Poznan commemorates June '56
A wreath laying ceremony at the gate of the H. Cegielski Rolling Stock Plant in Poznan, west Poland, launched Tuesday's celebrations of the 60th anniversary of June, 1956 mass worker protests in the city.
On June 28, 1956 crews at the Cegielski factory, then under the name Stalin Works, launched a general strike and organised a mass demonstration in the city, which was brutally suppressed by the police and army. At least 58 people died and several hundred were hurt in the riots.
The anniversary celebrations traditionally launch early in the morning to commemorate the 1956 strike's start at 6:00 am.
The highlight of the celebrations will be an evening gala at a memorial to the events in Poznan's Adam Mickiewicz Square, attended by the presidents of Hungary and Poland. A special guest at the ceremony will be former Polish President Lech Walesa, who in 1980 founded and led the Solidarity Union which in 1989 toppled Poland's communist regime. (PAP)
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