Lech Walesa

[franciszek]

What was Lech Walesa like as a leader the solidarity movement was much in the news at the time but not much after that i remember him having a big effect on me and i truly admired him as a unique human being was nice to see him on nice to see him on "the poles are coming" any one any comments?

[Bonobo]

Walesa was a tough guy. He negotiated with communists, constantly on their back. When imprisoned in 1981, he didn`t give in or cooperate with the regime. In retaliation, for many years the regime refused to commence a dialogue with him, calling Walesa a "private person."

In 1989, he won a TV debate with a communist apparatchik. The debate is commonly believed to have convinced communists that acknowledgement of Walesa as a leader of Solidarity was a must. t. Fragile agreement between both rival sides emerged, giving way to the Round Table talks which in turn led to the landslide victory of Solidarity in 1989 half democratic elections.

After the collapse of communism, Walesa engaged in ambiguous stupid activities. He antagonised his former partners, ostentatiously desired to become a president of Poland. To achieve this aim, he declared the "war at the top" which meant a total disruption of all political ties between former Solidarity opposition members.

He became President but Poles got disappointed wit hhis presidency. He was criticised for political aggression, violation of rules of democracy, impolite behaviour and crude language.

Conclusion: Walesa was an excellent freedom fighter, the Great Destructor. He consciously destroyed communism together with John Paul II, Ronald Reagan and Michail Gorbatchov(accidentally) .

However, he was a child of communism himself. He didn`t suit a democratic system as he wanted to solve political and economic problems by force.

Today Walesa has 1% political support.

Yet, he has earned his place in history of Poland for ever.

[franciszek]

Thanks for your reply i have downloaded 1 article on him i will print this 1 for my boy then he can draw his own conclusions best to hear from a native than just an article

[Bonobo]

Mar 29, 2008 23:46:45 GMT 1 franciszek said:

Thanks for your reply i have downloaded 1 article on him i will print this 1 for my boy then he can draw his own conclusions best to hear from a native than just an article

Show your son pics too.


Great Walesa in 1980.

Leader of the strike in the biggest Polish shipyard.


Families of striking workers behind the fence. People feared another massacre of workers by the regime.






Tough negotiations. Communists finally backed off.


Signing the agreement. Pay attention to Walesa`s monstrous pen.





Except for minor opposition from a few other would-be leaders of Solidarity, he was treated as celebrity by all workers.






Pictures from here:
www.solidarity.gov.pl/?document=48&PHPSESSID=c469776bcbd9419f7b0a5500802b6ba0

History of Solidarity in English
www.solidarity.gov.pl/index.php?document=2

[Bonobo]

Lech Walesa has a little problem. Right wing politicians accuse him of being a secret police agent and informer in early 1970s. The book about it will be published on Monday. Two authors provide proofs of Walesa`s activity as an informer.
Walesa vehemently rejects all accusations and threatens to take the case to court.

www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/06/17/europe/EU-GEN-Poland-Walesa.php



Poland's Walesa rejects 'fabricated' allegations he was communist agent


WARSAW, Poland: Lech Walesa, who led Poland's communist-era pro-democracy movement and later became president, on Tuesday rejected as a fabrication allegations in a new book that he was an agent for communist security services.

A book by two historians with the state-run National Remembrance Institute, slated for publication next week, claims that Walesa — then an electrician at the Gdansk shipyard — collaborated with the secret police between 1970 and 1972 and "provided information on negative activities of shipyard workers."

Walesa, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, vehemently rejected the allegations, which the authors — Slawomir Cenckiewicz and Piotr Gontarczyk — were summarizing in a series of articles in the Rzeczpospolita daily starting Tuesday.

"It's libel from beginning to end," Walesa told The Associated Press by telephone. He added that the allegations were based on "fabricated texts."

Similar allegations have surfaced occasionally since the early 1990s. In 2000, a special screening court ruled that Walesa did not collaborate with communist secret police.

The new book — "Secret Security and Lech Walesa. A Contribution to Biography" — bases its claim on copies of documents from various Interior Ministry archives. The authors link Walesa to an agent codenamed "Bolek" who, they say, took money for his reports.

Walesa said secret police forged documents in early 1980s to compromise him after he refused to collaborate.

"Nowhere is there a signature from me, nowhere is there my consent to collaborate," Walesa said. "I refused everything, I told them: you can kill me, but you will not conquer me. That's what I told them."

Walesa founded the pro-democracy Solidarity trade union, becoming a symbol of the battle against the communist regime.

He suffered a setback when he was rounded up in December 1981 and locked up, like many other Solidarity leaders and activists, during a harsh military crackdown imposed in an effort to crush the movement. He eventually helped guide the peaceful end of communist rule in 1989.

On Tuesday, he maintained that collaboration allegations have resurfaced now because groups hostile to him — whom he would not name — were trying to spoil the 25th anniversary of his Nobel Peace Prize.

Earlier this month, Walesa sparred with current President Lech Kaczynski — a former adviser with whom he later fell out — over the allegations.

