Word: walesa
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
When Lech Walesa stepped from the portal of St. Brigid's Church in Gdansk last week, carrying a bouquet of red and white carnations, the former Solidarity leader hoped to walk peacefully to the monument of three crosses half a mile away. It was the 14th anniversary of the food riots of 1970, in which dozens of Polish workers were killed by troops and police, and Walesa and some 3,000 followers planned to lay flowers and wreaths at the memorial erected in honor of the martyrs. Linking arms with Bogdan Lis, a former Gdansk Solidarity leader, Walesa strode...
Only a few hundred yards away, the marchers encountered a line of policemen stretched single file across the street. Undeterred, Walesa, Lis, about 100 supporters and some foreign newsmen elbowed their way through. Regrouping, the police kept the main body of the demonstrators from advancing. A little farther down the street, the Walesa group pushed through a second police line as the rest of the demonstrators began to chant, "Solidarnosc! . . . Solidarnosc!" By then, Walesa had encountered a third group of police, this time elite ZOMO riot cops; helmeted and armed with batons and shields, the troopers stood several rows deep...
...home!" two elderly women shouted from the safety of their flat. Among the dozen people detained by the police was Andrzej Gwiazda, once Solidarity's vice chairman and one of the most outspoken of Poland's dissidents; he was later sentenced to three months in prison. Walesa retreated to St. Brigid's, coolly explaining that "we marched as long as it seemed logical to march...
...domestic issues, Jaruzelski maintained that Poland had made "a giant step forward," considering the "catastrophic" situation that the country had faced only three years ago. The Polish Premier once again ruled out talks with the opposition but made no direct mention of Solidarity or former Union Leader Lech Walesa. Still, the general admitted that if he could do everything over again, "tactically, many decisions could have been carried out with greater accuracy." Said Jaruzelski: "There has never been a case where the forces leading a country have engaged in such profound self-criticism...
...Saturday, 400,000 mourners gathered for an open-air funeral Mass in front of St. Stanislaw Kostka Church, all but enveloping the building and spilling down the neighboring streets. For the first time since the military crackdown, Walesa addressed an enormous crowd. At the very mention of his name, Poles began to cheer and flash the V-for-victory sign. "We swear that we will never forget his death," Walesa declared. "A Poland that has such priests has not lost and shall never be lost...