The herb of Gdansk

Press, 2 September 1980, Page 8

The herb of Gdansk

By.

JOHN VINOCUR

of the

“New York Times,” through ;■ -nzpa ; . ■'■ . i ; Gdansk, Poland It was his daily lap of triumph, “he 100 metres from the delegates’ hall to the high front, gate of the Lenin Shipyard, and no pop star or astronaut or Olympic victor could challenge Lech Walesa’s moment of glory. Again and again in the last two, weeks the Gdansk strike leader-burst, out of his office to cheers from the workers, rushed into the courtyard and at a trot began tossing small pictures of the Virgin Mary, Queen o' Poland, into the air. While bodyguards opened room in the crowd, he grabbed pens to sign autographs, writing just “Lech.” Then he broke through to the gate, clambered half way up, and boomed out a. .message to the crowd filling the streets beyond the iron grillwork.. . ; At the week-end, after two weeks of wild hope and excitement, Lech Walesa's time had come to announce victory,. or at least something that-looked like it:; ': The man who-has emerged as the personal force behind the strikes is a. 37-year-old electrician with six children; He is about 1.7 m tall, with a shock of, brown - hair, which he pushes: back; even i when it is not falling over his eyes, and:; /a : thick,: . carefully trimmed moustache.' (--“'::■( . Watching'diim reveals how clearly he is aware of the way to play his strong' suits: references to; ,the Church. and about; Polish nationalism. I Talking with him raiTcm l <2:-«• “r'aiitirm: - nO-OHS

1 gets, more from Lech Walesa than he thinks they , need to know. He keeps . his background sketchy, but it is clearly one of deep involvement in the Baltic labour troubles that have led to the upheaval. - i , Working in the Lenin Shipyard, he was involved in , demonstrations' .that led to more than; deaths in 1 ~.1970. When, more trouble developed in .1976 he was, : dismissed and worked doing: ’{odd “jobs. 'Last year he ; joined an activist / group known as the Baltic Free (■ Trade Union, and when workers at the Lenin yard, struck on August 14, one of j their demands was that Mri Walesa" be ; reinstated immediately. He 'was. He, climbed over the., jshipyard| wall; the same day. and won a concession tin writing that none.'of- the : strikers would be penalised' for their ac--tions. 1 ■_ His hold. on the strikers became, clear immediately. When- a. group of L them singled out a man they considered . a provocateur,. Mr Walesa shouted, “IE he’s even touched. PIT quit.” ■ Then, as the man was.being led out, ..Mr- Wdlesa cried but: "Don’t whistle...'Don’t shout. Show your dignity.’;’ ... Mr Walesa’s strength, lus ability to impart confidence :• to the - people listening.; to him, seems ■ to have im- ' pressed the Communist leadership as well: It ignored ;an offer- last;week: that'<he ;go on television to' appeal to the rest of/the' country to I avoid .additional.work.stqp- • pages that could, ’as. he_said, dhd'atiger Poland.’ The Gpv- • ernment seemed ■ to consider

1 that the greater risk lay in a > television appearance that - would legitimise him, turn--5 ing him into a kind of - accepted opposition leader. : Relaxing at the week-end, Ihe did not want to talk about men or books “hat had . influenced’ him. “My ideas j come from my life and my , experiences in 1970. I don’t , think about history. All I , want is that my friends and “ be given the power to deal ’ with the problems of our .(fellow workers.” ■ ' ’■ Is lie a socialist? “I am a » union man.” Can free unions ' exist in a Communist State? “I don’t like labels.” ' 1 “If you have a machine {.(that doesn’t work, you’ve . got to repair it,” he went Jon. “This machine has {{broken down in 1956, 1970 'and 1975. If you.can’t;repair . it, you’ve got .to replace it.” 4 i As : far as Poland’s: rela- . tionship with the Soviet ’ Union goes,. Mr Walesa offered. a' story: ' “There are I these two rabbits at our bor- ’ der, one Polish and 'the. other I I Russian. The Russian rabbit ’■ is running as fast as he can. { . “The Polish rabbit asks 1 him why, and the Russian r rabbit replies, ‘Because I they’re castrating all the t bears.’ ‘But you’re a rabbit,’ ; the Polish rabbit says. ‘Yes,’ { the Russian rabbit answers* >‘but'l’m riot sure if that’s a : good enough explanation’.” t:; Is; ; he: ever worried about J harm .cofhfng to him, Mr > Walesa ■ was asked. He > thought a bit. “There are a ’ lot of cars in Poland,” he ’ said. “Sometimes there are r accidents;’’ • ; <