The Communist Rule in Polish Sport
History

Adam Fryc and Mirosław Ponczek

This paper provides an outlook on sport in Poland under Communist rule (1944–1989).
This sphere of social life is presented against a background of political, social and
economic circumstances that constituted the totalitarian reality following the Second
World War. Due to different historical circumstances Polish sport has always been
subject to strong political influences since its beginning in the second half of the
nineteenth century. Rather more recently there were developments under the rule of the
Communist Polish United Workers’ Party (PZPR), which was of course subordinated to
instructions from the Kremlin. This saw the rejection of many old traditions, while new
patterns reflecting Soviet ideologies were introduced. They outlined the framework for
development of Polish sport as a whole as well as the destinies of individual athletes.

In 1945 the Polish nation unwillingly found itself on the Soviet side of the Iron
Curtain and for over 40 years it was to remain a Communist state. As Solidarity
leader Lech Wałe˛sa remarked in his address to a joint meeting of the US Congress on
15 November 1989; just after the Second World War ‘there was imposed on Poland
an alien system of government, without precedent in Polish tradition, unaccepted by
the nation, together with an alien economy, an alien law, an alien philosophy of social
relations’. [1]

Having been subjugated by the Soviet Union, Poland also became involved in the

long-drawn confrontation between the Western democracies and the Eastern bloc
over global hegemony. At the ceremony of deposition of protocols of the Polish, Czech
and Hungarian accession to NATO, held in Independence, Missouri on 12 March
1999, Bronislaw Geremek, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland, stated
that the Cold War had ‘forcibly excluded our country from the West’. [2]

Adam Fryc, Zasadnicza Szkoła Zawodowa (Elementary Technical School), Piekary S´la˛skie, Poland;
Mirosław Ponczek, Akademia Wychowania Fizycznego im. Jerzego Kukuczki (Jerzy Kukuczka Academy
of Physical Education), Katowice. Correspondence to: [e-mail]

The International Journal of the History of Sport
Vol. 26, No. 4, March 2009, 501–514

ISSN 0952-3367 (print)/ISSN 1743-9035 (online) Ó 2009 Taylor & Francis
DOI: 10.1080/09523360802658150

Internal and external conditions affected all spheres of public life in Poland

between 1944 and 1989. It was also a special time for Polish sport which, shaped by
Marxist ideology, became an instrument of totalitarian policy and social engineering.

This article examines the organizational model of Polish sport during the period of

Communist rule viewed within the broader political, economic and social context,
and reference is made to both previous and subsequent developments for the
purposes of comparison. Another focus for study is the position of sportsmen and
women in post-war Polish society. This article is based mainly upon documents,
newspapers, secondary studies and memoirs of Polish sports stars, particularly those
published in the more liberal climate prevailing in Poland after 1989.

Traditions of Polish Sport Prior to 1945

Modern Polish sport emerged in the nineteenth century, when the nation was
subjugated by Austria-Hungary, Prussia/Germany and Russia. The movement could
develop freely only under the rule of Francis Joseph, so that the majority of the oldest
Polish sporting clubs and associations originated in the Habsburg domain of Galicia.
Simultaneously, in the Second Reich and in Tsarist Russia, the Poles were limited in
their public activity. Polish sports organizations were relatively weak in those empires
as their activities were often disrupted by civil servants and police.

Quite apart from ushering in the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution and the Soviet Union,

the First World War (1914–18) resulted in the rebirth of Poland as an independent
state. Polish sport began to flourish as the constraints that had previously hindered it
disappeared. Many new clubs as well as the main national sporting federations were
formed, including the Polish Olympic Committee (established in 1919 as the Polish
Committee of the Olympic Games). Sport accurately reflected the social diversity of
the Second Polish Republic of the inter-war years. Different political, social, religious
and ethnic influences contributed to the phenomenon, although some of them were
restricted by the state authorities. Prior to 1939 existing societies had been supported
by the sponsorship of private trade or industrial establishments, membership fees,
their own incomes and state support. However, the frequent economic difficulties
hampered the progress of physical culture generally. [3]

