During socialism, the Polish state Security Service annually opened tens of millions of letters. Every day, specialist units steamed open, read and analysed people’s private letters. This helped the authorities compile reports about the moods prevailing in society. Occasionally the content would be used to launch investigations against individuals. The ‘Violated Letters’ of the title are intimate portraits of life under socialism. Some express anguish and despair, while others shake an angry fist at the authorities. Still others are practical requests or pleas for help. Taken together, they construct a fascinating psychological picture of the Polish nation in the years 1945~1989. The film has been put together from unique archive film material. Both the original letters and the confidential reports written about them by the Security Service are read aloud by carefully selected voices, conveying the atmosphere of the letters and the times when they were written.