PRL intelligence traded arms with Middle Eastern terrorists and trained his spies with glue and scissors. At that time, the musicians had to look for income in Western scrap yards, and Poles were begging for support and help ... the Palace of Culture and Science itself.
As always, all TOP10 items are based on the articles we publish. This time devoted to the history of People's Poland. You can find even more articles on this subject in the post-war history category.
You should know that…
 | 10. | Junkyard was an iron (literally) point on the map of Polish musicians traveling to the West. Artists brought parts to officials' party cars to gain their favor. They sold the rest of the gains at a profit (read more about it) . |
 | 9. | Marian Zacharski, the most famous spy of the Polish People's Republic, owed his career to mere coincidence. He knew nothing about his job, and the Polish Ministry of the Interior did not even provide him with an elementary course. Bravado and lack of skill led him straight to prison on a life sentence. This page of his biography was recently unearthed by historians from the Institute of National Remembrance (read more about it) . |
 | 8. | In May 1981, free elections were held in Poland. In 37 regions, 898 delegates to the National Congress of NSZZ "Solidarity" in Gdańsk were fully democratically elected. They represented 10 million Poles, members of the trade union independent of the communist authorities (read more about this). |
 | 7. | In the early 1980s, 80% of employees in the education sector, 90% of higher education and 70% of culture and art belonged to "Solidarity" . Nevertheless, the team built at the Ministry of the Interior by Czesław Kiszczak was close to taking full control of the union and making it a tool of the party (read more on this topic). |
 | 6. | Polish furniture in the 1960s sometimes surprisingly resembled contemporary models from Ikea. Simple, modernist equipment of Polish designers did not impress with diversity and quality, but the design could be liked (read more about it) . |
 | 5. | "Beloved Palace", "Greetings to the Palace's crew and the Citizen of the Director" - Poles wrote to ... the Palace of Culture and Science. The letters contained various content:job requests, antiques sales, and even complaints about nuisance neighbors. The Palace of Culture and Science was treated as if it were an authority of power at least equal to the government or the party's central committee ... (read more on this topic). |
 | 4. | PRL military intelligence sold weapons to Middle Eastern terrorists . For years, communist spies have been doing business with the world's most wanted and ruthless terrorists. Dozens of people died as a result (read more about it) . |
 | 3. | Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski probably took part in the conspiracy that led to the fall of Władysław Gomułka . The industrial and military complex demanded funds for the expansion and modernization of the army, but the First Secretary of the Polish United Workers' Party was a perch. There are many indications that he paid for it with the position (read more about this). |
 | 2. | In socialist Poland, spies were trained using ... just pre-school methods. The making of secret caches was taught with scissors, glue for paper, brushes and empty medicine boxes where a double bottom was glued on for days (read more on this). |
 | 1. | You could meet the most luxurious prostitutes of the People's Republic of Poland in the "European" restaurant in Warsaw. They knew foreign languages, earned in dollars, and their clients were only foreigners from the West. They also served the Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro (read more on this). |