Between 1918 and 1926 Polish governments did not pay too much attention to

the question of physical culture, including sport. [4] The situation changed radically
after the 1926 coup d’e´tat, carried out by Marshall Jo´zef Piłsudski and his followers.
Parliamentary democracy was short-lived and the consequent authoritarian and
dictatorial rule saw an increasing military influence in all spheres of public life. Such
circumstances led to the new official definition of the aims of the development of
Polish physical culture. Between the wars Poland was in a very difficult strategic
position as the country was surrounded by a group of hostile states (Germany, the
Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Lithuania) and renewed conflict seemed likely. So in
the late 1920s and 1930s the authorities tried to use physical education and sport as
tools to improve the military preparedness of the population. In 1927 Pan

´stwowy

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Urza˛d Wychowania Fizycznego i Przysposobienia Wojskowego (PUWFiPW – the State
Council of Physical Education and Military Training) was established to coordinate
and control the development of the entire field of Polish physical culture. Before the
outbreak of the Second World War the institution (attached to the Ministry of
Military Affairs) had always been run by high-ranking officers. The key posts in
other main sports societies (such as the Polish Olympic Committee or the Polish
Football Association) were also filled by military staff from Jo´zef Piłsudski’s
retinue. [5]

In spite of the official emphasis placed upon the development of physical

education by the authorities, a solid base for the development of competitive sport
was also created in the period preceding the outbreak of the Second World War and
consequently the top Polish sportsmen achieved relatively high levels of performance
in several disciplines. Between 1924 and 1936 Poland’s representatives won 20
Olympic medals in athletics, cycling, equestrianism, fencing, rowing and shooting.
However, further development of Polish sport was stopped by the German and Soviet
invasions of September 1939.

During the Second World War the Polish people (including sportsmen) found

themselves in an extremely difficult position. Under Nazi occupation Poles were
generally forbidden to take part in any organized sporting activity. However, some of
them did participate in ‘underground’ competitions, risking German reprisals. New
clubs were founded in many cities during that period, but they catered largely for
Germans or for ‘renegade’ Poles. In those Polish regions that were incorporated into
the USSR the situation was slightly different. The system of physical culture was
standardized after Soviet patterns there and Poles were not excluded from sport on
the basis of their nationality. That is why some of those who luckily avoided social
and/or political persecution continued their careers. But such circumstances lasted
only for a short period of time. In the summer of 1941 the Third Reich invaded the
USSR and the whole territory of the former Second Polish Republic fell under Nazi
control for the next three years.

Unsurprisingly, the careers of numerous Polish sportsmen and women were

interrupted or finished because of the war. Many were killed in action or murdered
by the Nazi or Soviet secret police for their patriotic attitude and affiliation to the
underground resistance movement. Others spent time in prisons or concentration
camps. The sporting infrastructure was severely damaged and several clubs lost their
equipment, documents and trophies. As a consequence of the Second World War
Polish sport was awfully mutilated, far more so than was the case (for example) in
Hungarian or Czechoslovakian sport. [6]

Polish Sport in the Communist Era

In 1943 the Red Army gained strategic ascendancy on the Eastern front. Moving
westwards towards Berlin, Soviet divisions entered ethnic Polish territory in 1944 and
it became obvious that a Soviet-friendly government would be installed in Warsaw

Communist Rule in Polish Sport History

503

after the war. The only question to be settled was the scale of the future Poland’s
subordination to the Kremlin.

In 1945 Poland emerged from the Second World War in very different geopolitical

conditions from those that had applied prior to 1939. The geographical character of
the state changed significantly. One half of its pre-war territory had become part of
the Soviet Union. In return for the painful loss the victorious superpowers decided
that Poland should take over several regions that had formerly belonged to the Third
Reich. Large areas of the country were completely ruined, having been the locations
of fierce fighting. Over five-and-a-half million Polish citizens lost their lives during
the war and thousands emigrated. As a consequence of the military conflict and
subsequent political developments, Poland had also become a country almost entirely
inhabited by a homogeneous population as far as their nationality was concerned.
The Jewish minority had been almost completely wiped out by the Nazis, while the
German and Ukrainian populations had been displaced to their homelands in the
dawn of the post-war period.

