Interviews with Zbigniew and Zofia Romaszewski

MS. ROMASZEWSKA: Well the significance of Helsinki to us, psychologically, was feeling that we were not all alone. This is the same issue as with Solidarity itself – it is extremely important when you are fighting for something, important to feel that it is of interest to anyone else in the world, besides the ones who are waging that struggle, so that other people existing in the world would gladly lend you their hand.

MR. ROMASZEWSKI: In terms of the Helsinki Accords, and its interpretation – of the so called third basket – I have to say that it was with great relief that we listened to President Jimmy Carter´s declaration of the time recognizing human rights as one of the primary directions of American foreign policy. I remember this like it was today because at that time I was off in the mountains with Antoni Macierewicz. We heard of this and it was something which undoubtedly gave us great comfort. You know, knowing we have this caliber of ally [The Helsinki Accords were an international treaty signed by 35 countries in 1975. They guaranteed basic human rights and promoted cooperation between the Soviet bloc and western nations. Dissidents and activists in the communist countries used their governments’ signatures to the treaty to advocate for freedom and human rights. The Helsinki Accords covered a wide variety of issues, divided into “baskets.” The Third Basket dealt with a range of human rights issues, including freedom of expression and the right to emigrate. By signing the Helsinki Accords, the communist governments committed themselves to respecting these rights. Jimmy Carter was the 39th President of the United States, serving in office from 1977-1981. Antoni Macierwicz was a prominent anticommunist activist who served in parliament after Poland’s transition to democracy].

Incidentally, one has to add that both myself and my wife, ever since the time when Ursus and Radom were resolved [Radom and Ursus were locations of the most intense 1976 protests against rising prices in Poland], because it is noteworthy that we had reached a successful outcome – by 1977 and 1978 all the workers of Ursus and Radom were free [from prison]. July was when the last workers left the jails. And ever since, we had been creating structures. Well, organizational structures. We felt very comfortable with all that, we liked each other socially; we met [gladly], so at this point we had no intent to give up our activity. And so then, the basis of KOR – meaning The Workers’ Defense Committee – created the KSS [Social Self Defense Committee] – KOR [Komitet Obrony Robotników], which in its turn, had a whole slew of items on its plate. So for myself and my wife, our part was to look into issues of law and order, issues of human rights. And for all that, of course there was a huge amount of publication activity. There was… well, you could say we had awoken all kinds of social initiatives. So things which came into being where the SKS [Student Solidarity Committees], the youth organizations, farmer organizations… What else can one say? [The Workers’ Defense Committee (KOR) was an anticommunist underground civil society organization in the 1970s, formed to provide assistance to laborers and others persecuted by the government. It was later renamed the Social Self Defense Committee (KSS).]

MS. ROMASZEWSKA: The Flying University [Originally conceived as an underground educational initiative in Czarist Poland from 1885-1905, the Flying University concept was revived under communism as a way to spread uncensored ideas and philosophy].

MR. ROMASZEWSKI: The Flying University, there were lectures being held. So all these things, you know it was the start of a – I should not say an avalanche but, at any rate, these were the serious beginnings of a social movement.

So the year 1979, when [Pope] John Paul II [Karol Wojtyla, the former Bishop of Krakow became first Polish pope. He led the Catholic Church 1978-2005] paid his visit to Poland, overlapped with a period when a part of Polish society at least was ready and willing to use its liberties. And this was that last point of emphasis which mobilized Solidarity [a labor union formed by Gdansk ship builders that transformed into a nationwide resistance movement].

At any rate, one thing has to be said that at the time when Solidarity was coming about, I was just finishing up writing a report on the state of respect for human rights in Poland which was intended for the Madrid conference [on human rights in Eastern Europe which was held in 1982].

MR. ROMASZEWSKI: What I have to say is that for myself, at that time –

MS. ROMASZEWSKA: When Solidarity was emerging –

MR. ROMASZEWSKI: – when Solidarity was just emerging, was a time when I was taking my doctoral exam, it was Oct. 10, 1980. At the same time, I was finishing up that Madrid Commission Report on Human Rights in Poland, as well as I had to do my own time in jail, because we were all caught and jailed one by one [for dissident activities]. So something that I need to share is, the one thing that was hugely moving in an emotional sense, it was the day I got out of prison and was stepping out into a brand-new Poland.

And I remember about that time, the day I came out of prison [September 1, 1980], me and the wife were treating ourselves, we went out to dinner at a restaurant, we were riding along Nowy Świat [street in Warsaw] on a bus, and directly in front of us rolled a police squad car and right in front of it was a demonstration of some 200 to 300 people, of the KPN [Konfederacja Polski Niepodległej or in English, the Confederation of Independent Poland], I believe they were going to lay flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and in front of them was another squad car, and so this patriotic demonstration was being held in front of our very eyes. And people were turning to each other, cracking big smiles; everyone was extremely helpful, so – well, this was really a completely different country by now. [The Confederation of Independent Poland was the first independent political party in the Eastern bloc countries. Founded in 1979, the party was not recognized by Poland’s communist government and many of its leaders and activists were arrested.]

