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45 years ago, on July 21, 1973, Poles were given an extra day off for the first time. The authorities wanted to control this freedom, but they did not have much idea. Finally, Saturdays not only remained free, but also multiplied rapidly
On the morning of July 21, 1973, the Poles could easily forget that something extraordinary was happening. The fact that they did not have to go to work that day was indeed special – Saturday was a normal day of work. The problem, however, is that Poland's national revival day was the next day, so this move by the authorities just seemed a welcome surprise. In addition, the authorities did their best to keep this impression. In the contemporary press, no mention of a free Saturday could be found – it was most often written about two days of Christmas, moreover, in an almost identical tone, as at once each year on July 22nd. Two days before, Trybuna Ludu traditionally reported, for example, that the race exceeded the expected production standards and gave new opportunities to the workers. So you can find:
Hard work takes place before Christmas. Approx. 2.5 thousand tons of steel constructions for the construction of industrial halls have already been produced by Wytwórnia Konstrukcji Stalowych + Mostostal + in Chojnice, launched in recent days. In Gdansk province has received five municipal health centers and pharmacies, built with funds NFOZZ with the help of the local population, especially young people. The Krakow region is enriched with new economic, social and cultural facilities transferred before Poland's rebirth festival. The Krakow Electronic Works + Telpod + production plant was opened in Szczucin, while Krakow + Telpod + employees received a social building worth PLN 5 million
Articles from other newspapers were kept in the same style. Even on July 23, we wrote that the past few days were only a long, festive weekend. For example – Życie Warszawy journalists recorded:
About 300,000 The Varsovians, not counting those who went on vacation, spent two days off outside the city. All the stations of the Zegrze Reservoir, in Zalesie Górne and Józefów, were filled in last place. On Saturdays and Sundays, the capital has hosted about 150 trips. In the old town we met m.in. inhabitants of Konin, Wrocław and Opole
All this sounded as if the fact of granting the status of the following day without work was something shameful. Something from which to divert the attention. During that time, it was the most official problem raised at the sixth PZPR Congress in December 1971 and announced by a decree of July 20, 1972 which, by itself, did not introduce a free Saturday, but opened a legal door by which the Council of Ministers could announce it. at his own discretion. She, or rather – them, because I then had two extra days off. In 1965, the Council of Ministers is authorized to establish, in agreement with the Central Council of Trade Unions, two additional days of leave in 1972, compensated by an appropriate change in working time in the days preceding the additional days off.
Moreover, in the remainder of the document, notably in Article 6, the Council of Ministers was authorized to take other days off in the following years and this authorization was renewed in 1973 by a decree of July 14th. The Council of Ministers used this authorization, although very limited. In 1972, she did not decide to introduce an extra day off, in 1973 she presented two – although, as you can see, it was almost secretive. In the following years, however, she was more generous. In 1974, it was already six Saturdays a year, and the following year twelve, or a free Saturday a month. The pinnacle of giving free time to the citizens came in 1979, when they received up to fourteen gifts.
Why was it decided to introduce free Saturdays? Nobody has ever officially answered this question. During the VI PZPR Congress, Leonid Brezhnev was present in the USSR, Saturdays were running for five years, so maybe it was a demonstration gesture. However, this does not explain why their dimension has been gradually increased. Most likely, it was simply the basic laws of the economy that worked here.
In the early 1970s, Poles were relatively prosperous during the period of the Polish People's Republic. National income at the beginning of the decade grew at a rate of over 9%. every year and citizens' income has increased proportionally. The opening to the West has made that luxury goods have also appeared in stores (although commodities were often lacking), and though, however, it was not time to buy? Edward Gierek was a leader in a different format than his predecessors and successors. He spent his youth not in the claustrophobic atmosphere of the communist conspiracy, orbiting the USSR, but in France. And even if they were French communist circles, they still allowed to see the world from a different angle of the Kremlin. Perhaps it was because of this that Poland at the time felt for a moment a European country.
But at least as important as the economy, and perhaps even more important in 1972, it was probably a political factor. Gierek came to power after the bloody December 1970, when the public was hysterical about the system – which was largely attributable to widespread poverty collided with price rises, which were just the fundamental reason for the riots of December. At first, Gierek did not realize it. He tried to calm moods by freezing prices, as well as financial compensation for the poorest. But these were empty gestures that the street immediately felt. As early as January 1971, a strike broke out in the shipyard of Szczecin which, in a few days, took over dozens of other factories and public transport. In Łódź early February, more than 50,000 people went on strike employees of the textile industry, later cotton. A total of 220 strikes broke out in January and February this year, forcing the authorities to withdraw from the increase.
