- Solidarity: The Calendar
- author of the text: Adam Borowski
- content: text
- language of the publication: English
- type of binding: hardcover
- pages: 568
- size: 17.5 x 24.5 cm
The unique book is the result of Adam Borowski’s many years of work (Borowski was an organiser and NSZZ “Solidarity” activist). The first entry concerns December 1975 and the sentencing of Stanisław Kruszyński to 10 months in prison for criticising the PRL political system in private letters. The second one concerns “Letter 59”, issued by representatives of the cultural and scientific communities, concerning amendments to the PRL Constitution. According to the author, these moments started the formation of an anti-Communist opposition, which influenced the creation of NSZZ “Solidarity”. The last entry in the “Solidarity: The Calendar” is 22 December 1990 – when Ryszard Kaczorowski, President of Poland-in-Exile – presented the newly–elected President of Poland Lech Wałęsa with the presidential insignia.
This is the most extensive work of this type ever to be published. It is divided into three parts: December 1975–30 June 1980, 1 July 1980–12 December 1981, and 13 December 1981– December 1990, and presents the events, people, and places we all know, as well as those we sometimes forget about, or those we may have not even known about. Collecting all this information in one place is an extremely valuable source, which will undoubtedly be used by both Solidarity researchers and participants of the described events.
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Solidarity – an unprecedented social movement and, formally, a trade union – played a decisive role in 1980 in overcoming the communist system of governance in Poland. This, in turn, led to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the dismantling of the Iron Curtain, which had long separated the nations of Central and Eastern Europe from freedom and democracy.
On the occasion of the 45th anniversary of these momentous events, the Institute of Solidarity Heritage has decided to publish a special English-language edition of “The Solidarity Calendar” by Adam Borowski.
The author was both an organizer and an activist of the Independent Self-Governing Trade Union “Solidarity” Following the imposition of martial law in Poland, he actively participated in the underground resistance. His book, “The Solidarity Calendar”, is the result of many years of dedicated work and constitutes an invaluable source of information about the peaceful Polish revolution that began at the Gdańsk Shipyard in August 1980. This comprehensive compendium of knowledge about Solidarity and the Polish anti-communist opposition chronicles the events and people involved from December 1975 to December 1990, culminating in the election of Lech Wałęsa as the first democratically chosen president of Poland after World War II.
I trust that the English edition of this remarkable work will find a broad readership around the world. It offers the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of Poland’s path to freedom and the many significant events that, at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s, led to the fall of the Iron Curtain that had divided Europe and changed the course of history.
