DE:
#377 | Norman am 03-06-2009 19:53
At the end of May 2009 the President of the Polish Parliament and Sejm-Marschall Komorowski met the President of the German Bundestag Prof. Dr. Lammert in the Paul-Löbe-House in Bundestag in Berlin. They have opened an exhibition for the 20th anniversary of the change of power in Poland that will stay opened till the 17th of June. Thereby they pointed out not only the Berlin Wall fell 20 years ago but also the 40 years partition of Europe ended 20 years ago. This the peaceful change of system of the year 1989 is especially put down to the development in Poland. Poland started already in August 1980 with the establishment of the autonomous labour union “Solidarnosc” (solidarity) in Danzig (Gdansk). Unfortunately this history and the importance of Solidarnosc is underestimated or for some extend forgotten, not only outside of Poland. We should remember the importance of Solidarnosc for the “way to freedom” and should be reminded about it. I say thank you to all these people who worked for the peaceful revolution in that time. It were people like me and my friends. I hope that will read a lot of Poles over all these persons who supported Solidarnosc at that time. And we all know it wasn't easy.

ENG:
#337 | Mariah dnia 04.06.2009 09:26
4th June 1989 was a very important day, because the Tiananmen Square protests were brutally ended in Beijing, China, by People's Liberation Army. At the same time there was Ufa train disaster caused by explosion of natural gas near Ufa in Russia where 575 people were killed. On the other side of globe victims of murderer Oba Chandler were find floating in Tampa Bay in Florida, USA and Chandler was finally arrested 3 years later. Finally Solidarity's won in the first (somewhat) free parliamentary elections in post-war Poland and it was a beginning of peaceful anti-communist revolutions in Eastern Europe. Poland created the so-called Contract Sejm and Autumn of Nations began. 4th June in Poland had a great influence of Europe and World (Iron Curtain was finally over!) and we all have to think about role of Solidarity.

DE:
#378 | Matthias am 03-06-2009 22:12
I read the opinions here and I think that we are really underestimating the Polish. When everybody here says, even the President of Germany underlines Poland has played a real role in Europe, then there has to be something about it, hasn`t it?

PL:
#445 | Piotr dnia 04.06.2009 12:06
I am happy not only Polish people are thankful by Lech Wałęsa and whole Solidarnosc (Solidarity) for freedom and democracy and system changes in whole Europe.

PL:
#446 | Alina dnia 04.06.2009 12:49
I thank Lech Wałęsa and other workers from shipyard, Prime Minister Mazowiecki, Jacek Kuron, Bronisław Geremek, Adam Michnik, Marek Edelman and everyone who fought for free Poland and had courage, wisdom, strength and belief! „Dziękuję (Thanks)” to the Pope John Paul II for words which were mobilizing and gave hope: „So that Holy Ghost come here on earth and renew the land, this land” ("Niech zstąpi Duch Twój i odnowi oblicze ziemi, tej ziemi" ). I am proud of Poland!

DE:
#379 | Friedrich am 04-06-2009 09:39
I remember the thought from back then: For your and our freedom? The Polish October and the Solidarity-Revolution have been strongly perceived by us in the GDR. The GDR and Poland in the 80`s were very similar. June 1989 was a signal for us, go fight! Dare! For your and our freedom! They were also fighting for us and that is what Germany should always be thankful for. Otherwise we wouldn`t have dared to support the democratic movement so fast. We still knew the reactions to Solidarity and the belligerence in Poland and we didn`t know how the Soviets would react. Fortunately everything was more peaceful than we thought.

DE:
#380 | Karl am 04-06-2009 10:12
Years have passed since the beginning of the political changes in the complete Eastern bloc. How much is left of the myth called Solidarity in Poland? I have read yesterday, that neither the Polish head of government nor the Polish president have been celebrating in the Polish Sejm. Today the Polish head of government is going to meet our chancellor in Krakow (what has Krakow to do with Solidarity?) and the celebrations in Gdansk are going to be reduced to a concert. The Polish seemingly can`t value what they have achieved. It is a pity, because I also want to say thank you to everybody, who has been fighting back then and who have made these changes in the complete Eastern bloc possible. To everybody, who was standing at the gates of the Gdansk Shipyard in summer 1980 and to everybody who were fighting for free elections.

