Episode
Poland’s underground newspaper
- Podcast
- Witness History
- Published
- May 18, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 588
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct8r39
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Summary
In 1981, Poland's communist regime imposed martial law and the dissident Solidarity movement was suppressed. In response, Helena Luczywo helped set up an underground newspaper called Mazovia Weekly to communicate uncensored information to the population. Despite police raids and arrests, the newspaper played a significant role in the fall of communism in Poland. Helena tells Ben Henderson about the years she edited the newspaper while on the run. Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more. Recent episodes explore everything from how the Excel spreadsheet was developed, the creation of cartoon rabbit Miffy and how the sound barrier was broken. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: the moment Reagan and Gorbachev met in Geneva, Haitian singer Emerante de Pradines’ life and Omar Sharif’s legendary movie entrance in Lawrence of Arabia. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, like the invention of a stent which has saved lives around the world; the birth of the G7; and the meeting of Maldives’ ministers underwater. We cover everything from World War Two and Cold War stories to Black History Month and our journeys into space. (Photo: Protest against martial law, 1982. Credit: Bettmann via Getty Images)