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Home , Alain Touraine, Anna Walentynowicz, Ryszard Kapuscinski

ISBN ISBN 978-83-62853-55-7

European Solidarity Centre Permanent Exhibition | anthology anthology Exhibition Permanent Centre Solidarity European

edited by Jacek Kołtan, Ewa Konarowska

European Solidarity Centre Permanent Exhibition 1PB anthology

Gdańsk 2014 CONTENTS

7 PREFACE 9 THE BIRTH OF SOLIDARITY 10 THE STRIKE BEGINS Jerzy Durlik, We Went to the Management Office Jan Szyłak, The Party Let Me Down

18 LECH WAŁĘSA Maria Janion, On the Difference between a Worker and a Representative of the Working Class Lech Bądkowski, Man of What?

30 ANNA WALENTYNOWICZ To the Workers of the Gdańsk Shipyard! The flyer that launched the strike to protest the dismissal of Anna Walentynowicz Anna Walentynowicz interviewed by Andrzej Woźnicki, Solidarity Was Just so Great

36 SOLIDARITY SYMBOLS Roman Daszczyński, The Logo that Travelled Around the World Anna Machcewicz, Demands Made on a Volcano

44 THE STRIKE ENDS Jadwiga Staniszkis, Radicalism as a Problem of Imagination Make Way, Please, Inter-Factory Strike Committee Talks with the Government Delegation (minutes)

58 EMOTIONAL PUNCH LINE , For the First Time We Are Learning from Experiences and not from Mistakes Marguerite Duras, Gdańsk Is Already in the Future

65 THE POWER OF THE POWERLESS 66 OPPOSITION Václav Havel, The Power of the Powerless , Jan Strzelecki, François Dubet, , Resistance to Communist Rule in Central Andrzej Friszke, Jacek Kuroń’s Phone Call

106 DEMORALIZATION Sławomir Magala, The Making of the Class of State Owners OF THE RULING CLASS Decree of 5 October 1972 regarding retirement benefits for those filling political and state managerial posts, and also for members of their families

114 DECEMBER 1970 Barbara Seidler, Who Gave the Order to Shoot Stanisław Kociołek’s address to the striking workers

122 EMOTIONAL PUNCH LINE The 1979 Papal Visit

129 SOLIDARITY AND HOPE 130 BUILDING THE UNION Founding of the National Coordinating Commission. Minutes of the 17 September 1980 meeting in Gdańsk

THE STRIKE BEGINS STRIKE THE 140 SOLIDARITY ETHOS Józef Tischner, Solidarity of Consciences 32 Małgorzata Szejnert, Tomasz Zalewski, Democracy without Pretence Andrzej Kaczyński, 18 days in the Gdańsk Olivia Hall From the Platform Resolution of the First National Congress of Solidarity Delegates Message to the Working People of Eastern Europe

168 A BREEZE OF FREEDOM Alain Touraine, Jan Strzelecki, François Dubet, Michel Wieviorka, The Evolution of a Movement The Congress of Polish Culture: Jan Józef Szczepański, ,

SOLIDARITY IS BORN IS SOLIDARITY Witold Aleksander Cęckiewicz

192 EMOTIONAL PUNCHLINE Membership Oath of the Solidarity Gdańsk Regional Executive (subsequently taken by all Solidarity members) 195 AT WAR WITH SOCIETY 196 MARTIAL LAW–THE INCEPTION Andrzej Paczkowski, The Night of the General Decree on Martial Law of 12 December 1981

210 DRAMATIC EVENTS Anna Bikont, Kopalnia Wujek Miners

218 UNDERGROUND Letter from Bronislaw Geremek to General Wojciech Jaruzelski Paweł Sowiński, Ballad of the Underground Distributors Bronisław Świderski, Birth of the New Democratic Roles in the Underground

236 EMOTIONAL PUNCHLINE Lech Wałęsa’s speech, read out by Danuta Wałęsa at the Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony Andrzej Szczypiorski, Excerpts From the Martial Law Diary

245 THE ROAD TO DEMOCRACY 246 ORIGINS OF CHANGE Edmund Szczesiak, in conversation, How the Wall Came Down

254 THE ROUND TABLE Andrzej Paczkowski, The World Gathers around the Round Table Jan Skórzyński, The Agreement David Ost, The New Solidarity

