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Jacek Kuroń - Where did the name 'Solidarność' come from? (112/150)

1,927 views · Published 19 October 2017 · 2:59 · Indexed 21 September 2026

Channel: Web of Stories - Life Stories of Remarkable People · 2017 · News & Politics

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Polish activist Jacek Kuroń (1934-2004) helped to transform the political landscape of Poland. He was expelled from the communist party, arrested and incarcerated. He was also instrumental in setting up Workers' Defence Committee (KOR) and became a Minister of Labour and Social Policy. [Listeners: Jacek Petrycki, Marcel Łoziński; date recorded: 1987]

TRANSCRIPT: And so, there was the first meeting of the delegate's committee. Wałęsa was speaking there, too. She told me this. Then there was the first meeting of the strike committee, they came out with the management, sang the National Anthem, they agreed to a wage increase of 2,000, the management, and to reinstating Lech and Ania Walentynowicz. At the second meeting with the management, they agreed to the formation of free trade unions and now all they were debating was the freeing of political prisoners, they sang 'Rota' and I said, 'I know what's going to be the third thing: they'll demand the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the management will agree and everyone will sing 'God Save the Tzar'.' But the negotiations stalled over the political prisoners and I remember that Gwiazda rang me and told me all this. First, there was Bogdan Borysewicz. I said, 'Go into the shipyard.' He said, 'But I can run around freely out here and nobody bothers me!' I said, 'If it's running you're interested in, you can run around the shipyard! You'll know everything that's going on and we need you.' Then Gwiazda rang and I said, 'Listen, we have to arrange an agreement between the strike committees of Gdańsk, Gdynia and Szczecin' because I already knew that in the electrical assembly, I didn't... I don't know now, in a different part of the factory where Gwiazda was working they were on strike, then they were on strike somewhere else as well so we had to arrange a meeting of the strike committees. At that point, the line went dead and our contact with the city, with Gdańsk was interrupted. So the talks began and they began. First of all, we dialled through Elbląg and through other cities all around, but the moment came when even that ended and we started using various state-owned telephones which are never disconnected - I won't tell you which ones they were. We used helicopters, and I won't tell you which ones they were, either. That's how our couriers were able to go back and forth. There was a problem with getting the printing up and running, publishing texts, initially we used to prepare the leading ourselves and send it out to them. Then, they got the printing going there because Bogdan went out there, Mirek Chojecki, Ewa Milewicz and Konrad Bieliński. So Konrad Bieliński, Mirek disappeared almost straight away because he'd been driving somewhere without a license, I think he was on his way from one shipyard to another while Konrad organised the printing and was producing a shipyard newspaper that was called 'Solidarność'. That was the title of the newspaper and it was from there that everything else got its name.

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