„Bojownicy ludu” z Nowego Portu
“People’s fighters” from Nowy Port

Summary/Abstract: In connection with the 10th anniversary of creating PPR (Polish Workers’ Party), falling in 1952, various celebrations were organized throughout Poland. One of the standing items of the anniversary program was the unveiling of memorial plaques, dedicated to the members of PPR who died during “the consolidation of the people’s power”. Similar celebrations also took place in Gdańsk, where on 23 February 1952 on Freedom Square in Nowy Port a memorial plaque was set, dedicated to three members of PPR: Jan Łodo, Kazimierz Łowczyński and Karol Gronkiewicz, who – according to communist propaganda – died “fighting with fascist gangs from NSZ”. Moreover, the National Council of Gdańsk adopteda resolution on naming three streets in Nowy Port with their names. Due to the fact that there remains very little information concerning the above persons and part of the information is inaccurate, the author of this article decided to determine the true identity of the communist party members honored in such a specific way and find out whether they really died at the hands of soldiers of the underground movement, which was implied in the inscription on the plaque unveiled in Nowy Port. As a result of tedious research, the author managed to determine detailed personal data of the above-mentioned members of PPR, follow the paths of their professional careers and type of political activity, as well as discover the cause and circumstances of their deaths. This revealed the dissonance between the popular propaganda version and the reality, which in turn exposed the heroes from Gdańsk fighting for “the consolidation of the people’s power” and revealed the mechanisms of creating a new communist pantheon.

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