BACK TO GDANSK

We all gathered in the lobby of the Marriott Hotel at ‘O-Dark-thirty: Matha, Craig, Allen, Brian, Scott and a new face – a young woman who spoke English, German, and POLISH! Her name was Anna, and unbeknownst to me, Martha had met her while shopping the day before. Martha was a great shopper, and had shopped the whole world. Martha was also the all-American girl who attracted people wherever she went. She was very friendly and outgoing, so it didn’t surprise me that she had befriended and actually hired this girl to go with us to Gdansk and act as our translator. This was fantastic, because many of the people I had lined up to film and interview did not speak any English. Anna would be perfect. We all walked down the street to the train station next to the Marriott. If you’re not careful – or you don’t speak Polish– you can buy tickets for the wrong train. We could recognize the city name of “Gdansk” – but we couldn’t discern “Express” from “Slow.” But lucky for us, Anna kept us from making that silly mistake. The Slow train stopped at every little point (town or station) between Warsaw and Gdansk. The Express train stopped twice in Warsaw, and once just before Gdansk, and then at Gdansk. So without Anna, we might have been on that stinking train for 5 hours instead of just 3. I refer to the train as “Stinking” because it really did stink. People in Poland had had such a difficult life. Apparently, personal hygiene falls way down on the list when you are struggling just to survive from one day to the next. I remember one time when I was on the train from Warsaw to Gdansk and a Gdansk TV news anchor and her boyfriend shared a first class compartment with me. This woman stunk to high-heaven. I’m sorry, but I’m pretty sure that she had never heard of deodorant. I was physically ill by the time we got off the train. Another time, I was sharing a cab with another American businessman, and he started laughing so hard because the cab’s mirror sported a little car deodorant, but the cab driver probably hadn’t bathed in a month. Well, we are all so uppity about this – but the fact is, this was just evidence of how primitively these people were forced live. When you can’t afford bread – you don’t buy deodorant. In fact – women couldn’t even buy tampons without a prescription under communist rule!! I used to think you could tell how civilized a country was by how often you had to tip people. Case-in-point. When we visited Cairo, Egypt, we had to tip the guy to watch our guide’s car while we were visiting a Mosque, and then we had to tip guys everywhere we went inside the Mosque on every floor, for every tomb, etc. Then there was the tourist police that made sure we tipped everyone, i.e. the parking lot guy, the grounds-keeper, and on and on. Later, I revised my theory on how to gauge the advancement of a civilization: I now based it on how well they treated their women. Cairo would still lose – but the communists helped to validate the theory. While Polish women are treated with more deference and respect than American women by the men in that country, the communist government had all kinds of silly laws prejudiced against women. The civilization was at a literal stand-still by the fall of The Berlin Wall. We managed to enjoy our train ride thoroughly in spite of the smell because we had a chance to relax and see the vast fields of saffron, the prairie-like countryside, and chit-chat with the average Poles that were sharing this ride with us. It was fun to get their take on the democratic changes going on in their country. The average Pole at that time was either very excited about the prospects of democracy, or terrified into constantly grumbling against it. While Poland’s history is one of democracy to an outrageous degree, here was an entire generation that had grown up like the Jews in Egypt – with the rulers taking care of their every need (i.e. supplying cigarettes and Vodka); guiding their every footstep (who will work where, and when); and controlling everything from historical references to current events, and what was taught in schools; food and clothing rations, styles, music, books, television, all culture, etc., etc., etc.. The generation left over from World War II that could still remember what Poland stood for had become tired and just worn out. They had all but given up, and had become dependent on the nanny-state to take care of them. The baby-boomers had adopted a fondness to intellectualize everything, and blame everything on the current regime, because it was all they could do. They knew they lived deplorable lives, and had all the arguments as to why and how; who was to blame, and the prescription for remedy. But as soon as the source of their woes was removed, and they were required to hold themselves up, they were having a more-than-difficult time shifting from intellectualizing their lives into the action needed to freely live their lives. The excuses for their plight no longer existed – it was terrifying. They did not have the tools to go from the creation of their world in their minds to the physical action needed to realize their world in the flesh. This phenomenon even afflicted some of the country’s most ardent supporters of Solidarity, including Anna Walyntenovicz and Jadwiga Staniszskis. Anna is quoted in the NY Times as she reflected on the new democracy in 1999: ''We wanted better money, improved work safety, a free trade union and my job back,'' Walentynowicz, now 70, recalls. ''Nobody wanted a revolution. And when I see what the so-called revolution has brought -- mass poverty, homelessness, self-styled capitalists selling off our plants and pocketing the money -- I think we were right,'' (Roger Cohen, The Accommodations of Adam Michnik, November 7, 1999). Jadwiga still lectures and has written many books about what happened and why. She is probably not as disappointed as Anna, but she was disappointed in the outcome of the negotiations of 1980 (21 X Tak). She felt their demands did not go far enough, and that they could have asked for so much more. She is still a scholar, and continues to remain above the fray, as she did during the communist regime. It was the student generation that the implementation of democracy and personal freedoms fell to. People like Andrjez, Kuba, Janick, Jerzy Koblynski and Julian Skelnik had been able to recognize the lies they were being taught in school, and had formed underground universities where they could learn historical truths and the English language. The students and workers came together with the Intelligentsia like Jacek Kuron and Bronislaw Geremek, along with the artists of their time (Piotr, Teresa and Pino – friends I would make later), and hung on to the truth until it broke through the darkness they were imprisoned in. But they didn’t stop there. They didn’t achieve the over-throw of their government just to walk away. They stayed and got elected to Parliament where they could change the ridiculous communist laws; they formed private enterprises, and vehicles to facilitate their free markets; and worked tirelessly to make their politics match their sudden free market economy. They may not have succeeded as they would have wanted to, but it was their destiny – their own choice – and they had this small window of opportunity to get it right. We -- our little group of Americans -- were looking through that window, and we knew it. It was the most amazing time in my life, and in the lives of millions of people who lived it every day.

