An extraordinary session of the Radom City Council devoted to the PRL-themed dance party – which was part of the official celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of the June 1976 workers’ protests in Radom – took a turbulent course. The city’s mayor from Civic Coalition (KO) and Deputy Mayor Marta Michalska-Wilk did not attend the session, despite calls from the Law and Justice (PiS) councillors’ club for her dismissal. The council, where representatives of the so-called local government pact hold a majority, rejected the Law and Justice (PiS) club’s resolution condemning the city authorities for organizing the event.
At the Municipal Sports and Recreation Centre in Radom, a ball titled “Dance Party in the Spirit of the PRL” was held at the end of January as the first event in the city’s commemorations of the 50th anniversary of the June 1976 workers’ protests. Representatives of the city authorities attended, posing for photos with reenactors dressed in uniforms of the Citizens’ Militia, including ZOMO riot police units. The initiative and its format sparked enormous controversy. It is hard to see how a lavish carnival celebration could be an appropriate way to commemorate such a tragic chapter in the city’s history, when workers from Radom’s factories demanded bread and the communist authorities responded with brutal violence and repression.
Radom councillors from Law and Justice (PiS) requested the extraordinary City Council session in connection with the event at the Municipal Sports and Recreation Centre. The session took place on Friday, 20 February, and proved heated.
Neither the mayor of Radom representing Civic Coalition (KO), Radosław Witkowski, nor his deputy, Marta Michalska-Wilk (Civic Coalition (KO)), whose resignation the Law and Justice (PiS) councillors demanded after photos from the dance party surfaced, attended the session. Members of Parliament from Law and Justice (PiS) were present.
“When I sometimes hear from the current authorities that one should not play politics over graves, that one should not hold dances over the graves of victims, yet here in Radom – over those very graves of victims – you organized such antics, such dances, such mockery, and you should simply step down if you still have even a shadow of honor,” said Law and Justice (PiS) MP Marek Suski, who was present at the meeting.
Representatives of Law and Justice (PiS) stressed that the authorities of Radom had still not apologized for what happened at the dance party. They were also outraged that no one from the city’s leadership appeared at Friday’s session to provide explanations. The head of the Law and Justice (PiS) councillors’ club, Artur Standowicz, assessed that the mayor of Radom had “buried his head in the sand.”
“Neither the mayor, nor the deputy mayor, nor the other officials governing the city of Radom made the effort to admit their mistake,” said Law and Justice (PiS) MP Agnieszka Górska. “Today, unfortunately, we have not received those apologies and, in fact, we may call on the entire executive board, all those currently governing the city, to resign if they have even a shred of respect for their voters, for the residents and simply for themselves,” she added.
According to Law and Justice (PiS) MP and former mayor of Radom Andrzej Kosztowniak, “these several weeks of very telling silence are now screaming today.”
“Those apologies are owed to all residents of Radom – to those who were adults at the time 50 years ago, but also to those who were very young and to those from subsequent generations who know it only from the accounts of their parents or grandparents,” the parliamentarian stressed.
A statement was also presented by the June ’76 Association. Although some of its representatives had taken part in the dance party, they expressed, after the fact, “outrage and disapproval regarding the organization of the ball.” “A ball meant to create an atmosphere of fun and glorification of the 1970s should never have been held in such a format,” the association’s members emphasized. They noted that “for them, despite the passage of 50 years, a ZOMO officer is still associated exclusively with the communist authorities and the beating of workers.”
The city authorities were defended by the head of the Civic Coalition (KO) councillors’ club, Dawid Ruszczyk. He stressed that Deputy Mayor Marta Michalska-Wilk and her family had become victims of a political witch-hunt and hate campaign. “Today we are witnessing an act of political theater. You did not call for conversation, dialogue or debate, but for a lynching. This digital lynching that has taken place has already crossed all possible boundaries,” Ruszczyk told activists from Law and Justice (PiS).
By a majority of Civic Coalition (KO) votes, councillors decided not to adopt the Law and Justice (PiS) club’s position containing criticism of the event’s organizers and a demand to dismiss Deputy Mayor Michalska-Wilk.
After the council chair announced the end of the session, opponents of the Radom authorities present in the chamber chanted: away with communism! After the session concluded, one of the councillors, Jan Pszczoła from the New Left (Lewica), felt unwell and was taken by ambulance to hospital. According to local media reports, he suffered a stroke.