Igor Janke

* 1967

  • Warsaw was gloomy. There was the horrid Palace of Culture in the middle, then the ugly Marriott was built. Today we are probably the third city in Europe in terms of the number of skyscrapers, we already have a small 'Manhattan'. This city is vibrant. Back then the energy was there, too, but it run underground. The second half of 1980s was sad, we did not have the energy of my colleagues from the earlier period of the NZS, from the generation just after martial law. When I arrived in Warsaw it was sluggish, there was no faith. Only my school I was talking about was different. Older activists were losing their faith. We were more militant, more pissed off. We may not have been more heroic, but we had it easier, because we were in a different stage of life. The strikes of the late 1980s, which led to talks with the communists, the fact that they began to crumble, were driven by young workers and students. We were united, especially during the Round Table talks, because we felt a great distance from the "top" of Solidarity. We were more radical.

  • It was a post-communist editor’s office: those corridors, smells, rooms, that atmosphere. Then, suddenly, we moved to the Klub Cinema on Plac Na Rozdrożu. We were bought Macintosh computers, networked them, they employed the best Italian graphic designer, I think his name was Mauroni. He designed a new layout for the newspaper, it was probably the most beautiful newspaper in Europe, very elegant. A team of fantastic graphic designers took care of the smallest detail; extraordinary importance was placed on this. I do not think there is such a beautiful newspaper today. The money was amazing, all of a sudden we were getting huge raises. It was a different world, it was a leap from the 19th to the 21st century.

  • Suddenly everything changed, everything opened up. This city simply exploded. It was something extraordinary, a new life had begun. I would never have thought I could become a journalist, because journalists back then collaborated with the system. My colleagues did not think they would be creating political parties. Many of them started businesses and they were very successful. I was born in 1967, many people my age were very active then. It was a watershed year. Many have gone on to have major careers in various fields. The reason most of them did not graduate was because we were supposed to finish studies around 1990 or 1991, and at that time the regime was collapsing and everyone was busy acting, building new things, fighting, so everyone was dropping out.

  • We were a bit exotic for the church, but we were accepted. I used to go on regular church pilgrimages before. Our hippy pilgrimage was only different in that it was more loosely organised and everyone had long hair and clothes and sang different songs. The music was different, but with religious themes. We were different in how we entered the church - and it was fun. We were charged with good energy. A local priest would welcome us, our priest Andrzej Szpak would came out to greet him. We had some vey talented musicians playing some fierce tunes in which we praised the Lord by dancing, shouting and singing. We behaved differently than the usual church-goers. Local people were looking forward to pilgrimages, it was an important event back then, they dressed in their Sunday clothes. And there we were, a bunch of ragamuffins. At first they were distrustful, you could see they gave strange looks. We would start clapping and then they would say, 'well that's for God too'. Slowly smiles and acceptance started to appear. I do not remember anything bad happening. Maybe there were some negative reactions, but I did not experience them. We did not treat the Church as an adversary, we felt we were a part of it, but the better one. When we entered Czestochowa, everyone wore white, I think I got some sort of bedsheet. We wore wreths on our heads, there was dancing, guitars, singing.

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    Warsaw, 02.06.2022

    (audio)
    délka: 01:35:55
    nahrávka pořízena v rámci projektu Memory of our Nations - Never forget our totalitarian heritage
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I Was an Anti-Communist Since I Was Born

Portrait photography of Igor Janke in 2022. Photo by Gosia Kawka-Piotrowska.
Portrait photography of Igor Janke in 2022. Photo by Gosia Kawka-Piotrowska.
zdroj: Nizio Foundation archive

Igor Janke was born on October 27, 1967 in Zagan. As a teenager he supported the anti-communist opposition, but living in a small town, he did not have the opportunity to engage in its activities. He belonged to the hippie subculture and participated in hippie pilgrimages to Czestochowa. After going to study in Warsaw, he participated in the founding of the Independent Students‘ Association (NZS) unit at the National Academy of Dramatic Art. He became chairman of the unit, which was revived after it was banned in 1981. As part of the activities of the NZS, he participated in the organization of occupation strikes and student rallies at his university in the late 1980s. Among their demands were obtaining the legalization of the NZS and the abolition of the compulsory military courses for students. As part of the activities of the student council, he participated in the publication of the magazine „99.“ Janke also organized meetings with opposition activists and intellectuals at his university. After the 1989 political changes in Poland, he decided to become a journalist. During his work as a journalist, Igor Janke observed at close quarters the turbulent period of political and economic transformation in Poland. In the following years, Janke worked for leading Polish media outlets. In 2021, after a hiatus of several years, he returned to journalism with his own podcast Układ Otwarty