MAJCHRZAK, Grzegorz. Solidarity members with Czechs and Slovaks. Hunger strike in Holy Cross Church in Warsaw in 1979

A hunger strike was organised in the Holy Cross Church in Warsaw from 3 to 10 October 1979 in defence of opposition activists imprisoned in Czechoslovakia and Poland. It was organised by opposition activists – mainly from the Workers' Defence Committee (Komitet Obrony Robotników) in Poland. The impulse was the arrest of Charter 77 activists. The protest was supposed to be international (as two students from Prague were to participate in the hunger strike) and organised in the summer of 1979. Fifteen people took part in the hunger strike. It was widely publicised, especially in Western Europe. Of course, it could not lead to the release of arrested oppositionists from prison. Nevertheless, it became an important testimony to the cooperation of democratic opposition activists in socialist countries and contributed to the strengthening of contacts between Polish, Czech and Slovak dissidents.