Konspira

Solidarity Underground

Maciej Lopinski, Marcin Moskit, Mariusz Wilk

• Publisher: University of California Press
• Year: 2023
• Print ISBN: 9780520320468
• eBook ISBN: 9780520320475
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Anarchism
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Konspira: Solidarity Underground offers a riveting and deeply personal account of the clandestine operations of Poland’s Solidarity movement during its underground phase. Built from extensive interviews with key activists, including Bogdan Borusewicz, Zbigniew Bujak, and Władysław Frasyniuk, the book illuminates the inner workings, challenges, and triumphs of the movement as it navigated the repressive political climate of the 1980s. The authors meticulously document the strategies, sacrifices, and resilience of individuals who risked everything to sustain the spirit of opposition and preserve the ideals of freedom and democracy. The narrative captures not only the historical facts but also the human dimensions of the struggle, providing a unique window into both the mechanics and the emotional landscape of resistance.

More than just a historical chronicle, Konspira reflects the process of creating the book itself—a venture that mirrored the conspiratorial methods of its subjects. From evading surveillance to safeguarding recordings, the authors’ efforts to compile these testimonies embody the very essence of the underground struggle. As much a metaphor for the complexities of resistance as it is a detailed account, the book transcends its journalistic roots to offer readers an immersive experience. It serves as both a vital fragment of Polish history and a testament to the enduring power of collective action and courage in the face of oppression.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1990.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• CONTENTS 1
• ABOUT THE AUTHORS
• NOTE
• PREFACE
• CHRONOLOGY
• 1
• The last session of the National Commission. HYPERLINK \l "noteT_1_2" 1 Things are heating up.Attack by night.” Loch is also surrounded.”Apparent strenght and real weakness.Why Solidarity allowed itself to be taken by surprise
• 2
• Fighting in the factories. Counting our mistakes. Passive resistance: the origin of defeat. People write letters. Five people on guard at gate number two. The fall of a symbol. The techniques of pacification. The strikes are over.
• 3
• The Pyrrhic victory of the generels. The spontaneous be- gimmings ef conspiracy. Attempts to make contact: Gdańsk, Wrodaw, Warsaw.
• 4
• We have OKO. Difficulties im making contacts. The re- sources at our disposal. The quarterly bolance.
• 5 Conshructing the foundations: factory orgenizstions. Con- flikts in Lower Silesia end Mazowsze: “extremists” on the attack. The beginnings of regional structures: his- tory, specifics, organization. The ICC: a centralized struc- ture or a federation?
• Disputes over the Progress. The “long march or the “short loop. Toward a general strike.The unexpected third variant: May 1 on the streets
• 6 A mass movement or a cadres’ organization?Strikes. Demonstration:the authorities impose poll tax.The "front refusal.”.The independent circulation of information:press and radio.Embassies.Underground Intelligence and contraintelligence:"things bost left alone.”
• 8
• Model and traditions: the Home Army underground, "We're not going to take to the wood,” the pre-August “We’r Mt going to take to the weods,” the pre-August opposition, the nineteenth- and twentieth-century il- legal laber movement. The inheritance of the Left: the authorities have stolen socialism. Nationalist thinking. The role of the Church. Attitudes toward the regime. An- tipathy toward ideology. “Why should we take ideas from the West?"
• 9 The people of the underground.Motivations.Activist' origins: formes dissidents,Solidarityactivists, new re-cruits.The younger generation in the underground. Nameless heroines.Landlord.Social life. “In bathing trunks everyone looks the same.” Now to escape the Se-curity service.Family tragedies.”I’m abnormal.” Lone-liness.Underground love.Personality disorders.” we of the first brigade…”
• 10
• August 1982: succes or disaster? Delegalization.” Theought to admit their mistakes voluntarily.” the strike in the shipyard or a missed opportunity.A day in November.
• 11 Why do we need a program? The implementation of the “ underground society.” Is there a future for “Solidarity Today”? The advice of experts. To whom are these words addressed?
• 12
• 13
• Self-examination. The balance of profit and loss. There are no victories without victims. Views of the future. When to leave and howto return. “This is our last chance.”
• POSTSCRIPT1
• AFTERWORD