In spite of the complicated circumstances and thanks to spontaneous efforts of

former sportsmen and administrators who had managed to survive the war, the
reconstruction of Polish sport advanced relatively quickly. Pre-war patterns were
initially employed in that process. As early as 1945 the first Polish championships in
several disciplines were held and international contacts with neighbouring countries
established. As the political and economic future of the country had not been settled,
miscellaneous proposals about the model of Polish physical culture to be introduced
were discussed in the press and by sports administrators between 1945 and 1948.
Different parties and youth organizations aspired to play a prominent role in the
movement. Among others, suggestions for a return to inter-war traditions and control
of the sporting system by the army were considered. In 1946 the PUWFiPW attached
to the Ministry of National Defence was reactivated but was replaced two years later by
the civilian Gło´wny Urza˛d Kultury Fizycznej (General Office for Physical Culture).
However, the final solution of the issue was to be part of a far wider process.

From 1948 Poland was in the hands of impregnable Stalinists, who won the fight

for supremacy by using brutal methods, including the manipulation of the 1947
general election. They were also supported by Soviet troops who were quartered in
the Polish territory. Intending to create a new, ideal, classless society in accordance
with Stalin’s interpretation of Marxism and Leninism, the Communist regime
repudiated many Polish national traditions. All questions to do with political,
economic and social life were decided by the Communist Party, acting under the
name of Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza (PZPR – Polish United Workers’
Party). In order to legitimize its rule farcical parliamentary elections were organized
in which only candidates approved by the PZPR and its allies – that is, the
Zjednoczone Stronnictwo Ludowe (United Peasants’ Party) and Stronnictwo Demokra-
tyczne (Democratic Party) – could stand for election. The political opposition
desperately tried to survive but was utterly eliminated, while the Roman
Catholic Church (the last mainstay of anti-communist resistance) was fiercely

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attacked. The real power in the country lay in the hands of Bolesław Bierut, an agent
of the Soviet Narodnyy Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del (NKVD – People’s Commissar-
iat of Internal Affairs), described by the propagandist as ‘the most faithful disciple of
Stalin’. He was accompanied by a number of high-ranking Soviet officers (some of
them of Polish origin) who held important posts in the Polish army and civilian
administration or acted as advisers.

Like their Soviet counterparts, Polish Stalinists appreciated the value of sport and

physical culture as useful political instruments capable of serving a range of policy
goals. Of these the most notable was economic development through rapid
industrialization and victory in the broader East-West conflict. That is why they
needed the Polish nation in a good physical condition. This is readily apparent from
the text of resolutions on physical culture and sport, resolved by the Political Bureau
of the PZPR Central Committee on 28 September 1949:

Poland, aiming at socialism, ought to be a country of healthy and strong people
rejoicing in their lives, whose strong wills, self-control and bravery, resistance to
hardships as well as their capabilities for collective life and effort will be improved
by physical education and sport; of people prepared to work for the People’s
Motherland and to defend its borders when necessary.

Common physical education and mass sport in People’s Poland imply the
expansion of those building socialist Poland’s power, imply a means of education
in the spirit of the progressive powers’ international solidarity, imply a way of
struggle for permanent and democratic peace. [7]

The symbol of those tendencies was the ‘Ready for Work and Defence’ sports

badge introduced as a simple emulation of Soviet practices in 1950. It could be
attained after achieving a good level of dexterity.

As the process of Stalinization took hold and gradually embraced all spheres of

social life, the Soviet organizational model of physical culture was also copied. On 30
December 1949 Gło´wny Komitet Kultury Fizycznej (GKKF – the General Committee
for Physical Culture) was formed and soon afterwards all sports federations lost their
autonomy and became departments under its ‘umbrella’. Existing clubs were affiliated
to the army, civic militia (police) or branches of the dominating state economy (whose
activity came under the patronage of trade unions). Numerous clubs were converted
into ‘sporting circles’, attached to industrial works or establishments. Their traditional
names were usually replaced by definitions of their associations (e.g. ‘Miner’, ‘Steel’,
‘Railwayman’ or ‘Textile Worker’). [8] All the changes were described as benefiting
from following progressive Soviet examples, as evidenced by a text published in
Przegla˛d Sportowy (‘The Sports Review’) on 21 April 1950:

Could we imagine a rational development of sport today without basing it on
Soviet experience? Let us remember the first years after the liberation, years that
were partly wasted by continuing a chaotic, unorganized and unplanned
management. We wanted a mass sport, but we did not know how to set about

Communist Rule in Polish Sport History

505

doing it. We were sinking in unconsidered slogans, projects; we even started to
dissolve competitive sport. We went astray. We despised advertising and record-
breaking American-like sport and we did not know what to do with its leavings,
how to make away with them. What to have in return for it?

