FOR OUR

FREEDOM AND

YOURS

Za nasza i wasza wolnosc

A History of The Polish Solidarity Campaign

of Great Britain

1980-1994

edited by

Giles Hart

The Polish Solidarity Campaign was formed in August 1980, at the time of the strikes in the Baltic Shipyards. Its purpose was to

win support in Britain for free trade unionism and democracy in

Poland. In 1993 with the battle won, Giles Hart undertook a

compilation and assessment of the PSC's history, based on documentary records

and the experiences of members. This book which includes contributions from

nearly 40 members, is the result.

Published by the Polish Solidarity

Campaign 111 Kensington Avenue Manor Park, London El 2

6NL

This book is dedicated to: Adam Westoby (born 1944), one of the

three founders of the Polish Solidarity Campaign of Great Britain, who died after a long illness

in November, 1994

AND

to everyone who supported the struggle for freedom in Poland and Eastern Europe, whoever

they are, wherever they are.

FOR OUR FREEDOM AND YOURS

Published by Polish Solidarity Campaign, 1995

Copyright © Polish Solidarity Campaign 1995

111 Kensington Avenue, Manor Park, London E12 6NL

"Solidarnosc and Barbed Wire" logo designed by

Peter Kennard for PSC - 1981

Layout by Nina Ozols Printed by The Total Print & Display Co. Ltd,

137HattonRoad, Bedfont,

Middlesex TW14 8LR

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data For Our Freedom and Yours: Za Nasza i Wasza Wolnosc – History of the Polish Solidarity Campaign of Great Britain

1980-94 I. Hart, Giles

322.4 ISBN 0-9525163-0-6

No part of this book, other than for review purposes, may be reproduced without prior permission.

The book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated

without the publishers prior consent in any form of binding cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed upon the

subsequent purchaser.

EDITOR'S ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am grateful for all the assistance I have received with this book from some members of

PSC, past and present, as well as friends and family.

I wish to thank every person who wrote a contribution to the book. Each person's

views are of course their own, and not necessarily the views of PSC.

Without computer assistance, including loan of computer facilities, this book would not

have been possible. I am very grateful in this connection to firstly Ed Switalski and later

Adam Robinski and the Polish Enterprise Centre Ltd. at POSK.

PSC wishes to acknowledge the very generous, and unconditional, financial contribu-

tion made to us for the production of this book by the Polonia Aid Foundation Trust at

POSK.

I would like to thank all those who have donated their PSC records and correspondence

to the 'PSC History Archive' which will be housed, when ready, at the Polish Library,

POSK, 238-246 King Street, Hammermith London W6 ORF (tel: 0181-741-0474).

Thanks to Mrs Maresch and Dr Jagodzinski of the Polish Library for their co-operation.

If anyone wishes to reproduce parts of the book please contact PSC c/o either:

Giles Hart, 111 Kensington Avenue, Manor Park, London E12 6NL or:

Karen Blick, 18 Mervyn Road, London W13 9UN

Giles Hart 1995

C O N T E N T S

INTRODUCTION _________________________________________ Karen Blick _____ 6

BRIEF HISTORY OF THE POLISH SOLIDARITY CAMPAIGN

Giles Hart

Introduction to Brief History 12

Chapter 1: August 1980, Creation of PSC, Martial Law December 1981 to AGM March 1982

1 The creation of PSC 13 2 Activities, growth and contacts in the Polish Community 14 3 Polish Solidarity Campaign (PSC) News 15 4 Structure & Independence 16 5 Friction and contacts with the Left - and the Right 17 6 Support from MPs - and campaigning in the Labour party 18 7 Aid for Solidarnosc - and contact with it 19 8 Fund raising, including T-shirts 19 9 Our level of activities - and the impact on our lives (includes a contribution

by Anna Lubelska) 20 10 Immediate responses to Martial Law 21 11 Our demonstration - 20th December 1981 21 12 Solidarity with Solidarity (SWS) 22 13 Creation of Solidarity Working Group/Information Office 23 14 Worries about infiltration, and 'undesirable' members 24 15 Charitable help to Poland 24 16 Fear of Polish or Soviet Government penetration 24 17 Pro Solidarity groups around Britain 25 18 Preparations to avoid take-over at 1982 AGM 26 19 1982 AGM- and outcome 27 20 Consequences of 1982 AGM 28

