The Parish in Krasiczyn as a centre of support of democratic opposition and independent peasant movement and a centre of social assistance during martial law in Poland and thereafter

The aim of another publication in “Rocznik Przemyski”, which falls under the project of “oral history”, is to preserve for posterity significant events in the Przemyśl region which took place not so long ago, whose participants are still alive and have agreed to bear first-hand testimonies. This paper focuses on the role of the Roman Catholic St. Martin parish church in Krasiczyn during a crucial period in our history, i.e. the birth of democratic opposition based on the “Solidarity” movement and then public resistance after martial law had been introduced in Poland. The article consists of five parts: introduction, presentation of Rev. Stanisław Bartmiński, calendar of events between 1970 and 2008, accounts by people who in the 1970s and later, particularly during the martial law, had contact with the Krasiczyn parish, and short biographies of the interlocutors and people mentioned in the interviews. The publication is complete with the afterword of the then parish priest, Rev. Stanisław Bartmiński. The collected testimonies show the social, cultural and charity-oriented role of the Krasiczyn church rectory and its head priest, in particular Krasiczyn as the place of meetings of peasant activists who laid the foundations of independent organizations of individual farmers, as a relief centre for democratic opposition activists and later a regional relief center for the people oppressed for their Solidarity activity. Part of the material also concerns organizing in the early 1990s camps for children of Polish origin from Ukraine as well as Ukrainian children harmed during the Chernobyl catastrophe.

Keywords: Krasiczyn, Przemyśl, Roman Catholic church in Krasiczyn, social role of the parish, anti-Communist opposition, martial law, independent peasant movement, “Solidarity”, independent culture, charity, relief for Ukraine

The aim of another publication in “Rocznik Przemyski”, which falls under the project of “oral history”, is to preserve for posterity significant events in the Przemyśl region which took place not so long ago, whose participants are still alive and have agreed to bear first-hand testimonies. This paper focuses on the role of the Roman Catholic St. Martin parish church in Krasiczyn during a crucial period in our history, i.e. the birth of democratic opposition based on the “Solidarity” movement and then public resistance after martial law had been introduced in Poland. The article consists of five parts: introduction, presentation of Rev. Stanisław Bartmiński, calendar of events between 1970 and 2008, accounts by people who in the 1970s and later, particularly during the martial law, had contact with the Krasiczyn parish, and short biographies of the interlocutors and people mentioned in the interviews. The publication is complete with the afterword of the then parish priest, Rev. Stanisław Bartmiński. The collected testimonies show the social, cultural and charity-oriented role of the Krasiczyn church rectory and its head priest, in particular Krasiczyn as the place of meetings of peasant activists who laid the foundations of independent organizations of individual farmers, as a relief centre for democratic opposition activists and later a regional relief center for the people oppressed for their Solidarity activity. Part of the material also concerns organizing in the early 1990s camps for children of Polish origin from Ukraine as well as Ukrainian children harmed during the Chernobyl catastrophe.