Poland commemorates victims of communist-era massacre 54 years on

Officials in Poland have honoured the victims of a communist-era massacre of workers in the north of the country more than five decades ago.

A remembrance ceremony in the Baltic city of Gdańsk on Monday, Dec. 16, 2024.

Photo: PAP/Adam Warżawa

The commemorations marked 54 years since Poland’s former communist rulers in December 1970 ordered the army and police to open fire on protesting workers on the country’s Baltic coast, killing at least 45.

Upamiętniliśmy 54. rocznicę Grudnia '70@WroblewskaHann, ministra kultury i dziedzictwa narodowego złożyła wieniec przed Pomnikiem Poległych Stoczniowców w Gdańsku oddając hołd bohaterom wydarzeń grudniowych. Na konferencji prasowej w Europejskim Centrum Solidarności szefowa… pic.twitter.com/iviVEdPKvf

— Ministerstwo Kultury i Dziedzictwa Narodowego (@kultura_gov_pl) December 16, 2024

Government officials and local leaders have attended ceremonies to light candles and pay respects in front of memorials in the northern port cities of Gdynia and Gdańsk.

Today, on the 54th anniversary of the tragic events on the Poland's Baltic coast, we honored the memory of civilians killed in the massacre.

The Institute of National Remembrance was represented at the ceremonies in Gdynia by Deputy President Karol Polejowski. pic.twitter.com/xP64iDUajg

— Institute of National Remembrance (@ipngovpl_eng) December 17, 2024

In December 1970, drastic price rises led to massive, more than weeklong protests in Gdynia as well as Gdańsk and Szczecin in northern Poland, triggering one of the most brutal crackdowns of the communist era.

At least 45 people were killed and more than 1,100 injured after police and soldiers opened fire on protesters, who also demanded a change of government and freedom of speech.

Among the innocent people the communist army killed #OTD in 1970 in Gdynia was one Zbyszek Godlewski.

Under a generic name of Janek Wiśniewski, he became a protagonist of a famous protest song that would remind Poles how the ruling workers' party treated workers. pic.twitter.com/Pk3x9vB9dm

— Institute of National Remembrance (@ipngovpl_eng) December 17, 2024

December 17, 1970, so-called "Black Thursday," marked the worst day of the crackdown.

Early on 17 December 1970, the communist army, dispatched to quell social protests in Polish coastal cities, opened fire at commuters, not protesters, in Gdynia.

17 December would become known as "Black Thursday," the bloodiest day of the 1970 civil unrest. pic.twitter.com/SyjLpitr82

— Institute of National Remembrance (@ipngovpl_eng) December 17, 2024

Solidarity, the first independent trade union in a Warsaw Pact country, was founded in August 1980 at the Gdańsk shipyard.

It played a key role in bringing about the collapse of communist rule in Poland in 1989.

Grudzień 1970 roku to czas, gdy robotnicy Gdańska, Gdyni, Szczecina i Elbląga upomnieli się o godność i sprawiedliwość. Władza odpowiedziała brutalnie – życie straciło 45 osób, a ponad tysiąc zostało rannych. Potem były próby wymazania pamięci przez komunistycznych decydentów,… pic.twitter.com/DNW9iYZs9o

— Hanna Wróblewska od kultury (@WroblewskaHann) December 16, 2024

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Source: IAR, PAP