Workers' Defence Committee (KOR)
노동자방어위원회(KOR)
A Polish civil-society group founded in September 1976 by fourteen intellectuals after the June 1976 strikes in Radom and Ursus and the ensuing crackdown. It provided legal, financial and medical aid to imprisoned and dismissed workers and their families, and published the underground bulletin Komunikat and, through its affiliated press NOWA, uncensored books. In September 1977 it transformed into the Committee for Social Self-Defence KSS 'KOR', and its methods and cadres became the foundation of the Solidarity movement.
In depth
Founding
After the June 1976 price rises sparked strikes by workers in Radom, Ursus and Płock, the authorities responded with mass arrests and dismissals. Warsaw dissident intellectuals and activists from Catholic and scouting circles began aiding the victims, and on 23 September 1976 fourteen people, including Jerzy Andrzejewski, Jacek Kuroń, Jan Józef Lipski, Antoni Macierewicz and Adam Michnik, issued an 'Appeal to Society and the Authorities of the PPR' formally founding KOR.
Activity
KOR demanded amnesty and the reinstatement of dismissed workers while providing legal, financial and medical aid, and exposed official lawlessness through the mimeographed bulletins Komunikat and Biuletyn Informacyjny. In May 1977 Zofia and Zbigniew Romaszewski established its Intervention Bureau. Its affiliated underground publisher NOWA (Niezależna Oficyna Wydawnicza) began with KOR's mimeograph machines and grew its own print shops, warehouses and distribution network, translating authors beyond the Eastern Bloc such as George Orwell.
Reformation as KSS 'KOR' and Solidarity
Once the July 1977 amnesty freed most imprisoned workers and KOR activists, the committee's original goal was met and on 29 September 1977 it reformed as the Committee for Social Self-Defence KSS 'KOR', tasked with fighting politically motivated repression and illegality. Its practices in gathering information, publishing and legal coordination became a key organisational resource for the free trade union initiatives of 1978 and the August 1980 Gdańsk shipyard strike that led to Solidarity.
Sources
- Wikipedia (EN) founding in September 1976 after the June 1976 crackdown, aid to prisoners and families, reorganization into KOR Committee for Social Self-Defense (KSS-KOR) in 1977, NOWA underground press founded as a KOR side project
- pl.wikipedia.org 23 September 1976 Appeal by 14 founding signatories, transformation on 29 September 1977 into Komitet Samoobrony Społecznej 'KOR', details of legal/financial/medical aid and underground bulletins
- encysol.pl independent Encyclopaedia Solidarity entry: KOR aided over 600 workers' families, transformed into KSS KOR in IX 1977, and its networks fed the free union movement leading to Solidarity