Northern (N): Poland (NP). Youth in Poland

A file of reports, correspondence, and press extracts on young people in Poland. The file contains a report from the British ambassador to Poland on the contribution of Polish youth to the events of October 1956; on their partial disillusionment with some illiberal measures taken since the uprising; and on the students' overall confidence in the new leader, Władysław Gomułka. The file also discusses the formation of the new Union of Socialist Youth (Z.M.S.) movement; its low membership compared to its predecessor; the overwhelming lack of interest in ideology among Polish youth; and the consequently contradictory nature of its two aims, which were to represent young Poles and to prepare new party members. The file also contains a note of the government takeover of the Polish Scouting Organisation; and an article describing the emptiness of life in the Polish mining town of Walbrzych.