BBC Polish Section
Encyclopedia
The BBC
Polish
Section (pl: Sekcja polska BBC) was one of the foreign-language services of the BBC World Service
. It existed between 1939 and 2005.
Programmes consisted of news, press reviews, commentaries, reports and interviews, and were also used for transmitting coded messages and orders to the Polish Underground
using prearranged selection of songs and code phrases.
After V-E Day
, a decision was made to continue broadcasting in Polish. Like other broadcasts from behind the Iron Curtain
, BBC Polish-language programmes were jammed
and, in the 50s, listeners on occasion would be persecuted as enemies of the people. Jamming stopped in the 70s but was reintroduced in 1981 as the authorities clamped down on political freedom (see martial law in Poland
). Jamming finally ended in 1988. During the post-war period, while still concentrating on impartial and uncensored news, programming was expanded to culture, technology, social matters, British life and daily English language
lessons.
In 1996, the office in Warsaw
was opened.
On 25 October 2005 it was announced that 10 foreign-language services, including Polish, will be closed to free resources needed to start a new Arabic
-language television service. Last broadcast in Polish took place on 23 December 2005.
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
Section (pl: Sekcja polska BBC) was one of the foreign-language services of the BBC World Service
BBC World Service
The BBC World Service is the world's largest international broadcaster, broadcasting in 27 languages to many parts of the world via analogue and digital shortwave, internet streaming and podcasting, satellite, FM and MW relays...
. It existed between 1939 and 2005.
History
A decision to establish the BBC Polish Section was made on 3 September 1939, after Great Britain declared war on Germany. First programme was broadcast on 7 September 1939.Programmes consisted of news, press reviews, commentaries, reports and interviews, and were also used for transmitting coded messages and orders to the Polish Underground
Armia Krajowa
The Armia Krajowa , or Home Army, was the dominant Polish resistance movement in World War II German-occupied Poland. It was formed in February 1942 from the Związek Walki Zbrojnej . Over the next two years, it absorbed most other Polish underground forces...
using prearranged selection of songs and code phrases.
After V-E Day
Victory in Europe Day
Victory in Europe Day commemorates 8 May 1945 , the date when the World War II Allies formally accepted the unconditional surrender of the armed forces of Nazi Germany and the end of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich. The formal surrender of the occupying German forces in the Channel Islands was not...
, a decision was made to continue broadcasting in Polish. Like other broadcasts from behind the Iron Curtain
Iron Curtain
The concept of the Iron Curtain symbolized the ideological fighting and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1989...
, BBC Polish-language programmes were jammed
Radio jamming
Radio jamming is the transmission of radio signals that disrupt communications by decreasing the signal to noise ratio. Unintentional jamming occurs when an operator transmits on a busy frequency without first checking whether it is in use, or without being able to hear stations using the frequency...
and, in the 50s, listeners on occasion would be persecuted as enemies of the people. Jamming stopped in the 70s but was reintroduced in 1981 as the authorities clamped down on political freedom (see martial law in Poland
Martial law in Poland
Martial law in Poland refers to the period of time from December 13, 1981 to July 22, 1983, when the authoritarian government of the People's Republic of Poland drastically restricted normal life by introducing martial law in an attempt to crush political opposition to it. Thousands of opposition...
). Jamming finally ended in 1988. During the post-war period, while still concentrating on impartial and uncensored news, programming was expanded to culture, technology, social matters, British life and daily English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
lessons.
In 1996, the office in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
was opened.
On 25 October 2005 it was announced that 10 foreign-language services, including Polish, will be closed to free resources needed to start a new Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
-language television service. Last broadcast in Polish took place on 23 December 2005.
Heads of Polish Section
- Robin Campbell (1939–?)
- Michael Winch (?–1942)
- Gregory MacDonald (1942–1945)
- Evelyn Zasio (1945–1953)
- Józef Zarański (1953–1960)
- Stanisław Faecher (1960–1966)
- Zbigniew Błażyński (1966–1973)
- Jan Krok-Paszkowski (1973–1980)
- Krzysztof Pszenicki (1980–1988)
- Eugeniusz Smolar (1988–1998)
- Marek Cajzner (1998–2005)
External links
- History of the BBC Polish Section (Polish)
- 50 years of the BBC Polish Section (Polish)