Sejm observes 60th anniversary of Poznan June
The Polish Sejm (lower house) on Thursday unanimously adopted a resolution on commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Poznan June 1956, the name given to worker protests that took place in the western Polish city.
"On June 28, 1956 in Poznan, workers from the Cegielski Factory as well as other plants held a work stoppage and went into the streets, shouting welfare demands and anti-communist slogans. About 100,000 people gathered in front of the (communist party's) provincial committee. In the face of the authorities' helplessness, the protesters burst into the building and next took over the prison, the court building and attacked the symbol of the (communist) authorities: the Office of Security", reads the MPs' resolution.
"To suppress the protests, tanks and armoured fighting vehicles entered the city; fighting began which lasted all day long - 74 people were killed, around a thousand people were wounded, and hundreds were arrested, beaten up and humiliated", the Sejm also wrote.
"The Poznan June was one of society's decisive protests in the struggle for freedom. On the 60th anniversary of the Poznan June uprising in 1956, the Sejm of the Republic of Poland pays homage to its heroic participants", the resolution also states.
On June 28, 1956, workers from the Cegielski Machine Factory held a general strike and organised a street demonstration that was suppressed bloodily by the communist police and army. Clashes in Poznan's streets lasted two days. (PAP)
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