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FREE JUNE 2009 Edition 56 ISSN 1898-4762 krakow POST www.krakowpost.com inside Jewish Cultural Festival CSS at Selector Festival Citylife page 8 page 12 Even 20 years after Solidarity's victory in the first partially-free elections, Poles continue to celebrate the trade union's legacy. Above, citizens celebrate the 25th anniversary of "Fighting Solidarity" with a re-enactment of a Solidarity protest on Freedom Square, Wrocław, June 2007 / photo Natalia Dobryszycka - Agencja Gazeta INSIDE Krakow 20 YEARS ON New bridges cross the Vistula A look back at the world-changing events of June 1989 >> page 4 William Brand Poland Interview with an accused Polish soldier hen the celebrations mark- the EU promptly protested about the mar- idarity and Communist Party politicians >> page 6 ing the anniversary of the ginalisation of Polish events. and expert advisers. June 4, 1989 Polish parlia- Yet it seems inevitable that the atten- The Contract envisioned elections for all mentary election are held in tion of the world media will climax only 100 seats of the Polish senate, an institu- Feature KrakowW this month, political distractions in November, and that archival footage tion that the communists had abolished Language schools in the city should not obscure the fact that ending of Germans taking hammers to the ugly immediately after the war when Soviet >> page 8-9 communist control in a European coun- wall and driving their cute Trabant cars troops ended the German Nazi occupa- try for the first time since the end of the through the Brandenburg gate will domi- tion of Poland and, under the terms of the Second World War was an unprecedented nate screens around the world. Yalta pact agreed by Roosevelt, Stalin, and achievement. It opened the door for the On June 4, months ahead of the big Churchill, incorporated Poland into Mos- rest of the Soviet Bloc. The end of the Cold hoopla, Krakow will be the centre of a less cow's sphere of influence. War, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the photogenic and probably less-ballyhooed The 1989 Contract also provided for the “reunification of Europe" would all have celebration, but the Berlin happening unrestricted election of 35 percent of the been unthinkable without the momentous would not have been possible without Sejm, the lower house of the legislature. Polish election. what happened in Poland twenty years The other 65 percent was reserved for CNN is working on a series about 1989 ago this spring. the communists, who had exercised total titled "Autumn of Change," and that's sig- On that day, after a winter of negotia- power for over 40 years. Never before in nificant because, even in southern Poland, tions between the government and the the communist bloc had the electorate ex- early June is hardly autumn. A promotion- opposition, Poles voted to elect what has perienced even such a significant degree al spot prepared by the EU accentuated since come to be known as the "Contract of freedom, partial though it was. the autumnal aspect, as well – the open- Sejm." The Sejm is the lower house of the When the election results came in, they ing of the border between East and West Polish parliament, and the Contract was were staggering. Not that anyone had ever Germany on November 9, 1989 provides signed on 5 April at the end of the Round thought the communists enjoyed much the visual leitmotif. The Polish foreign Table Talks - two months of public delib- genuine support, but Polish voters ministry and the country's ambassador to erations between large teams of pro-Sol- repudiated them completely, with >> 3 2 Krakow Post JUNE 2009 www.krakowpost.com“ News Krakow Why doesn't the RCMP simply do the right thing in this case by Letters recognizing and admitting its tragic mistake, and allowing the poor To the editor Polish victim's memory to finally rest in peace? Sir: 2. The RCMP were filmed killing“ the phony verdict? distraught, and disoriented Dziekański guy for no good reason. Like many oth- If there is no responsibility taken for on that fateful day one and a half years This new website of theKrakow Post is er people here, I've watched the video these total failures, how do I keep pre- ago. a masterpiece! more than once. It wasn't self-defence, tending to the Polish people I meet that Now, in a desperate attempt at damage I am connected to your amazing city he wasn't armed and they had him way Canada is the best country in the world control, RCMP lawyers are interview- (and country) for both personal and outnumbered. They can't cover it up, and that Vancouver is a great destina- ing Polish witnesses in Gliwice, Poland professional reasons and - desperately because they were caught in the act and tion to live in or visit? Is this incident and digging into the dead Pole's past trying to learn your beautiful language