On 17 December, 1970, in Gdynia, communist militia and army opened fire at protesting workers in Gdynia, northern Poland, killing 18 people.

Following yesterday's 28th anniversary of the massacre at the Wujek coal mine, where communist militia opened fire at striking workers, killing 9 and injuring many more, today Poland marks the 39th anniversary of another massacre orchestrated by Poland's communist regime.

It is estimated that in December of 1970 at least 44 people were killed in Gdansk and Gdynia and thousands wounded by communist militia crushing workers' protests. Some sources suggest as many as several hundred might have lost their lives.

Because information was strictly censored, exact numbers of casualties remains a unknown. Communist authorities forged death certificates and families of victims were forced to bury their dead at night, with communist militia guarding them so that nobody found out what happened.

"My son was killed in Gdansk. We arrived at the cemetery at night, I couldn't even see anything. I wanted to take the body, but they wouldn't allow me. So we buried him at night and in the morning we came back to look at the tomb," one mother recalled. (jn)

source: IAR