CELEBRATING THE 4TH POLISH-STYLE

The party at the Ambassador's Residence ended pretty soon for the group that I was with. We just didn’t speak Polish, and we could only participate in the glory of this day for the Poles from a distance, since we did not share their recent history. But we made long, fast friends, and our friends did not want to give us up too easily. So we all took taxi’s back to the Marriott.

Kuba, Andrjez and Dr. Janick all wanted to continue the celebration of the 4^th, but Martha, Craig, Alan, Brian and Scott were suffering mightily from jet-lag. I did not want the evening to end, myself. Here were young men, in their early 30’s, who founded a new nation and who wanted to spend time with some dopey Americans on the 4^th of July to celebrate the fact that they had something to celebrate. Being with these three men caused me to reflect on how our Founding Fathers must have felt when they won the Revolutionary War, even though it was impossible. I began to appreciate the awesome feeling that must have come over them when they came to the realization that their IDEAs came into the world as a reality. How impossible . . . How unbelievable ... How "Fantastic" (a favorite English word of the Poles). So I gleefully went with them to the bar at the top of the hotel, the Panorama bar.

I bought the drinks – now I don’t drink, thank goodness – because the amount of drinking that went on would have surely put me in a coma and I would not have been able to remember anything we talked about or did.

We managed to confiscate the balloons that decorated the bar, and proceeded to play volleyball around the table with them. This caused loud laughter, and opened the door for them to talk about what it was like to live under Communism – About how they would never have been allowed to drink, laugh and play volleyball in a bar/restaurant as this would have been deemed abnormal behavior, and they could be imprisoned for that. I just stared at them as they told me a million stories like this. I just couldn’t imagine what the quality of life in a place like this would have been like.

Then I remembered Walter Whipple telling me that when he lived in Poland under communism, it was always safe to walk the streets – whether in the middle of the day, 3 in the morning – it didn’t matter. The jails were over-flowing, and there was no crime to speak of. I guess it makes perfect sense (and perhaps it would work here), that if you were hauled off to the poky for acting “funny” how would anyone ever dare to commit an actual crime? What would the punishment be for say, stealing: Death? Torture? Siberia?

We stayed up until 3 in the morning. I had to catch a train with the rest of the gang to Gdansk at 7:00A – so I finally broke up the party. We had really become fast friends. We were forever bonded from this day forward. There was nothing I wouldn’t do for these men if it were in my power – and I knew that there was nothing they wouldn’t do for me if it was within their power also.

