Student Riots 40th Anniversary

Polish 19^th classic “Halloween” ("DZIADY") by national poet Adam Mickiewicz, has always been a symbolic text for our national struggle against foreign tyranny. At the time of its origin, Poland did not exist on maps of Europe and the text was clearly anti-Russian.

No wonder that at the time of deep socialist regime in Poland and hard-headed communist rule in Soviet Union, the public enthusiastically reacted to scenes of attacking the oppressor in the played being performed with no small amount of bravado.

After 11 runs of the play, it was taken off by the central authorities as being harmful for the relationship with “our greatest ally”.

Students, artists, and others went out into the streets in a protest that turned into regular riots. This fitted well with the stormy 1968 of student riots in Prague, Paris and the hippie revolution.