Maluch in opposition

The small Fiat was the ‘baby’ of Edward Gierek’s team, one of its most important ventures and a symbol of the illusory prosperity of the 1970s. The economic mistakes made by this team led to the crisis and, as a result, its collapse and the emergence of the Solidarity trade union. The hopes of Poles for lasting change were dashed by Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski’s declaration of martial law on 13 December 1981. In the 1980s, Wrocław became a stronghold of the underground Solidarity movement, a place of mass street demonstrations, the cradle of the Fighting Solidarity and Orange Alternative movements. On the streets of the city, among the ubiquitous Maluch cars, the history of social resistance and civil initiatives ignoring the ossified repressive authorities was written.

Photo 1.

On the second anniversary of the August Agreements, i.e. 31 August 1982, the largest mass protest in the history of Wrocław took place. The photo shows a militia line at the then 1 Maja Square (now Jana Pawła II Square).

Photo by N.N. (collections of the Ossolineum Library / Documents of Social Life Department)

Photo 2.

On 3 December 1981, a Fiat 126p belonging to Stanisław Huskowski was used in a daring operation to withdraw and hide 80 million zlotys from an account belonging to the Wrocław Regional Council of the Solidarity trade union. After withdrawing the money from the 5th Branch of the National Bank of Poland in Ofiar Oświęcimskich Street, Józef Pinior, Piotr Bednarz and Tomasz Surowiec drove a Fiat 125p belonging to the latter to the vicinity of the Osobowicki cemetery. There, the money, equivalent to over six hundred Maluch cars, was transferred to Stanisław Huskowski’s Fiat 126p, who took it to Ostrów Tumski and handed it over to Archbishop Henryk Gulbinowicz for safekeeping. The official press reported the removal of union’s money on New Year’s Eve 1981.

‘Gazeta Robotnicza – Magazyn Tygodniowy’ of 31 December 1981 – 1 January 1982, No. 51/241, p. 13 (collections of the Ossolineum Library / Periodicals Department)

Photo 3.

Demonstration on the martial law mensiversary, 13 June 1983.

Photo by N.N. (collections of the Ossolineum Library / Documents of Social Life Department)

Photo 4.

Photo by N.N. (collections of the Ossolineum Library / Documents of Social Life Department)