4th of July at the US Ambassador's Residence in Poland

Martha, Craig and Alan, Brian and Scott and I all piled into a cab and headed out to Ambassador Davies’ residence. Here we entered a home where a huge crowd of Solidarity and Catholic Church dignitaries mingled delightedly with the Embassy staff. Jacek Merkel spied us immediately and drug us around the room and introduced us to, Priest Jankowski, Kuba, Andrjez Kozakiewic and Dr. Janick. Priest Jankowski did not speak English, but he gestured to me that he wanted exchange his pin of Lech Walesa for my American/Polish flag pin I was wearing. Of course. Priest Jankowski was an important figure in the demise of communism in Poland and the world. He was the Priest at St. Brygida’s Cathedral.

The Cathedral was located in Gdansk in direct view of the upper floors of the Hevelius Hotel, where the Communists often worked to spy on the comings and goings of the congregation. Both the hotel and the Cathedral were juxtaposed to the Lenin Shipyard, and so were pivotal in all the activities – whether it was the Solidarity opposition or communist regime. St. Brygida was used as a sanctuary for hunted Solidarity Leaders and sympathizers, such as Andrzej Kozakiewicz; and it was used as a triage hub during the 1970 massacre. Jankowski’s role was constant, and emboldened with the support of Pope John Paul III and the martyrdom of Father Jerzy Popielusko.

The story of Priest Popieluszko is that he was a Solidarity promoter. He was so eloquent in his passion for the movement even though it had been outlawed during the 1980’s, the Polish people never lost hope or the spirit of the Solidarity (Solidarnosc) because of his fervent support. His power to enhance the hope during Martial Law led to his death. He was abducted along a lonely stretch of road outside the city of Torun on Oct 19. His body was found in a reservoir on the Vistual River, 85 miles northwest of Warsaw. The Secret Police had spread the rumors that he was a victim of gang violence, but the Priest’s driver easily identified the Secret Police Captain, Grzegorz Piotrowski (an officer in the Interior Ministry section that monitors the activities of religious groups in Poland) as the ringleader. He and his co-conspirators believed that eliminating the popular Priest would cause the weakened Solidarity Movement to fracture. It had quite the opposite effect.

Popieluszko’s murder gave Solidarity a Martyr. He was a man who preached that no sacrifice was too great for the truth, and was now compelled to be a symbol of that sacrifice, now hallowed by baptism in blood.

Although Jankowski was continually in harm’s way, he managed to escape Popieluszko’s fate. He held many prayer rallies, and covertly supported the efforts of the men and women in Solidarity. Andrzej Kozakiewicz particularly relied on Jankowski during Martial Law.

Andrzej had lived in the U.S. in exile during most of Martial Law. He was able to escape under the Political Asylum provisions at the US Embassy. Although he had been an ordinary roofer, he was truly one of the country’s best. He was the head of the Solidarity Fund founded by Lech Walesa when given a grant from the US Congress (Senator Orin Hatch). The Fund was put in place to find work for those who had been black-listed from all work by the communist regime for their participation in Solidarity.

Later, I met Joanna Woijechowicz who was instrumental in providing employment for these “unemployable” people in her pottery/ art shop – a direct beneficiary of this fund. But I was only learning these things at this time. I was so caught up in all the people I got to meet at this 4^th of July party :

Thadeus Mazowiecki was another man I was introduced to. He was the acting, or interim President of Poland after the resignation of General Jaruzelski (the very man who declared Martial Law on his own people). Naturally, Jaruzelski was not present at this party, but neither was Lech Walesa.

I began to notice that Pan Walesa was being a recalcitrant at this time. His strategy was NOT to be the transitional government. To his credit, Walesa knew that transitional governments were always temporary: notably, they did not last very long after being intruded into the political system. So he was very willing to let Mazowiecki work out the very difficult kinks and then swoop in at a later and more perfect time.

Eventually, Kuba (Zaborowski), Andrzej (Kozakiewicz), Dr. Janik ,and I left the party and made our way up to the bar at the top of the Marriott Hotel.