Over the months, the atmosphere has calmed down, even if it was still in the rendezvous in June. To make such a small gesture by awarding two free Saturdays a year could be for Gierek during the 6th Congress to cook two birds with one stone. First of all, showing Brezhnev that the current team is in control of the situation, he succeeds his baptism of battle, and proved that the non-repayable loan of $ 100 million that she received from the Kremlin was a good investment. Second, an extra carrot for the public. Perhaps then Gierek understood that the polish stick was certainly not enough, and at least created the appearance of the wealth of society, he paid attention to it. Another thing, how much does it cost. However, this problem has already been left behind by the next team.
Since July 1973, the era of free Saturdays has begun. The problem is that the authorities did not know very well what to do correctly. It did not come to them in the mind that they had nothing to do and that the Poles would be able to cope with the extra twelve hours' freedom. Initially, the government was worried. Dr. Andrzej Roykiewicz of the Institute for Youth Research in Dziennik Zachodni's diary:
Even a science-laden student should not be idle in his spare time. Unfortunately, research on the use of leisure time by young people in 1521 has shown that passive cultural consumption accomplishes it.
Thus, to prevent passive cultural consumption, national and local motives began to multiply various top-down initiatives such as social acts. . Of course, they were known before – they were referring directly to Russian underlings, already organized in the 1920s – but outside the post-war period, they were not practiced at the time. Scale of the Gierek decade.
The Poles planted trees in large numbers, tore parks, but also participated in the construction of roads or buildings. As a result, a free Saturday was not entirely free, but in reality the biggest effort was made to get them out – they were usually completely ineffective. On the occasion of the new dimension, the term "social act" was acquired, because socialization was indeed vital: instead of passive cultural consumption, implementation of the active consumption of the "social act" took place. ;alcohol. In the 1970s, 10 liters of pure alcohol per year fell on the head of a statistical pole, which explains to some extent why the game of the decade was also the most entertaining. Authorities have certainly seen that social work usually ends in a common bungle, but it was not meant to create anything permanent in the process.
The basic idea of communist leisure was that free time should belong to the state, citizen – wrote the historian Paweł Sowiński, author of the excellent work Holiday in Poland popular . The researcher further noted that something very characteristic of communism was the inability to maintain control over the work system, under conditions of excessive free time. And it was about control here. A social act was necessary not to build something but to better control it. When we notice that social work, to put it mildly, does not enjoy the popularity of the citizens (Gierek wants above all to make the citizen happy), new forms of organization of free time are quickly introduced – no less controlled, but at least more enjoyable. At the power stations, guided tours, group fishing and many courses were organized, where attendance was mandatory, the list of presences checked and the abstention justified, but at least they represented an attractive detachment of the monotony of life
. they came seriously. In order to facilitate and improve the weekend rest, special leisure centers have started to develop around the cities, so-called holiday centers on Saturdays and Sundays. They were defined as follows:
Set of installations and devices located near the agglomeration, in the immediate vicinity of areas of natural value, beneficial for recreation, in public transport areas served by public transport. The resort is equipped according to the needs of leisure and recreation in the short term. It serves a large number of people at the same time, with different tastes.
The data published in the statistical yearbooks are certainly not 100% reliable, and one should know that they are talking about tourism in general. But even these numbers show how much has changed. If in 1971 the tourism industry recorded 280 000 man-days, in 1977 there were 504 000 of them And analogically when it comes to the tourist infrastructure: in 1970 – 75,000 centers, in 1977 564 thousand The forms of recreation such as sailing or mountaineering began to develop in a flash – it's in the seventies that he experienced its greatest prosperity, certainly related to the additional leisure time
under control, but under control. Another thing is that they have not stopped rebelling on this occasion. Strikes have been erratic throughout the decade, even in the most favorable economic year of this period – 1973. Perhaps the authorities were right, fearing free time. Finally, in 1976, when the number of free Saturdays reached its peak, the first organized opposition to the communist regime was formed in the history of the PRL
. At the end of the decade, free Saturdays became the standard already anchored in the PRL. the backbone of society, that in August 1980 they became one of the 21 famous postulates of Solidarity. It is true that the last but, as it turned out, not the least important. In the context there was a pretty serious tension. When the government tried to extricate itself from its previous obligations to offer every Saturday from January 1, 1981, offering instead of two free Saturdays a month, there was a massive social rebellion. On the first Saturday of this year, January 10, Solidarity announced as free. And people did not go to work in solidarity – as in a silent paraphrase of the Gomułka saying: once we have gained free time, we will never give it away.
wla / skp /
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