Anderman, Hanna. Minus 1, 1970s. Photo series

The photographic series entitled "Minus One" was created by Hanna Anderman (alias Anna Musiałówna) in 1970s. It was not published in the official press as it broke taboo about abortion in Poland. It might be considered as a symbol of a part of everyday life in socialist Poland that the authorities did not want to show to wider audience.
State politics towards women's reproductive rights varied in the socialist times. After the "Khrushchev Thaw", from 1956, the termination of pregnancy was possible in the situations of not only medical conditions of woman or fetus, but also hard living conditions of pregnant women. However, the abortion was not discussed publicly until the 70s when Polish sexologists started to publish their books on sexuality, procreation, and contraception. The debate about termination of pregnancy concentrated on the fact that due to low social awareness and accessibility of contraception the number of abortions, especially those performed in the unsterile and unofficial conditions, was too high. At the same time, the wider public was not exposed to bare documentation of the act of termination of pregnancy itself, which is the case in Musiałówna's photographic cycle.
In order to gain access to the hospital performing the termination of pregnancies Musiałówna had to use her best capacities as researcher and reporter and it cost her months of preparations. She photographed the procedure in a hospital and showed the medical utensils, figure of white-clad doctor, drops of blood and silhouette of a fetus. The photographs were bluntly showing the very core of the preparations for procedure, yet at the same time, as they were black and white, they did not shock with drastic images of blood. It is a very interesting cycle, combining together the sensitivity and craftsmanship of a photographer with a very important social issue.

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Местоположение:
- Warszawa, Warsaw, Poland
Езици:
- Полски
Създател:
- Anderman, Hanna
Година на създаване:
- 1970
Избрани пример от:
- Collection of Association of Documentalists "The Road"

Aniela Mieczysławska Raczyńska's correspondence with Jerzy Giedroyc, 1957-1992

Aniela Mieczysławska Raczyńska began collaborating with Jerzy Giedroyc's Literary Institute in the late 1940s. The two knew each other since the opening days of the Second World War in 1939 when Aniela and her husband Witold Friedman Mieczysławski, Polish diplomat, landed in Bucharest where Giedroyc served as the secretary of the Polish embassy in Romania. While in the US, she organized fundraising events for Giedroyc's press and Kultura review. The collection contains 7 files and hundreds of letters exchanged between Mieczysławska and Giedroyc from 1957 to 1992. It casts a broad glance on contacts, collaboration and animosities between Polish émigré circles in Britain, US, and France and provides the critical evidence of discrepancy between Jerzy Giedroyc's milieu and the "Polish London" mobilized around the Government in Exile. The bone of contention was the relationship with Polish People's Republic. While Giedroyc consequently built bridges between diaspora and the country, taking into consideration political changes, cultural trends, and literature and philosophy created in socialist Poland, the London émigrés viewed themselves and their institutions as the only guardians of Polish political and cultural tradition, culture and national identity. The correspondence documents and tracks down Aniela Mieczysławska Raczyńska's gradual conversion to the 'London' camp and Jerzy Giedroyc's disenchantment with London exiles. It also contains fascinating perspectives and detail on the social life of Polish political and cultural elites in exile.

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Местоположение:
- London Princes Gate 20, United Kingdom SW7 1PT
Езици:
- Полски
Създател:
- Mieczysławska Raczyńska, Aniela
Избрани пример от:
- Aniela Mieczysławska Raczyńska Collection

Announcement Jazz & Folksongs, 1967

In the middle of the SED campaign against Anglicisms, the popular regular event “Jazz-Lyric-Prose” was scheduled again on the Berliner Volksbühne. It as now specifically billed as an evening of “Jazz & Folk-songs” with well-known artists like Manfred Krug, Werner Sellhorn, Eva-Maria Hagen, and Gerry Wolf. After this announcement, angry culture officials demanded to re-do the whole programme within a week. And, in fact, on March 4th, 1967, the “Come and Sing”-event took place with performances of traditional battle songs by, among others, the Erich-Weinert-Choir of the National Army. The campaign also resulted in the Hootenanny-club being renamed Oktoberklub and becoming the flagship of the FDJ-song movement.

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Местоположение:
- Berlin, Germany
Езици:
- Немски
Година на създаване:
- 1967
Избрани пример от:
- Archive Song and Social Movements

Announcement of a working day

This item is a typical announcement of a regular work day of the Noor-Tartu (Young-Tartu) movement. Announcements which were usually placed in educational buildings and hostels were an information channel to recruit people for work days. Anyone who saw an announcement was free to join a work day. The Raadi cemetery, which is mentioned in the announcement, especially its one part – Old St John’s cemetery – was one of the main areas of the work of Noor-Tartu.

This announcement itself was simple, and made with the means that were available. However, the announcement is still remarkable due to the big letter K in each corner of the paper. It is a hint at the former name of the movement – Kodulinn (Hometown) – , which was used until the spring of 1981. The movement only changed its name because the Tartu Komsomol organisation deliberately named its new organisation for school students Kodulinn in order to cause confusion.

The date on the announcement is Sunday, 28 November, without mentioning the year. However, we can assume that the work day took place, and that the announcement was written, in 1982. At that time, the activity of Noor-Tartu was not obstructed, but in later years these announcements were removed by the authorities, in order to disrupt the work days.

The announcement belongs to the core group of the former movement. Like the entire collection, this item has not attracted wider attention, which is also the intention of the current operator of the collection. It is possible that it will be used for research after the collection is given to an institution.

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Местоположение:
- Tartu , Estonia undefined
Езици:
- Естонски
Създател:
- Young-Tartu
Година на създаване:
- 1982
Избрани пример от:
- Young-Tartu collection

Anonymous Secret Agent. Report about István Malgot's ’maximal and minimal political program’, 1976. Manuscript

The agent who went by the cover name “Tamás Fehér” submitted a report about his meetings and talks with István Malgot, during which he attempted to learn about Malgot’s political views. He wrote about Malgot’s ’minimal and maximal political program in 1976. According to Malgot’s maximal program, ideally technocrat scientists, artists, and officials would govern the socialist state. The role of the family would decrease, and instead of families, communes would be created based on love and work. The commune would be a form of existence not only for the free artist but also for the other workers, and it would constitute a reform to tradition practices of child rearing. The minimal program involved the group’s activity, which consisted not only of artistic work but also of a struggle against manipulation and for democracy. The political police judged István Malgot’s political views as antisocial.

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Местоположение:
- Budapest, Hungary
Езици:
- Унгарски
Създател:
- Malgot, István
Година на създаване:
- 1976
Избрани пример от:
- Orfeo Collection in the Historical Archives of the Hungarian State Security (ÁBTL)