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Eligiusz, Lasota: We did all we could to find out what was happening in Hungary "Alongside a three-part diary by the journalist Marian Bielicki published in 1956 in the pages of Po prostu, we put graphics, and also verses, by Hungarians and by Poles. That was all we could do in 1956. We later kept silent about the events in Hungary, as the censor had listed them among the undesirable subjects, citing the Polish national interest. 'Carry on writing about the workers' councils,' he'd said, "but not about Hungary.' We had to do that all the more because we were already in disgrace for having published, without checking with the requisite comrades, a number of pieces for which we had been sharply attacked by Pravda and Izvestiya in Moscow. They were accusing us of pursuing anti-Soviet policies.
"I can't tell you the technical details any more, but I'm sure the telex line with Hungary remained up for a long time. Anyone at the other end who knew what to do could make contact with Poland, although every other connection had been severed earlier. Poles travelled to Budapest and returned. They had their materials. There was still a large contingent of Polish journalists in Budapest, although in their case it was less important who they were than what paper they appeared in. Polish journalists in Budapest could write what they wanted, but at our end they began to shorten these reports because Gomulka was frightened to death about everything that was going on in Hungary. Even in the revolutionary period, there was an appreciable effort made to curb rather than display, not to upset the Russians, etc. Mind you, in Po prostu's case, they couldn't stop us publishing Bielicki's diary. On the other hand, we were called into the Central Committee and told 'in the name of the Polish state interest and good sense, not to do this, for it would not help the Hungarians and it would do us harm. What happened, happened; that reference did harm to Poland, because the Soviet Union was on our backs warning us this was an unfriendly move. So if we wanted the reforms in Poland to continue, we should shut up about the Hungarian affair.' Then compliance with the request dependend on the editors-in-chief, and if they, so to speak, were farsighted enough, there was no need for the censor to intervene, because the editor-in-chief had already shortened the text or forbidden its publication, or left out the drastic photographs. That was how the state interest began to work. But at the time, we were too hotheaded to allow such arguments to weigh with us.
"We formed a kind of centre at that time for active people. We went into action as soon as the slogan 'Blood for the Hungarians' was heard, or it was suggested that we collect blankets, medicines or foodstuffs for the Hungarians. The Hungarian cause at the time was a huge thing; everybody felt they had to do something to help the Hungarians. We played a kind of coordinating role. We sat by the telephones day and night, asking what was happening, what was the situation, who should we tell, etc.
"The Poles felt the Hungarian events very deeply. I remember how we gathered to hear the radio reports, I remember what an impression it made when Imre Nagy said this or that, said Hungary had left the Warsaw Pact. We looked at each other in amazement, asking how that was or what he'd said, but at that time it seemed to be possible, there would be a break, and we thought that if the Hungarians managed it, we would manage it too, because our objectives were similar.
"We did everything we could to find out what was happening in Hungary. We had access to other channels as well, being journalists. If somebody rang from Budapest, even if they didn't send a report, they'd say people were shooting here or fighting there or protesting in a third place, and then we'd immediately phone from place to place, asking whether they'd heard how Hanka, say, had phone and said this or that.
"Of course there were masses of unsubstantiated reports, as always at such times, but we simply treated the Hungarian Revolution as if it were our own, part of what was happening with us. We not only thought we had to help the Hungarians, we thought we were doing things together, because the Hungarians were doing the same as us.
"We listened to more than the Polish radio, of course, but I have to say that our radio gave very deep coverage. We were all relieved that good sense had prevailed and the Soviet troops were withdrawing. The second intervention nailed down the coffin, because we'd expected the revolution in Hungary to succeed. Then it turned out there was not sense in us thinking that as it proved impossible later. But when we heard after the first intervention that some agreement had been reached at last, we too were relieved and filled with expectation. What would happen next? By then, incidentally, we were organizing the second group of journalists to visit Hungary, colleagues were burning with desire to go there and be there and see events with their own eyes. Then came the blow, the second intervention, and all that began afterwards and dispelled all hope."
"Why did the instalments of Marian Bjelicki's diary appear in Po prostu precisely at the end of November and beginning of December?"
"When we received the manuscript, we didn't wait a moment before starting to publish it."
"Could you publish all three parts in full?"
"Yes, in full. It appeared uncensored, as far as I recall, and in full. There may have been some ill-expressed passages and so on, but we certainly had no incentive to shorten it. We wanted the maximum published, as there we were short of news and material on the Hungarian events after November 4.
The life-interview made by János Tischler in 1991 is No. 485 in the Oral History Archive.
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