1982: a look back: Poland (12/26/82)

1982: a look back

Poland

In 1982, the Polish nation suffered its first full year in the vise-grip of martial law. It was the year that 35 people died in clashes with police and the dreaded ZOMO militia, and at least 100,000 were either arrested, fined or interned as the junta of Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski tried desperately to make Poland safe for socialism again.

Perhaps more disturbing was Western reaction to all this. President Ronald Reagan's sanctions against Poland were more ceremonial than effective, and his decision to order a ban on parts for the Soviet natural-gas pipeline met with such vociferous opposition from the NATO allies, that he was forced to scrap it altogether.

But perhaps the most wimpish act was left to the Western banks which, after some perfunctory hemming-and-hawing, agreed to reschedule Poland's staggering debt to the West, a move that flew in the face of the NATO governments' decision not to do so.

In Poland itself, the year saw the trials of hundreds of Solidarity members, priests and intellectuals. There were also violent clashes with police. In late June, 4,000 workers in the industrial city of Poznan battled police on the 26th anniversary of the fierce riots there in 1956 which left 75 dead. In Wroclaw, 275 people were arrested after a crowd of several thousand workers tried to lay a wreath at a plaque commemorating the founding of the local chapter of Solidarity.

But the largest demonstrations occurred on August 31, the second anniversary of the founding of Solidarity in Gdansk. Tens of thousands of Poles in at least 11 Polish cities took to the streets in a massive show of defiant support for the free trade union and its interned leader, Lech Walesa. Over 4,000 people were reported arrested nationwide.

Finally, aware of Solidarity's broad support, the military regime decided to outlaw the suspended union in mid-October and establish in its stead government-controlled trade unions. A "parasitism" law was also adopted to discourage workers from getting out of line.

Among the important political trials of 1982 were those involving members of the dissident groups KOR and the nationalist KPN. In September, KOR leaders Jacek Kuron, Adam Michnik, Jan Litynski and Henryk Wujec were arrested while in internment and charged with treason. All were advisors to Mr. Walesa.

In addition, four members of the KPN - Confederation for an Independent Poland - went on trial September 13 on charges of sedition and undermining Poland's alliance with the USSR. The four were Leszek Moczulski, Romuald Szeremietiew, Tadeusz Stanski and Taduesz Jandziszak.

Meanwhile, a growing number of Polish citizens, including many Ukrainians, applied for exit visas to the West. Many Poles who found themselves in the West when martial law was imposed last December decided not to return to their native land.

In a desperate bid to reverse Poland's economic and social slide, Gen. Jaruzelski announced his intention to suspend martial law, and the government freed Mr. Walesa. But it was a hollow gesture. Less than four weeks after being released, Mr. Walesa was detained by police just before he was to deliver an address to workers in Gdansk. Moreover, the announcement easing martial law included enough vague clauses which would allow the government to reimpose all martial-law restrictions at the slightest hint of unrest.

As the year draws to a close, there is no sign that Gen. Jaruzelski plans to restart the dialogue with the people whom Solidarity used to represent, the vast majority of ordinary Poles. The military crackdown by the junta, stage-managed by Moscow, succeeded only in splintering the myth of Communist legitimacy in Poland once and for all. Until the generals realize this, and reinstate many of the freedoms won in Gdansk in 1981, the agony of Poland will continue.

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