Remembering the 51st Anniversary of Communist-Era Massacre of Polish Workers

People march along Czerwonych Kosynierów Street carrying the body of Zbigniew Godlewski on a door. Zbigniew Godlewski died in the vicinity of the Gdynia Shipyard station of the commuter rail, shot with a firearm in Gdynia, Poland, on Dec. 17, 1970. (Institute of National Remembrance (IPN)/ Portal https://polskiemiesiace.ipn.gov.p)

December 17 marks 51 years since Poland’s communist rulers used the military and tanks to violently suppress strikes of Polish workers who were protesting difficult living conditions, exacerbated by increased food prices introduced by the regime.

Piotr Brzeziński, Ph.D., a historian at the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) in Poland, talked to The Epoch Times about the circumstances that led to the massacre of Polish workers striking in December 1970. Brzeziński is also an author and co-author of several books about the history of communist-era Poland including two books about the massacre.

Why Workers Went on Strike

On Dec. 14, 1970, shipyard workers in Poland’s coastal region went on strike to protest a price increase of food, fuel, and construction materials.