Zbiór grypsów i listów Jerzego Ceranowskiego jako źródło do badań nad internowaniem w stanie wojennym

Jerzy Ceranowski (1951–2022) was the first democratically elected mayor of Kutno after the political transformation. He was interned on 13 December 1981, and incarcerated in the Retreat Centre in the Correctional Institution Włocławek-Mielęcin, where he remained until 29 April 1982. This paper describes the content of the letters and secret messages smuggled in and out of prison, forming an archival collection, and defines their purpose, which was the author’s attempt to establish contact with people outside the prison and to show internment as a form of severe repression of political opponents organised by the communist authorities. The above mentioned documents show the rigour in the Retreat Centre Włocławek, reward and punishment system used by the prison service, surveillance carried out by the Security Service officers, ways of spending leisure time and the protests organised by inmates. While assessing the value of the information contained in Ceranowski’s secret messages and letters, they were weighted against the official message contained in the files of the Security Service and penitentiary administration.