Word: lech
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...There are few virtues that the Poles do not possess," Winston Churchill once remarked, "and there are few mistakes they have ever avoided." To an extraordinary degree, Lech Walesa embodies the Polish virtues of courage, faith, patriotism, spontaneity. But neither he, nor his lieutenants, nor the men who ruled the country were able to avoid the errors that finally led to tragedy. They were unable to reach a compromise to save the "renewal" that they all claimed to have wanted...
...Lech Walesa had the overwhelming majority of the Polish people behind him, and to them he conveyed a compelling message of hope. The Poles will not forget?they never have. During Poland's 16-month awakening, the priests and parishioners of a church in central Warsaw used to sing together joyfully: "O Lord, please bless our free fatherland." On the first Sunday after martial law was declared, the words of that hymn were changed back to those traditionally sung when the country was under foreign domination. "O Lord," the congregation sang, "please return us our free fatherland." ?By Thomas...
...Social Self-Defense (KOR), a precursor of Solidarity. The organization was the first significant link between the dissident intellectuals like Jacek Kuron and the workers who later founded Solidarity. Inspired by KOR activists, small independent?and illegal?labor unions cautiously began to form in various parts of the country. Lech Walesa joined such a unit and was arrested and briefly jailed scores of times...
...argued for hours. At breakfast, he made peace with the delegation, which agreed to put off the strike. "lam absolutely finished and run down," he said later. "I have more problems than the hairs on my head." Then, in his last major interview before the military takeover, Lech Walesa talked to TIME Correspondent Richard Hornik about his work, his hopes and discouragements, and the forces that drive and sustain him. It was an extraordinarily personal and revealing conversation that went on for 90 minutes. Excerpts...
...turn was holding talks with a committee of leading Catholic laymen. Poggi delivered a letter from the Pope to Jaruzelski and had a long discussion with him. The Pope also received a personal report on the Polish situation from Polish Bishop Bronislaw Dabrowski, who had twice visited Solidarity Leader Lech Walesa in detention. What was most interesting about these diplomatic contacts between the Warsaw government and the Vatican was the implication that Poland's present rulers would welcome the support of the church in the event of future negotiations between the government and Solidarity...