And the door was open and it was just enough to borrow from the Soviet Union’s
storehouse of theoretical and practical knowledge. . . .

Today we know who can we rely on, who holds out a helping hand to us, when it is
so necessary. . . . The friendship with the USSR is the source of our power and our
belief in the future. [9]

Sport was also regarded as a useful means of politically indoctrinating the younger
generation. As happened with politics, all non-Communist organizations were
required to vanish from the sporting map of Poland. At the turn of the 1940s such a
fate was shared by national organizations such as Towarzystwo Gimnastyczne ‘Soko´ł’
(the ‘Sokol’ Gymnastics Society), the Protestant Young Men’s Christian Association
or the Katolickie Stowarzyszenie Młodzie_zy (Catholic Youth Association). Several
clubs with long and rich traditions were persecuted for their improper origins or
strong links with the pre-war elite of Poland (e.g. Polonia Warsaw, Cracovia). Sports
such as golf, polo and rugby were considered too bourgeois for socialist Poland –
even if rugby was revived during the 1950s. [10] Achieving domestic propaganda
targets was relatively easy since the Communist authorities had most of the media at
their disposal, while the few titles not under their direct control, such as magazines
published by the Roman Catholic Church, were strictly censored.

In the first half of the 1950s the ideological purity of sport in Poland was guarded

by a group of Soviet officers who were appointed to crucial posts in the
administration of physical culture. Figures such as Apolinary Minecki (vice-chairman
of GKKF from 1951 to 1952) or Jerzy Bordziłowski (leader of the soccer section of
GKKF between 1951 and 1953) were Poles but grew up and began their careers in the
Soviet Union. They were zealously supported in their efforts by local Polish
Communists, including Lucjan Motyka, Jo´zef Faruga and Henryk Szemberg. [11]

A slight relaxation of conditions followed the death of Stalin in 1953, while more

fundamental changes followed the mass outbreaks of social discontent in Poznan´ and
Warsaw in 1956 (also the year of the Hungarian Revolution). Stalinist theory and
practices were increasingly viewed as distortions and a large group of Soviet comrades
who had previously ‘lorded it’ in Poland returned to the USSR. In an attempt to
legitimize their power in the nation’s eyes, the Communists decided to re-introduce
several Polish patriotic traditions (they still had no intention of giving up their
political superiority). Following the collapse of the Stalinism, the system of Polish
sport was remodelled. Sporting federations regained their former organizational
autonomy, while the old clubs reassumed their historical names and once again
acquired legal status. However, as the position and influence of clubs in the Polish
sporting hierarchy had always been determined by the political or economic influence

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of their patrons, the most prominent were those connected to the army and police or
the mining and metallurgical industries (leading branches of the Polish economy).
This system, in spite of several subsequent (minor) alterations, was to survive until
the collapse of Communism in 1989. [12]

In the following decades, although the organizational structures of the Polish

physical culture were reshaped several times, the principle of centralised management
of social and sporting life remained unchanged. In 1960 Gło´wny Komitet Kultury
Fizycznej i Turystyki (the General Committee for Physical Culture and Tourism)
appeared but was replaced in 1978 by Gło´wny Komitet Kultury Fizycznej i Sportu (the
General Committee for Physical Culture and Sport). Again in 1987 a new Komitet do
Spraw Młodzie_zy i Kultury Fizycznej (Committee for Youth Affairs and Physical
Culture) was created. [13] As all of these bodies were undemocratic, the Communists
retained control over the sports movement. The associations and leading clubs were
chaired by influential politicians or trusted administrators. From 1952 to 1973
Włodzimierz Reczek was the dominant figure in Polish sport. He began his political
career as a socialist activist, but later he did his best not to disappoint Communists’
hopes during the rule of successive PZPR leaders Bolesław Bierut, Edward Ochab,
Władysław Gomułka and Edward Gierek. The devotion of Reczek’s successors was
also beyond reproach, as they had been thoroughly indoctrinated before their
accession to office. It is sufficient to mention that Bolesław Kapitan completed his
studies in Moscow; Marian Renke graduated from the College of Social Sciences
attached to the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers’ Party, while
Aleksander Kwas´niewski proved his usefulness in the student Communist movement.
Their position was strengthened by the fact that while managing Polish sport all of
them were cabinet ministers and simultaneously chairmen of the Polish Olympic
Committee. [14]

In the eyes of Stalin and his successors Poland, like other East European countries

in the Soviet bloc, was seen as a satellite state existing only to be a servant of Mother
Russia. The sovereignty of Poland was therefore also limited as far as international
sports relations were concerned in the sense that Polish sport had to operate within
parameters defined by the Soviet Union. At the dawn of the Cold War international
contacts between Polish sportsmen and their Western counterparts were strictly
limited, although Poland was in fact one of four Communist states to take part in the
1948 London Olympic Games alongside Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. In
most other circumstances the Communist hierarchy preferred the development of
mutual cooperation with other Eastern Bloc countries (and Scandinavian ones).