278 THE NEW ORDER Was the Political Will Lacking? Politicians’ Views of the Settling of Accounts with Adam Michnik, Your President, Our Prime Minister Georges Mink, The Pace of Events Quickens: The Solidarity Government

294 EMOTIONAL PUNCHLINE Tadeusz Mazowiecki’s Inaugural Speech to the

297 THE TRIUMPH OF FREEDOM 298 THE COLLAPSE OF THE SYSTEM Paweł Ukielski, Adam Burakowski, Perestroika

306 PEACEFUL REVOLUTIONS Gale Stokes, Living within the Truth Michael Meyer, The Trojan Horse Iskra Baeva, The Role of Solidarity in the Demise of Socialism in Bulgaria

334 UPS AND DOWNS Ivan Krastev, Democracy and Dissatisfaction: Reflections on 1989 OF DEMOCRACY Edmund Wnuk-Lipiński, The World after 1989: Long-Term Consequences of the Breakthrough

348 EMOTIONAL PUNCHLINE , : Wall’s End

360 NONVIOLENCE Mahatma Gandhi, My Faith in Nonviolence 359 CULTURE OF PEACEFUL CHANGE 54

362 SOCIAL EQUALITY Martin Luther King, I Have a Dream

366 THE IDEA OF SOLIDARITY John Paul II, Sollicitudo Rei Socialis Encyclical

368 MORAL RENEWAL Václav Havel, People, your Government has Returned to you!

372 ACRONYMS 374 SOURCES Preface

Some events are simply unforgettable; of the fact that Solidarity falls into this category there can The writings contained in this book be no question. Solidarity brought with it the realisation of a dream shared by many, not only within are in most cases parts of a larger but also well beyond its borders–in places afflicted by authoritarianism, as well as those whole. All abridgments thereof, and where democracy seemed to be functioning largely as it should. This dream amounted to more than also certain titles and headings, the setting up of a strong organisation, one defending worker rights. It also concerned have been provided by the editors. something that underlies all types of social and political activity–a model of the world in which the social reality derives from the individual. Taken as an experience of freedom, the advent of Solidarity embeds in the memory a significant reference point – one which heightens sensitivity to any deficits of freedom that may arise in the future. For this reason, the Solidarity story in this anthology is built of the accounts of those directly involved in the events, juxtaposed with an iconography portraying the great metamorphosis which has occurred since–one in which politics has become a natural element of daily life. Accompanying the accounts are classic articles dedicated to the history and culture of the opposition, as well as lesser-known essays, articles and historical documents; the main thread running through these be- ing the socio-political changes of the 1970s and 1980s, not only in Poland but in Central and Eastern Europe as a whole. The materials collected here–mainly brought together and previously published by the European Solidarity Centre–sum up the scientific, publishing and archiving work carried out so far by that institution. In this catalogue we aim to tell the story of a society of people who are ready at every turn to assess their situation anew and to build a culture of civic participation–one based on a concept of politics totally different from the one proclaimed at the time. The writings comprised by the anthol- ogy add up to a critical perspective, presenting a range of viewpoints, moments of crisis and tension, the greatness and weaknesses within many personal . And yet it is the readiness to build an alternative world–in defiance of the force of history, and of the political and economic order–that remains the primary motif. This is a world full of paradoxes: revealing strength within individual powerlessness; anti-political in the face of the inhuman politics of the state; one made up of people unrelentingly testing each new possibility that appeared upon the horizon under the onslaught of the official propaganda. This is also a time of getting to grips with new realities: confronting situa- tions frequently being radically new, breaching established boundaries and establishing new ones. The title of one of the essays in this collection, ‘Gdańsk is already in the future’, amounted to a symbolic demonstration that Solidarity had set new perspectives for the political culture of that 76 era. The sense of this assertion is preserved if we treat the account of the Solidarity social move- ment as an inspiration for thinking about our contemporary, and very different, situation. It is no coincidence that the essay in question concludes with a word we consider fundamental to our story. That word is ‘imagination’.