Chapter 2: Post 1982 AGM to the 1989 Polish Round Table Agreement

21 PSC activities - a general description 30 22 Polish Refugee Rights Group 31 23 Resignations, withdrawals, PSC News and Circulars 31 24 Sources of support, and the struggle to continue 32 25 Relations with Polish organisations 34 26 Our wide ranging approach - government, main political parties, Trade

Union Congress, 'peace' movements 35 27 Friction due to tactics and procedures 37 28 Relations with other European exile groups 39 29 The wide ranging composition of PSC membership 39 30 Aid to Solidarnosc, and other Polish Groups 39 31 Our impact in Poland 40 32 Some other PSC actions 41 33 1988 AGM 43

2

34 Late summer 1988 - new developments in Poland 44

Chapter 3 From the Round Table Agreement to the Present Day (1994)

35 PSC supports Round Table Agreement 45 36 Support for the Election and Solidarnosc - and hostility 45 37 The 1989 'Round Table' Polish Elections 46 38 Other PSC activities, 1989 46 39 Lech Walesa's visit to Britain - December 1989 46 40 PSC examines its role 47 41 1990 AGM - PSC decides to continue 47 42 Subsequent situation 48 43 Subsequent PSC activities 48 44 The present situation - and the future 49

Concluding Remarks ______________________________________________50

SUMMARY OF A DISCUSSION HELD ON 16TH JULY 1993: 51

Karen Blick, Robin Blick, Marek Garztecki, Giles Hart, Zofia Hart, Naomi Hyamson,

Ewa Moss, Wiktor Moszczynski, Artek Taczalski, Tadek Warsza, Liz Willis, Anna T.,

DrT Piesakowski.

MORE ABOUT PSC

Edward Switalski Introduction 60 My Road to PSC 60 August 1980 and PSC 61 The Media Campaign 62 Resources 62 Labour Movement Solidarity Organisations 63 Arguing for Poland 63 The Polish Students' Contribution 64 ZSAPWB and other East European Students' Groups 66 Martial Law 67 Radio Solidarnosc 67 PSC News and Publications 68 Infiltration 69 Tadek Jar ski and SWS 70 Relations with the Polish Community in the U.K. 70 Relations with Venus 71 Meeting real East Europeans 71 Conclusions 72 The Future ___________________________________________________ 73

3

MEMORIES, MOTIVES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND ASSESSMENTS Liz Willis 74 Zofia Malakowska 75 Adam Westoby 75 Piotr Iglikowski 76 George Kondratowicz 77 Stanislaw Wasik 78 Anita Komornicka-Rice 78 Mr 'S.P' 79 Ryszard Stepan 79 Artek Taczalski 80 Marion Pitman 80 Adam Robinski 80 Ewa Cwirko-Godycka 82 Darek Dzwigaj 82 Zofia Hart 83 Wojtek Dmochowski 83 Carole Gardiner 84 Sue Chinnick 85 Giles Hart 85 Danuta Gorzynska-Hart 90 Andrzej Poloczek 91 Steve Murray 92 Jedrzej Dmochowski 93

EXTRACTS FROM WIKTOR MOSZCZYNSKI'S PSC DIARY

___________________________________ Wiktor Moszczynski________________ 94 ______

FIVE INVOLVEMENTS WITH PSC Some reflections & reconsiderations on the early history of PSC Robin Blick 99 Why I left PSC and why I rejoined Karen Blick 100 'Age of Innocence' Wanda Koscia 102 PSC-Experience of Democracy Katarzyna Budd 104 PSC and Me Mans Ozols 105

ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL ____________________________________ John Taylor _____________________ 107 ______

ONE UNION'S SUPPORT FOR SOLIDARNOSC ____________________________________ John Spellar M.P. ________________ 111 ______

4

SOLIDARITY IN THE W. MIDLANDS

_________________________________Jo Quigley ______________________ 112 _______

APPENDIX 1 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF PSC 1980-1990 117 APPENDIX 2 COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP 1980-1990 Giles Hart 119 APPENDIX 3 CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS IN POLAND Robin Blick 120 APPENDIX 4 BIBLIOGRAPHY Robin Blick 125

Marek Garztecki

Index Robin Blick 133

PHOTOGRAPHS

1 The Martial Law Demonstration: 20/12/81 2 Some of the 14,000 crowd 3 A rip-off of PSC

Jeremy Irons rips off a PSC poster (for which we received no credit or payment) in a key scene in the Jerzy Skolimowski film 'Moonlighting'.

