued in the underground until the fall of Communism in 1989.

References

1980 establishments in Poland 1989 disestablishments in Poland Defunct magazines published in Poland Magazines established in 1980 Magazines disestablished in 1989 Polish-language magazines News magazines published in Poland Weekly magazines published in Poland Mass media in Szczecin {{italic title