2021 Panel Discussion: Martial Law. Poland 1981-1983 (invitation)

Polish American Congress invites all to the panel discussion held in remembrance of martial law declared in Poland on December 13, 1981.

On December 13, 1981, the oppressive, communist regime declared martial law in Poland in an attempt to crush the Solidarity movement and regain totalitarian control over the society longing for freedom, civil liberties, and better living conditions.

On the 40th anniversary of those dramatic and bloody events, this panel brings to the Polish Center witnesses to the history in the making. All living in Poland at the time, now active members of the Polish American Congress – Wisconsin Division and Polish Heritage Club Wisconsin -Madison, they will share their stories of first-hand experiences and the enormous impact of Martial Law on the Polish people.

This event is free and open to the public

► Map of Location ◄ …………..► Printable Flyer◄

For additional information, please contact
David Rydzewski at (414) 964-2447 or david.rydzewski@att.net

Wednesday, December 1st, 2021 Newsletter No Comments

2021 Solidarity: Underground Publishing and Martial Law 1981-1983

REMEMBERING SOLIDARITY 1980-1981
Through the Lens of Independent Publishing
& Martial Law Imposed on December 13, 1981

August 31, 1980, marked the 40th anniversary of the birth of Polish Solidarity. On that day in 1980, the landmark August Agreement was signed between then the communist government of Poland and the Interfactory Strike Committee (Międzyzakładowy Komitet Strajkowy, MKS) formed on the third day of strike that erupted in Gdańsk shipyard on August 14, 1980. About 16,000 shipyard employees joined the protest but within a couple of weeks, around 1 million workers all over Poland went on strike as well. In this way, one of the biggest strikes ever ensued and the MKS became an alliance of numerous independent organizations. When signing the August Agreement on August 31, 1980, it represented about 3 million workers from nearly 3,500 enterprises. The rest of Poland was holding breath in hope that this rise will end in victory rather than a bloody finale like other strikes before.

The firing of Anna Walentynowicz for her illegal trade union activity was a spark that ignited the 1980 strike in the Gdańsk shipyard but root causes run much deeper. Of course there were hikes of food prices and shortages of nearly everything – the ominous signs of economy on the verge of collapse. Living in Poland until 1983, I will never forget the dread of food rationing, the humiliation of standing in endless lines, or the misery of waiting 16-20 years for the already paid off apartment. Available in abundance, however, was the devious misinformation and stupefying propaganda spewed by the government controlled media. For me personally, a symbolic image of that reality was a neighborhood store with empty shelves and a few bottles of vinegar sitting on the counter next to a big pile of the state-run newspaper.

Striking workers wanted to participate in the process of taking the country out of the crisis and this desire was articulated as part o the famous list of 21 demands issued on August 17, 1980 and posted on the shipyard’s gate. After the government signed off on these demands on August 31, 2020, the nationwide labor union Solidarity (Solidarność) was registered on September 24, 1980. Amid the euphoria sweeping the country, Solidarity kept growing fast with students, intellectuals, farmers, and professionals joining its ranks. In September 1981, it had about 10 million members (in a country with a total population of 35.5 million). Moreover, surrounding its trade union core, Solidarity became a de facto social movement and one of its most important imprints was exerted in the area of what became available for people to read.

The MKS recognized the importance of access to reliable sources of information by placing the freedom of speech, the press and publication as No. 3 on the famous list of 21 demands issued on August 17, 1980. To be clear, the Polish Constitution of 1952, then in effect, already guaranteed the freedom of speech and the press, along with other rights observed in civilized societies. Yet, the Polish United Workers’ Party (PZPR) ruled the country based on its own statutes – constitution was relegated to the role of a legitimacy smokescreen. The cornerstone of the PZPR rule was its strict control over information needed to subdue people into submission. Relentless censorship was the rule of the day, creating a market for the underground publishing – and in this area, Poland had strong traditions going back about 200 years.

Books and periodicals published underground were known as bibuła (literally in Polish, a blotting paper) or drugi obieg (second circulation), where first circulation meant censored publications. In terms of volume, the British Library estimates that about 3,000-4,000 independent periodicals and over 6,000 books and pamphlets were published between 1976 and 1990. The main organizers of the underground publishing before Solidarity was born included the Movement for Defense of Human and Civic Rights (ROPCiO) and Workers’ Defense Committee (KOR). It is thanks to their activities – such as helping to smuggle printing supplies from abroad or obtain them illegally from the official publishing houses – that the underground publishers of various sizes could flourish.