Asked if he believed that Walesa was indeed agent "Bolek," Kaczynski said "yes," and added that he supported the publishing of the new book.

[Bonobo]

What do I think about it?

I am deeply suspicious of the revelation. Why?

It seems another hatred campaign organized by Kaczynski brothers. In 90s they were dumped by Walesa, have hated him since then and Walesa paid tit for tat.

Besides, the two authors who wrote the book are also suspicious. Firstly, they are mambers of Kaczynskis` party or closely affiliated with it.
Secondly, one of them is Piotr Gontarczyk, who strongly criticised Jan Gross for his book about Polish antisemitism. In his reply Gontarczyk accused Gross of manipulating facts and inventing unreal situations from the past.

Now it seems that Gontarczyk is doing the same thing in his book about Walesa. The leaks and quotes from the book prove that it is mostly based on hypothesis and assumptions.

May be I am unfair, let`s wait and see exactly what the book may offer us.

However, even in Walesa was a secret agent for 2 years in the beginning of 70s, his later opposition work made him clean again. It is similar to the case of Szymborska - she used to praise Stalin and communism in 1950s, but later gave it up and people forgave her youth mistakes.

Most did. Some didn`t.

[tufta]

Jun 18, 2008 18:31:36 GMT 1 Bonobo said:

However, even in Walesa was a secret agent for 2 years in the beginning of 70s, his later opposition work made him clean again. It is similar to the case of Szymborska - she used to praise Stalin and communism in 1950s, but later gave it up and people forgave her youth mistakes.

Most did. Some didn`t.

Ooops. I have to disagree again. What a day!
Walesa was playing the game with Secret Police while fighting the communism. He didn't make a mistake, on the opposite - he was cunny. Like many other.
Szymborska wasn't playing the games - she was an enthusiast of commmunism and that was while the patriots were killed and imprisoned.
To sweeten a lot of disagreements - I finally would like to agree, yes she was forgiven! Like Kuron, Kolakowski, Geremek and many many other who made mistakes in their youth and changed. Walesa didn't make this kind of a 'youth mistakes', albeit did a lot of other...

[Bonobo]

Jun 19, 2008 10:25:57 GMT 1 tufta said:

Ooops. I have to disagree again. What a day!
Walesa was playing the game with Secret Police while fighting the communism. He didn't make a mistake, on the opposite - he was cunny. Like many other.
Szymborska wasn't playing the games - she was an enthusiast of commmunism and that was while the patriots were killed and imprisoned.
To sweeten a lot of disagreements - I finally would like to agree, yes she was forgiven! Like Kuron, Kolakowski, Geremek and many many other who made mistakes in their youth and changed. Walesa didn't make this kind of a 'youth mistakes', albeit did a lot of other...

Where else do you also disagree so that you get such a headache?hahahaha

You are right to say that Szymborska was a conscious enthusiast while Walesa wasn`t.

But they must be forgiven because if not, this country would be full of rejected isolated people, constituting probably more than half the population. Everybody was involved in some way.

When in primary school in 1970s, I attended the academies celebrating October Revolution etc. What is more, I took part in these celebrations. I was a very good looking boy and before mutation my voice was beautiful, , so I sang the revolutionary songs. I also had a very good memory so I recited revolutionary poems. It was fun for me, I did it wilingly.

And what? In high school everything changed. I went to illegal demonstrations and I sang too, but this time it was anticommunist songs.

You must forgive me my communist past! If you don`t, I will be very unhappy!

Say you forgive me!

PS. I think our attitude to communism is a good topic for Sweet Memory thread.

PS2. What do you think about the book and its authors? More and more historians claim that the authors are pseudo-historians and they manipulated a lot of facts. The third ghost author of the book is former secret police boss from Kaczynski Brothers` party. The whole book seems like Kaczynski`s political revenge on Walesa and Gontarczyk and the other author let themselves be used.

[tufta]

I have nothing to forgive you, Bonobo. You were rather a victim not the supporter in your early youth. But you're lucky to be blessed with brain, which got you out of trouble. Not all people are blessed in this way. ;D

As to book - to tell the truth I really don't know what to think about it. But I am planning to read it.

[Bonobo]

Jun 20, 2008 11:19:46 GMT 1 tufta said:

I have nothing to forgive you, Bonobo. You were rather a victim not the supporter in your early youth.

Yes, yes, yes, I was a victim, they brainwashed me, those totalitarian bastards!

But you're lucky to be blessed with brain, which got you out of trouble. Not all people are blessed in this way. ;D

Yes, I was blessed, because during the brainwashing, I managed to save some part of my brain. Today I use it against communists. ;D
And fascists too.

As to book - to tell the truth I really don't know what to think about it. But I am planning to read it.

Oops, then we will wait a long time for your posts.....

[Bonobo]

Today the book was on sale. There were lines in bookshops to get it.

And there were more and more interviews with anticommunist opposition activists and historians too. They claim the book is partial and subjective. The authors of the book, Gontarczyk and Cenckiewicz, are pseudohistorians who decided to prove Kaczynski`s point of view about Walesa as a traitor.