JACEK KOŁTAN, EWA KONAROWSKA JAN SZYŁAK toolmaker, quality controller at Predom-Metrix in Tczew, graduate of a vocational high school, 32 years old, married, two daughters

The strikes of July were followed by the hot of August events raises. They took place in several regions of Poland. They included a strike in my home town’s largest factory, Polmo of Tczew. It was mostly about pay rise. The strike was short, the wages were raised and it all died down. In July Predom-Metrix in Tczew didn’t go on strike. Perhaps this had something to do with the fact that the management had started raising wages I believed that my in April and continued through July. I didn’t know a whole lot about the July strikes in other places in Poland because the mass media didn’t give information about what was going on. And back then I hardly expected that more would come, something as momentous and important as . I’ve been working at Predom-Metrix for more than eight years. The factory employs voice, like the voices more than 1,500 people. I worked for seven years as a toolmaker, and currently I am a production quality controller. I am 32 years old, I have graduated from a vocational high school, and since 1973 I’ve been a member of the Polish United Workers’ Party. I joined the party at a time of great expectations. You could say that I was full of faith of other rank –and–file The Party Let Me Down

and hope. I was also active in the Union of Socialist Youth, and later in the Polish So- cialist Youth Union. Why did I join the party? I wanted to debate different aspects of life in our country, party members, would I wanted to have a say on issues concerning us, the employees of the factory, and to some degree our country as a whole. I believed that my voice, like the voices of other rank –and–file party members, would count. I also quietly believed that membership in the PUWP could help me get on with my life since this is what most people in party count circles believed. But I must admit that I was disappointed on both counts. You couldn’t speak out at party meetings because it would have given you the stigma of a brawler and a troublemaker. And even if some of our criticism was accepted, there was no follow-up, anyway. We mostly talked quietly and privately about what went wrong in the party and in Poland in general. But I have to admit that I, and probably many ordinary party members, had no insight into various aspects of life in Poland. When the strikes started on the Coast, and I got to know the contents of the 21 Gdańsk Demands, when the power of the strikers was 1514 growing, I became convinced that now is the time when great changes in our country will be possible. So much for starters, now I’d like to move on to the chronology of the August events in my plant. The director general has always said that his utmost concern is the factory’s welfare. One of the Factory Strike Committee members said that if the director cares so much about the factory’s welfare, it’s hard to understand why he locked down the sleep- " ing room, for in our opinion the factory’s greatest resource is the people. Under the The beginning of the strike circumstances, if a lot of people sleep on machine platforms, they will fall ill, and the involves uncertainty and waiting Photo: Stanisław Składanowski number of sick leaves will increase when work starts up again, so something doesn’t European Solidarity Centre add up here with the director’s words and deeds. Presented with these arguments, the boss said that he wasn’t going to dig his heels in and would hand over the key to the Sunday, 31 August room. I was probably especially upset by the director’s behaviour because I was the The tenth day of our strike came. From early morning we waited impatiently for news one to negotiate the access to the room with the chief of industrial guards, and also that talks on the Gdańsk Agreement were resumed and finished. It was Sunday and the because fresh in my mind were the boss’s words at the beginning of the strike that we last day of the month and I thought that the authorities would want us to go back to should not be naughty because the strike would end one day. work at the beginning of the new month. At our morning meeting we adopted a resolu- We already knew that the talks in Gdańsk would carry on, and most of us believed tion that as soon as the strike ends our Factory Strike Committee will be transformed that they would end well for us. We were fighting for a just cause, and we were grow- into the Factory Founding Committee of the Self-Governing Trade Unions. ing in strength, and they needed to reckon with our strength. But disinformation kept At the meeting there wasn’t so much on spreading and unnecessarily got on people’s nerves. They say that two different talk about the strike anymore, because newscasts were run on television, one for the Coast and the other for the rest of the we were discussing the future, i.e., the country. What was the point? Was this supposed to prevent the spread of the ‘plague’ new unions and how to organize them. now is the time of democracy or serve some other purpose? I don’t remember if it was our messen- gers or the radio that brought the news Friday, 29 August that the talks were resumed in Gdańsk After almost all the demands were agreed on, there remained the greatest controversy and that the remaining demands were when great surrounding demand W-6, concerning the first secretary of the Enterprise Committee being agreed on. And then came the of the PUWP and his abuse of the right to use car vouchers. People demanded that the television broadcast from the signing matter be cleared up. of the agreement between the govern- A member of the Factory Strike Committee, who at the same time was the secretary ment commission and the Inter-Factory Strike Committee in Gdańsk and the an- changes in our of the local party organization, as well as department manager and a member of the editing committee that drew up the demands, defended the first secretary of the local nouncement of their joint communiqué. communist party committee and said that we didn’t know for sure what happened We watched it because there were sev- with those vouchers, that we had no proof, that maybe it would be better to phrase eral TVs in the factory. When we heard this demand in a general way, without naming the first secretary of the party commit- the words of this communiqué, it was country will be tee. He also argued that maybe there were others who had committed similar abuses, a great joy for us that the strike was fi- and if we make this demand general, we will be able to expose all of them. There were nally over and, most importantly, that differences of opinion about this man, but in the end we agreed to formulate the the agreement was reached. And even demand in general terms and now, when I look from today’s perspective, I think that though Deputy Prime Minister Jagielski possible we made a mistake. said that there were no winners and no We learnt from various sources that the agreement would be signed soon. And the losers, we knew that this is our great victory because I’m sure that without the solidar- atmosphere of expectation was getting tense. The people were worn out by the strike ity strike we would not have got even a fraction of what was in the agreement. No one and by waiting for an agreement. Every night, Factory Strike Committee members would even have talked to us were it not for our firm, determined position. made the round of the sentries and saw that there was order and discipline in spite of Sometimes during the strike I wondered, what was up? It is said that power belongs to the weariness and tension. People understood now that we must last until the end. the people in our country, it’s the people who have power, but the strikers are the people, so who did we, the strikers, go up against? It seems as if we were opposing ourselves. Saturday, 30 August But it wasn’t so. We protested against the government that forgot that it represents Our messengers working with the messengers of the municipal transport and long the people and should rule according to the people’s will. It was also a protest by the -distance coach services brought us the latest news. We already knew that the first working class, including party members, against the party authorities, who forgot that

