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Retmaniak, Anna: I had to tell of my experiences countless times "I'm often asked whether I knew what I was taking on in the autumn of 1956. Even after many, many years I can only say no. I was a very, very young girl, just over 18, and I'd only started to work at Polish Radio two months before. I decided I'd go without hesitation. The head of the department I worked in called us together and said this was a dangerous trip, but Polish Radio had a duty to report on the journey of the aid consignment for Budapest, and then asked if there were volunteers. I volunteered straight away, though I had several reasons why I might have stayed away. For instance, I'd only got married a couple of months before and I decided without asking him. I was prompted to volunteer by my youth and by the atmosphere that filled Warsaw and the whole of Poland at the time. Literally everyone wanted to help the Hungarians, everyone sympathized with them, and it would have been inconceivable in the autumn of 1956 for the Hungarian Revolution, which we felt was ours to some extent, to be called a counterrevolution at an official level. I undertook the trip because I wanted to play an active parting the Polish assistance."
"What did your husband say when he found you'd soon be joining a consignment to Budapest, where there had been serious fighting going on?"
"He was very anxious, of course. He offered to go instead or go with me, which couldn't be done unfortunately, but he never said I shouldn't go. He tried to help me every way, because there were only two or three days before the journey began. I had to pack and prepare myself, and I was still an absolute beginner then. Don't forget a great many things were in short supply all over Poland at the time, including things essential for the journey. I even needed visas as well, to cross Czechoslovakia and enter Hungary."
"How did you manage to get the visas?"
"That was done by the requisite department of Polish Radio. I remember getting all the official documents I needed within two days, which was a big achievement for those days, and that everyone did their utmost to help make sure that everything was all right. And a great many of them said I should be sure to come and tell them after I returned what I'd seen in Budapest."
"What sort of consignment was it exactly?"
"I accompanied the first truck consignment from the Polish Red Cross to Budapest, because the aid had gone by air so far. The planes took the most essential things to the Hungarian capital-almost exclusively blood and medicines-which were often needed suddenly and in large quantitites, particularly when the fighting was going on. The trucks tended to be loaded with building materials and food supplies. This took longer to arrange than getting together an air consignment, which is one reason why we couldn't set off until the end of November. But even then there were several uncertain factors, for Czechoslovakia was generally known to be cool in its attitude, and we didn't even know whether the Soviet authorities would let us into Hungary, despite our various permits. I hardly need add how many rumours were going round about what the Soviets were doing in Hungary."
"Which department of Polish Radio were you working in at the time?"
"The Political Information Department, I think it was called at the time. It was headed by Emanuel Planer."
"What did he have to say when you volunteered?"
"He was astonished, of course, because as I say, I'd only been working at the radio for two months, but didn't object."
"Did he give you any criteria for writing your reports?"
"We agreed I'd write daily reports, but I probably wouldn't be able to file, for lack of telephone lines, so we'd make a short series when I got back and I'd read these diary entries in the Warsaw studios. He also told me to be sure to report truthfully what was happening to Polish aid in Hungary."
"Were there rumours of some kind in that respect?"
"Yes, that some of the aid of various kinds was getting into the hands of the Soviet troops."
"Who looked after your needs in Budapest?"
"The Polish Embassy in Budapest and its head of mission, Ambassador Willman, who gave me every assistance, even providing a Hungarian interpreter, so that I could talk to local people more easily. I stayed with a Polish family at the embassy. The one thing I was concerned to do was to meet Hungarians. Such meetings could only be held before dusk, incidentally, because there was a curfew in force. Young though I was, I wasn't brave enough to risk going out in the streets. In fact I tried to be cautious, because my husband had made me promise before I set out. But as I met people in the day, I constantly sensed the cordiality and kindness of the Hungarians towards us Poles, and I was proud that we Poles should have been the first to rush to the Hungarians' aid."
"How long did you spend in the Hungarian capital?"
"I don't know exactly. All I remember is that it was a few days at the end of November and beginning of December, and I used every minute to ensure I had the broadest possible raw material from which to write my reports."
"What happened in Warsaw when you returned?"
"I reported back to my place of work, where I was passed from hand to hand and had to recount my experiences countless times. Then Planer asked me to write my reports as soon as possible, so that they could be broadcast. The series was in five parts, and I haven't had a radio audience since as big as the one for those reports. Imagine, I always sat down at peak time, in the early evening, to read them, and people patiently awaited the next one, almost demanding it. It was a great feeling. Just envisage me, just over 18 and people all over the country listening to a young girl like me."
"Did you know what conflict Planer was in with the censors about the series of reports? In the end, they dismissed him from Polish Radio, but he managed to ensure that the whole series went out."
"Of course I knew the censors were raising objections to my programme, but Planer told me not to worry, the main thing was for the series to continue. You know it was strange, I had a serious crisis of conscience, but I couldn't do anything. Luckily I was invited soon after to join the Literary Department, where I didn't have to do programmes of a political nature. Strange as it may sound, that series of reports from Hungary was the only political programme I ever made in my 35-year career with the radio."
The life-interview made by János Tischler in 1994 is No. 620 in the Oral History Archive.
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