This situation changed after the Soviet sports authorities had decided to take part

in the 1952 Helsinki Olympic Games. The fall of the Stalinist system in Poland in
1956 created conditions for more openness in international sporting cooperation. As
a result strong sporting links were built between Poland and Western countries from
the late 1950s and on into to the 1970s. For instance, the Polish national football
team played its first friendly full international match against Scotland in 1958, against
West Germany in 1959 and against England in 1966. Frequent sporting contact

Communist Rule in Polish Sport History

507

declined after 1981, however, when General Wojciech Jaruzelski’s junta imposed
martial law in an attempt to stop the further spread of the anti-Communist Solidarity
movement. For a short period of time Poland was boycotted by a number of foreign
sports organizations, but this coincided with the military authorities also
recommending avoidance of any ‘unnecessary’ international sporting cooperation.

Even in the post-Stalinist period Polish international sports policy was interfered

with by Moscow on several occasions. It is sufficient to mention that, following the
Soviet example, Poland withdrew its soccer teams from the European Cup and
European Cup Winners’ Cup competitions in 1968 and boycotted the Los Angeles
Olympic Games in 1984. [15] Of course, the Communist propagandists always threw
the responsibility for such action on the ‘aggressive’ and ‘imperialistic’ deeds of
Western political leaders. Polish public opinion accounted for the 1984 withdrawal as
follows:

We cannot participate in those Olympic Games. But such a decision arises from the
government of the United States’ attitudes towards the Olympic idea and towards
the socialist Poland exclusively. . . . The global prestige of Poland does not permit
us to enter into sporting rivalry, when we envisage President Reagan’s onslaughts.
As we are not ensured of a true Olympic feast, we will stay at home. We feel safe
here. Such a resolution is imposed by our hearts, our consciences and our national
dignity. [16]

The Position of Sportsmen and Sportswomen in Polish Communist Society

The Communists had always loudly proclaimed their intention to develop mass sport
in Poland. However, in the early 1950s that praiseworthy target receded into the
background owing to propaganda needs. The results of such revised priorities came
to light after the fall of Communism in 1989, at which time Poland was regarded as
an underdeveloped country in the field of physical culture. [17] The physical well-
being of the nation was less than satisfactory and the number of accessible modern
sporting facilities was dramatically low in comparison with Western European
countries. Other matters were of greater importance for Polish politicians for several
post-war decades.

The victories of sportsmen from the Eastern Bloc over those from the West were

seen as outward signs of the superiority of the Communist system over capitalism.
That was why it was necessary to create proper conditions for the development of
competitive sport. A consequence of such attitudes was the special position of leading
athletes in society.

Under Communist rule Polish sportsmen were officially amateurs. Nevertheless,

from the 1950s there was a gradual but hidden professionalization of Polish sport. [18]
Athletes were employed, for example, as soldiers, policemen, miners or shipyard
workers but did not appear at work, being ‘delegated to practise sports’. For many
years such procedures helped to secure sporting domination over Western
representatives at Olympic Games and European or world amateur championships.

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On such occasions Polish performers often competed on equal terms in many dis-
ciplines only with sportsmen from other Communist countries (in spite of the fact that
as the time went by Western athletes were also becoming increasingly ‘shamateur’).

