Henryk Gontarz, a retired metal workers and the main hero of the radio report, takes us to the WSK Świdnik aircraft factory in the town of Świdnik. The campaign of protest launched by several thousand factory workers there in July 1980, spread fast all over Poland. WSK Świdnik is hence considered as the primary symbol of the social revolt of 25 years ago, which ultimately led to the rise of "Solidarity".

After "Solidarity" was banned following the proclamation of martial law in December 1981, Henryk Gontarz decided to set up an independent  radio station that would give the dozen of thousands  inhabitants of Świdnik trustworthy and reliable information about the situation in the region and in the country. After lengthy preparations, the clandestine "Radio Solidarity Świdnik" was born and went on the air in April 1983. The broadcasts featured reports about reprisals inflicted upon the population by State Security officers and the police. Listeners were instructed how to express their opposition to the regime publicly. Henryk Gontarz recalls that when state television was broadcasting its main news service in the evening, the inhabitants of Świdnik were leaving their homes to walk up and down the streets in silent manifestation that they did not believe what was said on state controlled television by news editors dressed in military uniforms. The people made it understood that they were listening to "Radio Solidarity Świdnik" rather than watching the TV news. Within a very short time, the routine of evening walks spread throughout the country.

Henryk Gontarz recalls that the State Security was trying by all means to find out those running the radio station and broadcasting despite all odds. The best State Security men were dispatched to the town. The police forces had been reinforced. However, the radio station was broadcasting so effectively that the State Security came to believe that it was run by three teams independently of each other.

A major role in "Radio Solidarity Świdnik" was played by Ireneusz Haczewski from Lublin, a highly talented constructor of transmitting and monitoring equipment. Haczewski was responsible for the radio station's technical operations.  He reminiscences on his continuous endeavours to upgrade the transmitters and to increase their power. Largely thanks to his efforts, the broadcasts were reaching an ever wider listening audience.

One of the WSK Świdnik aircraft factory workers notes in the report that "Radio Solidarity
Świdnik" played a key role in the life of the town's population. It bolstered trust and confidence that major changes for the better were imminent.  "Listening to the radio, we felt a thrill of excitement because thanks to it we knew that Solidarity was alive and that victory must come".

One day in 1984, "Radio Solidarity Świdnik" succeeded in intruding the audio wavelength of Polish Television Two controlled by General Wojciech Jaruzelski's regime. Putting one such broadcast on the air in this way was tantamount to distributing several thousand leaflets", says Henryk Gontarz. He recalls that the first broadcast transmitted against the backdrop of the television screen was made during a relay live from the funeral of Soviet leader Juri Andropov in Moscow. The voice of a dignitary speaking at the ceremony in Russian turned abruptly and unexpectedly into the well-known Polish voice of the "Radio Solidarity" speaker. He managed to elaborate for several minutes on the arrests and reprisals of local "Solidarity" movement leaders.  

That feat was too much to bear for the State Security Office. Having suspected Gontarz and Haczewski for some time as those behind "Radio Solidarity Świdnik", the State Security took prompt action against the two. Both were arrested the following day.  Henryk Gontarz was released shortly afterwards for lack of evidence.  Ireneusz Haczewski spent six months in prison. During house-search, State Security officers found his cassettes with recordings of "Radio Solidarity Świdnik" broadcasts.

Franciszek Zawada, another tool maker from the WSK Świdnik factory, referred to as a silent hero of "Radio Solidarity Świdnik" was responsible for putting the transmitters into operation after changing their location around town to avoid detection and for emitting the broadcasts.  He was risking a lot. He was moving the transmitters from their hiding places to earlier selected points of transmission all by himself. He recalls the dramatic circumstances accompanying his capture by the police while he was carrying a transmitter. That was just before the twentieth broadcast of "Radio Solidarity Świdnik".   Although the transmitter was lost, the radio station soon sprang back to life and Zawada's responsibilities were taken over by other operators.

It was only after five years of continuous and  fruitless  efforts that the authorities managed to undo"Radio Solidarity Świdnik". The radio station was finished off in 1988 due to an informer planted by the State Security among the staff. Henryk Gontarz describes the betrayal in stirring words. He adds that it was only after many years and after reading the Security Service files at the Institute of National Remembrance that he learned who the traitor was.

The end of the "Swidnik Radio Solidarity" came just on the eve of political transformations in Poland. Although this free and independent radio station ceased to exist, the idea of freedom, which the people working for "Radio Solidarity Świdnik" were campaigning for, has won.