: The consequences are grave since such conditions make for a ruling group that is inefficient and devoid of a sense of responsibility to the people. Those who have the responsibility for making things work in Poland are frustrated by those who provide political leadership, he said. The lack of a real relationship between the experts and administrators and the party leaders is destructive for the country.
He said that the Communist government had achieved a major success in assuring universal public education. But he criticized conditions that he said hampered creative work in the humanities.
Some progress has been made in literary freedom but he declared that in literary criticism, sociology and modern history the situation had worsened. The theater, too, is hampered by censorship and suppression.
The constitution and criminal code of Poland still leave room for harsh and arbitrary applications, Professor Kolakowski said, although he granted that such cases occurred far less frequently than before 1956.
His half-hour talk, which evoked a wave of applause, was the prelude to even bolder criticisms by a number of students. One student at the meeting proposed the adoption of a resolution quoting from 1956 speeches by Gomulka pledging political and cultural freedom. Another student was reported to have called on older men to step down from leadership of the country. .
Party and state authorities were especially incensed by the submission of an unscheduled resolution demanding the release from prison of two young Communists , Karol Modzelewski and Jacek Kuron, who were jailed last year for openly expressing: their disagreements with party policy.
Modzelewski is the son of a well-known Communist who was the first foreign minister of the Polish People's Republic. He was one of the leaders of the Warsaw university youth during the turbulent days of October 1956 and organized a discussion group at the university where he became an instructor. Kuron, a graduate student, is also the son of a veteran Communist.
They are serving terms of three and a half and three years, respectively, for having circulated an open