In the early socialist period, a spectacular and uniquely Polish form of protest was born – the “defence of the cross.” At this time, as a secularization program known as “decrucification” was causing tensions between the socialist authorities and the Catholic Church, mass outdoor religious events emerged as a platform to voice protest against Communist rule. The most iconic and violent demonstration of this kind was a “defence of the cross,” which took place in the model socialist metropolis of Nowa Huta in 1960 and transformed into bloody street riots against the Communist authorities. The story of how the “defence of the cross” established itself as a popular form of anti-systemic protest in Poland also provides a window onto how women in particular devised creative modes of nonconformist behavior in the gray zone between religiosity and rebellion.