Christmas in Wroclaw in archive photographs [PHOTOS]

Jarosław Maliniak, PhD, Head of the Archive Section at the Remembrance and Future Centre in Wroclaw, elaborates on what Christmas was like in Wroclaw in the 1970s and what was considered a luxury at the time. One of the most popular slogans of the 1970s was this: 'For Poland to grow in power and for people to be wealthier'. The nation was decreed to enjoy prosperity and luxury at Christmas, despite the name being banned from official usage. Apart from traditional Christmas trees and carp, Christmas in the 1970s still brings back the memory of fragrant oranges. Right from the very beginning of December, television and radio would keep their audiences posted on the shipments of bananas and oranges slowly arriving in Poland. Polish people, who considered the fruit exotic, had their first opportunity to taste them. There were also emergencies, e.g. in 1973, the "Wieczór Wrocławia" daily wrote about unreliable chickens that forced the authorities to import eggs from Czechoslovakia. First Christmas Eves for lonely people were organised. One such Eve was held at the Bachus WInery in 1971. Guests were offered three dinner sets. The first set included herring in oil, carp in aspic, borscht, pierogi and kutia. The second set consisted of stuffed carp a la Juive, eel, mushroom soup and noodles with poppy seeds. The third combined stuffed pike, turkey in Malaga, borscht and boeuf strogonow. Each set on the menu cost ca. 100 PLN.

Winter in Wroclaw in the 1970s.

A Christmas tree sales point, 1970s. Photograph: Stanisław Kokurewicz

Santa Claus in riding down the streets of Wroclaw, 1970s. Photograph: Stanisław Kokurewicz

The Feniks Cooperative Department Store at Christmas, 1975. Photograph: Zbigniew Nowak

A Christmas tree in the square by the PDT department store, 1975. Photograph: Zbigniew Nowak

A Christmas display at one of the shops in Wroclaw, 1970s. Photograph: Stanisław Kokurewicz

Children simply loved dolls from the Plecionka Cooperative (including Bearded Santa Clauses, Pyza, Jaga, Klaudia and Clown dolls), which were sought after both before and after Christmas. Unfortunately they were hard to come by because the majority of production was allocated for export, 1975. Photograph: Zbigniew Nowak

Christmas illuminations in ul Świdnicka, 1978. Photograph: Zbigniew Nowak

Children are enjoying their Christmas break as they sled down Wzgórze Partyzantów in Wroclaw, 1978. Photograph: Zbigniew Nowak

A woman sweeping snow off Wroclaw's Rynek, 1970s. Photograph: Stanisław Kokurewicz

Workers of the Municipal Sanitation Department sweeping snow off the pavement at the intersection of ul Piłsudskiego (then Świerczewskiego) and ul Świdnicka, 1970s. Photograph: Stanisław Kokurewicz

A car piled up with snow in ul Skargi, 1978. Photograph: Zbigniew Nowak

Children at the "Torpiast" ice rink in ul Księcia Witolda, 1970s. Photograph: Stanisław Kokurewicz

People sledding down Wzgórze Polskie, 1973. Photograph: Zbigniew Nowak

A woman sweeping snow off ul Świdnicka, 1970s. Photograph: Stanisław Kokurewicz

Children in an ice slide at the intersection of ul Rzeźnicza and Łazienna, 1970s. Photograph: Stanisław Kokurewicz

Skaters in the moat, 1970s. Photograph: Stanisław Kokurewicz

People sledding down Wzgórze Partyzantów, 1978. Photograph: Zbigniew Nowak

A girl making a snowman by the Old Town Promenade, 1976. Stanisław Kokurewicz

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