Entering the Solidarity era, the volume of independent publications skyrocketed, while their profile changed from the predominantly book-oriented to the one focused on periodicals and other more or less serial news publications produced in nearly every corner of Poland. Although rarely prosecuted, vast majority of them was still published illegally or semi-legally – with help of printing supplies flowing in from sympathetic trade unions in the West. Circulation varied from hundreds in smaller workplaces to 30,000 for the newsletter published in the Gdańsk shipyard during the strike.

Only two periodicals received the governmental consent. The weekly Unity (Jedność) was published in Szczecin until December 1981, with circulation up to 150,000 for some special issues. On the other hand, the Solidarity Weekly (Tygodnik Solidarność, see image near the title), led by Tadeusz Mazowiecki (later the prime minister of Poland, 1989-1990), reached circulation of 500,000. These numbers could easily be higher but the governmental approval came at the price. One was that paper rationing was limiting the number of printed copies. Another price to pay was that despite a significant leeway, both magazines were still subjected to censorship.

The lively publishing activities came to a screeching halt when the next first secretary, General Wojciech Jaruzelski – unable to fix the economy and prevent further disintegration of the communist system – declared the martial law on Sunday, December 13, 1981. In the pitiless crackdown on the Solidarity movement, thousands of tanks and armored combat vehicles hit the roads, along with over 100,000 soldiers and state police unleashed to squash any forms of resistance. Solidarity was stripped of its legal status. Over 10,000 people (primarily Solidarity members) ended locked up in the internments camps. The independent printing equipment was seized, radio and TV stations besieged, and telephone lines cut off under the pretext of preventing the “spread of misinformation.”

As surprising as it may seem, the damage to the publishing base proved to not last long, and at that time my encounters with Solidarity publications became more personal. Until the Solidarity regrouped and underground publishing resumed, humble typewriters were used to patch up the information void. Thousands of anonymous volunteers – including myself – painstakingly re-typed the information bulletins in as many carbon copies as typewriters would handle.

Of course, getting caught copying, or even possessing these materials, was fraught with risk of harsh punishments. I came dangerously close to finding out what they would be when one day the house where I was doing the typing was raided and searched. Everything happened so quickly that I managed only to shove the typewriter into the nearest closet (by the way, totally empty, not even one piece of cloth to use as a cover). There was also no time to remove the paper load, the incontrovertible evidence of my “misdeed.” I was mortified when three soldiers and three policemen entered the room because the typewriter’s discovery was inevitable.

Luckily for me, the gossips circulating about some soldiers having courage to side with the people proved true. The soldier ordered to check the closet started opening its sliding door, stopped moving it as soon as he saw what’s inside, gave me a long gaze, and then simply announced: “Clear!” I will never know why he did what he did but as it turned out later, one of my in-laws was the actual reason for the ride. A lawyer for years providing his services in defense of arrested demonstrators, he went into hiding after avoiding arrest on December 13 by a sheer stroke of luck.

My second brush with danger related to the possession of illegal printed matter occurred in September 1983, just few weeks after the martial law was officially lifted on July 22, 1983 (although in one form or another it persisted for next 2-3 years). Heading for the United States, I arrived at the Okęcie Airport in Warsaw with a suitcase containing several pounds of underground publications hiding under a layer of scientific papers. The view extending from the airport’s upper gallery was scary. Down below was the main hall converted into a huge check-in area, where custom and security officers tenaciously ploughed through the piles of personal possessions removed from suitcases on the long rows of tables. Yet, I descended down with some irrational hope that somehow, I will make it through. And I did…

Today these materials are a part of the Solidarity Collection, held in the Memorial Library of the University of Wisconsin-Madison – preserving the memory of people working hard and risking their freedom for a just cause.

Irena Frączek

Reprint from the newsletter published by the Polish Heritage Club, Wisconsin Madison

2021 Polish Independence Day and Veterans Day

…
2021 Polish Independence Day
and Veterans Day celebration

Irena Frączek reports……

“From the lessons learned in Poland’s over 100 year history and from the diligence and hard work of its citizens, today it has one of the most vibrant economies in all of Europe. For Polish Americans we can be very proud of that, as we gather together today to honor our heritage, and to recognize Poland’s past, its present, and prayerfully a bright long and successful future.”

With these words, the President of Polish American Congress (PAC) Wisconsin Division, David Rydzewski, concluded his main address delivered at the luncheon held annually since 1979 to celebrate the Polish Independence Day (in Polish, Narodowe Święto Niepodległości) and Veterans Day, both observed officially on November 11th.

