In June 1976, Poland's Communist government announced dramatic increases in food prices. The resulting protests set in motion a resurgence in activism and opposition that would eventually lead to the downfall of the regime.

In Ursus, just outside of Warsaw, outraged workers blocked train traffic. In Radom, they burned down the local headquarters of the Communist Party. The protests were spontaneous. But almost immediately, a group of intellectuals and workers banded together to form K.O.R. - the Workers Defense Committee. Active from 1976 to 1981, it clandestinely produced uncensored newspapers, provided financial and legal aid to fired workers, and tirelessly advocated for truly independent unions that could defend workers' rights.



This documentary accompanies Henryk Wujec and Jan Lity?ski - two key K.O.R. activists - as they meet with old comrades, scour archival materials and retrace the history of this influential movement.

Joanna Szczesna recalls putting together the underground Information Bulletin - surreptitiously hand-printed by volunteers - with a determination to tell only the truth. Auto plant worker Kobylka Wieslaw recalls being arrested for hooliganism after the protests, and how the experience changed his life: 'In 1976 I became immune to Communism. I stopped being afraid.'



Directed by Joanna Grudzinska, whose activist parents were forced into exile in 1981, K.O.R. captures the vibrant idealism and energy that informed Poland's dissidents in the late 1970s. The documentary traces how the links forged between workers and intellectuals were consolidated in the shipyards of Gdansk in 1980, with the founding of the Solidarnosc (Solidarity) union and the leadership of Lech Walesa.

Until now, few in the West have been familiar with the pivotal role played by dissidents in the turbulent years leading up to the founding of Solidarity. K.O.R provides an insider's look at these critical years and the people who would set the stage for the end of Communist rule.