Poznań Accidents Poster

Poland, 1981

11 x 9 in (28 x 23 cm)

ID #FF19D-PK28-8-LZ

"25 ROCZNICA WYPADKÓW POZNAŃSKICH 28VI1981"

 

Poster featuring a large black print of a cross/obelus with a piece missing on the left above black text on the bottom edge reading "25TH ANNIVERSARY OF POZNAŃ ACCIDENTS 28/06/1981" in Polish. This text refers to the 1956 Poznań protests ("Poznań June"), the first of a series of large-scale protests by the Polish people against the communist government of the People's Republic of Poland. On the 28th of June, 1956, large-scale protests for better working conditions began at Poznań's Cegielski Factories. Protesters were met with violent suppression by the Polish People's Army and the Internal Security Corps, resulting in 50 to over 100 deaths and hundreds of injuries. This event is considered by many as a milestone in Polish history, and a significant event in the context of the fall of communism in Poland. The symbol in the poster can be read as both a cross and an obelus, the latter of which is a typographical symbol used to mark death, extinction or obsolescence.

Artist: Jacek Ćwikła

Condition: Please note creasing and markings on poster, as well as very minor tearing on bottom edge.

Material: Paper

100-250 activism communism cross death eighties fifties obelus peace poland political poster protest size-11-x-9 vintage poster workers