THE STRIKE BEGINS STRIKE THE two demands were signed, that the experts of both sides were working on the oth- our party is called a workers’ party. If those in power in the party turn against their ers, that Deputy Prime Minister Jagielski was going to with the first two own class, which they represent, then it is not a working class dictatorship, but the 1716 demands, so the Plenum of the PUWP Central Committee can approve them. When dictatorship of a certain group of people who are in power. The Polish United Workers’ Deputy Prime Minister Jagielski didn’t come back to Gdańsk that night as promised (at Party mustn’t belong to the workers only nominally. And it will stop being workers’ least, we had no information that he was back), probably all of us expected the worst. only in name when the workers come to have a deciding voice in it. This is what I was As I wandered around the departments that evening and talked to people, I could see thinking during the strike, and I think that I wasn’t alone in this. that they were very anxious, but even so they were ready to persevere until the end. There was no information in the media when Deputy Prime Minister Jagielski was go-

SOLIDARITY IS BORN IS SOLIDARITY ing to return to Gdańsk, so many people were listening to Western radio stations, to get any information whatsoever. We told our sentries to be even more watchful that night because we were afraid of a provocation by the security services, which could have been dangerous for us. Miasto Wolności The Founders of the European Solidarity Centre:

NSZZ

Graphic and Typhographic Design: Piotr Białas, Adam Ignaciuk / tatastudio Cover Photograph: Jean-Louis Atlan/Corbis/FotoChannels Scientific Review: Prof. Wojciech Polak Editing Collaboration: Magdalena Staręga, Agnieszka Szuta, Piotr Szwocha, Grażyna Goszczyńska, Iwona Kwiatkowska, Ewa Konkel Editor: Agnieszka Mitraszewska Translation: Maria Łatyńska, Ewa Majewska, Michael Sanderson Publishing Coordination: Artur Rogoś, Piotr Szwocha Typesetting and Page Makeup: Piotr Białas, Adam Ignaciuk / tatastudio Printing and Cover: Grafix Centrum Poligrafii

The publisher has made every effort to establish the authorship and legal status of materials contained in this anthology. Any copyright owners whom, despite our efforts, we were unable to reach are requested to contact us.

Copyright © 2015 by Europejskie Centrum Solidarności First Edition

Publisher: Europejskie Centrum Solidarności Plac Solidarności, 80-863 Gdańsk Telephone: +48 772 40 00 e-mail: [email protected] Webpage: www.ecs.gda.pl

ISBN: 978-83-62853-55-7