The incident was immediately suppressed by the authorities. A story invented on the spot was that it was an accident caused by drinking vodka and smoking, or
spontaneously combusting, aiming to divert interest to gossip and portray Siwiec as an irresponsible drunk. He was also declared mentally ill. Despite many attendees at the festival, there were relatively few witnesses, and the incident did not cause any delay in the main proceedings. Journalists and others knew that they
would not be able to publish any photographs or movies, so those aware of the incident did not bother recording it other than by accident, nor did any try to investigate it afterward. Most of the few photographs of the incidents have been destroyed or forgotten and lost. Siwiec was censored out of official photographs of the
Central Photographic Agency (Centralna Agencja Fotograficzna), which had a monopoly on issuing photos for the press in the era of communist Poland. His act was captured in a 7-second film by a motion picture camera of the
Polish Film Chronicle, but the official
newsreels of the festival omitted any mention of the incident. This footage however survived, mislabeled either by accident or purpose, until it was rediscovered over twenty years later. Polish secret police (
Służba Bezpieczeństwa) made a routine investigation that ended quickly due to the "death of the culprit", followed by routine low-key surveillance of his friends and family, during which it intercepted Siwiec's last letter to his wife (delivered decades later). Overall, the authorities had little trouble suppressing the events, as none of the relatively few witnesses have shown any particular desire to make the event more widely known. There was some gossip about the incident, with most people considering it a suicide rather than an accident, but the reason for it was unclear, and no one connected Siwiec's dramatic actions to contemporary political events. As publicist
Stefan Kisielewski wrote in his diary two days after Siwiec's death, "There are rumours about a self-immolation [during the festival] but none knows the reason for it."
Funeral Siwiec's funeral in Przemyśl was well attended, but did not turn into a political manifestation; it was guarded by police, and secret agents spread rumors aimed at damaging Siwiec's reputation. His family reported that while some acquaintances were supportive and aware of Siwiec's true purpose, many turned away from them, either intimidated by the authorities or believing the stories that Siwiec had been drunk or mentally ill. Siwiec's timing has been described as unfortunate, as he chose to commit his act during a dance (
mazurka), at which time his cry was muffled due to the sounds of an orchestra playing. Some, like
Tomas Kavaliauskas or
Krzysztof Kąkolewski, have speculated that if he had chosen to act moments earlier, during a speech by Polish communist leader
Władysław Gomułka, first secretary of the Polish United Workers Party, the commotion he caused would have likely interrupted it and his message might have been witnessed more widely. Publicist
Antoni Zambrowski noted that many other self-immolators like Czech
Jan Palach had cooperated with
anti-communist opposition movements and left messages and other documents which helped publicize their activities; Siwiec worked alone and so the Polish anti-communist opposition which he identified with was not aware of his action and the meaning behind it until much later.
Radio Free Europe learned about the incident a few days or months (sources vary) after the incident but did not consider the message reliable nor newsworthy, as the broadcaster was also unaware of its political context. This changed only after the famous self-immolation of Palach in
Prague four months later, on 19 January 1969, and after RFE received more information, which clarified the political statement that Siwiec wanted to make. The RFE broadcast about Siwiec aired in February, March or April (sources vary) that year. If Palach became aware of Siwiec's actions, it would thus have been due to word of mouth, rather than from RFE.
Recognition Through the efforts of his family and friends, information about Siwiec became known to the anti-communist
Solidarity opposition in Poland by the 1980s. A brochure about him was published in 1981. After the
fall of communism, Siwiec became the subject of the 1991
documentary film Hear My Cry (
Usłyszcie mój krzyk), by Polish
director Maciej Drygas. The film won several awards including the
European Film Awards "Felix" prize for "Best Documentary" that year. Drygas, who is credited with reconstructing and popularizing Siwiec's story, remarked that compared to other similar incidents of that time, such as the self-immolations of Palach or
Romas Kalanta, Siwiec death's is unique in how little attention it attracted.
Jan Nowak-Jeziorański, the director of the Polish section of Radio Free Europe, expressed a similar sentiment: "This was an unheard of human tragedy... The tragedy lay in that his sacrifice went completely unnoticed." In the same vein, Kavaliauskas interprets Drygas' movie as a critique of contemporary Polish society, saying that witnesses did not want to have this incident spoil their enjoyment of the festival on an otherwise "perfect day". Memorial plaques dedicated to his memory exist in Warsaw, Dębica and Przemyśl. A bridge in Przemyśl, where he lived, was named after him in 1991, as well as a street in Prague in front of the Czech
Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes, with a nearby memorial dedicated to him, unveiled in 2010. A street in Warsaw adjacent to the new
Kazimierz Górski National Stadium, which replaced the
10th-Anniversary Stadium, was named for him in 2011, and an obelisk was installed in his memory. Nonetheless, as noted by Kavaliauskas in 2010, he still is less known than other self-immolators of his time. ==Honours==