The 2021 event will be remembered for its particularly cheerful ambiance, a standing ovation for one of the 2021 honorees and the evident bolstering of ties connecting Polish organizations in Wisconsin. It began with David Rydzewski’s opening remarks and a warm welcome from Steven Chybowski, the President of the Polish Heritage Alliance, an organization managing the Polish Center of Wisconsin (PCW), where the Independence Day luncheons are hosted since 2000.

The Invocation given by Father Wayne Jenkins preceded an elegant meal prepared and served under the watchful eyes of Mike Norman and Martha Norman. Soon thereafter, Daniel Klosowski, past Wisconsin State Commander of the Polish Legion of American Veterans, delivered a salute honoring all veterans.

In the last part of the event, the MC Andrew Woźniewicz gave floor to Derek Zarzeczny and Karen Więckowski, who introduced four individuals recognized with special honors on this occasion. Two of them, Frank Czarnecki and Irena Frączek, received the Congressman Clement Zablocki Civic Achievement Award traditionally presented during the luncheon. Both 2021 recipients received also the commemorative plaques from the Wisconsin Assembly and from the US Congress.

The final chord of the event touched many hearts when Ted Cisek and Donald Pienkos, both past recipients of the Zablocki Award, were granted the honorary membership in the Wisconsin Division of Polish American Congress. Accepting the honor for Ted Cisek, who couldn’t attend due to health concerns, were his children Elizabeth Barber and Edward Cisek. Both were visibly moved when the outpouring of appreciation for their father’s achievements and sacrifices turned into the standing ovation. And in terms of specifics, the biographies of all four honorees are quoted below just as they were read to the audience during this truly memorable event.

2021 Polish Independence Day and Veterans Day Luncheon

Polish American Congress Wisconsin Division
cordially invites all to the

POLISH INDEPENDENCE DAY
VETERANS DAY LUNCHEON

Sunday, November 7, 2021

POLISH CENTER OF WISCONSIN
6941 S. 68th Street Franklin, WI 53132
► Map of Location ◄

Cash Bar and Raffle: 12:00 pm
Luncheon 1:00 pm

Cost: $30.00 per adult member ($40.00 per non-member), $15.00 per child 12 and under

For additional information, please contact
David Rydzewski at (414)964-2447 or david.rydzewski@att.net

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2021 Prof. Pienkos lecture: Polish Vote in US Presidential Elections

Is There a ‘Polish Vote’
in U.S. Presidential Elections?

Lecture presented on October 20, 2021
by Dr Donald Pienkos
Professor Emeritus of Political Science
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

This is a question that should get a quick YES answer. But a far more interesting question is whether Polish American voters have played a significant role in affecting the outcome of U.S. presidential elections – the most important decision we make as citizens.

We have plenty of information to back up the reality of Polish Americans as voters in presidential elections. For example, in Wikipedia, there is an entry that gives plenty of survey data on the Polish vote in U.S. presidential elections going back all the way to 1916 – over 100 years!

Of course the Polish vote has changed over time, due to the transformation of the Polish population in the United States from immigrant status to full integration into the American ‘melting pot’.

Back in 1916 there were about 4 million people of Polish origin in the U.S. – out of about 100 million in all – or 4 percent of the population. But a third of them were immigrants. Most of them were not yet citizens and could not vote. And many of their American born children were too young to vote. Thus, the “Polish vote” in 1916 was just a ‘tweence’ over 1 percent of the total vote for President that year. Not much.

But by 1940 – things had changed dramatically. By then nearly all of the immigrants had become citizens and they and so many of their American-born children and even some of their grandchildren had reached voting age. So by 1940, Polish Americans made up perhaps 5 or even 6 percent of the voting population. This was an enormous change – something politicians very well recognized!

Since then the Polish American population has continued to change.

Today only about 4 percent of all Polish Americans are foreign born. Few Polish Americans – whether they are the sons and daughters, grandchildren or descendants of immigrants – speak Polish fluently. Far fewer are in ethnic organizations of any kind whether we are talking about their belonging to ethnically based parishes or fraternals. Polish Americans are far more economically diverse too. And politically, Poles have gone from being 90 percent for the Democratic party in the 1930s and 1940s to identifying slightly more as Republicans than as Democrats – since the 1970s.

Today about 3 percent of all Americans continue to identify as Polish – about 9.5 million in all. This decline is due to changing birthrates, the entry of many new immigrations into the country and Polish Americans’ own full and successful integration into the mainstreams of American life.

Still, they have remained a factor in elections – including presidential elections – especially under two conditions – when the election is closely contested and when Poland is a salient issue.

