INFORMATION PORTAL OF THE MARSHAL'S OFFICE OF THE KUJAWSKO-POMORSKIE Region IN TORUŃ

44 years ago, the courage and determination of peasant activists from both Kujawy and Pomorze gave rise to the events of Bydgoszcz March and led to the formation of the agricultural Solidarity – the first independent rural organisation after the war. On Sunday (16 March), a member of the regional board, Dariusz Kurzawa, attended the anniversary celebrations at the plaque commemorating the 1981 peasant strike in Bydgoszcz.

Wednesday’s (19 March) celebrations (at 11am) will begin with the laying of flowers at the plaque commemorating the events of Bydgoszcz March 1981 at Jagiellońska Street. The ceremonies will also include a performance by students of Bydgoszcz’s 6th High School entitled ‘Bydgoszcz March “81 – the road to freedom”, which will take place at the Voivodeship Hall. It will start at 12 noon.

On 19 March 1981, representatives of the Independent Self-Governing Trade Union Solidarity with Jan Rulewski and the then illegal Solidarity of Individual Farmers were invited to a session of the Voivodeship National Council in Bydgoszcz. The trade unionists demanded the registration of the peasant Solidarity. After the closing of the meeting, Civic Police officers entered the hall and beat up anti-communist democratic opposition activists, including Jan Rulewski and Michał Bartoszcze. The brutal action, which shocked public opinion throughout the country, caused a political crisis threatening an uncontrolled social explosion. Solidarity activists decided to hold a nationwide warning strike. The crisis was eventually averted thanks to, among other things, the mediation of the Catholic Church hierarchy. As a result, the authorities agreed to register the agricultural Solidarity, which took place on 12 May 1981.

Beata Krzemińska

Spokesperson of the Marshal’s Office