I Was an Anti-Communist Since I Was Born
Igor Janke was born on October 27, 1967 in Zagan. As a teenager he supported the anti-communist opposition, but living in a small town, he did not have the opportunity to engage in its activities. He belonged to the hippie subculture and participated in hippie pilgrimages to Czestochowa. After going to study in Warsaw, he participated in the founding of the Independent Students‘ Association (NZS) unit at the National Academy of Dramatic Art. He became chairman of the unit, which was revived after it was banned in 1981. As part of the activities of the NZS, he participated in the organization of occupation strikes and student rallies at his university in the late 1980s. Among their demands were obtaining the legalization of the NZS and the abolition of the compulsory military courses for students. As part of the activities of the student council, he participated in the publication of the magazine „99.“ Janke also organized meetings with opposition activists and intellectuals at his university. After the 1989 political changes in Poland, he decided to become a journalist. During his work as a journalist, Igor Janke observed at close quarters the turbulent period of political and economic transformation in Poland. In the following years, Janke worked for leading Polish media outlets. In 2021, after a hiatus of several years, he returned to journalism with his own podcast Układ Otwarty