Look Who it Was Random video

Aleksander Smolar - The prison toilet 'telephone' (127/201)

95 views · Published 20 December 2018 · 2:07 · 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: He was the first person I spoke to using a very effective technique. You needed to push the water out of the toilet, the lavatory pan, and that would create a vacuum in the pipe between the floors. Then you could talk via the toilet, you could talk and hear what was being said. That’s when I heard and remembered his name because he was an interesting character. He was in his first year at university studying history. He said, ‘My name’s Antoni Macierewicz and I’m a first year history student’. I don’t remember anything more of what he said as he had only just been arrested. I presume that he doesn’t remember having this conversation with me since he had so much new information to process that I expect he doesn’t remember any of this, but I do. I spoke with him another time when I rang him up to get some information I needed during the times of the democratic opposition. In any case, there were ways of communicating, and the cells… the cells differed; sometimes they were incredibly interesting.

[VT] You said you used to knock on the walls. Did you know then...?
 
Well, yes, but to be honest, this was the rarest. I mean, those traditional means [of communication] were the rarest. Often via the window and besides, we were punished for that – we were put in the cooler as it was called before the war, in other words on a hard… into solitary confinement where I spent several days and was punished. Later, someone, some friend took out, I don’t even know with whom, my prison records. I’ve never read the files the secret police had on me, I never went to the Institute of National Remembrance – so-called – where they’re kept. To be honest, I was always intrigued to find out what they knew about me and about my brother, about my family, and about my parents. I find it fascinating. But I could never bring myself – I have a real aversion and dislike of the people who are in charge there, but that’s probably not very wise and I’ll probably overcome my antipathy.

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