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Aleksander Smolar - Indicted but released without trial (131/201)

84 views · Published 20 December 2018 · 3:14 · Indexed 8 November 2026

Channel: Web of Stories - Life Stories of Remarkable People · 2018 · News & Politics

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To listen to more of Aleksander Smolar’s stories, go to the playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVV0r6CmEsFwlxPLurqAOCrabBgGrqLA7

Aleksander Smolar (b. 1940) is a Polish writer, political activist and adviser, vice-president of the Institute for Human Sciences and president of the Stefan Batory Foundation. [Listener: Vitek Tracz]

TRANSCRIPT: I spent nearly a year in prison. The charges against me were prepared. Jadwiga Staniszkis, whom I've already mentioned, was charged along with me. She was released from prison much sooner than I was but we were charged together. I had already signed, I mean I was reading the indictment against me which meant that the trial had already been prepared. And then the authorities decided not to proceed with our trial. I think it was because almost a whole year had gone by. The situation had changed, they were trying to stamp out this anti-Semitic campaign and I think that putting us on trial – our status was different from that of the students, we were assistant lecturers, university employees, independent of… So I think the authorities concluded that it wasn't worth the bother. And so we simply walked away… I walked away free, [Jadwiga] had been freed a long time before me. I went to the university where most of the other personnel took no notice of me. For me it was, as I've already described it, how it was after I came out in '68 – I mean, it wasn't a department where the atmosphere was especially pleasant. The second department I was in – sociology – was much more liberal and open. Well, I was looking for work then and I can't remember whether I've already spoken about this or not… I found…

[VT] Was it a surprise that they suddenly allowed you to go free?

Yes, of course it was a surprise. I had been expecting a trial, I had a closed trial. It was the normal thing, many of my friends had been sentenced. Many of my friends had already been sentenced. Although it's true that not one university employee was among them as I remember. They were either students or repeat offenders, like Jacek Kuroń, Karol Modzelewski. Whereas we were the first people from a completely different professional category. And I think… in addition to that we weren't the lead actors here, of course. Jadwiga certainly wasn't. I was close but I wasn't in the leading role. So I think they decided it just wasn't worth organising all of this.

[VT] Were you still at home?

Pardon?

[VT] Were you living with your parents?

No. No, I'd come… I was married by then and had a child. Our daughter, Monika, was born in '68 so going to prison then, I'd left my wife on her own. Well, she was living with her parents so it's not as if… In any case, I went back there but relations between us weren't great and we divorced quite soon after that. Besides, I already had, so to speak… my emotional life was elsewhere by then.

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