Letter of 59

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Letter of 59 (also known as the Memorial of 59) was an open letter signed by 66 (at first, 59, hence the name) Polish intellectuals who protested against the changes of the Constitution of the People's Republic of Poland. The letter was issued in 1975, although additional people signed it in January 1976.

The changes proposed by the Polish communist party, PZPR, were as follows:

  • 'steering role of the Party in the nation'
  • 'socialist character of the nation'
  • 'permanent and unbreakable alliance with the Soviet Union'
  • about 'the government obligation to respect the rights of the citizens being dependent on the citizens fulfilling his obligations towards the country'

The government criticized the letter, with Edward Gierek calling the signatories "furious anticommunists, politically blind" but eventually although the constitution was changed the above fragments were more neutral:

  • steering role of the Party 'in the nation' was changed to 'in the building of socialism'
  • the 'alliance' with the USSR was replaced with 'friendship'
  • citizens right were not linked with their obligations

The government could not officially persecute the signatories for their letter, although various semi-official persecutions were used (for example, some authors had the government agencies refuse to print or distribute their books for the several years).

Italic refers to the additional signatures in 1976:

In addition in January 1976 78 emmigrants and exiled Polish intellectuals signed the letter, including:


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