MS. ROMASZEWSKA: Konfederacja Polski Niepodległej –

MR. ROMASZEWSKI: Konfederacja Polski Niepodległej is right. And the police were not there to beat us, but to shield the demonstration.

Zbigniew Romaszewski and his wife, Zofia Romaszewska, were born in 1940 in Warsaw, Poland. Growing up during World War II and the Soviet Union’s subjugation of Eastern Europe, the couple became opponents of Poland’s communist regime and activists in various democratic opposition movements.

As children, Zbigniew and Zofia witnessed the horrors of World War II. Zbigniew and his family were sent to concentration camps, where his father died. After the war, he was raised by his mother and aunt. Zofia’s parents were part of Poland’s Home Army, an underground resistance movement against the Nazi occupation.

Zbigniew and Zofia both studied physics at the University of Warsaw. In the 1970s, following protests over rising prices by workers in the cities of Radom and Ursus, they helped to create the Workers’ Defense Committee (KOR), an organization that provided monetary and material support to persecuted laborers and their families. In addition, KOR documented human rights violations committed by the regime. Zbigniew also served as a principal editor for the Madrid Report, a detailed account of human rights violations in Poland that was released during the 1980 review meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (then known as the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe).

In 1980, worker strikes at Gdansk’s Lenin Shipyard led to the formation of Solidarity, the first independent labor union in the communist world. The movement inspired millions within Poland and transformed into a nationwide freedom movement. Zbigniew and Zofia joined Solidarity and became active members. In December 1981, the government declared martial law in an effort to crackdown on political opposition. During this time the Romaszewskis went into hiding and established Radio Solidarity, an underground radio station that broadcast independent news and information to Polish citizens until the communist regime fell.

In communism’s final days, Zbigniew was elected to the Senate as an independent candidate in the semi-free elections of 1989. The next year, Lech Walesa was elected as the country’s first post-communist president and the first fully free parliamentary elections were held in 1991. Zbigniew served in the Polish Senate through much of the following two decades, including as the deputy speaker from 2007 – 2011.

Zbigniew Romaszewski passed away on February 13, 2014.

Poland is a central European country bordered by the Baltic Sea, Belarus, Ukraine, Germany, Russia, Lithuania, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Poland has a population of 38 million people; nearly 90 percent are Roman Catholic.

Poles struggled against foreign dominance from the 14th century and the modern Polish state is less than one hundred years old. Polish borders expanded and contracted through a series of partitions in the 18th century. After a brief period of independence and parliamentary democracy from 1918 to 1939, World War II brought occupation by Nazi Germany and the near annihilation of the Jewish population. According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Poland’s Jewish population went from over 3 million in 1933 to 45,000 in 1950.

After the war, Poland became a Soviet satellite state and a communist system was imposed. Farms were collectivized, basic freedoms curtailed, and a culture of fear developed under a Stalinist regime. The 1960s brought greater prosperity and some liberalization. Labor protests in the early 1970s tested the communist government’s resolve and prompted modest reforms.

In 1978, Polish Archbishop and Cardinal Karol Wojtyla became Pope John Paul II, the first non-Italian to hold the position since the 16th century. The pope’s triumphant return to Poland in 1979 saw massive outpourings of public support, shaking the foundations of the government and inspiring the opposition to press for peaceful change.

In 1980, shipbuilders in the seaport city of Gdansk united to confront the government. Their calls for greater political liberties and improved working conditions developed into the Solidarity movement. Solidarity’s leader, Lech Walesa, became the movement’s voice. Protests and unrest spread throughout the country and the communists replaced their leadership. General Wojciech Jaruzelski became prime minister and declared martial law on December 13, 1981. Solidarity was outlawed and Walesa and other Solidarity leaders were imprisoned.

While martial law was lifted in 1983, Poland continued to stagnate. Mikhail Gorbachev’s elevation to leadership of the Soviet Communist Party in 1985 brought new pressures for reform in Poland. A failing economy and continued repression incited workers to a new wave of strikes in 1988. A desperate regime agreed to legalize Solidarity and conduct semi-free elections. In the 1989 parliamentary elections, Solidarity won 99 of the 100 Senate seats and 160 of the 161 lower house seats they were allowed to contest. Tadeusz Mazowiecki, a Solidarity leader, became Poland’s first non-communist prime minister in over four decades. In 1990, Lech Walesa was elected president with 74 percent of the vote. While Solidarity splintered as Poland democratized, a coalition government of anti-communist parties won fully free parliamentary elections in 1991.

Poland transitioned to a market economy and applied for integration into western institutions. Economic dislocation returned the former communists, now social democrats, to power in 1993. Free elections and peaceful transitions in the following decades solidified Poland’s multi-party democratic system. Reforms eventually led to a more robust economy and Poland joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1999 and the European Union in 2004.

In Freedom House’s Freedom in the World 2013, Poland earned the status “Free,” (as it has since 1990) receiving the best possible rankings in the categories Political Rights and Civil Liberties.