anthology European Solidarity Centre Permanent Exhibition European Solidarity Centre Permanent Exhibition | anthology ISBN 978-83-62853-55-7 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 Ryszard Kapuściński, 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 Alain Touraine, Jan Strzelecki, François Dubet, Michel Wieviorka, Resistance to Communist Rule in Central Europe 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, Andrzej Wajda, 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, Bogdan Borusewicz 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 Communism 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 Sejm 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 Timothy Garton Ash, Berlin: 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 Poland 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 trade union 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 histories. 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 August 1980. 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.