During the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Gorzów August 1982, Polish President Andrzej Duda noted “Solidarity won and it is here with us today! It is with us in the persons of the heroes of those days, the people of Solidarity, who then stood here, on this square, beneath the Gorzów cathedral, by the white cross, in order to show that they were free despite the communist attempt to enslave them”.

The Gorzów August is the name of the protest that took place on 31 August 1982, the second anniversary of the signing of the August Agreements. On that day, residents of Gorzów Wielkopolski began to gather around the cathedral from the afternoon hours.  Nearly 10,000 people protested against martial law. It was the largest political demonstration in the history of the Lubuskie region.

The communist authorities repressed the participants of the Gorzów August. The militia detained 202 people and 26 were sentenced to several years in prison.

President Duda said that at that time “Gorzów showed its invincibility through the attitude of its citizens”, who turned out in large numbers to protest despite the martial law.

“The fact that today you can protest freely is your great victory,” said the President. “The fact that today you can freely come out and say: “I don’t like the decisions of the municipal authorities”, “I don’t like the decisions of the provincial and district authorities”, “I don’t like the decisions of the government” or “I don’t like the decisions of the president” is a great achievement. – is to your great credit. This is what you fought for. This is free Poland,” said Andrzej Duda.

During the ceremony, the President awarded decorations and state distinctions to persons of merit for the Lubuskie Voivodeship and the democratic changes in Poland.

An art installation commemorating the events of 31 August 1982 was also unveiled. The installation takes the form of stainless-steel plates bearing information about the events of 40 years ago.

Adrian Andrzejewski