Roads to Freedom- how a strike by workers in shipyard in Gdansk changed the history of the country

Tank at the entrance to
"Roads to Freedom " exhibition

I think inspiration is a crucial part of our daily lives. We need it for work, for studying, for traveling, for cooking, for looking good (why not?!) and for many other daily routines of our lives. Being a good person, democratic leader, knowledgeable teacher, loving parent or a caring child- and you might not agree with me on this but these too are in one way or another shaped by different inspirations.

I write each post inspired, wanting to contribute to something, change something, or simply let it out. This post, is about an inspiration that carried me away. It is about a city with a significant history. It is about inspirational city of Gdansk and its truly aspiring roads to freedom.

Gdansk voyage to freedom and democracy began in the 1970s. It was a tough road and many who fought for it either lost their lives, or family members, or were imprisoned, interrogated and murdered. In a book called "Gdansk According to Lech Walesa" by Piotr Adamowicz, Andrzej Drzycimski and Adam Kinazewski Gdansk is described as a city that was crucial in bringing liberation to Poland:

The two most important lessons which Gdansk gave to Poland were December 1970, with its bloody confrontation between the shipyard workers of the Coast, the "industrial working class" as it was known back then, with the communist authorities; and August 1980: a universal lesson, with global consequences- the victorious Solidarity revolution, which closed the chapter on Soviet dominance in Central and Eastern Europe. And which opened the chapter of Independent Polish Republic, unified Germany, the collapse of the USSR, the rise of the independent Baltic States and Ukrain, an entire chain of political changes.

And a key person in bringing these two important lessons was no other than Lech Walesa, a person who had an incredible drive for making Poland a better place not to mention set an example and of course all those who were supporting him and holding up together. Here is how Walesa is described at some point in the book mentioned above:

The only things that the people in Stogi knew about Lech was that he was guy who was a bit of a gadfly, got arrested by the police, that he was fighting for something, demanding something, but no one really knew exactly what it was.

The strike at the Shipyard

And this fight had many sides to it too- inspiration, motivation and drive and at times despair, and impunity. The thought that the authorities could go against the workers and the people just to stay in power was something many found hard to believe.

1970s

Walesa was one of the many thousand workers at the Shipyard and 1970 was a tragic year but also turning point in Poland's path towards change. The Shipyard became the base, workers didn't leave, slept there demanding for their rights and freedoms. And so it happened that on December 12th, 1970, the historical strike began. At the end of the strike, the workers presented their 21 demands- freedom of expression, freedom of workers union, independence to factories and others. Demands were written a wooden board and the legendary pen is still kept at the "Roads to Freedom" museum in the city of Gdansk.

21 demands

By the second half of 1977, workers' union grew and became stronger. However, not for too long. On the 8th anniversary to commemorate December 1970 events, there was a raid and many were arrested. House searches took place. But the people never gave up. The struggle continued, despite everything. Ironically, "hooliganism" was a popular charge there too.

Martial law was declared...

1980s

It was a year where "there was a revolution in the air in Gdansk".

The strike of 1980 was a masterpiece. It was the sum of the experience of the Polish people and of Walesa himself [...] the Gdansk opposition groups did their homework- they printed and distributed illegal newsletters and leaflets; the awareness about Polish history was growing- uprisings, partitions, the Constitution of the 3rd May, the Katyn massacre, the lack of independence and the political and economic dependence on the USSR [...] And then there was the Polish pope in the Vatican.

It was a significant role played by the Pope. Remembering those years Walesa says:

We fought for values. We fought for the whole world [...] When the whole world lacked a vision of how to change the world, hot to end communism, POland got a boon with the Pope [...] Pope came to Poland and spoke the famous words, "Do not be afraid, change the face of the Earth".

One of many underground
 printing press

A year later, Poles gathered in millions and did change the world. It was then that the Solidarity Independent Self- governing Trade Union was born. It was a "beacon of hope". It wasn't named Solidarity yet. It took few more years before the people and the government managed to sit down at a table and actually talk rather than fight. It was 1988 when the opposition and the government signed an agreement at the famous round table. In 1989, there were first free elections held in the country.  

Of course, it is really hard to tell such an inspiring story in just few words. Nevertheless, I wanted to share my personal reflections. As I was walking through the "Roads to Freedom" museum, and hearing the story of the movement and the people and the struggle it left me speechless... 

Things do change, it might take years, but if one really wants that change, then it will happen, sooner or later...

This video is a good summary of events taking place in Gdansk:

Solidarity Movement's home page can be accessed here and full info about the exhibition of Roads to Freedom here.

p.s: photos in this post are my personal shots from a visit to Gdansk in December 2010. 

Blog Forum Gdansk

So, as I sit in a room full of bloggers and journalists and practitioners from different backgrounds mostly from Poland, we are just coming to an end, of the first ever Blog Forum held in Gdansk, Poland. The city represents many different things- ideas, colors, values- just like blogs but above all this city is the symbol of Freedom. A concept much valued and respected in this city if not in the whole of Poland.

But I will be writing more about the city I saw and impressed me deeply later. And so this has been an important event for Gdansk, for its resident bloggers, and bloggers coming from all around Poland with some foreign guest speakers and panelists joining this interesting and significant event. The event itself is taking place at the Instytut Sztuki Wyspa (Wyspa Institute of Art), which used to be basic shipbuilding school in the grounds of the Gdansk Shipyard. The institute itself is part of the series of the initiatives to re- brand the city especially given the city's plans to become the European Capital of Culture for 2016. The motto is "Freedom of Culture, Culture of Freedom".

Back to the forum, the speaker- Jarek Rybus- talking now is one of the brains behind a documentary movie on bloggers in Poland. Here is the official website, though in Polish it might give you some idea of the upcoming film. As I watch the short clippings from the movie it makes me wonder whether we should or could do one of these in Azerbaijan, or something like this on the Caucasus. Could be an interesting initiative.

The event itself been interesting to me personally as it was possible to see what bloggers in a different part of the world consider important or interesting and what topics interest their readers. The panel I was speaking at was on Freedom of Bloggers and it happened that part of the discussion went around the question whether bloggers are free if they host advertisements on their blog. I have to say, it was an interesting panel, especially seeing how the discussion span off.

The even was discussed on Twitter (#blogforumgdansk), Facebook (and a separate page on Facebook with the videos and live stream from the event), Blip, and YouTube.

Overall, I enjoyed the whole thing, there have been some very interesting presentations but my favorites were Sami Ben Gardhia and Brian Solis. The full list of speakers and panelists can be found here.

And I would like to thank the organizers for a great event and extending the invitation to me. Special thanks to Jakub Gornicki :)

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The images in this post except from blogersi are my own. 

Blog Forum Gdansk 2010

On December 11th and 12th, Poland is to host its first bloggers conference- BLOG FOROM GDANSK. 

Being first of its kind the conference is "an interdisciplinary and international conference" with people from different backgrounds sharing their skills, experiences and knowledge.

The forum will host a number of experts local as well as international and key opinion leaders.

This two day event will have some 300 Polish bloggers from various fields- literature, business, marketing, tourism, new media and etc. Workshops, panels, discussions, lectures are the main format. 

You can watch the promotional video below with me at the very end :)