4 Marching at night, August 1982 5 Afghan support for our

demo Hyde Park, mid 1980s

6 Demonstrating against support for the Junta in Britain. Marek Garztecki and Wiktor Moszczynski, dressed as prisoners, at the demonstration against Robert Maxwell's intended suppression of news about Solidarnosc in the 'Daily Mirror'.

7 PSC Demo, August 1986. There was a rally in Hyde Park followed by a march to Trafalgar Square . SWS show their sup port for the demo by joining us on the Trafalgar Square plinth.

8 Solidarity Information Office Exhibition, (at POSK) mid 80s. Three generations of PSC members: Stanislaw Wasik, Ewa Cwirko-Godycka, Giles Hart

9 A typical PSC Demo outside the Polish Embassy. Left to Right: Giles Hart, Sue Chinnick, Robin Blick, Marek Garztecki, unidentified supporter. Late 1980s.

10 A typical PSC march Barbara Lubienska and unidentified supporter, late 1980s.

11 PSC Demo, Hyde Park 1988. Janusz Onyszkiewicz, Solidarnosc spokeman with Marek Garztecki. (The crowd were behind the camera).

12 1989 Round Table Elections A PSC Election Committee stall, run by Marek Garztecki greets and informs voters outside the Polish Embassy , London .

13 At the TUC reception for Lech Walesa : 1989 Left to Right: Giles Hart, Lech Walesa, Ryszard Stepan.

5

INTRODUCTION by Karen Blick

'Za nasza, i waszq wolnosc 'For Our Freedom and Yours'

This historic Polish slogan first appeared during the November Uprising of 1831. The author was probably Joachim Lelewel (1786-1861), a leading historian and member of the National Government during the uprising. The slogan was written on banners - one side in Polish, the other side in Russian, and placed in the ground in front of the insurgents' battle line and in full view of the advancing Russian troops. Its purpose was to show that the uprising was not against the Russian people, with whom they had a common cause, but against the tsarist regime. Ironically, so benighted were the ordinary Russian soldiers that they could not read and, predictably, their officers were not impressed. Moreover higher-ranking Polish officers considered the slogan revolutionary and Jacobinical. However the use of this slogan did not remain an unsuccessful and forgotten event of the 1831 Polish-Russian conflict. It became a more generalised expression of the conviction that the existence of a free and independent Poland was necessary to the cause of freedom and democracy in Europe as a whole.

It is in this spirit that we have adopted the slogan for the title of our book. The Polish Solidarity Campaign began as British-based support group for an independent trade union movement in Poland. However in our aims and objectives, we always explicitly referred to wider implications, that is, re-establishing political freedom in Poland and ultimately throughout Eastern Europe, and combatting the legitimacy the Eastern Bloc sought through its influence within the British labour movement.

Giles Hart begins his 'Brief History' by asking why and how the Polish Solidarity Campaign was set up and sustained. The slogan 'For Our Freedom and Yours' is perhaps as succinct a way as any to explain the phenonemon of a British-based organisation whose objective was to campaign for the existence and rights of free trades unions in Poland. Even more remarkable than its formation was that such an organisation, staffed by a disparate and changing group of people, should still be in existence well over a decade later. That such a campaign should be active in the first flush of Solidarnosc's formation and the repressive period of Martial Law is understandable. More exceptional is that PSC, weathering changing personnel and political climates, continued to campaign in an innovative way up to and beyond the legalisation of Solidarnosc; for instance in 1989 PSC members acted as official representatives of Solidarity at polling centres in London and Edinburgh during the 'Round Table Agreement' Elections; and in the 1990s campaigned on as wide issues as the independence of the Baltic States and visa-free travel for Poles.

Looked at with the advantage of hindsight, PSC began as an unusual, not to say bizarre, combination of individuals (although I for one in the hectic excitement of the first year and a half did not find this a problem). PSC was launched by a group of of former communist, former trotskyist and libertarian activists. This British group immediately joined forces with a number of Poles resident in Britain, many of whom (unlike the British Polish community in general) had socialist connections. As time went on and particularly after Martial Law, PSC's membership both British and Polish became more politically representative and non-aligned. While always retaining something of its original political character it developed into an organisation with more mainstream support and always consciously avoided party political partisanship.

