On March 28th, Poland’s history unfolds with a tapestry of events spanning centuries. From significant political trials to cultural milestones and sporting achievements, this date marks a kaleidoscope of happenings.
On that day in Warsaw, Janusz Kusociński was arrested by the Gestapo; automotive plants were established in Jelcz; during a rally at UW, the “Declaration of the Student Movement” was adopted; the trial of those accused of leadership in the deaths of 44 people in December 1970 began; the mandatory wearing of masks in enclosed spaces was lifted. Among those born were Stanisław Downarowicz, Stanisław Dąbek, Jan Mulak, Tadeusz de Virion, Zbigniew Brzeziński, Józef Schmidt, Mariusz Treliński. Those who passed away included Agenor Gołuchowski, Józef Pelczar, Karol Świerczewski, Ludwika Nitschowa, Włodzimierz Reczek, Zofia Romanowiczowa, Jan Kaczkowski, and Marek Lehnert.
1241 – Mongol forces captured Kraków.
1364 – In the presence of King Casimir III the Great, Archbishop Jarosław Bogoria Skotnicki consecrated the cathedral at Wawel.
1689 – The sejm court sentenced Kazimierz Łyszczyński, accused of atheism and author of the treatise “De non existentia Dei” denying the existence of God, to death. The sentence was carried out at the Old Town Market Square in Warsaw.
1793 – As part of the partitions of Poland, Prussian forces entered Gdańsk.
1842 – The theater building named after its founder, Count Stanisław Skarbek, known as the Skarbek Theatre, was opened in Lviv, one of the largest theater buildings in Europe.
1874 – Stanisław Downarowicz, a politician, PPS activist, member of the Supreme National Committee, Minister of Internal Affairs in the government of Antoni Ponikowski, voivode of Volhynia and Polesia, and a prisoner of the German Auschwitz camp where he died, was born in Łochów.
1892 – Stanisław Dąbek, a colonel of the Polish Army who commanded the Coastal Defense during the Polish campaign in 1939, was born in Nisko nad Sanem.
1913 – Kajetan Sosnowski, a painter and co-founder of the Group 55, was born in Vilnius.
1914 – Jan Mulak, an athlete, coach, member of RPPS and PPS, participant in the Warsaw Uprising, co-founder of the Polish athletics team, known as the Wunderteam, and a PKOl activist, was born in Warsaw.
1920 – Athletic competitions and the first boxing match in the country took place at the military riding hall on Zwierzyniecka Street in Kraków.
1921 – Agenor Gołuchowski Jr., a lawyer, politician, and diplomat who served as the Austro-Hungarian ambassador to Romania and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1895 to 1906, died in Lviv.
1924 – Józef Pelczar, the bishop of Przemyśl who was canonized in 2003, died in Przemyśl.
1926 – Tadeusz de Virion, a lawyer, diplomat, participant in the Warsaw Uprising, and ambassador of the Republic of Poland to the United Kingdom from 1990 to 1993, was born in Warsaw.
1928 – A regulation changing the shade of red on the flag of the Republic of Poland from crimson to vermilion, issued by President Stanisław Wojciechowski, came into force.
1928 – Zbigniew Brzeziński, an American political scientist who served as the National Security Advisor to President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1981, playing a significant role in the dismantling of communism in Eastern Europe and in preventing Soviet intervention in Poland after the Solidarity movement, was born in Warsaw.
1933 – The state authorities dissolved the oppositional Camp of Great Poland, founded by Roman Dmowski after the May Coup in 1926.
1935 – Józef Schmidt, an athlete, triple jumper, Olympic gold medalist in Rome (1960) and Tokyo (1964), two-time European champion, and world record holder, was born in Miechowice, now a district of Bytom.
1940 – Janusz Kusociński, an athlete, Olympic champion in the 10 km run in 1932, a soldier during the Polish campaign of 1939, and engaged in underground activities during the occupation, was arrested by the Gestapo in Warsaw and executed in Palmiry.
1942 – The People’s Guard, an armed organization of the Polish Workers’ Party (PPR), was formed (the decision was retroactively dated to January 6, 1942).
1945 – The 2nd Belarusian Front troops occupied Gdynia; the 1st Armored Brigade named after the Heroes of Westerplatte participated in the battle for the city.
1947 – General Karol Świerczewski, a communist activist and member of the WKP(b), who held command positions in the Red Army in the 1920s and 1930s, led the XIV International Brigade in Spain under the pseudonym “General Walter” in 1936, and commanded the 2nd Army of the Polish Army from 1944 to 1945, was killed in an ambush by the UPA in the Bieszczady Mountains near Baligród.
1948 – The premiere of the film “The Last Stage” directed by Wanda Jakubowska took place.
1951 – After nearly three years of investigation, the trial of activists of the Labor Party accused of attempting to overthrow the Polish system by force began before the District Military Court in Warsaw.
1952 – Grzegorz Wons, an actor, was born in Poznań.
1952 – The Sejm passed a law on state insurance, transforming the Mutual Insurance Company into the State Insurance Company.
1952 – Automotive plants were established in Jelcz.
1962 – Mariusz Treliński, an opera, theater, and film director, and artistic director of the Grand Theatre – Polish National Opera, was born in Warsaw.
1968 – March ’68: During a rally at the University of Warsaw, the “Declaration of the Student Movement” was adopted, demanding freedom of speech, freedom of association, abolition of censorship, introduction of transparency in public life, social control of state property, and respect for constitutional civil rights.
1969 – The premiere of the film “Colonel Wolodyjowski” directed by Jerzy Hoffman took place.
1970 – The premiere of Janusz Kondratiuk’s film “How to Get Money, Women, and Fame” took place.
1972 – The inauguration of the VI term of the Polish People’s Republic Sejm was held, and Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz opened the proceedings as the senior marshal.
1973 – Wales defeated Poland 2:0 in a World Cup qualifying match played in Cardiff.
1979 – The premiere of the film “Hospital of the Transfiguration” directed by Edward Żebrowski took place.
1983 – The premiere of the film “The Inn” directed by Jerzy Kawalerow