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Poland celebrates 30 years of the first semi-democratic elections. Five months before the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Poles voted massively on 4 June 1989 for the Solidarnosc movement and its leader, Lech Walesa, precipitating the fall of communism in Poland. Thirty years later, what does Solidarnosc represent for those who have not lived through these events? Visit of the museum dedicated to the movement, in Gdansk, with two young Poles.
At the age of 16 and 19, Filip and Andrzej are actively involved in celebrating the 30th anniversary of the first free elections. They are among the dozens of volunteers who, from 1 to 11 June, refer visitors to the European Solidarity Center.
This gigantic museum, inaugurated in Gdansk in 2014, is at the heart of the festivities. It hosts exceptional guided tours, led by former members of the Solidarnosc movement, opponents of the communist regime during the 1970s and 1980s.
► Also to listen: Poland: the legacy of the Solidarnosc movement threatened?
Filip and Andrzej remember their first visit here. These two high school students from Gdansk came with their families at the inauguration five years ago. " I remember saying " Wow ". The building is beautiful, and the permanent exhibition tells a little about the life of our grandparents, "recalls Andrzej. " Here we are immersed in the heart of our country's history. "
Grandparents involved in the fight
The museum traces the epic of the fight against communism, led in particular by the Solidarnosc trade union . All just a few meters from the shipyards. Where Lech Walesa and his colleagues launched the protest.
A period that Andrzej and Filip know well. " My grandfather ran a boys' boarding school. During the strikes, they made the wall and went to protest and throw stones on the police, "says Filip. " He was very scared because he was responsible for their safety. So he went to get them on the street to bring them back to boarding school. "
Andrzej's grandfather was actively involved in the fight. He was a mechanic on construction sites. Above him, on the ceiling, are hung hundreds of helmets of workers. " These men and women have risked losing their job to gain freedom, " Filip is worried.
My grandmother could not stay in the room
We enter the next room. A police truck occupies the center of the room. On the right, the protection shields of the police. On the left, a photo of Lech Walesa arrested and interned. In December 1981, communist leader Jaruzelski introduced martial law. The opposition is repressed.
A terrible time, that Filip discovers when arriving in this room of the museum. " The first time, I was terrified. I saw the jackets of the workers killed by the police or the army. It was a lot for me. For my grandmother, it was even harder. She could not stay in the room. "
How can we manipulate our story?
We go back in time, and arrive in February 1989. The leaders of the Solidarnosc movement and the communist power, weakened by years of recession and shortages, sit around a huge round table, recreated in the museum. It is there that during two months, the two camps will negotiate the contours of the future Poland, and especially the elections of June 1989, the first ones opened by universal suffrage.
The Solidarnosc movement triumphs. But for the PiS, the ultra-conservative party in power today, the outcome of these elections had been decided before, in secret. During discussions between the Communist Party and some members of Solidarnosc, including Lech Walesa. Communists would have negotiated positions of power in the future democratic Poland.
A theory relayed by the public television, completely in the hands of the current power. " This manipulation of history is terrible, " worries Andrzej. " Today, my grandfather is a little sick. He watches public television and begins to believe what she is saying, especially that Lech Walesa was actually working for the communist secret police. "
The leader of the party PiS, former comrade of Walesa on the shipyards, he devotes a limitless hate and tries for several years to tarnish his reputation. Walesa's role in the fall of communism is almost erased in the new history programs.
No national unity for these celebrations
The two students regret that their country is not united, when celebrating the 30th anniversary of these free elections. No government member is present in Gdansk for the celebrations, organized by the mayor, held by the opposition.
" It makes me sad, " says Andrzej. " Every year we have to forget about our differences. But it's impossible. Today, we can hardly talk about these elections without this story of conspiracy coming out . "
Both young people are very proud of the legacy bequeathed by Solidarnosc. For them, the democratic gains are solid. " The PiS distorts our history, but it's just a political party ," says Andrzej. " If they lose the next election, in the fall, we may come back to normal. "
And if the PiS were to be reelected and to question the fundamental freedoms, Filip would like to recall the spirit of resistance of the Poles. " He never stops. Thirty years ago, during communism, as today, we are constantly fighting to preserve our freedom. "