Poland’s sports representatives constituted a privileged caste whose members were

permitted to travel abroad (even to capitalistic countries – normally impossible for
the majority of citizens). Being able to compare the standard of life in the West with
that in Communist states, they became aware that the financial status of the best
Polish sportsmen could not equal that of their Western counterparts. It frustrated
many of them, as they were often second to none in the field of sport. They could
earn more by turning professional and continuing their careers in the West.
However, such a solution was not possible for many years. A modest liberalization of
the transfer rules began only in the 1960s. Sportsmen were permitted to join clubs
formed by Polish emigrants, for example, in Australia or in the USA. Later it became
possible for athletes to be transferred to professional or semi-professional European
clubs, but they had to be around 30 years old. Of course, the Communist sporting
decision-makers preferred sportsmen to move to countries such as France, Belgium,
Holland or Switzerland. Moving to Spain, which was ruled by General Francisco
Franco, was unthinkable, as for many years was West Germany. The first legal
transfer of a Polish football player to a Bundesliga club took place in 1984 (in the case
of Stefan Majewski). [19]

In those unfavourable political circumstances a certain number of Polish

sportsmen decided to stay in the West ‘illegally’. The list of names is very long and
includes sports stars such as athlete Władysław Kozakiewicz, boxer Dariusz
Michalczewski or full soccer internationals Jan Banas´, Janusz Kowalik, Stanisław
Terlecki, Marek Les´niak and Andrzej Rudy. The escapes were rather unpleasant topics
for Communist propaganda and the cases were either unreported or commentated
upon in a sarcastic manner by servile journalists, who emphasized the sportsmen’s
greed and lack of patriotism. In fact, Andrzej Rudy left the representative team of the
Polish Football League before a clash against the Italian Serie A XI in Milan in 1988.
Several days after the event Polish fans could read in a leading sports newspaper that

you cannot term such a deed as leaving teammates who came to represent their
country in a prestigious match otherwise than as a betrayal. . . . In spite of all, such
values as loyalty and morality are still alive. Andrzej Rudy did not belong to a group
of persons whose lives were rendered difficult in their homeland – on the contrary.
You cannot number him among the circle of people living on the level of the
minimum wage either. And still he has decided on a move that deserves to be
condemned in the sternest manner. [20]

To improve their living standards, Polish sportsmen of the Communist era frequently
made use of travelling abroad to carry on unofficial trade activities. They smuggled
goods in both directions and then illegally sold them for their own benefit. Customs
officers usually closed their eyes to this shady business (except in the Stalinist period).
The incomes of athletes were increased significantly this way. [21]

Communist Rule in Polish Sport History

509

Sport was one of the few opportunities to make a big career in Communist Poland

and to lead a relatively wealthy life. That is why talented young athletes (often coming
from the working class or peasantry) were highly motivated to apply themselves to
training.

The unique position of sportsmen led to the rigorous control of their activities and

living environments by the Communist authorities. There was a particular concern
about individuals meeting foreigners. There was also a permanent risk that a Polish
sports star would start a whispered anti-communist propaganda campaign or would be
recruited by enemy intelligence. That is why teams representing Poland were usually
accompanied by counter-intelligence agents or non-uniform policemen pretending to
be fans or administrators. Many prominent Polish sports personalities mention such
cases in their memoirs. Technical means (such as telephone-tapping devices) were used
to control sportsmen, coaches and sports administrators as well, but probably the most
efficient way was recruiting informants from within Polish sports circles. It was one of
the main tasks of infamous Słu_zba Bezpieczen´stwa (SB), the Polish secret police. As
publicist Mirosław Czech stated, ‘the collaborators constituted the pearl in the crown of
Communist methods used to dominate a repressed society’. [22] The scale of the
phenomenon will probably never be estimated correctly, given the deliberate destruction
of relevant documentation and the preparation of material for the purposes of
disinformation. In any case it is known that during the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games
the secret police were exhaustively informed about what was going on in the Polish team
by several informants, with a yachtsman and a hockey coach among them. Six years
later, the national soccer team, taking part in the World Cup in Mexico, was accom-
panied by four collaborators, but the players and the staff easily exposed the SB super-
visor as he was the only member of the expedition they had not met previously. Among
Polish sports personalities induced by the Communist security agency to collaborate
were Jerzy Pawłowski, the best sabre fencer of all time (better known as a CIA paid agent,
however) as well as some leading radio and television commentators. [23]

It is also worth mentioning that the hopes invested in Polish sportsmen by the

Communist rulers often differed from the expectations of the fans. While for the
authorities victories over the representatives of Western countries were of special
propaganda value, normal sports-lovers particularly appreciated defeating the
Soviets. Some athletes achieved the status of folk heroes and ensured their place in
the pantheon of Polish sports legends. The most famous of such cases occurred in
1980, when Władysław Kozakiewicz filled Polish hearts with joy by beating Soviet
Konstantin Volkov in the pole vault competition at the Moscow Olympic Games.
The Polish gold medallist showed an abusive ‘bent elbow’ gesture to the hostile
audience, which later became his distinctive mark. [24]

Polish Sport During the Post-totalitarian Structural Transformation

The 1989 victory of the Solidarity movement and collapse of the Communist
system led to deep and irreversible changes in Poland. Democratic principles and a

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A. Fryc and M. Ponczek

free-market economy were introduced, which influenced the Polish sports movement
to a considerable degree.

