This year marks the 78th anniversary of the wave of Soviet repression that claimed tens of thousands of victims. The deportation of thousands of people to forced labour in the Soviet Union entailed a series of dramas for many families.
The people of Upper Silesia were subjected to repression not only by the Soviets but also by the domestic communist apparatus of violence. The criminal penal camps in Świętochłowice-Zgoda, Mysłowice and Łambinowice are symbols of this persecution. During the People’s Republic of Poland, the crimes of the Red Army and the communist authorities in Upper Silesia in 1945 were taboo subjects. It was not until after the 1989 breakthrough that the subject appeared in the public space, earning the term – Upper Silesian Tragedy.
In 2010, Silesian Regional Assembly, and in 2012, Opole Voivodeship Assembly adopted a resolution on the annual commemoration of the Upper Silesian Tragedy, setting the end of January as the date.
The Institute of National Remembrance (IPN), especially its Katowice branch, has become involved in explaining the Tragedy, describing it and carrying out educational and publishing projects related to it.