A former anticommunist opposition activist said : It isn`t a painful truth about Walesa. It is a lie. It is a well constructed act of accusation, made on a political order. Everything what was uncertain and vague, all lies were interpreted against the accused, while there is no clear evidence that Walesa was an agent.

Nie zgodził się z nim Jan Lityński. – To nie jest bolesna prawda o Wałęsie, to kłamstwo. To dobrze skonstruowany akt oskarżenia na polityczne zamówienie. Wszystko, co było niepewne, każde kłamstwo interpretowano na niekorzyść oskarżonego – argumentował. Według niego nie ma koronnego dowodu przeciw Wałęsie – podpisu na zobowiązaniu do współpracy lub donosie.

www.tvn24.pl/-1,1554792,wiadomosc.html

[tufta]

The idea that Lech Walesa was at any time acting against Polish raison d'etre is crazy. But he might have played hide and seek with secret service - as most opposition leaders had to. However Jan Litynski is the last person in line to be trusted... unfortunately, even if he lataly changes his mind and decided to do the right thing and defend Walesa. Yes, Bonobo - the next comment from me about this matter is to be expected after I read the book


Edited: i mean acting against raison d'etre _consciously_, as he did a lot mistakes later on.

[Bonobo]

Jun 25, 2008 15:48:13 GMT 1 tufta said:

The idea that Lech Walesa was at any time acting against Polish raison d'etre is crazy. But he might have played hide and seek with secret service - as most opposition leaders had to.

Even if he cooperated for a year or two, he was young and stupid. He redeemed his sins by his later activity as Solidarity leader, by his resistance to attempts of breaking him during martial law, by his persistent but peaceful struggle to revive banned Solidarity.

However Jan Litynski is the last person in line to be trusted... unfortunately, even if he lataly changes his mind and decided to do the right thing and defend Walesa.

You mean Lityński`s access to the party of Polish Democrats which formed an alliance with post-communists in the elections in 2007??

Yes, it was nasty. ;D ;D ;D

[Bonobo]

When Walesa got a Nobel Prize in 1983, I was in a high school. We were glad at the decision - despite communist authorities` allegations that Walesa was a "private person," he remained the main opposition activist at the time, the one who couldn`t be ignored. 5 years had to pass for communists to understand it... Talks with Walesa began in 1988....



Lech Walesa celebrates anniversary of Nobel Peace Prize on his 65th
birthday
Polish Radio
29.09.2008

The events have got under way in Warsaw to mark the 25th anniversary of the Nobel Peace Prize for Solidarity founder Lech Wa³esa.

Micha³ Kubicki reports

The news from Oslo came on October 5, 1983. It was just over two
months after the lifting of martial law but the Solidarity movement
was disbanded and hundreds of union activists remained in prison.
The importance of the Nobel Peace Prize for Walesa therefore cannot be overestimated.

`This prize made me, personally, immortal and it gave the Solidarity
movement a new lease of life, so we could go on to victory. Without
that prize, I cannot imagine further successes. I am convinced that
victory would not have been possible. This is how much I value that
distinction, ' said Wa³êsa.

Six years after Walesa received the Nobel Peace Prize, Poland had
its first non-communist government in its post-war history, and in
1990 Walesa became Poland's first democratically elected president
after the war. Small wonder that, as journalist Jerzy Kisielewski
says, he is seen as an icon for Polish democracy: `For the world
Walesa is a symbol of free Poland. For us, for many people, Walesa
is a symbol of the events of August 1980. He was a leader, he is a
symbol.'

For many historians, however, it is wrong to think of Walesa as a
man who singlehandedly defeated communism in Poland. Professor
Wojciech Roszkowski: `It is not only Walesa. Walesa was our leader, we trusted in him but I think the leadership of Solidarity also
played a role and those nine million union members as well.'

A Polish weekly headlined its cover story on Walesa: An
uncomfortable jubilee, a reference of course to a book, published in
Poland recently, containing documents suggesting that Walesa acted as an informer of the communist secret service in the 1970s. Its publication started a debate on Walesa's past and his role in modern Polish history. Is the perception of his place in history likely to change?

`Walesa is still considered a national hero not only in Poland but
also abroad and I don't think the perception of what he did in the
1970s and 1980s as leader of the opposition will change much in
France, Germany or the United States. He will still be considered
as one of the most prominent figures of the independence movement in Poland and one of the human rights icons, alongside the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu,' said deputy editor of "Rzeczpospolita" Marek Magierowski.

Lukasz Warzecha of the daily Fakt claims that Poles have the right
to know all the facts relating to the biographies of historical
figures: `We should try to separate historical truth about Walesa
from his historically great role as Solidarity leader and Nobel
Peace Prize winner. We should somehow try to guard his symbolic
value for us, regardless of what he did before 1980s. I think the
whole debate is drowned in the political quarrel between two
political camps.'

