YEAR OF ISSUE:1984 ISSUER: RKW REGION SLASKO-DABROWSKI CATALOGUE NUMBER: SOLID0644/0394 The Pacification of Wujek was a strike-breaking action by the Polish police and army at the Wujek Coal Mine in Katowice, Poland, culminating in the massacre of nine striking miners on December 16, 1981. It was part of a large-scale action aimed to break the Solidarity free trade union after the introduction of martial law in Poland in 1981. The pacification was technically successful; however, in the longer term, it turned out to be a milestone towards the collapse of the authoritarian system in Poland and, ultimately, to the collapse of the Eastern Bloc. It was a site of numerous protests, including by Solidarity activist Anna Walentynowicz who commemorated a plaque to the murdered miners shortly after she left prison at Goldap. On December 16, three days after the introduction of the martial law in Poland, pro-Solidarity miners striking against the declaration of the martial law by General Wojciech Jaruzelski were dispersed by the troops of the Polish army and police. The forces used in the main thrust against the miners consisted of eight companies of riot police (ZOMO, supported by ORMO (police reservists) and NOMO) with seven water cannons, three companies of military infantry fighting vehicles (each of 10 vehicles) and one company of tanks. The miners repeatedly fought them off with their tools. During the brawl a number of strikers and 41 troops were injured, including 11 severely. In the apex of the events, a commando-type special platoon of ZOMO opened the \"shoot to kill\" fire at the strikers, killing nine of them (Jan Stawisinski, Joachim Gnida, Jozef Czekalski, Krzysztof Giza, Ryszard Gzik, Boguslaw Kopczak, Andrzej Pelka, Zbigniew Wilk and Zenon Zajac) and wounding 21 others. One of the deaths took place after 20 or more days in hospital with severe head-wounds. The repressions after the pacification included sentencing of three miners to jail terms of three to four years in prison. On June 1, 2007, more than two decades after the incident, 15 former members of the special platoon were sentenced to prison terms for their part in the killings. Most of them were sentenced to the terms of 2.5 to three years in prison, except their former platoon commander, Romuald Cieslak, who was sentenced to 11 years in prison. The court however failed to establish who sent the special platoon to Wujek (and thus acquitted the former vice-chief of communist police in Katowice, Marian Okrutny). Kopalnia Wujek (English: \"Uncle\" Mine) is a coal mine in Katowice, Poland. Mining operations began in the vicinity as early as the 16th century. The \"Oheim mine\" (now called Wujek) was established in 1899 by a merger of six mining operations existing in Silesia (then a part of Germany). The German´s called the mine Oheim. The peak Polish roduction was in 1979 (3.88 million tons that year). Currently, the Wujek mine produces sub-bituminous coal with a typical energy content of 30000-31000 kJ/kg, volatile content of 30-31%, ash content of less than 5%, and sulfur content of less than 0.6%. THIS PROPAGANDA STAMP WAS ISSUED BY THE POLISH UNDERGROUND SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT AS A DIVERSIFICATION STATEMENT AGAINST MARTIAL LAW WHICH HAD BEEN DECLARED BY THE COMMUNIST AUTHORITIES IN POLAND. IT IS A VERY RARE AND COLLECTABLE ITEM . THE UNDERGROUND MEMBERS WHO ISSUED THIS STAMP RISKED A LOT, BECAUSE IF CAUGHT THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN IMPRISONED WITHOUT TRIAL. THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO OWN A UNIQUE PIECE OF HISTORY. IT IS A MUST FOR EVERY SERIOUS HISTORIAN AND COLLECTOR OF THIS PERIOD AND WILL MAKE AN INTERESTING ADDITION TO YOUR COLLECTION. General Wojciech Jaruzelski announced the introduction of martial law in a speech first broadcast on radio and television at 6:00 am on December 13, 1981. In order to isolate members of the opposition (from the Solidarity movement), 52 internment centers were created. A total of 10,132 internment orders were issued against 9,736 people during the period of martial law.
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