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Published: September 1st 2010
... and other pointless Solidarity puns Everyone, even the locals here that I've met, wants to know how on earth I came to be traveling to these places where American tourists just aren't common. I tell them this story: growing up in the 1970s and 80s, in a world dominated by the Cold War and threat of nuclear annihilation, the thing for an idealistic young liberal to do was to work for peace and understanding with the people of the Soviet Union and the Eastern bloc. I was a poor kid, so travel wasn't an option, but my high school (utterly improbably) offered me the opportunity to study Russian language, which in 1988 I jumped at. I wanted to change the world. Unfortunately for me, the world wasn't waiting - and in 1989 it went and changed without me!
It took me another couple of decades to be able to travel, so now I'm determined to see and understand all these places that so defined
my world and my youth - west and east.
And that's how, on Saturday, I found myself standing under the
Monument to the Fallen Shipyard Workers: an amazing monument, not just because of its dramatic social-realist appearance, but
Fallen Shipyard Workers
The statue represents an unarmed worker shielding himself from bullets, and the list of the names of the dead includes images of bullet holes.also because, as I learned, it was the first time any Communist government allowed the construction of a public memorial to the government's
own victims.
No, "Fallen Shipyard Workers" doesn't refer to tragic industrial accidents. In 1970, shipyard workers across northern Poland, including
Gdańsk and neighboring Gdynia,
went on strike to protest sudden food price hikes. Communist Party leaders, whether by incompetence or by design, simultaneously appealed to the public to return to work
and ordered the Army to open fire on anyone approaching the shipyards. Crowds of workers were gunned down, about 40 killed, probably thousands injured. Rioting spread, but the Party put into place major economic reforms and a change of leadership to calm the situation and preserve its hold on power.
In 1980, an amazing confluence of events brought Gdańsk's shipyard workers back into the spotlight. Poland had been inspired by the election of Cardinal Karol Józef Wojtyła, former Archibishop of Kraków, as
Pope John Paul II in 1978. Leading prayer at a vast outdoor Mass in Warsaw in 1979 (the first ever papal visit to any Communist-ruled country), he said, "Let your Spirit descend and change the image of the land -
this land". Anti-Communist activists heard a subtle
encouragement and inspiration in his message: I can't count how many times I saw that exact video clip in all the Solidarity museums and remembrances. In 1980, economic decline, more food price hikes, and finally the firing of shipyard worker Anna Walentynowicz for dissident activities, sparked
another strike in Gdańsk and across industrial Poland.
On August 14, 1980, the strike began at the then-
Lenin Shipyards of Gdańsk. This time, workers gathered inside the shipyard, and an unemployed electrician - fired in 1976 for opposition activism - literally climbed over the wall to join and ultimately lead them.
Solidarność (Solidarity) had dozens or hundreds of founders and instigators, but
Lech Wałęsa became its public and international face.
Which brings us back to the Plac Solidarności, home of the aforementioned monument, and Gate #2, which lies at one end of this plaza. Families and friends of the workers inside the shipyard, and pretty much everyone else in Gdańsk, gathered daily on the square to hear the latest news from inside, pick up an opposition newspaper, and take turns passing by the gate to catch a glimpse or a few words with loved ones on the inside. With perhaps the exception of Lech's wall-jump, Solidarity leaders worried about
security - in fact, I learned on one tour, the shipyard's fortified location (including an island accessible only by drawbridge to which they could withdraw if needed) had attracted activists in the first place. It's said that plainclothes/secret police were intercepted by striking workers before they could carry out their plan to blow up a huge fuel depot inside the shipyard. On August 17, a large open-air Mass (photos of which are breathtaking) was held at Gate #2, and the striking workers' 21 Demands were made public - written in paint and wax crayon on sheets of plywood and mounted to Gate #2.
Gdańsk workers and Solidarity had rejected a self-serving settlement and held out for broad reforms, fundamental challenges to the authority of the Communist state. On August 30 and 31, strengthened by support and strikes across Poland and by international attention, and legitimized by their continued adherence to non-violent methods, Solidarity won - the unprecedented right to organize freely and the right to strike, unprecedented permission to build the Monument to the Fallen Shipyard Workers of 1970 which stands there today, and many more (but not all) of their posted demands. Lech Wałęsa - I am not
making this up, I have photos of it - signed the Gdańsk Agreement with a huge, tacky, bright red, Pope John Paul II souvenir pen, and when he was finished he came to Gate #2, was lifted up to the top of the gate by his colleagues, and without saying a word at first, he simply held out the pen and the Pope's image to the crowd gathered on the square.
