Between propaganda and reality – the image of workers’ hostels in the Kujawy and Pomerania region in 1950–1980

Abstract

At present, the concept of a workers’ hostel (hotel robotniczy) and to a lesser extent of a young worker’s home (dom młodego robotnika) is closely associated with the communist period of the People’s Republic of Poland. It is often identified with large construction sites and dynamic labour fluctuation, as well as mismanagement, notorious untidiness, and noisy drinking bouts and brawls. In the conditions of state socialism, workers’ hostels were to fulfil the role of a substitute for a permanent flat for out-of-town workers until they were allotted their own home. The actual situation was more complex, which resulted primarily from the difficult state in the house building sector. This article presents the problems of organization and control of social life in factory hostels. The image of a worker staying in collective lodgings is presented in the light of ideological and educational programmes as well as the scale of their implementation. Moreover, the daily life in hostels is presented, devoid of their propaganda messages, creating the actual quality of labour rest in the described places.