In September 1978 in the village of Zbrosza Duża in Mazowsze the Committee of Peasants' Self-Defense of the Land of Grójec was established by 22 people from 13 villages belonging to the local parish, whose parish priest was Czesław Sadłowski.
Positive, warm, full of goodness, trustful towards the world, but able to make heroic efforts in the name of values - this is how priest Czeslaw Sadlowski, who fought against the communist authorities, is described by his closest collaborators.
As parish priest in Zbrocza Duża in the 1960s, he created an anti-communist center which was an inspiration for the whole country. It was one of the few places where opposition life took place, illegal gatherings were organized, masses were held, films were shown. The priest was open to helping farmers and became a symbol for the Polish countryside, something that the Security Service feared especially, having in its memories the Mikolajczyk PSL.
The center in Zbrocza Duża was of great importance in influencing the country. The priest, acting under the anointing of Primate Wyszyński, was one of the priests who influenced the rural environment with such a firmness that from the end of 1960 he was under constant surveillance of the Security Service.
In 1976, after the workers' protests in Radom and Ursus, he publicly condemned the methods of repression used against participants in the events of June '76. In 1977, he initiated a petition to the Sejm of the People's Republic of Poland in defense of arrested KOR members and imprisoned workers of Radom. In 1978 he organized the Committee of Peasants' Self-Defense of the Grójecka Land in Zbrocza Duża (after the introduction of a disadvantageous pension law for farmers), which published and distributed independent magazines, i.e. "Niezależny Ruch Chłopski" ("Independent Peasants' Movement"), "Biuletyn Informacyjny Komitetu Samoobrony Chłopskiej Ziemi Grójeckiej" ("Peasants' Self-Defense Committee Information Bulletin of the Grójecka Land").
In September 1980, in Warsaw, representatives of the KSChZG and other structures of the independent peasant movement and unorganized agricultural circles set up the Founding Committee of the NSZZ Rolników (later NSZZR "Solidarność Wiejska"). The priest was the initiator and host of the People's University, where lectures were given on the history of the peasant movement, law, and economics. He also organized a library of independent publications and printed religious literature for the Roman Catholic Church in Czechoslovakia and the USSR on a duplicator as early as 1974.
The communists tried to prevent the development of the center in Zbrocza Duża. Father Sadłowski was interrogated, intimidated, blocked, provoked, the faithful were not allowed to attend mass, and attempts were made to burn down the church. Father Sadłowski was subjected to special supervision and control. The SB took advantage of the parish priest's trust, forcing their agents into his ranks. Despite this, Father Czeslaw was able to maintain the compactness and role of the center. It is thanks to the activity of people like him and the support of the Church that the Sejm created the law on foundations (1984) which is still in force today.
In 2006 he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta. Today he still radiates and infects with good energy.
text by M. Olejnik
