“They Drove Bierut off the Platform. Szczecin, April 1946”

The exhibition tells the story of the first anti-communist protest by Polish scouts. The communists intended it as a propaganda demonstration of support for the new authorities; instead it turned into a rally in support of Stanislaw Mikolajczyk.

In April 1946 the communists organised a scout rally in Szczecin under the name “We Keep Watch on the Oder”. Some 50,000 people took part, including about 15,000 scouts. On 13 April 1946, on the platform of honour at the foot of the Chrobry Embankment, when Boleslaw Bierut began to speak, the young people started shouting “Mikolajczyk!”, “Down with Bierut”, “Down with the communists”. Bierut had to give up his speech and left the platform in haste.

The exhibition was organised on the eightieth anniversary of the referendum staged by the communists. It was prepared by Piotr Semka and Artur Kubaj of the Szczecin branch of the Institute of National Remembrance, and can be seen daily except Mondays, from 10.00 to 16.00, until 15 September 2026.