The celebration of independence as a form of political opposition in Łódź between 1978 and 1988

Anniversary celebrations and other fests and festivals comprise on a great part of existence each society. They are fundaments of national identity. For this reason, in post-war Poland communistic authorities tried to monopolize this part of life. However, leading their own ceremonials was not as effective as they expected. In the end of ’70s and during all ’80s of XX c., counterweight for communistic authorities in this domain was political opposition. If it came to celebrations of national anniversary, occurrence of compete between those, who had the power and political opposition also had a place in Łódź. In this context, particular meaning had the 11th of November – Independence Day – which symbolized resistance of nation to defeat and ability of uprising and triumphal overcoming of historical cataclysm. On the grounds that, it was possible to draw an analogy to polish reality on the latest dozen years of communistic dictatorship. Considering the problem in the Łódź district, it is visible that, in whole struggle which leaded to restitution the meaning of anniversary of Independent Day, characteristic was Józef Piłsudski figure. On the whole, opposition groups were ideologically differential, and what is interesting, the group of followers of Piłsudski was not the strongest. Józef Piłsudski became the symbol of patriotic devotion and commitment in motherland good. Consequently, it is natural, that all opposition groups in Łódź district, tried to build their own political identity based on fame of Piłsudski, without reference to their ideological provenance