An Abyss of Immorality and Powerlessness
Two Documents on Prostitution in Poland 1956/57
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
De-Stalinisation made it possible: In communist Poland, it was possible to discuss prostitution and the problems associated with it. This also happened at the highest levels of the state and party. In early 1957, the Interior Ministry and the police drew up a frightening report. Two documents reflect the communist leadership’s helplessness vis-à-vis the growing numbers of prostitutes and the problems associated with it such as female unemployment, destruction of families, increase in crime and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. The roots of this development go back to the Second World War.
(Osteuropa 6/2006, pp. 318–335)