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2 September 2010

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The Year 1956
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THE YEAR 1956
A KEY DATE IN EUROPE'S HISTORY
The Adam Mickiewicz Institute has been implementing a project entitled "THE YEAR 1956". Its aim is to recall western reactions and opinions testifying to a revived feeling of European community, and to present the cultural aspects of the "Thaw" period, for the European community is, first and foremost, a community of culture.

"1956 - A KEY DATE IN EUROPE'S HISTORY": "(...) The 1956 events in Hungary and Poland aroused keen interest in many European countries. For the first time, with such force, many prominent intellectuals and artists expressed their solidarity with societies living under communism. Political changes, especially in Poland, were followed by new phenomena in culture (film, literature, visual arts, music) which would determine the Polish cultural scene for decades to come..." (more...)

"1956 - A EUROPEAN DATE": Paris, 23-24 November, 2006, an international conference co-organised by the Paris Institute of Political Studies, the Polish Institute in Paris, and the Polish Historical and Literary Society (the Polish Library of Paris), together with the Adam Mickiewicz Institute (more...).

Other conferences on 1956...

"1956 - THE FIRST GREAT CRISIS OF THE COMMUNIST SYSTEM": "(...) For the communist block, the year 1956 was the first great internal crisis. Saving the empire at a price of a brutal armed intervention precipitated, at the global level, the process of de-legitimising the communist ideology. It stripped off the illusions of many Western intellectuals, heretofore supporting Moscow without hesitation. It would still be a long wait till the next annus mirabilis, the 1989 Spring of Nations, but the first step was made." (more...)

"A CHRONOLOGY OF THE THAW, 1953-1958": 
  • May 1954 - Ilya Ehrenburg's novel "The Thaw", considered as a condemnation of the Stalinist era, is published in the USSR.
  • January 1955 - Andrzej Wajda's film debut. His film "Pokolenie / Generation" is the seed of the so-called "Polish Film School".
  • August 1956 - In Sopot (Poland), the first jazz festival takes place, where the Krzysztof Komeda Quintet performs, among others.
    (more...)

  EVENTS  

"1956 - A EUROPEAN DATE"
The Paris Institute of Political Studies, 23 November 2006; The Polish Library of Paris, 24 November, 2006
 The aim of this conference is a faithful reconstruction of the events of this period through new research, the testimony of last witnesses and other main actors... more
"FREEDOM! BREAD! THE POZNAN JUNE '56"
Paris, The Polish Institute, 26 November - 15 December, 2006
 A documentary exhibition mounted by the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) to commemorate the June 1956 events in Poznan... more
"WARSAW - BUDAPEST 1956"
Warsaw, corner of Karowa Street and Krakowskie Przedmiescie, 23 October - 30 November, 2006
 An open-air exhibition presenting the '56 events in Poland and in Hungary... more
CONFERENCE OF THE INSTITUTE OF NATIONAL REMEMBRANCE (IPN)
Warsaw, The Warsaw University Library, 20 October - 21 October 2006
 International conference "Crises of the Communist System, 1953-1981"... more
CELEBRATIONS OF THE ANNIVERSARY OF OCTOBER'56
March - October, 2006
 Celebrations of the anniversary of the Polish October'56... more
AN EVENING AT THE PEN CLUB
Warsaw, 19 October, 2006
 An evening "Commemorating the Hungarian Freedom Fighters, 1956-2006"... more
SEJM RESOLUTION COMMEMORATING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE HUNGARIAN UPRISING
Warsaw, 12 October 2006
 The Sejm adopted a resolution commemorating the 50th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian uprising... more
CELEBRATIONS OF THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE HUNGARIAN REVOLUTION
September - October 2006
On this occasion celebrations and conferences took place in Hungary and all over the world... more
WHITE HOUSE STATEMENT
Washington, June 28, 2006
 "Though the Hungarian Revolution of October 1956 has come to symbolize for many the revolts and protests of 1956, we also remember the brave acts of dissent and revolt elsewhere behind the Iron Curtain, particularly in Poznan, Poland"... more
EXHIBITION IN BRUSSELS
Brussels, opening: 27 June, 2006
 Opening of the exhibition "A Revolting City. Poznan 1956" at the European Parliament... more
THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE JUNE'56 EVENTS IN POZNAN
Poznan, June 2006
 Celebrations commemorating the 50th anniversary of the June '56 events in Poznan...

SCREENING OF MARTHA MESZAROS' FILM
Brussels, 4 March, 2006
 Screening of Martha Meszaros' film "The Unburied Man / A temetetlen halott" at the European Parliament... more
  COMMENTARIES AND ANALYSIS  
"What does the unexpected, wonderful political affirmation of the Polish and Hungarian intellectuals and youth have in common with the wavering, arduous and stormy process of building 'the Europe of the Six', which calls for political unity but lacks courage to address this issue openly?" Fran�ois Bondy - more...

"We have faith that there is on the march in the world, parallel with the forces of oppression and death which are darkening our history, a force of conviction and life, an immense movement of emancipation which is culture and which is born of freedom to create and of freedom to work. Those Hungarian workers and intellectuals, beside whom we stand today with such impotent sorrow, understood this and have made us the better understand it." Albert Camus - more...

"(...) street demonstrations without the intelligentsia's ironic smile would have meant much less. The laughter of the Khrushchev era was the first crack in the 'evil empire'. Culture and religion took the offensive, especially in Poland, and the provinces' cultural superiority is dangerous for the empire. (...)" Yevhen Sverstyuk - more...

"Poland: for months now, the name has signified hope." Claude Lefort - more...

"The Budapest events, coupled with the October revolution in Warsaw, renewed, confirmed, crushed and radicalised the reflection on political power." Paul Ricoeur - more...

"(...) Let us examine which issues in science were raised in 1956, and where they are today." Marcin Kula - more...

   LINKS:  
Links to other pages devoted to the 1956 events in Poland and in Hungary:

"Poznan - Budapest 1956. Common Roads to Freedom" - page under the patronage of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland

www.rev.hu - page of the Institute for the History of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution

Poznan June 1956 uprising - Multimedia City Directory, Poznan City Hall

1956 - a European date - celebrations of the 1956 events in Poland and in Hungary on the pages of the Polish Institute in Paris

Browsing history




VIDEO COVERAGE  PHOTO COVERAGE  PAINTING  GRAPHIC ART  DRAWING  PHOTOGRAPHY  PORTRAITS  POLISH FILM 
RECENTLY ADDED
Martha Argerich and Maria João Pires at the "Chopin and His Europe" Festival
August 30, 2010
Promotion of the Podlaskie Voivodship
July 30 - July 31, 2010
Andrzej Sosnowski
On Monday, September 20, the first Polish arena for the Euro 2012 Cup will open in Poznań. The official ceremony will be honoured with a concert featuring Sting performing with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, conducted by Steven Mercurio.
Until September 25 (except for Sundays and holidays), the John the Baptist Archcathedral in Warsaw will host daily organ recitals as part of the 7th edition of the "Grand Organ of the Archicathedral" Festival.
"Dotyk człowieka/Beruehrungen" is the title of the exhibition presenting works of six Polish contemporary artists displayed at the German Embassy in Warsaw (Jazdów street): on view until September 27.
On October 17, the National Museum in Poznań will host the first public presentation of Claude Monet's "Beach in Pourville". The painting was stolen ten years ago. The painting returned to the museum in January 2010 after the folice found the thief.
Jazz pianist Chick Corea will give his only Polish solo concert on November 8 in Zabrze.
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