Location

• Senovážné nám. 2, 110 00 Praha 1, Czech Republic
  Show on map

Languages

• Polish

Website

• http://polpk.wz.cz

Name of collection

• Polish Underground Library in Prague

Provenance and cultural activities

• Libri Prohibiti – the library of “prohibited books” – was opened in 1990. The foundation of Libri Prohibiti was created by Jiří Gruntorád, pre-1989 publisher and collector of samizdat literature and signatory to Charter 77, whom was twice imprisoned because of his samizdat activities. Gruntorád wanted to collect in one place exile and samizdat literature, to make them accessible to the public in order to help clarify recent Czechoslovak history. According to him, the library should serve as a “message about past times,” and show how the communist regime in Czechoslovakia functioned. Nowadays, the library’s entire collection consists of about 40 500 library units and more than 3 400 periodicals in the areas of literature, literary science, history, political science, philosophy, theology, sociology, culture and politics, the field of human rights, international relations and others.

  The collections of Libri Prohibiti are comprised of, among other things, Polish documents from 1970–1989 (underground and exile publications, flyers, posters, sound and visual recordings). In 2009, these documents formed the Polish Underground Library in Prague which was created with the support of the Czech-Polish Forum of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic. The aim of the Polish Underground Library was to make accessible and to complete these unique Polish materials from the collections of Libri Prohibiti as these documents represent the history of Polish underground activities of the last twenty years of the communist regime and mutual Polish-Czech contacts in this period. The establishment of the Polish Underground Library was possible partly thanks to the collecting activities of the Libri Prohibiti and partly thanks to a gift from the Karta Center Foundation in Warsaw.

  Libri Prohibiti not only makes books and magazines accessible to the public, but it also organises various activities such as exhibitions (focusing on exile and samizdat visual artists, photographers and other topics) or literary evenings (dedicated mostly to samizdat and exile authors). The library also hosts an annual award ceremony by the PANT Civic Society which gives the Jaromír Šavrda Prize for Testimonial about Totality.

  Libri Prohibiti has also participated in the creation of many publications, films (mainly documentaries) and exhibitions; it cooperates with radio stations, theaters, and several websites.

Description of content

• The Polish Underground Library contains Polish underground and exile publications, Polish flyers, posters, sound and visual recordings from 1970–1989 that are part of the Libri Prohibiti’s collection. Thus, this collection portrays the history of the Polish underground activities of the 1970s and 1980s.

Content

• memorabilia (posters, flyers, stamps, etc.): unknown quantity
• publications (books, newspapers, articles, press clippings): 1000-
• video recordings (including oral history recordings): 10-99
• voice recordings (including oral history recordings): 10-99

Operator(s)

• Society of Libri Prohibiti

Owner(s)

• Society of Libri Prohibiti

Geographical scope of recent operation

• international

Topics

• democratic opposition
• samizdat and tamizdat
• underground culture

Founder(s)

• Society of Libri Prohibiti

Date of founding

• 2009

Place of founding

• Praha, Prague, Czech Republic
  Show on map

Creator(s) of content

• Committee for the Defense of Workers
• Independent Self-governing Trade Union "Solidarity"

Collector(s)

• Society of Libri Prohibiti

Supporters

• Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic

Important events in the history of the collection

• Exhibition: Polish Underground Library in Prague
• Publication: Česko-polská literatura v samizdatu a druhém oběhu (Czech-Polish Literature in Samizdat and Underground), 2010. Book

Access type

• completely open to the public

Publications

• Štogrová, Jarmila, Dorota Müllerová, and Zita Chalupová, eds. 2010. Česko-polská literatura v samizdatu a druhém oběhu: studie a rozhovory s překladateli. Praha: Libri prohibiti.

Author(s) of this page

• Kůželová, Michaela

References

Gruntorád, Jiří. 2002. “Libri prohibiti – poučné ohlédnutí za neradostnou minulostí.“ Dějiny a současnost 24, No. 5: 41–43.

Český rozhlas. 2014. “Libri prohibiti.” Last modified October 8. http://www.rozhlas.cz/vltava/dokument/_zprava/libri-prohibiti--1058103.

Libri Prohibiti. 2017. “Annual Report 2016.” Accessed May 15. http://www.libpro.cz/docs/2823-lp-vyrocni-zprava-2016-en-web-v02_1499883831.pdf.

Gruntorád, Jiří. 2014. “Vznik knihovny Libri prohibiti.” Last modified December 5. http://www.moderni-dejiny.cz/clanek/jiri-gruntorad-vznik-knihovny-libri-prohibiti/.

Libri Prohibiti. 2017. Accessed February 24. http://www.libpro.cz/.

Gruntorád, Jiří , interview by Kůželová, Michaela, February 01, 2017. COURAGE Registry Oral History Collection