“Protection” of Silesian hard coal mines by the state Security Service in the 1980s (on the example of hard coal mine “Katowice”)

During the entire period of the Polish People’s Republic the Polish state security forces conducted surveillance operations of factories and other workplaces. All spheres of activity – political, social and economic – were controlled. These actions intensified in the 1980s, a unique period in the recent history of Poland, after the workers’ strikes in August 1980 and the creation of the Independent Self-Governing Trade Union (NSZZ) “Solidarność”. In response to the upheaval, the martial law was introduced, casting a grim shadow on the social and economic reality of the entire decade. Because of the importance of coal mining for the country’s economic system, the activities of state security forces were meticulously carried out in the mines, including the hard coal mine “Katowice”. All actions were controlled and recorded, not only those of workers who sympathized with powers hostile to the regime, but any event disturbing the rhythm of work – entirely coincidental events were tracked alongside possible cases of sabotage. Regardless of the real intentions behind these activities, this scrutiny of the state apparatus created a kind of chronicle of events that took place in the hard coal mine “Katowice” in the period under discussion.