A wide range of events is planned for later this year to mark the
anniversary of the Nobel Peace Prize for Walesa. They include a get-
together in Gdansk in December of Nobel Prize winners and
politicians from round the world.


Wałęsa in 1983


His wife was allowed to go to Sweden to get the award. Walesa received congratulations in Poland.






[/img]

Today


A stamp from illegal underground production


A memorial coin




more pics here
www.polskaludowa.com/foto/80/nobel.htm

[valpomike]

Was, or is Lech good for Poland today? Why?


Mike

[Bonobo]

Oct 1, 2008 21:17:12 GMT 1 valpomike said:

Was, or is Lech good for Poland today? Why?
Mike

The answer is here:
polandsite.proboards104.com/index.cgi?board=polishhistory&action=display&thread=168

[valpomike]

This tells his good and bad things, but what do you think, overall?

Mike

[Bonobo]

A Blow to Communism

The Warsaw Voice
3 December 2008

Twenty-five years ago Lech Walesa, the leader and co-founder of
Solidarity, the first independent trade union movement in the Soviet
bloc, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Wa³êsa, who after the fall of communism went on to become president 1990-1995, is the only Pole to have ever won the peace prize.

The chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which has been
awarding the prize since 1901, said in his presentation speech Dec.
10, 1983 that Wa³êsa had been chosen for his efforts on behalf of
human rights in Poland and the communist world generally.

The communist authorities that then ruled Poland refused to issue
Wa³êsa a passport to attend the ceremony to give his acceptance
speech and collect his diploma and prize money. They had only months earlier, on July 22, lifted the martial law they imposed Dec. 13, 1981=2 0to thwart the Solidarity movement. Wa³êsa himself had been interned until November 1982. An opposition figure of Wa³êsa's stature being awarded such a major international prize was seen by Poland's communist authorities and their Moscow overlords as a huge propaganda blow. They allowed only Wa³êsa's wife Danuta and 13-year- old son Bogdan to attend the ceremony. Warsaw's Okêcie airport was virtually sealed off the winter's day the two flew out of the capital. All the streets around the airport were closed to vehicular traffic in an attempt to forestall any protests that the opposition or supporters of Wa³êsa might have been planning. Only workers and passengers on other flights were allowed into the airport and only then after their documents had been thoroughly screened. Many public areas were closed, including the observation deck. The official reason was to carry out renovation work, although nothing was ever done.

The ceremony in Oslo was not even mentioned in Poland's state-run
media. Wa³êsa's compatriots had to turn to Polish-language broadcasts from the west, like Radio Free Europe or the BBC's Polish section, to learn that he had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. These were not that easy to pick up back then as the authorities went to great lengths to jam them, especially in the country's large cities.



Walesa's anniversary celebrations begin
The Warsaw Business Journal
5th December 2008

The celebrations marking Lech Walesa's 25 year anniversary of
receiving the Nobel Peace Prize have begun in Gdañsk with the arrival of guests

The guests have started to arrive, among them Dalai Lama, who will
among other past recipients of the Nobel Peace Price attend a
ceremony in Gdañsk marking 25 years since Lech Wa³êsa received the honor for leading Poland's Solidarity movement.

On Saturday, the past president will host a banquet whose guests will include Dalai Lama, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and EC President José Manuel Barroso.

To mark the celebrations, Wa³êsa devised an award, the Lech Wa³êsa Prize, for charity and humanitarian work whose first recipient is to be Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah.

The goal of the €100,000 prize is to "reward those who work for
understanding and cooperation among nations in the name of freedom and the values of Solidarity."

Meanwhile, 200 young people from 44 countries will also take part in the event. The international gathering, traveling under the motto
of 'Solidarity Express' arrived in Gdañsk on Friday morning. They
will visit the Westerplatte monument site commemorating the start of WWII, tour the Gdañsk shipyards and participate in a
conference, "Solidarity for the Future."


25 years ago:






Illegal underground stamps

[Bonobo]

Streets are named after Walesa

[Bonobo]

Walesa was no collaborator, says spythenews.pl
10.12.2008

Officer of the secret police in communist Poland Edward Graczyk has
denied that he ever recruited legendary Solidarity leader Lech
Walesa as a secret collaborator.

He also denies paying Walesa for information on his colleagues from
the Gdansk Shipyard in 1970s, as has been alleged.

Slawomir Cenckiewicz and Piotr Gontarczyk, the authors of the book
Secret services and Lech Walesa. A Contribution to the Biography,
which was published by the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) this summer, point to Graczyk as the agent who was directly
responsible for recruiting the former Polish democratic opposition
leader, 1983 Nobel Peace Prize winner and president as a
collaborator under the nickname "Bolek".

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Graczyk writes that "all
conversations with Lech Walesa were interrogations during which he was put under pressure suitable for this kind of examination. "

"I never received from Lech Walesa any declaration of co-operation
with the secret services of the People's Republic of Poland. During
our conversations, or interrogations, we never discussed recruiting
him as a secret collaborator either," the statement reads. "I
categorically deny the claim that I was the person who recruited
Lech Walesa," Graczyk stressed.

