In a social media message, Mateusz Morawiecki marked the 41st anniversary of the bloody crackdown, which left nine miners dead and 21 wounded on December 16, 1981.
Morawiecki said in a Twitter post that "the Wujek mine massacre is still an open wound in Polish history."
He added that "the sacrifice of the heroic Polish miners" was "a victory for freedom and solidarity."
His office tweeted that the 1981 crackdown at the Wujek mine in Katowice was "the bloodiest crime" in communist-era Poland during the martial law period of 1981-1983.
Miners from the Wujek coal mine in Katowice went on strike on December 13, 1981, the day that martial law was declared by Poland’s communist authorities to stifle rising opposition headed by the Solidarity movement.
The strikers called for an end to martial law, during which the authorities brought tanks to the streets, cut telephone lines and introduced a strict curfew.
The strike was brutally suppressed by a special platoon in the communist riot police which opened fire on the miners.
Tuesday marked 41 years since Poland's former communist authorities imposed martial law.
(gs)
Source: PAP