Why not?

DE:
#381 | Olli am 04-06-2009 10:37
I have read your article yesterday and I have called my father. I don`t know so much about all the politics and I can`t tell how important was what, but my father said, that Walesa and Solidarity were as important for Germany and all Europe as Jim Morrison and The Beatles were for music history. If it has been like this, then I will try to get more information about it, even if I am not and I don`t want to be a political scientist. Thanks a lot to Anna for the article and for the opinions here, which I have been reading with great interest. And many regards to my father, who also welcomes this project very much.

PL:
#448 | Azrael dnia 04.06.2009 13:32

4th JUNE – RELAXED REFLECTIONS

I took in hand to not celebrate the anniversary of free elections. Maybe otherwise: not „not to celebrate”, but to not convince myself to this memory mood and instead to watch official pompous and blowing up ceremonies with all what belongs to them: masses, speeches, flags and ritual voting rubbish whose celebration is it and why.

I wasn’t a man of „Solidarnosc“, I wasn’t a man of opposition either, I didn’t belong to establishment or as you called it at that time „apparatus“. That’s why then and now I had distance to 4th June I remind myself not about excitement, tension and expectations. But I gladly went voting and election’s results I took with hope. I remember more about 2 weeks until the second part of election [18.06.1989] where you saw how possible it is to come to an understanding from all sides: winner’s team of Lech Walesa and communists.

Communism ended not at 4th June 1989. It ended, morally and politically, at 13th December 1981. Just at this night took place the bankruptcy of the (communistic) party and of communism. What was going on for the next 8 years was just holding a cadaver from falling down. The society let to influence itself, but it didn’t let to break it. Although the appearance communists broke down the break bone on their own. And it was just a matter of time when this society and opposition will win. Although not so many believed it…

There is no unity in the society whether 4th June is the date which you should celebrate. It depends on generations. People who are 50-60 years old think you should celebrate the August date of the year 1980 with strikes and agreement where „S“ was founded.[Solidarnosc/ Solidarity is sometimes written shortly - AB]. People who are 40 years old want to celebrate 4th June or another date from the year 1989 (f. e. calling of government of Tadeusz Mazowiecki [the first free government in post-war Poland - AB]. People who are 20 years old will choose in the future the date which they want to celebrate.

4th June is date of rebirth of Polish parliamentarianism. The first after war act of voting was free, without force, massively and was a willingness of citizens. I was a day when the collapsing building of People’s Republic of Poland [PRL] crushed down because of voting papers. It was a beginning of changes which brought Poland to NATO, European Union, Europe. These 20 years are time of continuous development and a civilization’s skip. (partially with damages for these ones who couldn‘t adopt on them) The political system of real socialism was replaced by parliamentarian democracy and capitalism – not without disadvantages, but with civic liberty. Unfortunately there are some other effects of this democracy, and it isn’t a consequence of specific features, but it is a Polish feature. It is a development of Church, (bad) mutation of political life and no perfect public institutions and medias. Ok, these are just 20 years of democracy.

In the background of celebration of 4th June it is advisable to mention that idea of Polish accession to democracy’s time couldn’t be realized without some people, some characters. That’s mainly Johannes Paul II (Jan Paweł II) and Wojciech Jaruzelski. These are opposition’s members Tadeusz Mazowiecki, Bronisław Geremek, Adam Michnik, Bogdan Lis, Bogdan Borusewicz, Andrzej Celiński, Władysław Frasyniuk, Zbigniew Bujak and Aleksander Kwaśniewski, too. And everybody who doesn’t want to face it like Antoni Macierewicz, Gwiazdowie or Wyszkowski. Their actions lead tot he election.

You should remember this data is connected with another occurrence. It is data of pacification on the Tiananmen Square in Beijing, a bloody massacre of students. You should put these two occurrences – Polish election and Chinesee tragedy - together. First then you’ll see how adult acted Poland 20 years ago.

Not everybody can understand it. On one blog of a young, I won’t doubt by term, national female idiot [in Poland you can say „female idiot“ as one word „iditiotka“ – AB] wrote she is fighting against democracy, because democracy leads to national betrayal and democracy is a consequence of acts of masons [Jews] …

I prefer rather mutated democracy where you can spread your opinion than a system where the point of view of such woman should be represented.


Azrael