Soon after the transformation had begun, both the philosophy and organization of

the state management of the domain of physical culture were changed. In 1991 Urza˛d
Kultury Fizycznej i Turystyki (the Office of Physical Culture and Tourism) was
brought into being but nine years later was replaced by Urza˛d Kultury Fizycznej i
Sportu (the Office of Physical Culture and Sport). Between 2002 and 2005 the
development of professional sport fell within the scope of Polska Konfederacja Sportu
(the Polish Sports Confederation), while from 2001 to 2005 the Ministry of
Education and Sport was responsible for the sphere of the mass sport. A distinct
Ministry of Sport was formed in 2005 (since 2007 this has been acting as the Ministry
of Sport and Tourism). [25] In the free Republic of Poland the main posts in the
sports structure are no longer the exclusive domains of one political persuasion but
they are filled by the winners of general elections. Democratic standards were also
introduced into all sports associations. On the other hand, many of the servants of
the old regime took the opportunity to continue their professional careers in physical
culture organizations owing to their great experience and informal links. It was
because of this that the transformation of Polish sporting structures involved former
Communists. The revival of several historical influences in physical culture (e.g. the
Roman Catholic one) and the reduced influence of the army and police clubs could
be considered as other indications of advancing democratization.

Significant changes occurred in the system of financing sports organizations and

their undertakings. Professionalism was officially implemented. An increasing
number of societies were sponsored by private firms, while the level of state support
declined markedly. It caused the downfall and even bankruptcy of several clubs (e.g.
Zagłe˛bie Sosnowiec, Szombierki Bytom or Stal Mielec). On the other hand the most
popular of them found new benefactors quite quickly. Among the sponsors there
have been a small number of state concerns (particularly belonging to the fuel and
energy sector). The influence of the growing media and advertisement industry in
this process should not be underestimated.

As Poland became a truly independent country and the Soviet armies were forced

to leave its territory, Warsaw governments could redefine their foreign policy and
soon declared the nation’s aspiration to accede to NATO and the European Union. In
order to prepare for the accession to the latter (which finally took place in 2004),
Poles had to bring their sports law in line with that of the EU but simultaneously
plenty of new possibilities opened up for them. Advancing globalization turned out
to be another advantageous factor. Joining Western clubs has now become common
practice for Poles, dependent only on athletic skills rather than political affiliation.
Some have managed to turn their chances to good account. For example, at the
beginning of the twenty-first century Polish footballers were among the winners of
the German Bundesliga, the English Premiership and the Spanish Primera Division
championships for the first time in football history. After the collapse of
Communism athletes from Poland began to appear in the NBA, the NHL and in

Communist Rule in Polish Sport History

511

Formula 1 competitions as well. In contrast to the Communist period, more and
more foreigners have recently been employed by Polish clubs. They have improved
the level of several Polish leagues, particularly those of speedway, basketball and
volleyball.

Conclusion

The Communist system, contradictory to national traditions, was imposed upon the
Polish people after the Second World War and survived up to 1989. It left its mark on
all aspects of life in post-war Poland, including sport. Modelled on the Soviet
example, this sphere of social life remained under state control and was often used for
propaganda or other political purposes by the Marxist rulers. The Polish deputies of
the Kremlin were not independent and had to follow Soviet orders.

The Communist ideology and political system also determined the fate of many

Polish sportsmen. Like a large number of other citizens they were designated to
become mere cogs in the totalitarian machinery. Their task was to train, perform and
win trophies for the glory of Communist Poland. The athletes, along with the rest of
Polish people, were expected to affirm and support the Marxist system and their
loyalty was checked up on systematically. In the turmoil of the Cold War rivalry
between East and West Polish sportsmen often had to face difficult moral dilemmas.