Graczyk writes also that according to his operational knowledge, no
other employee of the secret services ever managed to achieve
Walesa's consent or declaration of collaboration.

"Lech Walesa neither personally, with his own hand, nor in any other way ever confirmed receiving from me any financial funds, as he never received any," writes Graczyk.

In the book Secret services and Lech Walesa. A Contribution to the
Biography the authors wrote that Graczyk was dead. When it was
revealed that the officer is actually still alive, Cenckiewicz said
that the information on his death came from the Vetting Court, set
up by the historians employers, the National Institute for
Remembrance.

Walesa featured as "Bolek" in 1992 on the so-called Macierewicz' s
List of secret collaborators with the Communist regime in Poland. In
2002 the Vetting Court ruled that the former president was not, in
fact, a secret agent for the communists.

Lech Walesa himself claims that the secret services might have
forged documents against him to discredit him after his nomination
for the Nobel Peace Prize.

[Bonobo]

Walesa most trusted politician
thenews.pl
27.01.2009

Poles trust Lech Walesa most out of all politicians in the country. He
received 63 percent of votes in a CBOS poll on societal trust.

The Foreign Minister, Radoslaw Sikorski, received 60 percent support
and the current Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, received 59 percent.

CBOS ran the poll between the 9-15 January 2009 on a representative
body of Polish citizens.

See Walesa partying at the Round Table Talks ;D ;D ;D
polandsite.proboards104.com/index.cgi?board=polishhistory&action=display&thread=69&page=5#10002

[valpomike]

He was, and is, a great man, who did much for Poland. Poland could use someone like him now.
Or do they have one?

Mike

[Bonobo]

Feb 8, 2009 19:09:29 GMT 1 valpomike said:

He was, and is, a great man, who did much for Poland. Poland could use someone like him now.
Or do they have one?
Mike

Not yet. Walesa is a legend and a symbol hard to beat.

[tufta]

Feb 8, 2009 21:29:59 GMT 1 Bonobo said:

Feb 8, 2009 19:09:29 GMT 1 valpomike said:

He was, and is, a great man, who did much for Poland. Poland could use someone like him now.
Or do they have one?
Mike

Not yet. Walesa is a legend and a symbol hard to beat.

Very true! He'll rightfully take a honourable place in Polish history books besides John Paul II, Józef Piłsudski, Roman Dmowski, Ignacy Paderewski, Józef Wybicki, Jan Sobieski Władysław Jagiełło, Kazimierz Wielki, Stefan Batory........ etc

[Bonobo]

Feb 9, 2009 20:09:25 GMT 1 tufta said:

Feb 8, 2009 21:29:59 GMT 1 Bonobo said:

Not yet. Walesa is a legend and a symbol hard to beat.

Very true! He'll rightfully take a honourable place in Polish history books besides John Paul II, Józef Piłsudski, Roman Dmowski, Ignacy Paderewski, Józef Wybicki, Jan Sobieski Władysław Jagiełło, Kazimierz Wielki, Stefan Batory........ etc

If you include Roman Dmowski, let`s have ks. Benedykt Chmielowski too. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[tomek]

But so many peoples sayd Walesa was soy, agent. How we believe him today? I keep doubts on him. For instanse, he discused with communists tyrants by Round table. Made a deal about Poland.

[Bonobo]

Polish awards ceremony sparks row over communist history
By DPA
Apr 7, 2009

Warsaw - A Polish awards ceremony sparked debate Tuesday when the president honoured a controversial institute accused of lying about Solidarity icon Lech Walesa.

President Lech Kaczynski honored historians and the chief of the Institute of National Remembrance, which prosecutes Nazi and communist crimes.

But the honours come amid criticism that the institute slandered Walesa and should be called the institute of 'national lies.'

The former anti-communist leader has even threatened to leave Poland after a new biography - by an institute employee citing anonymous sources - claimed Walesa worked with the communist secret police and had a child out of wedlock.

The book 'Lech Walesa: The Idea and History' by Pawel Zyzak, was the second recent publication from the institute that has sparked Walesa's anger.

This time, the allegations came as Poland marked the 20th anniversary of the fall of communism. Walesa has said he would boycott the celebrations unless the head of the institute resigns and prosecutors investigate the matter.

On Tuesday Kaczynski hung medals around some 20 institute workers during the ceremony at the presidential palace, awarding them for 'services in documenting most recent Polish history.'

'In Poland, unfortunately, uncovering the truth is ... a battle demanding great courage,' Kaczynski said at the ceremony, adding that the institute is needed for truth 'even when this truth isn't the most pleasant.'

Walesa confronted communist rule in 1980 by leading shipyard strikes in the coastal city of Gdansk. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983 and went on to become Poland's president and an international symbol of democracy.

He won in 2000 the first of several court cases that proved his innocence, but critics - including President Lech Kaczynski - have said they know Walesa was a spy.

