Premier Morawiecki w ToM "Remembering Poland's Solidarnosc"
Friends and relatives of striking workers outside the gates of the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk in August 1980.
Forty years ago, during the hot summer months of 1980, Europe was totally different from its image today. The continent had been divided by the Iron Curtain, which wasn’t only a metaphorical line of political division.
Indeed, the line was dividing free and democratic countries and those deprived of their sovereignty and totally dependent on the Soviet empire. One of the countries that had been left after the war under the dependence of the communist power was my homeland – Poland, which lost about six million citizens during the war, half of them of Jewish origin. It was a disaster after which it was unlikely we could rise again.
And yet we tried. During the next post-war enslavement which was Polish People’s Republic period, Poles didn’t give up on the accomplishment of their dreams of self-determination, freedom and independence. We have never accepted the unfair judgement of history.
This is why the efforts of the heroic struggle with the Moscow-dependent regime had been undertaken. Unfortunately, all the efforts were in vain. The communist power was pacifying bloodily all the social protests, keeping the society under surveillance and censoring all the signs of freedom in art and literature. With each next spurt the number of new victims was increasing, but hope didn’t disappear.
The fruit of this hope was August 1980 – a real breakthrough. It was an unimaginable phenomenon in the entire Soviet bloc. Something that caused worldwide amazement and admiration at the same time. After a series of workers’ strikes in shipyards and other workplaces across Poland, the despotic communist party finally had to bow. At that time, an agreement was reached for the creation of the first trade union which was independent and self-governing. And it happened for the first time in the history of countries from the Soviet bloc.
This is how ‘Solidarity’ was born. Officially, it was a trade union, but in fact it was a nationwide social movement that united millions of Polish people in one, faith-filled community. Where was this faith coming from?
It comes from the centuries-old political tradition – love for freedom and democracy. From the attachment to Europe, of which Poland was an active member for thousands of years. But also from the inspiration given to Polish society by Pope John Paul II. His election to the See of Peter became an endless source of hope and strength.
Today, after years, we can clearly see that Solidarity was a stone which caused an avalanche and, in effect, the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989. Thanks to Solidarity, Poland broke free from the Soviet Union, and Europe could become one and whole again.
Although 40 years have passed since then, the ideals are still present and should be alive for us. We, the Polish people, have kept them not as some museum exhibits, but as values defining the standard in public life, a specific model to which we aspire. But Solidarity means something more than a socio-political postulate. “There is no freedom without solidarity” – we keep in mind those words of Pope John Paul II. And we remember also that there’s no solidarity without love, and without those two – there’s no future either.
Solidarity is too valuable to be reminded of only in times of crisis
- Mateusz Morawiecki
When natural disasters, like floods, cataclysms, fires and whirlwinds hit our society – solidarity becomes not only one of the most important rules of acting, but simply a condition of survival. We can see this by observing the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
Unconditional help, sacrifice to save others, true altruism, empathy, rejection of fear and selfishness – such models were represented in the most difficult moments by medics, paramedics, uniformed services, pharmacists, but also salespeople, teachers, entrepreneurs and hundreds of thousands of ordinary citizens. Thanks to their attitude we could see what solidarity is in practice.
However, solidarity is too valuable to be reminded of only in times of crisis. Everyday life should be filled with its ideals; it should be manifested each day by kindness, hospitality, openness and understanding. To discover these values we need to pay deep attention to our own existence, getting to know better all these noble qualities of our personality.
Every person who finds the spirit of solidarity understands that it cannot be kept individually. It requires a community, in which it can be fulfilled. This is why we should accept it as a fundamental rule of our collective life. We’re finding out more about it especially today, when millions of Poles, like inhabitants of other European countries are struggling with the economic consequences of the pandemic.
A significant reduction in the spread of the virus and the rapid introduction of a bold, anti-crisis strategy, protecting both entrepreneurs, employees, their families and entire local governments wouldn’t be possible if we were not guided in our actions by solidarity.
The same spirit is needed for Europe today. Together we are at a turning point, and together we have to get out of it as one community. At the time of trial it is most important that true cooperation should overcome selfishness. We want a strong Europe, just as we want a strong Poland. I’m convinced we are going to be able to shape our common future as long as we take the Solidarity heritage as the foundation of our activities.
Today, 40 years after that memorable August of 1980, our main task is to make Solidarity not only a page from the history of the Polish nation, especially in the eyes of the world.
We should make Solidarity a project for the whole of Europe. This is why solidarity is our proposition for the coming decades of development.
Relations between European countries – regardless of their size and economic potential – should be modelled on interpersonal relationships. These, in turn, are naturally shaped by the rule of solidarity. It’s a reliable guarantee for the construction of a better future for Europe.
Mateusz Morawiecki is Prime Minister of Poland.
This text is published simultaneously in the Polish monthly Wszystko Co Najważniejsze
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