The 18th day of June 2010 marked the twentieth anniversary of the Wydawnictwo Adam Marszałek (WAM) publishing house. It was celebrated with a concert, entitled 20 years have passed, attended by numerous eminent guests from the world of politics, academia and culture who filled the theater to the brim. In the foyer they could see an exhibition of photographs illustrating the rich history of the publishing house. I use the term ‘publishing house’ as the company fully deserves this name, which is associated with the noblest traditions of Polish editorial work. Owing to Adam Marszałek, Toruń has grown to assume the leading position in this respect, leaving in its wake both companies of long standing tradition as well as those that have emerged over the last two decades, only a handful of which have survived till the present day.

Plans to impose the martial law in the region of Toruń have been prepared since autumn 1980. Already in February a list of people to be interned was completed, it was, however, successively actualized. On the night of 12 December 1981 the militia and army troops seized some works in Toruń, the seat of Toruń Solidarity was also demolished. The leading activists of Solidarity, Solidarity of Individual Farmers and Independent Students’ Association (the NZS) have been interned. Further arrestments of individual activists have continued till autumn 1982. Strikes proclaimed in the works of Toruń within the very first days of martial law were suppressed quickly. The longest, one-day protest, took place on 13 December 1981 at Nicolaus Copernicus University. In the first days of the martial law Solidarity and Independent Students Association activists, who have managed so far to escape internments, took steps to rescue and secure the organizations’ property, which later turned out to be extremely useful at underground work.

Bydgoszcz–Torun. Historical Root Causes of Antagonisms

The antagonism between Bydgoszcz and Torun is one of example of long – lived historical conflict. The position of the borders and turbulent economic development of the cities in the region with the progress of modern political and socio-economic conditions, determinate the cause divisions, still valid. Therefore, a historical relation between the two cities, the circumstances of their creation and development are an expression of diversified nature of the relationship Bydgoszcz and Torun. However, knowledge of the genesis this conflict is important for understanding the nature this peculiar neighborhood, and additionally it represents a significant share of the importance of the cognitive process of shaping the current political division in the region.

Jadwiga Janina Cywińska, nee Malkiewicz. One of the Vilnius Six

The first published biography of one of the members of the first community of the Order of Mercy, founded by Fr. Michał Sopoćko according to the revelations received through the intercession of Sister Faustyna Kowalska; court clerk in Vilnius and Toruń.

The Toruń Security Service tried with extraordinary zeal to dismantle underground structures, especially secret printing houses and distribution structures. For this purpose, informers were used and the information obtained from them was carefully collected. All found copies of leaflets, underground leaflets, posters, etc. were also carefully collected. By January 11, 1982, the Security Service in Toruń had collected a collection of 172 leaflets, into which (as well as subsequent leaflets), the prosecutor’s office initiated an official investigation. They continued until the fall of 1983. The article discusses the methods of operation of the Security Service in Toruń in order to crack down on the Solidarity underground. Searches, interrogations (sometimes brutal), informers and technical means (e.g. wiretapping) were used.

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.