I believe that a brief excursion into the history of both British/Polish connections from the nineteenth century on and the political climate of the British Labour movement in the 1970s and 80s will help to shed light on the somewhat unusual origins and development of PSC.

Geopolitical factors that from the sixteenth century were so advantageous to Britain were to prove disastrous to Poland. Britain by reason of its geographical position was free from invasion and could develop democratic rights gradually. Poland, hemmed in and, by 1795, completely partitioned by three great continental powers, Russia, Prussia and Austria ruled by their (as far as Poland was concerned) not so enlightened despots, enjoyed none of Britain's advantages of national independence and possibilities for democracy. What for Britain was practical and peaceful process of development, for Poland remained a romantic dream repeatedly shattered by the tragic crushing of periodic revolutionary uprisings. But dissimilarity was to forge a connection. Britain's island position not only allowed it to pursue its own path without interference, it also provided a safe haven for continental political refugees and a base for organising oppositional groups in which British supporters became involved.

Poland had another connection with Britain, sharing with it a tradition of political liberalism. Its liberal features included an elected monarchy, a Parliament (the Sejm) and the adoption of the first written constitution in Europe in 1791. After three partitions and the complete extinction of their state in 1795 (not to be re-established until 1918), Poles rose against their conquerors in 1794, 1830. 1846, and 1863. It was this suppression of a liberal nation together with its history of defiant resistance to great power domination that made the cause of Polish independence an increasingly popular one in Britain as the 19th century progressed. Whereas in the late eighteenth century, in an age when diplomacy was uncomplicated by moral scruples, Edmund Burke, commenting on non-intervention over the First Partition, merely said 'Poland must be regarded as situated on the Moon' b\ the middle of the nineteenth century after repeated Polish uprisings Macaulay saw partition as 'a shameful crime'.

In the course of the nineteenth century Polish independence attracted increasing interest and support of varying degrees right across the political spectrum from Tories to radicals, including figures as far apart as Robert Peel and the exiled Karl Marx. In 1855 what became known as the great Poland meeting was held in St. Martins Hall, London, under the auspices of the Literary Association of the Friends of Poland, addressed by amongst others Sir Robert Peel, but with an audience largely composed of London Chartists. Many of the speakers from the floor considered the meeting a government front to revive Palmerston's 'anti-Russian' reputation by using the Poles (plus ca change). No wonder the meeting ended in turmoil.

Political collaboration between Poles and the British trade union movement dates back to the second half of the 19th century. Claims that the British government made pious expressions of support but in practice equivocated again surface. In 1863 a group of trades unionists, members of the London Trades Council (soon to become the TUC) demonstrated and held public meetings in support of the Polish uprising against Russia of that year. The principal trades union leaders supporting this action were William Cremer of the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners and George Odger of the Shoemakers Union. A meeting held in St. James Hall resolved to send a delegation to the Foreign Secretary Lord John Russell to protest against the British Government's two-faced policy towards the Polish insurgents. When the delegation was not received a second meeting was held a week later at which the British National League for the Independence of Poland was founded. It is not too fanciful to see this organisation as an historical forerunner of PSC.

The League for the Independence of Poland maintained close connections with British trades unionists and the International Working Men's Association. Constant themes of both the British and Polish contributors to this Association were the importance of the establishment of an independent and democratic Poland to the peace and liberty of Europe as a whole, the threat of Russia to the whole continent and the passivity, at best, of the British and other European governments towards the suppression of Poland. A representative of both the Polish National Government and the League

for Polish Independence, a Captain Bobczynski, (a participant in the '63 uprising) addressing the International Working Men's Association's London Conference in 1865 gave voice to this body's general opinion when he said that 'Poland had fought the longest, had been the longest oppressed, her sons had shed their blood on every battlefield where right was struggling against might. Poland is the keynote to European freedom-she must be democratic and she declares for the freedom of all.' George Odger of the Shoemakers Union voiced this sentiment more prosaically: 'It was at a meeting in favour of Poland held in St James Hall that French and English workmen first met together; we must support Poland, to us it was typical of oppressed nations.' The spirit of the Polish slogan 'For our freedom and yours' was still alive.

