Katowice. 43rd anniversary of the pacification of the Wujek mine. “This is a great sacrifice in our fight for freedom”

The celebrations began with a holy mass in the Katowice church. Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The homily was delivered by the Bishop of Gliwice, Sławomir Oder, who emphasized that the history of the pacification of the Wujek mine calls contemporaries to be witnesses and guardians of the truth.

– By remembering the victims, we honor their memory, but we also commit to action. We must be witnesses of the truth in our everyday decisions, in our relationships with others, in our social involvement, in our building relationships and community. (…) Truth is a gift that we have an obligation to protect and pass on. And the fight for truth begins with the fight for truth in one's own life: for honesty, for solidarity, for the ability to oppose evil with the power of good, said Bishop Oder.

After the mass, the participants of the ceremony passed in front of the Cross-Monument at the mine, where, among others, the national anthem was sung and letters from the Speaker of the Senate Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska and the chairman of “Solidarity” Piotr Duda were read.

As the Speaker of the Senate wrote in a letter read by Senator Halina Bieda, the celebrations in front of the Wujek mine remind us of the tragedy. “Nine killed and several dozen injured miners are a great sacrifice in our fight for freedom,” she noted.

“Miners joined this fight on December 13, 1981, expressing their loud opposition to the violence and enslavement of martial law. They went on strike in the Manifest Lipcowy mine, Piast and many others. They also went on strike here, in the Wujek mine. They stood up to protest with a sense of dignity and solidarity with those imprisoned in defense of the most important values: freedom and sovereignty,” said Kidawa-Błońska.

She assured that the upper house of parliament will always guard this memory, so that it will be a warning against what authoritarian power was and can be, based on force, enslavement and lies.

“This is our duty to those fighting for a sovereign Poland, their families, as well as to subsequent generations participating in the Polish freedom relay. As the Marshal of the Senate, I bow before the miners, people of hard work, exceptional courage and fortitude. I honor the memory of those murdered. I express my deepest condolences. sympathy to the families of the murdered,” emphasized Kidawa-Błońska.

In turn, the leader of “Solidarity”, Piotr Duda, in a letter read by the deputy chairman of the union's national committee, Bartłomiej Mickiewicz, stated that the sacrifice of those murdered, harassed, imprisoned, interned and beaten during martial law “was not in vain”.

“NSZZ +Solidarity+ is alive and doing very well. It has been systematically implementing the August demands for almost 45 years. It is demanding justice for the victims of the communist regime. It is making efforts to ensure that the heroes of the fight for independence are not forgotten – the heroes of Wujek, as well as others in December 1981, forcibly pacified workplaces – so that they can be restored to their rightful place in our collective memory” – he declared.

“As long as +Solidarity+ exists, this will not change” – wrote Piotr Duda, diagnosing at the same time that state institutions failed to bring to justice and punish those truly responsible for Wujek's tragedy and did not sufficiently compensate the victims.

“As it turns out, the rule of law and democracy are also just empty slogans for the current government. Those in power are willing to protect criminals rather than serve their victims,” ​​said the leader of “Solidarity”.

“Today, attempts are being made again to restore pension privileges to the officers of the communist security service (…). The memory of the events of the past years is being erased, religion is being removed from schools and crosses are being removed from offices. We will not allow this,” Piotr Duda declared, assuring that ” “Solidarity” does not forget about its heroes: millions of people who fought for a free Poland.

After reading the letters, a memorial roll was read in front of the mine and a salute of honor was fired. The ceremony ended with the laying of wreaths.

The government's representatives during Monday's celebrations were the Minister of Industry, Marzena Czarnecka, and the Voivode of Silesia, Marek Wójcik. Some of the audience made sounds of dissatisfaction when reading the names of some people involved in the celebrations, close to the current ruling coalition.

However, as Wojciech Szwed, the chairman of the social Committee for the Remembrance of KWK KWK Miners, reacted, all those who come to pay tribute to the miners of the Wujek mine are “welcome there, regardless of where they come from”.

The strike in the Wujek mine broke out on December 14, 1981. The protesters demanded, among other things, release of the detained chairman of the factory committee of NSZZ “Solidarność”, Jan Ludwiczak, and other internees, cancellation of martial law and compliance with the agreements concluded by the government in August and September 1980.

On December 16, the authorities decided to suppress the rebellion by force. After dispersing the gathered crowd, the police and ZOMO began to pacify the mine. Tear gas and smoke candles were fired at the plant, and water cannons were poured on the strikers. The mine fence was breached by tanks, and officers entered the plant, including: ZOMO special platoon, armed with submachine guns. Shots were fired at the striking miners.

Six miners died on the spot, the remaining three died later in hospitals. For Józef Czekalski, Krzysztof Giza, Ryszard Gzik, Bogusław Kopczak, Zenon Zając, Zbigniew Wilk, Andrzej Pełka, Jan Stawisiński and Joachim Gnida, it was the last shift in their lives. The youngest of them was 19 years old, the oldest – 48. 23 other protesters also suffered gunshot wounds.

Before the 43rd anniversary of the pacification of Wujek, President Andrzej Duda laid flowers at the Cross Monument on Sunday evening, and on Monday morning, the President of the Institute of National Remembrance, Karol Nawrocki, also did the same. Before noon, participants of the Nine Miners' Run paid tribute to those killed. As in previous years, the celebrations were accompanied by the “Stop the City” campaign: at 11 alarm sirens sounded in Katowice.