Printing techniques in the underground during the period of martial law

The article discusses the printing techniques used by the underground “Solidarity” and other underground groups in Poland in the 1980s. The application of the three most important techniques is discussed and analyzed in turn: printing on a protein duplicator, screen printing and printing on an off set machine. The technical aspects of underground printing are illustrated with examples from the Toruń and Gdańsk regions.

General Zbigniew Nowek – social activist, commander of the special services (1959–2019)

Zbigniew Nowek (1959–2019) – since the late 1970s, an activist of the democratic opposition. In 1980–1981, he was the chairman of the Independent Students’ Association of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. Co-founder of the independent publishing house «Alternatywy». During the period of martial law, he was the publisher and printer of huge amounts of leafl ets and underground newspapers in Gdańsk, as well as books, postcards, posters, etc. In 1998–2001, head of the State Protection Offi ce, in 2005–2008, head of the Intelligence Agency, elevated to the rank of general, in 2010 r. deputy head of the National Security Bureau.

Foreign contacts of the underground Toruń Region of NSZZ “Solidarność” in the years 1981–1989

The introduction of martial law on December 13, 1981 resulted in the formation of an opposition underground almost immediately throughout the country. Support from abroad was of great importance for its functioning. This article raises the issue of the activities of the underground Toruń structures of “Solidarity” in the context of aid coming from the West. Over the course of the 1980s, the Toruń underground received printing equipment, computers, parts for radio transmitters, printing ink, money, émigré publications, etc. An important aspect of foreign contacts was the creation of a specific corridor for the secret distribution of copies of the Toruń underground press to “Radio Free Europe”. Articles from this press were later read in radio broadcasts broadcast to Poland.