The reality of a Polish vote is also due to another important fact – that most Polish Americans live in just 10 states of the United States – New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, and in the east and Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin in the Midwest.

Back in 1940 about 7 out of every 8 Polish Americans lived in these ten states – 86 percent. In 1980, 77 percent lived in them. In 2018 61 percent were residing in those same ten states.

In 2020 Polish Americans made up 8.6 percent of Wisconsin’s population, 8.3 percent in Michigan, 7.3 percent in Connecticut, 6.8 percent in Illinois and Pennsylvania, 5.5 percent in New Jersey, 5.4 percent in New York, 4.5 percent in Massachusetts, 3.7 percent in Ohio and 3.1 percent in Maryland. In other words they could matter in our presidential elections when they are close.

Indeed, we have plenty of good information to conclude that in four closely fought presidential elections Poland was an issue of significance. And in them the Polish vote mattered a great deal.

These elections took place in 1944, 1948, 1960, and 1976. Here’ let’s look at each of them more closely.

In 1944 Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was revered by Polish Americans and most other Americans because of his inspired leadership during the Great Depression and in World War II, won an unprecedented fourth term in office – and with the support of 90 percent of Polish voters. He did this, however, helped by his success in concealing vital information from the public about the private agreement he had made with Soviet ruler Josef Stalin about postwar Poland the year before.

In the election Roosevelt won 8 of the 10 states with the largest numbers of Polish voters, several of them by very narrow margins, in winning the election. In all he got 177 electoral votes from these ten states out of the 266 he needed to win. He lost only the 37 electoral votes of Ohio and Wisconsin. Now what might have happened had the “political dynamite” about his truly damaging talk with Stalin exploded before the election?

In 1948, Harry Truman barely won the presidency despite his losing some Polish voter support due to their anger over Poland’ fate following the Yalta conference of February 1945.

At Yalta, Churchill had accepted Soviet control over postwar Poland and a massive change in its borders. Indeed, the Polish American Congress denounced their action from the start as a violation of the very reasons the two leaders had given for fighting against Hitler.

In the 1948 election Truman did win 80 percent of the Polish vote, 10 percent less than in 1944. Moreover, he won only 4 of the ten states with the largest number of Polish Americans. And in two of those – Ohio and Illinois – his margin of victory was very narrow. He just squeaked in – thanks to his furious ‘whistle stop’ campaign to mobilize Democratic party voters – who then outnumbered Republicans nearly 2-1.

In 1960 Senator John F. Kennedy, like his opponent, Vice President Richard Nixon, was a staunch supporter of a Poland free from Soviet domination. Both candidates made strenuous efforts to win the Polish vote too.

Kennedy based his campaign on rebuilding Franklin Roosevelt’s “New Deal’ Coalition in a time of economic recession in our country. He went on to win the election by the narrowest of margins, helped enormously by the votes from nearly 80 percent of Polish Americans – 8 of the ten “Polish” states went to him, two again by very narrow margins – Illinois by 8,000 votes out of 4.8 million and New Jersey – by 22,000 votes out of 2.8 million. Without them the election would have been decided in the House of Representatives.

In 1976, President Gerald R. Ford narrowly lost his bid for office against Jimmy Carter in an election in which he committed an egregious debate blunder declaring that communist-run Poland was not under Soviet domination. Polish Americans, after voting Republican in 1972, went to Carter by a 60-40 margin, and were a key factor in bringing about his defeat. Ford lost 6 of the 10 most heavily Polish states – all ten had gone to Nixon in his landslide win in 1972. Later Ford himself blamed his defeat on his debate error, something connected with the so-called “Sonnenfeldt doctrine” that had plagued him before the election.

In the 1990s, one issue that never arose involved the newly free and democratic Poland’s entry into the NATO alliance. When both Democrats and Republicans came out in support of NATO expansion this issue was literally “taken off the table.” Thus, it played no role in 2000, when George W. Bush won the presidency in an amazingly close and controversial election.

Does the Polish vote still matter today? Yes I would argue, but only when the fate of Poland is salient, when the candidates recognize this fact, and the election is close. Thus, while the votes in three states with large populations of Polish Americans u– Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin were crucial in Donald Trump’s narrow victory in 2016 and his defeat in 2020, in these elections Polish Americans like their fellow Americans were voting on the candidate and the issues, based on their own particular party orientations, views of the candidates, and their policy preferences.

As for the future, let’s just hope and pray that Poland’s fate is not in the balance in the years to come when it involves our presidential elections.

Questions?