Surveys in Poland regularly show Walesa is seen as a national hero and trusted by Poland's majority, despite a flawed presidency.

Many see the accusations against Walesa as political or jealousy- driven. Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he is not afraid of the books, but of people 'who want to make this into a clear weapon for a political battle.'

But others have warned against placing Walesa on a pedestal, and say examining the historical figure is part of intellectual freedom.

[Bonobo]

Walesa the surprise guest at Libertas convention
PADDY AGNEW in Rome
irishtimes.com
Sat, May 02, 2009

SPREAD THE word, the time has come, show the people that we recognise that democracy, transparency and accountability are the prerequisites for freedom, said Libertas founder Declan Ganley in his closing words to the party faithful. The tone was almost evangelical and the mood distinctly upbeat, but there was no mistaking the seriousness of intent yesterday at the first convention in Rome of once anti-Lisbon Treaty, now pan-European Libertas.

When proceedings opened yesterday morning at the Parco della Musica Auditorium, Mr Ganley began by greeting the national delegations in the 1,200-1,300 strong gathering. As 27 EU country names were called out, the relevant delegates whooped with delight and waved their flags. It might have been a papal audience in St Peter's Square, which is traditionally enlivened when the pope's secretary runs through the names of the various parishes present.

Lest anyone had any doubt that they are unclear about what they want, the opening speaker, French MEP Philippe De Villiers, quickly set the no-nonsense tone. He warned, emphatically, that Libertas is against the admission of Turkey into the EU. "Turkey is neither geographically nor culturally European. We want a Europe that is truly European."

Warm in his appreciation of the "Lider Maximo", the French MEP said Mr Ganley was no cynical politician and was not part of the unaccountable elite who run EU affairs.

The convention did, of course, provide its moment of surprise and suspense in the person of guest speaker, Solidarnosc hero, Lech Walesa. Although he will not be running for Libertas in the upcoming European elections, the former Polish president expressed his full support. "Declan Ganley and Libertas have the potential to change Europe for the better. This European project has all the ingredients to become a historic force for good in the world, and grow into so much more than it is today, but for that to happen, we need to heed the Libertas message and put the people back at the heart of the project," he said.

However, the business of putting together a pan-European party does bring its own pitfalls. The man who did more than his bit to bring down East Bloc communism found himself noisily and bitterly contested by a group of compatriots. Libertas delegate and protester Eva Skowronska said afterwards that Mr Walesa had betrayed the ideals of the Solidarnosc movement and was not worthy to represent Poland abroad. She was unable to define the exact nature of that "betrayal".

Other speakers during the day included Dutch activist Eline van den Broeck, former Czech finance minister Vlastimil Tlusty and former Latvian prime minister and current MEP Gunthars Krasts. Representing the Italian movement, L'Autonomia, was Teodoro Buontempo, an exponent of La Destra and an extreme-right- wing politician not ashamed to express his nostalgia for Mussolini.

On what was a very pleasant, sunny May 1st, the mood among the delegates was predictably positive. When the delegates spread out into the Luciano Berio piazza during the lunch break, cameras and mobile phones were working overtime. "The feeling here is really pan-European, " said Berlin- based delegate Aron Koenig.

"I have been interested in politics for a long time and I considered joining the old political parties but there was none that I liked. I really liked the Libertas campaign in Ireland last summer and I also liked the internet focus on the campaigning now, the fact that they have hired Joe Trippi.

"They want to make Europe more democratic and just about everyone will agree to that. It's weird that there needs to be a new party to implement these ideas, to make the EU more accountable, more difficult, but there's definitely a need."

Mr Koenig had travelled to Rome at his own expense by train. Many other delegates travelled from various eastern European destinations by bus, again at their own expense, they claimed. One such was Warsaw sociology student Marten, who said many of his student friends were against the Lisbon Treaty and supported Libertas: "Libertas has a lot of good publicity in the Polish media, and I think they will win a lot of seats."

Irish Libertas activist and candidate in the Dublin constituency, Caroline Simons, felt yesterday's convention proved that the bandwagon was beginning to roll: "I'm delighted, you [journalists] must be really surprised to see so many people here. I don't think that the media realised there was this huge movement growing in Europe."

She went on to predict that things might go surprisingly well for Libertas in Ireland, saying: "There is not just unrest in Ireland at the moment but anger against the Government and I think that for the first time in their history Fianna Fáil will not get seats as if it were their right."

As for the man himself, Mr Ganley pronounced himself well satisfied but not surprised by his convention day. Saying that Libertas will be fielding 169 candidates in 12 countries (including an as yet unnamed candidate in Northern Ireland), his final words of encouragement to his flock were: "Don't let anyone ever tell you that you are not a good European. You have just travelled across half of Europe to say that you no longer want Europe to be run by an unaccountable elite."

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Krakow's Walesa AffairUniversity entangled in defamation row
Nick Hodge
The Krakow Post
30th April 2009

One of Krakow's most hallowed institutions has come under fire due to a biography of Solidarity hero Lech Wa³esa. The Jagiellonian University was challenged by the government over Lech Wa³êsa: Idea and Reality, an exhaustive work that was originally the masters dissertation of 25-year-old historian Pawe³ Zyzak.

