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The second round of the convention

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The idea of appointing a national government
Jacek Kuroń Social activist
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So I was going from one strike to the next but I could see that we had to get out of this, there was no way out, we had to get out of it in a way that was constructive, and that without a government which had the trust of the people, nothing would be achieved, nothing. I kept repeating this over and over. So then I had an idea or rather, I joined in with the idea that some people were putting forward - a national government, a government that had the trust of Solidarność, of the Party and of the Episcopate. This was without a doubt the only political idea that would avoid a confrontation, that could have avoided December 13. Because it was obvious to me, I wrote about it in an article, a national government, this confrontation, this military coup had to happen. I was only mistaken, and this was a serious error, in that I was convinced that in a clash with national forces, we would win and that only then would the Soviet tanks roll in. For me, this was quite simply the end of everything and under no circumstances could we let it happen. So, like I said, there was my political idea, the only political idea for a solution, which was also non-political because I found no supporters. Solidarność was afraid it couldn't, it didn't want to take responsibility for this whole mess with the communists whom the people didn't believe. The communists didn't want to share power, they wanted to grab it. The powers within the Party, the powers of reform turned out to be too weak and that's where the problem lay, and this, too, was the thinking behind the national government, that this way everything would be shored up. As for the Episcopate, even if it had wanted to it wouldn't have been able to do anything in a situation where both political partners were unwilling. So this idea, I have nothing to boast of here politically because a politician can't say, I was right if he wasn't able to convince anyone about this. This is what politics is all about - convincing other people. In fact, it was obvious that our days were numbered. I just want to say that at the last moment, during the last sitting of the national committee, the idea of a national government was passed by the national committee, with the wildly dangerous addition made by some of our friends, that free elections would be prepared. There was total helplessness, a feeling that the only one who was on strike here was the government, as Lech Wałęsa said, and this made the call for free elections increasingly popular, and what was amusing in all of this was the fact that our right-wing, or a significant part of it, had no hesitation in endorsing free elections as part of their battle to win hearts and minds.

Otóż jeździłem wtedy po tych strajkach, ale rozumiałem, że trzeba z tego wyjść, że nie ma wyjścia, że trzeba z tego wyjść konstruktywnie, że tutaj bez rządu obdarzonego zaufaniem społecznym nic się nie zrobi, nic. Powtarzałem to wkoło. Więc miałem wtedy pomysł, czy też przyłączyłem się do pomysłu lansowanego przez niektórych – rządu narodowego, rządu obdarzonego zaufaniem Solidarności, Partii i Episkopatu. Był to niewątpliwie jedyny, polityczny pomysł, który prowadziłby do uniknięcia konfrontacji, do uniknięcia trzynastego grudnia. Bo dla mnie było oczywiste – pisałem to w takim artykule Rząd Narodowy, że ta konfrontacja, że ten zamach stanu wojskowy musi nastąpić. Ja się myliłem tylko w tym i to poważny błąd, byłem przekonany, że w zwarciu z krajowymi siłami my wygramy i dopiero wtedy wjadą sowieckie czołgi. Dla mnie to była sprawa po prostu końca świata i do tego nie wolno pod żadnym pozorem dopuścić. Więc ja mówię, ten mój polityczny pomysł, jedyny był to polityczny pomysł rozwiązania, który był zarazem niepolityczny, bo on nie miał zwolenników. "Solidarność" bała się, że nie może wziąć, nie chciała wziąć odpowiedzialności za ten cały bardak do spółki z komunistami, którym ludzie nie wierzyli. Komuniści nie chcieli się z nikim dzielić władzy, chcieli skoku na władzę. Siły w Partii, siły reformy okazały się za słabe, to był cały ten problem i stąd zresztą pomysł Rządu Narodowego, że trzeba w ten sposób wesprzeć wprost. No a Episkopat oczywiście nawet gdyby chciał to by nie mógł w tej sytuacji w której dwaj podstawowi politycznie partnerzy nie chcieli. Także ten pomysł... politycznie nie mam się tu czym chwalić, bo polityk nie może opowiadać – miałem rację, skoro nie umiał do tej akcji przekonać. Na tym polega robienie polityki, że się ludzi do niej przekonywuje. Właściwie było jasne, że dni nasze są policzone. Chcę powiedzieć, że w tym ostatnim momencie, na ostatniej Komisji Krajowej pomysł Rządu Narodowego został właściwie przez Komisję Krajową zaakceptowany. Z tą różnicą nieludzko niebezpieczną, którą tu nam podrzucili koledzy, że równocześnie był program, że on przygotuje wolne wybory. Ponieważ ta absolutna bezradność, to absolutne poczucie, że jedynym który strajkuje, jak mówił Lech Wałęsa, jest rząd, doprowadził do tego, że hasło wolnych wyborów stało się coraz popularniejsze, a co zabawne nasza prawica, czy jej niemała część w walce o rząd dusz nie zawahała się rzucić hasło wolnych wyborów.

The late Polish activist, Jacek Kuroń (1934-2004), had an influential but turbulent political career, helping transform the political landscape of Poland. He was expelled from the communist party, arrested and incarcerated. He was also instrumental in setting up the Workers' Defence Committee (KOR) and later became a Minister of Labour and Social Policy.

Listeners: Marcel Łoziński Jacek Petrycki

Film director Marcel Łoziński was born in Paris in 1940. He graduated from the Film Directing Department of the National School of Film, Television and Theatre in Łódź in 1971. In 1994, he was nominated for an American Academy Award and a European Film Academy Award for the documentary, 89 mm from Europe. Since 1995, he has been a member of the American Academy of Motion Picture Art and Science awarding Oscars. He lectured at the FEMIS film school and the School of Polish Culture of Warsaw University. He ran documentary film workshops in Marseilles. Marcel Łoziński currently lectures at Andrzej Wajda’s Master School for Film Directors. He also runs the Dragon Forum, a European documentary film workshop.

Cinematographer Jacek Petrycki was born in Poznań, Poland in 1948. He has worked extensively in Poland and throughout the world. His credits include, for Agniezka Holland, Provincial Actors (1979), Europe, Europe (1990), Shot in the Heart (2001) and Julie Walking Home (2002), for Krysztof Kieslowski numerous short films including Camera Buff (1980) and No End (1985). Other credits include Journey to the Sun (1998), directed by Jesim Ustaoglu, which won the Golden Camera 300 award at the International Film Camera Festival, Shooters (2000) and The Valley (1999), both directed by Dan Reed, Unforgiving (1993) and Betrayed (1995) by Clive Gordon both of which won the BAFTA for best factual photography. Jacek Petrycki is also a teacher and a filmmaker.

Tags: Solidarność, Party, Episcopate, Lech Wałęsa, Adam Michnik

Duration: 3 minutes, 12 seconds

Date story recorded: 1987

Date story went live: 12 June 2008