This was Poland under the communist government. In theory, this was the government of the people: workers, peasants, and the intelligentsia. In practice, people had no say. Democracy was gone and dictatorship of the communist party extended over all aspects of life.

The communist rulers practiced coercion of the "working masses" by organizing pompous ceremonies of May 1st Holiday, celebrated as Labour Day. This way, workers got "Olympics" instead of bread. The rest of the world, particularly the one behind the other side of the iron curtain got the ideological lesson on how good life was for an average man in the communist system.

Nobody was attracted by those deceiving, and moreover, boring ceremonies. Therefore, the communist authorities introduced a regulation requiring compulsory participation in the festivities of May 1st Holiday.

Under the attentive eye of their rulers, people marched in parades while thinking when they can finally go home. As years went by and social moods became tense, "illegal" parades were organized as a contradiction to the official ceremonies.

The "illegal" parades aimed at creating a sense of solidarity of the people and intensified the national feelings.

Participants of those "illegal" gatherings often risked their personal security and were often subject to persecutions of security police.

These photos come from the resources of the Ministry of the Interior and are being published for the first time.

These pictures are the so-called operational material gathered by an employer of the security police.

Here, we would like to make a petition to anyone who is in the possession of the unknown documents on the history of Poland from 1939 to 1990 and to make them available to the Institute of National Remembrance.