Although the 620 page book deals mainly with Wa³êsa's political odyssey, revelations about the former president's youth were seized upon by journalists. The most explosive allegation is that Wa³esa fathered a son out of wedlock, and that the child later died in tragic circumstances. Later in the book, Mr. Zyzak revisits the familiar theory that Wa³esa had been an informer for the communists during the seventies.

Wa³êsa lambasted the claims as "outrageous, disgusting and barbarous slanders," adding that he was considering leaving the country if such attacks on his dignity did not cease. "I'm not joking," he added.

Minister of Science and Higher Education Barbara Kudrycka threatened to send a state validation commission to investigate the university's history department in order to judge whether Mr. Zyzak's masters degree has been justly awarded. The issue polarised the press, with many coming to the defence of the national hero, whilst others called for a dispassionate approach.

A subsequent wave of interviews with Mr. Wa³êsa's childhood peers suggested that the illegitimacy story should not be dismissed outright. Regional news station Gazeta Pomorska filmed a number of inhabitants of the village of Popowo, birthplace of the former president. Mr. Wa³êsa's erstwhile neighbours spoke with calmness about the affair. Their conclusion was that Wa³êsa had run away to Gdañsk after he discovered that his girlfriend was expecting a baby. Four years later, the child, named Grzegorz, drowned while playing in the river. According to villagers, Wa³esa came to the funeral, but the mother was so overwrought that she pushed him away when he attempted to speak to her.

In early April, after protests in the press about Minister Kudrycka's threats to the university, the government retreated on its plan to vet UJ's history department. Meanwhile, public opinion has remained largely balanced about Wa³esa. His alleged collaboration with the SB (Communist Secret Police) has already been aired in a major study by IPN (The Institute of National Remembrance) . That initial book, Lech Wa³êsa and the State Security Services, caused a scandal when it was released in 2008. However, a poll revealed that a majority of Poles felt that even if Wa³êsa had served briefly as a collaborator in the seventies, his later achievements as the leader of Solidarity outweighed his mistakes.

Professor Andrzej Nowak, who supervised Mr. Zyzak's dissertation, published a cool-headed defence in response to the recent scandal. Writing in the Rzeczpospolita newspaper, he lamented the fact that in a largely political biography that stretched to some 624 pages, all the focus had been on "a 3.5 page fragment" relating to the tragedy of an extra-marital child. He stressed that the book raised important historical questions about Wa³esa as a political entity:

"It seems to me that the aim here is not 'to disparage Wa³êsa,' but something else entirely. The aim is to explain the phenomenon of the great, unique role that Wa³êsa played in history.... Would communism have fallen without him? Would Solidarity have won without him? And did it win with him? And what, for some, does victory mean? That discussion is not resolved quickly. It seems to me that Pawe³ Zyzak's book is an important voice in this debate, and one that deserves to be listened to."

Whilst Professor Nowak did not dwell on the matter, other academics were concerned about the government's knee-jerk reaction to the revelations. As it emerged, many of the critics had not even read the book, as one professor reflected:

"The book caused a fierce attack from government circles and their supporters - not only on the young author and the supervisor of his dissertation, but also in a renewed campaign against the Institute of National Remembrance, which employed Mr. Zyzak as an archivist after he successfully defended his thesis. Moreover, the fact that a prominent politician and former member of the anti-communist opposition found even the publication of Zyzak's book (by a private Cracovian publisher) to be an outrage is shocking. This shows that 20 years after 1989 (and 25 years after 1984), the one-time freedom fighters now ruling Poland are veritably brainwashed in the Orwellian manner. Their first impulses are to threaten special controls taming publishing and to close archives - these are attempts to limit the freedom of speech and academic research, which are the cornerstones of all civil liberties".

Meanwhile, the debate over Mr. Wa³êsa's political achievements is unlikely to subside. One supporter, MP Arkadiusz Rybicki, declared that dry historians were simply no match for the task of Wa³êsa's biography. He suggested that Shakespeare would be more appropriate. For here was a man - who in 1980 was an unemployed electrician and might easily have become a drunkard - who went on to lead the nation. Poland's most respected film-maker, Andrzej Wajda, has also lent his support to Wa³êsa. In March, the director announced that he will make a film about the freedom fighter's role in Solidarity.

