October 24. In Warsaw’s Defilad square several hundred thousand people meet at a rally attended by Władysława Gomułka. First reports appear on the developments in Budapest.

Stefan Staszewski (first secretary of the Warsaw Committee of the Polish United Workers’ Party):

   A sea of faces, crowds – Wednesday, 15;00 hrs. [...] Banners and white-and-red flags, and inscriptions which for the first time express support for the struggle of and solidarity with the Hungarian people, especially these inscriptions that can be seen near the rostrum. Gomułka – awfully tense.   

Władysław Gomułka:

   Comrades! Citizens! The working people of Warsaw!

   […] In the past years a lot of evil, lawlessness and painful disenchantment accumulated in the life of Poland. The ideas of socialism, permeated with the spirit of man’s freedom and respect for civil rights, became, in practice, seriously distorted. Words were not finding reflection in the actual reality. The hard labour of the working class and of the entire nation was not yielding the expected fruits. I deeply believe that these years are gone for good.

   […] Today I turn to the working people of Warsaw and the entire nation: no more rallies and demonstrations! The time has come to begin everyday work animated with faith and awareness that the party united with the working class and the nation will lead Poland along a new road to socialism.