Extraordinary General Meeting of the Warsaw Branch of the Polish Writers' Union (29 II 1968)

Edward Krasiński (ed.)

Abstract

Text of the transcript of the meeting of the Warsaw branch of the Polish Writers' Union, which was convened at the request of members of the organization in connection with the removal of Dejmek's Forefathers' Eve from the theater's repertoir. The literary community almost unanimously condemned the authorities' decision. During the meeting, the party authorities were unable to impose a resolution that represented the party's position, which had been prepared earlier by Ryszard Dobrowolski. Instead, the meeting primarily focused on an opposition resolution drafted by Andrzej Kijowski. The subject of Forefathers' Eve was not the primary focus of the meeting; rather, it was situated within a broader discourse concerning restrictions on creative freedom, the censorship system, and the excessive interference by authorities in artistic affairs. The transcript, which originates from the archive of Stanislaw Witold Balicki (Special Collections of the Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences), has been supplemented with excerpts derived from additional extant versions. The editor's introduction delineats the context of the meeting and the history of previous publications of fragmentary information about it.