One Day in People's Poland

As dawn breaks on the morning of September 27, 1962, the radio announcer calls on listeners to take part in the daily exercise routine and get ready for work Using film, radio and police archives, director Maciej J. Drygas has reconstructed one ordinary day in Poland under Communism. As students sit behind their desks, listening to lectures given by their comrades–teachers, their parents work at weaving machines and a report informs us how many kilometres a female worker walks during a year at the factory, if she is working with maximum efficiency. In the centre of town, inspectors discover two pairs of nylons in the handbag of a saleswoman from the underwear department. At the railway station, trains run like clockwork, but a written statement denounces several employees for involvement in sabotage. According to informers at the market, farmers are selling goods at higher prices than permitted. Elsewhere, the spies are out of luck. The subject under investigation has only left his house once today. He bought milk, bread and salt in the shop around the corner. The routine nature of the statement sends chills down the spine, as does the thought of the vast numbers of secret police spies everywhere. After all, this could be an ordinary day in any of the other Eastern Bloc countries Drygas asked people of various ages and social standing from all over Poland to read from secret police files containing information obtained through monitoring and tapping of households. The voiceover provides a chilling undertone to what could otherwise be just a nostalgic and humorous trip to the Communist era, making the point that everyone played a part in the unfortunate status quo of the time.