Why it took 9 years from the Gdańsk Agreement in 1980 to the actual fall of actual Communism in 1989 would be a long addition to an already long travel blog, and intrepid readers are undoubtedly already wondering what has happened to the travel part of the travel blog. But pretty much all of the above are details I
didn't know before I visited here, other than that Gdańsk was important and Lech Wałęsa was a pretty cool guy.
On Saturday, I met Aga, a resident of Gdańsk whom I found on
CouchSurfing, and she suggested that we meet underneath the Monument on Plac Solidarności. All my guidebooks had told me that viewing the Monument, its nearby wall of remembrances, and the adjacent Gate #2 from the
outside were the extent of opportunities for tourists, but Aga showed me that the guidebooks were out of date: she simply opened the door at Gate #2 and we walked right through into the shipyard!! (I had been standing outside for several minutes before she arrived, so I'm sure I would never have known that that door was accessible to the general public.)
And that's when I learned the great but most wonderful irony: after all this, I had no idea that I had accidentally arranged to be here on
the actual day of the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Gdańsk Agreement. In celebration of which, lots of commemorative activity was underway at the shipyard.
Aga took me to the newly-renovated building in which the Agreement was signed, where we saw a wonderful photo exhibit. (My guidebooks said I could try to get a glimpse of the run-down historic building through the bars of the gate.) We walked through the shipyard to an old industrial building now housing a trendy bar/nightclub (no kidding) and an art exhibit. Aga & I sat there for drinks and talked about feminism, NGOs, and grassroots organizing. On the 30th anniversary
of Solidarity. I wonder what Lech would make of it.
The next day, I met Emilia, another CouchSurfer, who had suggested a ride on "
A Subjective Bus Line", a special Solidarity tour on an actual period bus to various historic locations throughout the vast shipyard grounds, with live commentary by actual witnesses to the events of 1980. Here's another activity I would never have known existed, and even if I had known, would never have figured out how to phone ahead for reservations. Emilia took care of the arrangements, and we met on Sunday underneath the Monument. Our bus ride took longer than the normal 90-minute tour due to the presence of TV cameras recording footage for specials on the 30th anniversary of Solidarity! Also, outside the shipyard photo exhibit, Emilia showed me a long line of signboards featuring quotes from people of all ages and nationalities regarding the significance of Solidarity in their lives - and one board had her name and a quote of hers!
It being, by then, Sunday night, I parted (somewhat reluctantly) with Emilia in order to take my last opportunity to visit the wonderful
Roads to Freedom permanent exhibition just outside of Plac Solidarności. They have the
red pen, they have the plywood boards, and they have a wealth of multimedia illuminating the history of the 1980 strike, Polish protests and strikes before and after, the declaration of martial law in 1981, and daily life in Poland under Communism (not unlike the wonderful
Museum of Communism in Prague).
Then on Monday, in case you were wondering whether Polish people really care about all this Solidarność 30 stuff, I met Ewa, yet another CouchSurfer, in the Główne Miasto (main town) of Gdańsk, and after coffee on the historic
Ulica Długa ("long lane"), we ran across a street performance commemorating the 30th anniversary, and made our way to a rock club showing a Solidarność film festival, artwork, banners, posters, exhibitions and even comedy performances for the 30th anniversary, packed with Gdańskers most of whom are in no way old enough to remember any of what they are commemorating.
The only thing I didn't manage to do was run into Pan ("Mr.") Wałęsa himself, although he lives in a suburb of Gdańsk and maintains an office right there on Ulica Długa. In case you're reading, happy 30th, sir!
See all my pictures from Gdańsk on Flickr:
Gdańsk 2010 Set
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Eliece
non-member comment
This is so cool!!
Wow! I love how you are giving the guidebooks a run for their money. and ALSO !!!! How cool is it that you were in Gdansk for Solidarność 30!?!! What a wonderful time!!!