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Walesa sues Polish president over spy allegations
By DPA
May 5, 2009
Warsaw - Former Solidarity leader Lech Walesa is suing President Lech Kaczynski for accusing him of working for the secret service in communist Poland, Walesa's office said Tuesday.
Walesa is demanding an apology, and 100,000 zloty (30,716 dollars), the Polish Press Agency PAP reported, for a comment Kaczynski made on public television in June 2008.
'I didn't want to do this. This is the president. I wanted to avoid this,' Walesa said, 'but for how long can you allow something like this? He promised that he'll honour the law, and the court's verdict, but he breaks them and encourages others to break them.'
Walesa recently threatened to leave the country over similar allegations and said he will boycott celebrations marking the anniversary of the fall of communism.
Walesa battled Poland's communist regime in 1980 by leading shipyard strikes in the coastal city of Gdansk. He won the Nobel Prize in 1983 and later became an international symbol of democracy.
In 2000, Walesa won the first of several court cases that proved he had not worked as an informer.
But critics have occasionally re-hashed the attacks alleging Walesa was a spy.
Many see the accusations against Walesa as political or driven by jealousy, while others warn against placing Walesa on a pedestal.

[Bonobo]

Either Walesa is selling himself cheap or he is designing some intricate political project.


Walesa to make more Libertas convention speeches
Polish Radio
13.05.2009

Lech Walesa, thought to be a supporter of the centre-right European People's Party (EPP) for June's European Parliament elections, is going to the next euroscpetic Libertas convention, his second in two weeks.

As he claims, the fuss around his presence at the Libertas convention in Rome on May 1, mobilized him to continue his cooperation with the anti-Lisbon Treaty group, founded by Irish businessman Declan Ganley.

"On Thursday I am going to Madrid. There are few things I have to do. I was summoned [by Libertas], so I will appear," Walesa said.

According to the Dziennik newspaper, after Madrid, Walesa will visit five other European cities to promote Libertas. His engagement is especially inconvenient to Poland's Civic Platform (PO), a member of the EPP and whose manifesto launch in Warsaw the ex-leader of Solidarity also appeared at and gave support to.

Radek Sikorski, Poland's Foreign Minister, considers Walesa's current activity as, "a kind of image breakdown, because Libertas fights against the Lisbon treaty, while the Polish government and Civic Platform strongly supports it."

However, it does not seem that politics plays a serious role in Walesa's `support' for Libertas. It is reported that the former president of Poland received 100,000 euros appearance money for his speech to the Libertas faithful in Rome.

"I think it is simply about money. Lech Walesa gets lavish amounts for these shows. He probably did not considered the difference between a lecture somewhere in South America and electoral campaign involvement, " Sikorski told the private Radio Zet station.

Walesa has said before that his presidential pension is quite modest and "he needs the money".

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Who's Paying Lech Walesa?
Controversy over reports of the Solidarity hero selling out
The Krakow Post
19th May 2009

Lately, Lech Walesa's name has been prominent in Polish news, but not always in relation to Poland's shipyard troubles. In fact, what has Polish citizens and politicians enraged are Wa³êsa's speaking arrangements that have little to do with Solidarity.

The outrage stems from the perception that Poland's beloved freedom-fighter and former president has sold out. The price? A reported €100,000 for two speaking engagements for the Libertas party's European election campaign. This news, alongside a recent report in Newsweek alleging Mr. Wa³êsa as the richest Polish politician, has the public and the media wondering if the politician has abandoned his principles.

Last week, the Solidarity leader spoke in Rome and Madrid, and this week he is scheduled to appear in Ireland. The speaking engagement for Libertas purportedly will take Mr. Wa³êsa to five European cities, including Warsaw, which undoubtedly will be shrouded in controversy.

Perhaps the majority of the controversy stems from Libertas' role on the European stage. The party consists of three small regional Spanish parties, and thus far has only produced three candidates - one of whom has been charged with insider trading and other financial misconduct. The party has also approached a far-right party in order to secure a joint election bid, and has been involved with several controversial European politicians.

Gazeta Wyborcza has even gone as far as calling Wa³êsa a "disgrace": "Lech Walesa is a symbol of peaceful democratic changes in Poland and elsewhere in Europe, our ambassador in the world. And now this ambassador disgraces us." The daily cites Wa³êsa's inconsistencies in supporting both right- and left-wing parties, as long as they pay him. The engagements have also not sat well with Poland's majority political party, PO, and Prime Minister Tusk has voiced his disappointment to the media.

When asked by reporters whether he will appear in the 20th anniversary ceremony that has been moved from Gdansk to Krakow, Mr. Wa³êsa said that, "only God knows where I will be. But I made a commitment [to speak in Krakow], and I always keep my commitments. "

[Bonobo]

May 19, 2009 20:27:28 GMT 1 Bonobo said:

Either Walesa is selling himself cheap or he is designing some intricate political project.
Walesa to make more Libertas convention speeches
Polish Radio
13.05.2009
Lech Walesa, thought to be a supporter of the centre-right European People's Party (EPP) for June's European Parliament elections, is going to the next euroscpetic Libertas convention, his second in two weeks.
As he claims, the fuss around his presence at the Libertas convention in Rome on May 1, mobilized him to continue his cooperation with the anti-Lisbon Treaty group, founded by Irish businessman Declan Ganley.

It seems Walesa is a real sly fox. He knew exactly that Libertas had no chance to win elections in Poland, so he visited a few of their rallies and earned big money for that. After a month or two everybody will forget his cooperation with the party.
Very clever. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D