Notes

[1] Available

online

at

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res

¼950DE1D8143BF

935A25752C1A96F948260&sec

¼&spon¼&pagewanted¼1, accessed 29 June 2008.

[2] Available online at http://www.nato.int/docu/speech/1999/s990312d.htm, accessed 29 June

2008.

[3] Gaj and Ha˛dzelek, Dzieje kultury fizycznej, 105–8 and 151.
[4] Chełmecki, ‘Wkład Pan´stwowego Urze˛du Wychowania Fizycznego’, 303; Szyman´ski, ‘Sport w

polityce II Rzeczypospolitej’, 489–95.

[5] Dudek, Jo´zef Piłsudski wobec problemo´w kultury fizycznej, 114–16.
[6] Ha˛dzelek, Laskiewicz and Wroczyn´ski, Historia kultury fizycznej w Polsce, 17–18 and 23;

Tuszyn´ski, Ksie˛ga sportowco´w polskich, 13–40.

[7] Przegla˛d Sportowy, 29 Sept. 1949; Szyman´ski, Kultura fizyczna i turystyka, 269–70.
[8] Godlewski, Sport w Polsce, 175–89.
[9] Przegla˛d Sportowy, 21 April 1950.

[10] Gaj and Ha˛dzelek, Dzieje kultury fizycznej, 218–19; Goldblatt, The Ball is Round, 337; Lipon´ski,

Encyklopedia sporto´w s´wiata, 162, 399 and 424; Szyman´ski, Kultura fizyczna i turystyka, 38 and
46.

[11] Godlewski, Sport w Polsce, 43–4, 176 and 189–94; Gowarzewski et al., Ksie˛ga jubileuszowa, 74;

Ordyłowski, Szkice z dziejo´w kultury fizycznej, 184–8.

[12] Lenartowicz and Karwacki, ‘An Overview of Social Conflicts’, 103.
[13] Gaj and Ha˛dzelek, Dzieje kultury fizycznej, 189–94.
[14] Godlewski, Sport w Polsce, 194–5; Ordyłowski, Szkice z dziejo´w kultury fizycznej, 188–94.
[15] Gowarzewski et al., Ksie˛ga jubileuszowa, 115; Lipon´ski, Polacy na olimpiadach, 70–1;

Szyman´ski, Kultura fizyczna i turystyka, 226–7.

512

A. Fryc and M. Ponczek

[16] _Zołnierz Wolnos´ci, 19–20 May 1984.
[17] Szyman´ski, Kultura fizyczna i turystyka, 235.
[18] Godlewski, Sport w Polsce, 237–40.
[19] Piłka No_zna, 31 July 2007.
[20] Przegla˛d Sportowy, 14 Nov. 1988.
[21] Godlewski, Sport w Polsce, 326–8; Komar, Wszystko pora˛bane, 144 and 197–8; Mulak,

Dlaczego?, 322; Petruczenko, ‘Władysław Komar’, 56; Terlecki and Nahorny, Pele, Boniek i ja,
20–1, 75–6, 135 and 292.

[22] Gazeta Wyborcza, 12 May 2008.
[23] Ferenc, Sport w słu_zbie polityki, 204–8; Godlewski, Sport w Polsce, 319, 321 and 338–9; ‘Jerzy

Pawlowski.’, The Times (London), 21 Feb. 2005, available online at http://www.timesonli-
ne.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article516860.ece, accessed 29 June 2008; Krasicki, A to
narty włas´nie, 82–3; Łoniewski, ‘Mundial – Meksyk ’86’, 84–95; G. Majchrzak, ‘Dyscyplina
dodatkowa’, Polityka, 7 Aug. 2004; Pawłowski, Najdłu_zszy pojedynek, 7–317; Szatkowski,
150000 kilometro´w, 76–7; T. Szymborski, ‘‘‘Sprawozdawca’’ Jan Ciszewski. Historia kariery’,
Dziennik, 2–3 June 2007; Terlecki and Nahorny, Pele Boniek i ja, 169; Zabłocki, Walcze˛, wie˛c
jestem, 63–4.

[24] Pawlik, Gest Kozakiewicza, 56–61.
[25] Matyja, Sport. Leksykon PWN, 231; ‘Uzasadnienie powołania Ministerstwa Sportu’, available

online at http://www.msport.gov.pl/content.php?id

¼258, accessed 29 June 2008.

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