One Voice That Changed the World!
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Lech Walesa literally reset the world on its axis. In a stroke of irony, Poland was the first country to break the 1955 Warsaw Pact.
Lech Walesa impresses me as a good man and, like President Carter is truly a humble peacemaker. A shipyard worker, Walesa strove to form unions on the docks; in the mills and in the factories. Unlike Imre Nagy, another good man and a Freedom Fighter who was killed in Hungary in 1954, Walesa took baby steps to effect change. Whereas Nagy took the "remove Russian occupation from Hungary at all costs and install democracy" in one fell swoop, Walesa took a more circumspect and prudent approach. Instead of trying to remove all obstacles at one time, he tried to institute changes in the workplaces. Once dock workers and factory and mill workers had unions, the voting process could be moved into elected offices.
Poland was, up until 1989 under communist regime. It has an interesting history. During WWI, Poland, then a landlocked territory was granted part of eastern Germany. The former German city Danzig is now Poland's Gdansk and the portion of Germany that has been annexed to Poland has not only increased the size of the country, but provided Poland access to the ocean. For many years Poland was recognized as a territory and not a nation.
Lech Walesa's father, the late Bronislaw Walesa vowed in 1945 that there would come a day when he would see a free Poland where Polish citizens would have the option to vote for the candiates they wanted to see in office and not go through the formality of seeing the same people installed in the same positions of power. Sadly, Bronislaw Walesa never lived to see that happen. His son Lech Walesa was the person who was largely responsible for effecting change. Lech Walesa's 4 sons and 4 daughters will live that dream by voting as free Polish citizens.
The Beatles' 1968 classic "Revolution" can clearly be the soundtrack of this wonderful book. "We all want to change the world" - so true in this case!
Walesa is a realistic, humble and practical man with a delightful wit. Throughout his successes and setbacks, he has kept his humor and realistic outlook. In 1980, Walesa and a band of Polish freedom fighers got together to form the Solidarity Party. Using computers smuggled into Poland from England, Germany and the U.S., the Solidarity supporters held secret meetings in churches and people's homes. They made concerted efforts to gain support for effecting political changes in Poland and their movement picked up speed. Sadly, Walesa was jailed for one year during the 1980s. Still, his voice was heard and his word spead. Pope John Paul II threw his voice, prayers and support behind Walesa and backed him all the way. By 1987, Walesa's voice was ringing clear and strong around the world and people outside of Poland became more aware of the new political climate that was rapidly moving into Poland.
By 1988, the Solidarity Workers were a strong force to be reckoned with. Polish citizens rallied round them and Walesa's voice carried far beyond the shipyard docks; the factories and the mills. His voice was heard world wide and on June 4, 1989 the Solidarity Candidates won by a landslide! Poland held its first free election since WWII. Tom Brokaw among other news pundits/reporters were in Poland, ready to congratulate the newly elected Solidarity Candidates.
1989 was a heady year. On June 4 1989, the same day the Solidary candidates won the election, Ayatollah Khomeini died and, on a sad note the Beijing Massacre in China occurred. June 4, 1989 was Triple Shot Sunday. During the fall of 1989 Walesa was flown to America and spoke before the Senate and the Congress. Then New York Mayor David Dinkins gave Walesa the Key to the City and had Walesa ride around Manhattan in the Mayor's car. Walesa was named Man of the Year in 1989, an honor he richly earned and deserved. I think we should raise our glasses to Lech Walesa!
During the latter part of 1989, other Eastern European countries broke with the Warsaw Pact. Vaclav Havel, a playwright was singularly honored in the former Czechoslavakia, now the Czech Republic. His political plays, once banned were broadcast on PBS television channels and included in libraries around the world. Like Walesa, Havel held a position of high political power. On November 10, 1989 the Berlin Wall was knocked down after serving as a barrier for 28 years. Also in late 1989, Imre Nagy was given a proper Catholic burial with a traditional Hungarian headstone after 35 years of being buried in an unmarked grave. He was finally given the respect he was long due.
Lech Walesa can rightfully take his place alongside of people like Robert Kennedy; Dr. King, Gandhi and all the freedom fighters who have throughout history worked hard to make political changes to improve the world. I salute all of these people and thank them from the bottom of my heart. Let's all once again raise our glasses to Lech Walesa!
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