In the course of the 20th century the support Poland enjoyed in British society fluctuated. The newly created state of 1918 was not regarded with universal approval either in Britain or on the continent. Some regarded the re-emergence of Poland as part of the Versailles humiliation of Germany. Attitudes became further complicated when in 1920 its newly-won independence was once again threatened by a Russian (this time not Czarist but Bolshevik Russian) invasion. Attitudes to the rights of Poland were now more than ever clouded by considerations of big power politics, to which were added ideological and political loyalties. Consequently, Poland as the cause of the radical left and trade union wing of British society suffered a set back. The self evident rights and wrongs of the 19th century were apparently no longer so clear, a situation which became evident when Solidarnosc was formed and some British trades unionists and socialists exhibited more loyalty to a 'socialist' state power than to basic trades union rights, which they would have upheld in their own country.

During the Second World War the fortunes of Poland as a popular cause revived and this was undoubtedly the most historically significant period of Polish-British collaboration in advancing the cause of European freedom and democracy. Gallant little Poland replaced Belgium of the First World War for the overwhelming majority of British society.* Poles fought alongside British, American and Commonwealth troops as well of those of other occupied countries in historic engagements such as Monte Casino and the Battle of Britain. This fact was recognised by the presence of Lech Walesa on the saluting platform for the march past of troops including a Polish contingent, at the 1994 D Day commemoration.

In spite of wide recognition of common interests in war-time, Poland reaped a bitter harvest for its distinction in taking the first military stand against Nazi Germany. At Yalta, Britain was a prominent if reluctant accomplice in the de facto return of Poland to Russian domination. Tragically, Poland had been rescued from one form of totalitarian rule only to be placed under another.

The post 1948 'Cold War' period softened in the 1970s, so much so that during the Brezhnev-Nixon period of Detente, culminating in the Helsinki Agreement of 1975, Western powers, political parties and sections of the labour movement looked far more benignly on the USSR. However, contrary to expressed hopes and expectations, improved East-West relations in some respects made attempts in the West to support liberalising movements in the Eastern Bloc more difficult. By legitimising Russian dominance over Eastern Europe, the belief was strengthened that the Soviet Empire was an immoveable fixture and the Brezhnev 'period of stagnation' seemed set to last into the indefinite future. In fact the events of '79-'80 were to prove the beginning of the end. The Soviet Empire began to fray at its edges. While in the the south, the over-confident Soviet state made its last and most speculative territorial expansion into Afghanistan, in the west, in Poland, Detente was put in

*On!y two political groups were exceptions to this. Firstly, all but two of the Central Committee of the British Communist Party, who in accordance with the political requirements and outcome of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, reversed their policy from support for Poland to the endorsement of its destruction, only to change back again in June '41 after the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union. Secondly, arguing against support for Poland at the other end of the political spectrum were the upper-class appeasement group of Lord Halifax and the Cliveden Set. question by the actions of a woman crane driver and a victimised electrician. But at the time even the most sophisticated of international experts would have regarded a prediction of the fall of the Berlin Wall within nine years as political science fiction.

Undeniably the major factor in the spectacular downfall of the Soviet Empire was its economic non-viability. But a close causal second in the process was the system's inherent suppressing and devouring of all aspects of civil society. Amongst the myriad oppositional currents that led to the events of '89, Solidarnosc, the only mass free trade union to develop in the Eastern Bloc, could arguably be said to have made the greatest contribution. It would be fair to assume that the same heroic 'David against Goliath' nature of the contest that inspired British trades unionists in 1863 no less influenced the British founders of PSC and the thousands of ordinary people who supported us, particularly at the time of Martial Law. Another historical parallel was the bias of the activists towards radical and socialist politics both in the 1860s and 1980. Ironically among the London-based supporters of the campaign for Polish independence in the 1860s was one Karl Marx, whose ideas were later used or perhaps more accurately abused (depending on interpretation) to enslave Poland.

As previously mentioned many of the original British PSC activists (of which I was one) had a Marxist background, but whereas the 1863 socialist supporters of Poland were inspired by the ideal

of a future free community of European nations, the 1980 supporters were disgusted by the betrayal of this ideal. This loose political group of former communists and, for a decade or so, Trotskyists included Mark Jenkins, Robin Biick and Adam Westoby. During the second half of the 1970s, they had been involved in pro-dissident campaigning which brought them into contact with, amongst others, the Polish strike leader Edmund Baluka, Victor Feinberg and Vladimir Borisov, both pio-neers of the Russian free trade union SMOT, Jiri Pelikan, the head of Czech television and Jan Kavan, a student leader, who were both prominent in the Prague Spring of 1968. It was in the course of this campaigning that they pioneered a strategy, later used so effectively by PSC, namely, that the Labour Movement should unreservedly support East European trades unionists and democrats and not the governments that were persecuting them. It became clear in the course of this work that at all levels of the Labour Party and Trades Unions there existed a numerically small but vocal and influ-ential group who were, for various reasons, determined to oppose this policy.