it's been broadcast all over the world. and the way it is not being dealt with in order to portray him as a drunk and - having an aid, bridging the language Are these guys grade nine graduates or going to be feature advertising for the common criminal in his native land. barrier is an enormous help to bridge grade six? Olympics? These shameful tactics can only serve two (and more) cultures. It seems to me that there are a lot more to further impugn the dignity, integrity, deaths caused by enforcement officers Jim Waite, a Kanadian in Kraków, and reputation of the Royal Canadian Many thanks! using these Tasers than there ever were with two daughters living in Vancouver Mounted Police who they are trying to Peter Holtslag with ordinary guns. These are obviously protect in the first place. not toys. Why doesn't the RCMP simply do the Over the course of the last two years ******* right thing in this case by recognizing ******* plus I have experienced a few times the and admitting its tragic mistake, offer- same kind of frustration as this guy did Dear Sir/Madam, ing Robert Dziekanski's mother an out- Re: "Outrage Over Taser Death" on page of trying to make some important con- of-court financial settlement, and allow- 6 of your May edition: nection in a strange country where no Just when you thought it couldn't ing the poor Polish victim's memory to one speaks or wants to speak my lan- possibly get any worse, at the ongoing finally rest in peace? As I write this, it seems that I am ac- guage. It's quite easy to lose it in these Braidwood Inquiry in Canada into the tually addressing it to some undefined situations, especially after a long, tiring Tasering death of Polish immigrant, Ralph Schleichkorn, Canadian "authorities" out there some- trip. Robert Dziekański, at Vancouver's In- Montreal, CANADA where (Warsaw? Ottawa? Vancouver?). As usual, the other "authorities" de- ternational Airport, on October 4, Re the infamous "welcome to Canada" cided to conduct interminable phony 2007. CORRECTIONS: that was extended to the Polish man, "self-investigations" in the hope that So far, the inquiry has shown that Robert Dziekański, at Vancouver air- with the passage of time people will just the four RCMP officers involved in In the article titled "A Worldly Ed- port in Oct., 2007, it's been obvious lose interest or forget about it. Then, as Dziekański's death lied to the Vancou- ucation" in the May 2009 issue (num- from the start that: usual, the court came out with some ver Homicide Investigation Team (HIT) ber 55), we incorrectly identified 1. The "authorities" at Vancouver air- weird ruling, the logic of which only it when questioned about it afterwards, the head of the British International port completely failed to properly pro- can ever understand, because the legal gave contradictory evidence at the in- School of Cracow. The correct name cess the guy in a short time. It was obvi- profession is so conscience-free and quest as to what the videotape of the is Jonathan Merrett. We also wish to ous he didn't speak English and could corrupt that it can't think straight. incident shows actually happened, and clarify that the BISC's International have used some help. The reception and So that's at least four huge mistakes disobeyed RCMP directives govern- Baccalaureate Diploma Programme procedures were completely inadequate. and counting...over something that ing the use of Tasers. One can there- prepares students for entrance into It should never have come close to any could have been so simple. Who's pay- fore conclude that the four Mounties university, and is widely respected by involvement even by airport security, ing the mother's legal bill? What about acted recklessly, if not outright ineptly universities and colleges worldwide. never mind the RCMP. for the appeal that will end in another when confronted with the defenceless, tive" musicians and artists and the au- remember thinking there were so many The Perfect Slot for Summer diences have grown from a couple of freaks in one place. Dreadlocks, punks, hundred since the first jamboree at the a crazy assortment of people – of course Innovative festival combines art and music castle to around 4,000 last year. Towards it was more about me and the culture the end of the Communist era Wrocław shock of it all than anyone else. I had to Robin Das gained a reputation as radical and alter- re-think many of my attitudes towards native with its "Orange Dwarfs," who people, fast.” subverted mainstream communist pro- Slot exerts a pull on festival-goers and ngland’s got Glastonbury, Ger- tic talent to keep Krakow's Bunkier Sz- paganda and fuelled an underground ar- bands that goes beyond Polish borders, many’s got the Love Parade tuki in business until the Euro Cham- tistic movement which basically put two with many artists travelling from Ger- and California's got Coachella.