Commemoration of the Anniversary of the December '70 Events

The 50th anniversary of the events of December 1970 is to be celebrated. Remembering the victims and the protagonists of those events, unique projects have been prepared to commemorate the round anniversary of events that have been permanently inscribed in the history of not only our city.

“Black Thursday” is a day that has tragically entered the pages of recent Polish history. Moreover, it is yet another of the crucial elements shaping our Szczecin identity. Fifty years ago, Polish society, and especially workers from Szczecin and other cities on the Coast, strongly opposed the coarse reality and claimed decent living and working conditions. The authorities at the time preferred terror and violence instead of dialogue. Despite the fact that the criminal system lasted in Poland almost two more decades, it was, among other things, the courageous, determined and heroic attitude of the Szczecinians that led to the collapse of communism, resulting in democratic changes in Poland as well as in many other European countries.

This year's celebration of December '70 will begin with a remarkable concert from the Brillante series, which will take place at the Mieczysław Karłowicz Philharmonic. Exactly fifty years after those events, the December Ballads, a collection of symbolic compositions dedicated to the memory of those who suffered the greatest sacrifice in the struggle for freedom, will sound in the Golden Hall of the Philharmonic. Moreover, the programme of the concert included songs to words by the outstanding poet Leszek Aleksander Moczulski. Additionally, there will be songs “Szczecińska ballada”, “Podzwonne” and “Śpiewajcie, rodacy”, i.e. poems by unknown authors - workers of December 1970, the music for which was composed in 2010 by Ryszard Leoszewski. Musical compositions to poems by the great writer Osip Mandelstam, who died in December 1938 in a Soviet gulag, will also be incredibly symbolic.

The beginning of the event, which will be broadcast, among others, through the Philharmonic's Facebook profile, is scheduled for 7 p.m. All the detailed information regarding the concert will be available at www.filharmonia.szczecin.pl.

Following the concert, at 8.30 p.m. you are welcome to the final of the “Solidarity Olympics. Two Decades of History” - 1970 - 1990. This is a cyclical, nationwide historical competition for students of the second and third grades of high school and technical school. It is attended by several thousand students from all over Poland each year, and the winners receive a promise of student book for the full-time studies of the Universities of Warsaw, Jagiellonian, Silesian, Gdańsk, Wrocław and Adam Mickiewicz in Poznań.

This year’s commemoration of the anniversary of December '70 will be culminated by a multi-element historical spectacle, which is scheduled to start at 9 p.m. That will be some sort of illustration of those tragic events. About 40 artists will present scenes that happened 50 years ago on the streets of our city. The performance will be concluded by reading out the names of the victims of the events.

Both the final of the “Solidarity Olympics” competition, as well as the historical spectacle, will be available for viewing via the profile of the Szczecin Art Agency on a social networking site.

 

Furthermore, all the above mentioned events will also be broadcast via the profile https://www.facebook.com/wiadomosci.szczecin.eu.