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200 Złotych 1976, Poland

in Krause book Number: 144a
Years of issue: 25.05.1976
Edition:
Signatures: Prezes: Witold Bień , Glowny Scarbnik: Edmund Banasiak
Serie: 1974-1978 Issue
Specimen of: 25.05.1976
Material: Cotton fiber
Size (mm): 138 x 63
Printer: Polska Wytwornia Papierow Wartocziowych, Warszawa

* All pictures marked magnify are increased partially by magnifying glass, the remaining open in full size by clicking on the image.

** The word "Specimen" is present only on some of electronic pictures, in accordance with banknote images publication rules of appropriate banks.

200 Złotych 1976

Description

Watermark:

watermark

Polish coat of arms.

Avers:

200 Złotych 1976

Jaroslaw Dabrowski

The engraving on banknote is made after this photo of Jarosław Żądło-Dąbrowski.

Jarosław Żądło-Dąbrowski z Dąbrówki h. Radwan [13 November 1836 - 23 May 1871) was a Polish left-wing independence activist and general. Supporter of the Paris Commune. (Zdrada 1973, p. 9). He was a participant in the January Uprising and was one of the leaders of the "Red" faction among the insurrectionists as a member of the Central National Committee (Komitet Centralny Narodowy) and the Provisional National Government (Tymczasowy Rząd Narodowy).

coat

The Coat of arms of the Polish People's Republic (1955-1980).

The White Eagle (Polish: Orzeł Biały) is the national coat of arms of Poland. It is a stylized white eagle with a golden beak and talons, and wearing a golden crown, in a red shield.

After World War II, the communist authorities of the Polish People's Republic removed the "reactionary" royal crown from the eagle's head. Still, Poland was one of the few countries in the Eastern Bloc with no communist symbols (red stars, ears of wheat, hammers, etc.) on either its flag or its coat of arms. The crownless design was approved by resolution in 1955. To counter that, the Polish government in Exile introduced a new emblem with a cross added atop the crown.

The White Eagle emblem originated when Poland's legendary founder Lech saw a white eagle's nest. When he looked at the bird, a ray of sunshine from the red setting sun fell on its wings, so they appeared tipped with gold, the rest of the eagle was pure white. He was delighted and decided to settle there and placed the eagle on his emblem. He also named the place Gniezdno (currently Gniezno) from the Polish word gniazdo ("nest").

Denomination in numeral is in lower left corner, in top right corner in numeral and in words.

Revers:

200 Złotych 1976

kommunary

Monument in memory of the Communards shot at the Communards' Wall at the Père Lachaise cemetery, Paris. Stone. 1899. Sculptor Paul Moreau-Vauthier.

The Communards’ Wall (Mur des Fédérés) at the Père Lachaise cemetery is where, on May 28, 1871, one hundred and forty seven fédérés, combatants of the Paris Commune, were shot and thrown in an open trench at the foot of the wall. To the French left, especially socialists and communists, the wall became the symbol of the people's struggle for their liberty and ideals. Many leaders of the French Communist Party, especially those involved in the French Resistance, are buried nearby.

The Père Lachaise cemetery was established in May 1804 on a land owned by the Jesuits for centuries, and where Père ("Father") Lachaise, confessor of Louis XIV, lived the latter part of his life. Cemetery of the aristocracy in the XIX century, it also received the remains of famous people from previous eras. During the spring of 1871 the last of the combatants of the Commune entrenched themselves in the cemetery. The Armée versaillaise, which was summoned to suppress the Commune, had control over the area towards the end of the afternoon of May 28th, and shot all of the prisoners against the wall.

The massacre of the Communards did not put an end to the repression. During the fighting between 20,000 and 35,000 deaths, and more than 43,000 prisoners were taken; afterwards, a military court pronounced about a hundred death sentences, more than 13,000 prison sentences, and close to 4,000 deportations to New Caledonia.

Monument in memory of the Communards shot at the Communards' Wall

The memory of the Commune remained engraved in the people's memory, especially within the workers' movement which regenerated itself in a few years time. The first march before the Wall, at the call of Jules Guesde, took place on May 23, 1880, two months before the Communards' Amnesty: 25,000 people, a symbolic "immortal" red rose in their buttonholes, stood up against police forces. From that time on, this "ascent to the Wall", punctuated French labor force political history. Every year since 1880, the organizations of the French left have held a demonstration in this symbolic place during the last week of May. Jean Jaurès - although a child in the provinces at the time of the Commune, hence with no direct memory - made the ascent several times, accompanied by Édouard Vaillant, Jean Allemane, and by thousands of socialist, syndicalist, and anarchist militants.

The record-breaking demonstration took place on May 24, 1936: 600,000 people, led by Léon Blum and Maurice Thorez, right in the middle of the strikers movement, several weeks after the start of the Popular Front.

"Tombe sans croix et sans chapelle, sans lys d'or, sans vitraux d'azur, quand le peuple en parle, il l'appelle le Mur." - Jules Jouy

"Tomb without a cross or chapel, or golden lilies, or sky blue church windows, when the people talk about it, they call it The Wall." - Jules Jouy.

Motto: "Za wolnosc nasza i wasza" means in English "For our freedom and yours". This is the motto of civic activists, who believe, that there can not be a free nation that enslaves another people.

Monogram of Polish Peoples Bank is in lower right corner.

Denomination in numeral is in top right corner, in lower left corner in numeral and in words.

Comments:

Designer: Andrzej Heidrich.

Engraver: Barbara Kowalska.