Rejonowy Komitet Pomocy Osobom Pozbawionym Wolności i Praw w Szczecinku 1983–1987
Regional Assistance Committee for Persons Deprived of Freedom and Rights (RKPOPWiP) in Szczecinek 1983–1987

Summary/Abstract: The article examines the activities of the Regional Assistance Committee for Persons Deprived of Freedom and Rights in a medium-sized (40,000 inhabitants) town, then located in Koszalin Voivodeship and situated far from more important academic, cultural and industrial centres. With the involvement of members of the first “Solidarity”, and people close to the Catholic Church and with the help of Redemptorist priests from the parish of the Holy Spirit in Szczecinek, a group was created which, during the period of martial law, did all it could to provide help to both people who had been interned or to those who were being persecuted for their political beliefs and to their families. The support offered was wide-ranging: from financial and legal assistance to spiritual and psychological support and the organisation of summer holidays for the children of detainees. Members and supporters of RKPOPWiP were in constant contact with the Bishop’s Assistance Committee in Koszalin. They also worked together with members of the opposition from Złocieniec, who provided support to internees in Wierchów Pomorski. After the departure to Canada in 1986 of their leader Krystyna Oberda-Bielecka, the activity of the committee noticeably lessened. Indeed in 1987, apart from sporadic activity within the framework of “Operation Summer”, the committee’s activity in practical terms ceased.

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