Paweł Sasanka: July 22, 1953. The “birthday” of the Polish government in the shadow of the revolts in Czechoslovakia and the GDR
After Stalin’s death, Stalinism was doing well in Poland, but in the spring and early summer of 1953, there was a lot of tension behind the scenes in power. The reason was the revolts in the satellite countries of the Soviet Union in Central Europe.
Propaganda photograph promoting the establishment of the Polish Committee of National Liberation and its first activities – the publication of the July Manifesto and the implementation of the agrarian reform. Photo: AIPN
July 22, conceived as the anniversary of the birth of “Lublin Poland”, to replace the “bourgeois” holiday of November 11, from the very beginning had a more entertaining character than Labor Day; it was to express the joy of the “people”. At the same time, it fulfilled the role of “a day of great balance of achievements” – the calling card of the People’s Republic of Poland: since 1946, an indispensable element of the celebrations was the ceremonial opening of new, flagship investments. The press reported on production commitments undertaken by the crews of industrial plants, and on the eve of the July holiday, on reports of their fulfillment and on the crews taking on “July guards”.
Anniversary ceremonies were organized on July 21 and 22. The scenario of the holiday was not as precise as in the case of May 1, it contained a set of guidelines for the desired rituals and attractions rather than detailed instructions – it left local authorities some freedom in determining the nature of the celebrations. A permanent element was a central ceremony with the participation of representatives of the highest party and state authorities and ceremonies of putting into use new investments.
All the celebrations took place in a setting saturated with patriotic symbolism, among white and red flags and decorations. The celebrations on round and semi-round anniversaries were particularly impressive: on the tenth “birthday” (in July 1954) the main celebrations were organized in Lublin, the capital of “Lublin Poland”. The fifteenth was celebrated by opening the Gdańsk Bridge route in the capital, the largest Warsaw investment since the WZ route.
Celebrations and big politics
Three months after Stalin’s death, Poland was on the sidelines of the “great history” that was taking place in Moscow, Prague, or Berlin rather than in Warsaw. The authorities were anxiously observing the developments and changes in the Kremlin’s Eastern European policy and the events in the neighboring countries. The form of the celebrations of July 22, 1953 was largely influenced by the anxiety related to the social rebellions: a wave of strikes and a workers’ uprising in Pilsen in Czechoslovakia and the uprising in the GDR.
Polish workers experienced the “accelerated construction of socialism” just as painfully as their Czechoslovak and East German colleagues, and fears that they might follow in their footsteps were justified. After the abolition of rationing cards in January 1953 and the drastic increase in the prices of food and industrial products, the costs of maintaining a working-class family in Warsaw rose by about 45%, and food expenses by almost 50% – in Silesia even by 51% and 56%.
However, there were no more serious incidents. In conditions of strong repression, people mainly took isolated and scattered actions that were indicative of social resistance. From the authorities’ perspective, the main problem was that news about the uprising in the GDR was of great interest to Germans living in the country and the native population, which was reflected in anti-systemic comments and the more frequent public use of the German language. This phenomenon reached its peak in July 1953, when in Silesia even ticket sellers in trams or shop assistants used German when serving customers, which the concerned authorities saw as a manifestation of revisionism.
Show of force
The celebrations of July 22 provided the authorities with a pretext to respond to this “revisionist threat” – to organize a show of force. The celebrations had a twofold character, and their key point was organized outside the capital, in Stalinogród (Katowice).
Warsaw has celebrated so far: on the eve of the holiday, a ceremonial session of the Capital National Council took place in the Hala Gwardii, with the participation of the highest authorities, including Bierut, who gave a speech on the occasion. Before the artistic part, the customary awards were presented, mainly to builders, in connection with the opening of the Old Town Market Square and the completion of the first stage of the reconstruction of the Old Town. On July 22, in front of the leaders, gathered on the grandstand on Krakowskie Przedmieście vis à vis Mickiewicz monument, young people paraded in even, military formation.
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