Popiełuszko. O najtrudniejszym cenzorskim zadaniu roku 1984

Abstract

The article presents the issue so far not dealt with in scientific writing – censorship of articles, notes and literary texts published in newspapers in October and November 1984 – the time when the search for Father Popiełuszko was on and his body finally found, the funeral service held, and when the trial of the perpetrators started. The author relies on selected documents from the resources of the Main Office for the Control of the Press, Publications, and Public Performances (GUKPPIW), stored in the Archives of Modern Records in Warsaw. The author describes several typical cases of interference into pieces of writing related to “the Popiełuszko issue”, the pieces were either censored or withheld. She divides them into several groups depending on the subject matter and, in consequence, the reasons for the cuts: 1.texts in general referring (even metaphorically) to the situation of lawlessness and injustice in which the death of the chaplain of “Solidarity” is considered an exemplification of the criminal characteristics of the communist system, 2. texts about previous activities of Father Jerzy Popiełuszko, 3. texts directly related to the crime and seeking reasons behind it, 4. texts reporting the funeral service, 5. literary works (mainly occasional poetry) in which the death of Father Jerzy Popiełuszko appears. The article ends with the conclusion that the applied methods of controlling press point to the fact that in 1984 that issue was for the Main Office for the Control of the Press, Publications, and Public Performances (GUKPPIW) one of the most important and the hardest. What catches the eye is the intensity of censors’ work who seem to do their best to keep up with the changing situation and the extent of manipulation in social communication.