Life in PRL

Hard Coal mining as well as other sectors of heavy industry were treated preferentially during the forty years of communism as the most vital and strategic industries for the economy and defense of our country. We were reminded continuously that the work of the miner is extremely important and the coal is our most important natural resource and the export product. Polish power plants were also mainly based on the coal, now it is slowly readjusting to the natural gas which is cleaner than coal.

Read more: Coal Mining in Upper Silesia and Heavy Industry in Poland During Communism

In spite of the fact that Poland was behind an iron curtain Poles always had their way to travel abroad or keep in touch with the family and friends in the countries behind the curtain. Poles were travelling abroad and work there legally or illegally, they also were receiving some gifts from family or friends, therefore the Polish government tried to gather these "good" money up (channel it up) by various means. One of the more efficient way was the establishment of the chain state-run Pewex stores in major Polish cities and towns. In these stores the goods - either Polish or foreign origin could be bought only with hard currency or by so called Polish dollar checks (bony towarowe PekaO). PeKaO is the abbreviation from Polska Kasa Opieki - Polish Saving Bank.

Read more: Polish dollars: did they really exist?

This year on August 31 we will celebrate the 25 anniversary of Solidarity Workers’ Union (Zwiazek Zawodowy Solidarnosc) -the first independent workers’ union operated legally in the communistic block. Creation of the Solidarity helped to abolished the Soviet system.

The origin of Solidarity traces back to a creation of Workers' Defense Committee (KOR, Komitet Obrony Robotnikow) in 1976. KOR was created by a group of intellectuals to help the workers who were detained after the strikes in the same year (1976).

Read more: Brief History of Solidarity Workers' Union

The publication of Podziemie Kobiet (Warsaw: Rosner & Wspolnicy, 2003) in Polish by author Shana Penn was celebrated on October 16, 2003 at the Embassy of Poland in Washington, DC which was co-sponsored by the Network of East-West Women. Penn served as the organization's first executive director from 1991-96. The Embassy's invitation states that The Underground of Women recreates the little known history of the heroic Polish women who organized the Solidarity underground during the 1980s martial law years. An all-female team kept the mission of Solidarity alive, and their weekly, clandestine, nationwide newspaper became the acknowledged voice of Solidarity. Penn is the first writer to recognize them as the Founding Mothers of Polish Democracy. These brave women personified the Matka Polka - the Polish Mother - who selflessly protected Poland from the Communist evil during this perilous and revolutionary time.

Read more: Women of Solidarity Workers' Union in Poland