Włodzimierz Sokorski as President of the Radio Committee in 1956–72. A Political Position within the Power Elite

Abstract

Włodzimierz Sokorski is regarded as one of the most colourful characters associated with the power elite of the Polish People’s Republic, although there are no scientific attempts to verify his real position among politically influential people and his relations with them. The latter could have had a significant impact on the degree of the party apparatus’ interference with the work he was performing on different positions he held. The purpose of the article is to fill in these gaps for the period when Włodzimierz Sokorski was a president of the Radio Committee (1956–72). Basing on the analysis of both archival and printed sources, the author outlines the circumstances related to Sokorski’s appointment to the chairmanship of the Committee together with the importance of his relations with Władysław Gomułka and Zenon Kliszko for his future political career, and the reasons for which he was dismissed from the Committee under Edward Gierek team. A considerable place is devoted to the reflections on President Sokorski’s attitude in crucial moments for the government system (‘Polish months’). On the margin of the article, a problem of personnel purges in the Polish Radio and Television was raised, the largest taking place during his tenure in 1957–59 and in March ’68.