Word: gomulka
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...Watchdogs. Last week, as delegates of the 1,130-member Polish Writers' Union gathered in Lodz, Poland's second largest city, they were clearly not inclined to endanger those gains. Another congress in 1968 had vigorously protested the cultural repression of Gierek's predecessor, Wladyslaw Gomulka, and brought down the wrath of the regime. Jewish writers were particular targets; Antoni Slonim-ski, a patriarch of contemporary Polish literature, was denounced by Gomulka as "not a proper Pole...
Thanks in part to a secret $100 million Soviet loan, Gierek, who succeeded longtime Party Leader Wladyslaw Gomulka at the height of the 1970 riots, has made impressive progress in overcoming the food and clothing shortages that have periodically plagued Poland. Shops are better stocked, people better dressed. The price increases that ignited last December's violence have been rescinded, and wages have increased an average 5%. In an effort to ease the country's tensions, Gierek is seeking an accommodation with the Catholic Church, to which 95% of Poland's 32.5 million people owe at least...
...congress also elected a new Politburo that further strengthened Gierek's position. Out went three members who had been appointed to the Politburo by Gomulka, notably Jozef Cyrankiewicz, the President of Poland, who is now expected to lose that post too, and Mieczyslaw Moczar, the hard-lining former secret police chief, who was Gierek's possible rival. Gierek, who has sacked some 10,000 middle and lower echelon bureaucrats, hinted that there might be further firings: "For bad work, and even more so for bad will, we must dismiss people from their positions...
...large degree, Poland's problems have remained the same. In the wake of the 1956 Poznan "bread and freedom" riots, which brought Gomulka to power, he instituted an enlightened reform program, only to see it founder largely because of Poland's turgid, overcentralized economic system. Disappointment led to public resentment, which in turn provoked government repression. If Gierek is to avoid the same cycle, he must improve Poland's managerial system and inspire workers and farmers to greater performance...
...passiveness, laziness and impotence have comfortably survived around us." The official press agency has spoken of "ineffective organization, indolence of management, insufficient productivity and sometimes even bungling" in the economy. If that keeps up, Gierek is likely to face the same sort of public hostility and disbelief that compelled Gomulka to resort to force as the only means for remaining in power. For the moment, however, Poles seem willing to give Gierek a chance, though the odds for success are unfortunately poor...