Within the sphere of the workers’ Defence Committee: the beginnings of democratic opposition in south-east Poland

Abstract

The article presents the role of the Workers' Defence Committee in shaping democratic opposition in south-east Poland. A detailed analysis of the relations between the circles of opposition and society at the local level has been made. The chronological framework of the article encompasses the 1970’s, with the concluding moment of deliberations being 1980, which saw the emergence of NSZZ „Solidarność” (Independent Self-governing Trade Union „Solidarity”), which took over part of the objectives carried out until that point by KOR. The first part of the article briefly presents the course of events associated with the beginnings of activity of KOR within the nationwide plan. The second part of the study focuses on presenting the reach and intensity of the Committee’s actions in the territory of South-Eastern Poland. The activity of opposition environments associated with KOR was divided into three mutually permeating and complementing categories. The first involved local associates of the Committee, forming the distribution network, who contributed to the gathering and publishing of information on repression around the country. The second category of opposition activity is the direct interventions of Committee members, such as the participation of attorneys or observers in court trials of a political nature. The most important category from the local perspective, as well as the primary objective of KOR activity, was to initiate the establishment of local resistance centres through the actions of special emissaries.