Word: poznan
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...this time, armed workers had taken up tactical positions on neighboring rooftops and were pinning down the guards with their fire. The guards replied with submachine guns. Other strikers went to Poznan's two railroad stations, closed them down, barricaded highways leading into Poznan with overturned automobiles and furniture. Another group smashed Poznan's powerful radio transmitter, and tossed out the electronic equipment used to jam broadcasts from the West...
Come to the Fair. The strikers counted on one thing in their favor: an international trade fair was being held in Poznan, and the city was crowded with foreign visitors. Groups of young strikers converged on the fair, tore down the Soviet flag and raised banners bearing such slogans as "Down With This Phony Communism!" and "Russians Get Out!"−as well as appeals for higher wages, for freedom, and for the release of Cardinal Wyszynski (Primate of Poland, under arrest since September 1953). Any Westerner they saw (easily distinguishable by being better dressed) they greeted hopefully. "This...
...keep so large an outburst from getting further out of hand. An official statement attributed the revolt to "imperialist agents and a reactionary underground," charged that the rioting bore "the imprint of a large-scale and carefully prepared provocative and diversionary action." Communist Premier Jozef Cyrankiewicz, rushing down to Poznan, promised severe punishment for those captured with weapons. Cried Cyrankiewicz: "Everyone who raises his hand against the people may be sure that it will be hacked...
...both World Wars Poznan was a center of resistance against the German occupiers, and its people have a reputation for stubborn militancy. All night long the sound of rifles and guns echoed through the city, while ambulances threaded their way between overturned automobiles and other obstructions. In their hotel rooms the foreign visitors heard men cry for help...
Name to Remember. The odds against the workers were overwhelming, and by morning the fight was all but over. The government announced that 48 had been killed and 270 wounded in the revolt−but TIME Correspondent Ed Clark reported 50 bodies in just one of Poznan's ten hospitals...