The outbreak of strikes in the summer of 1980 was the issue those of us who had been campaign-ing for freedom in Eastern Europe had been awaiting. 1 remember being on holiday in a cottage in Wiltshire in the middle of rural England, with Robin Blick and Adam Westoby, reading with mounting excitement of the amazing developments in Poland. Robin and Adam made a phone call to some libertarian friends in London, suggesting they begin preparations for a public meeting to support the Polish strikers. We joined together with a number of other former members of commu-nist and Trotskyist organisations, at varying stages of disillusionment with existing communism and/or the whole concept of state socialism, to hold a meeting in Conway Hall which launched the Polish Solidarity Campaign. Amongst this group, some were members of the Labour Party, some were in a libertarian group called by coincidence 'Solidarity' and some were now politically unat-tached. Using contacts made during pro-dissident campaigns in the 70s the British group immedi-ately joined forces with a number of first and second generation Poles resident in Britain,who also came to the launch meeting. In spite of the fact that the Polish community is not generally regarded as being on the left of British politics these included several members of the British Labour Party and/or the Polish Socialist Party in Exile, foremost of these being Wiktor Moszczynski and S.Wasik. In the course of the first year they were joined by non-political and Conservative-inclined Poles and PSC's active membership was bolstered by more Labour Party members and non-political Britons. We were even supported for some time by a right-of-centre libertarian group.

But left and trades union circles did not give Poland the unqualified support that they had given in the 1860s. Union leaders then had been unanimous initiators of a campaign of support. The straight issue of trades union rights in 1980 should have elicited immediate support but a more com-plex political situation existed. Inevitably, the TUC leadership were mellowed and bureaucratised by the passage of time. They were also in awe of the Soviet state machine and its satellite powers each with their identical apparatuses of state-controlled unions. Some trades unionists were, as Communist Party members or fellow travellers, more loyal to the Polish and Soviet state than to rights of fellow trades unionists. Others were impressed by the power or bribed by the junkets of the CPSU and its satellite nations. A similar situation existed in the Labour Party. One of the main func-tions of PSC was to persuade the British trades unions to provide Solidarnosc with the material resources to function in legality and later illegality. A second important demand put to the British Unions was to break their links with the state-run puppet trades unions of the Eastern Bloc. This demand was to be written into our constitution. Interestingly it was this particular clause that the Trotskyist International Marxist Group found so objectionable that they unsuccessfully proposed its deletion at the 1982 AGM. A similar campaign to persuade the Labour Party to discontinue its con-ference invitations to visitors from Eastern Bloc Communist Parties was for a time successful.

To their credit many trades unions, both nationally and locally supported Solidarnosc from the outset. These included the EEPTU, NALGO, AEUW, CPSA and GMWU. Trades union leaders who supported our campaign speaking on pro-Solidarity platforms or attending our rallies included Frank Chappie (EEPTU), Roy Grantham (APEX) Kate Losinska (CPSA) and Mike Blick (NALGO).The opposite reaction was exemplified by Arthur Scargill, a former Communist Party member and newly-elected President of the NUM. He responded typically to the murder of seven striking miners in December 1981 by condemning Solidarity for having become too political. However, many leading members of the Labour Party both left and right including the late Eric Heffer, Peter Shore, Giles Radice and Phillip Whitehead were constant supporters.

After the declaration of Martial Law, as much wider sections of the British public became involved, we broadened our campaign correspondingly. As in the nineteenth century the Polish cause had appeal across the political spectrum. Leading members of all parties gave Solidarnosc public support at PSC events: the most prominent that spring to mind are Neil Kinnock, Shirley Williams, Russell Johnson, Simon Hughes, Bernard Braine, and Lord Bethell. But twentieth century media coverage ensured support from thousands of ordinary people. It would seem probable that for politicians and members of the public alike, memories of Poland's contribution to the fight against Nazi Germany and the raw deal she had been accorded for her pains, might have influenced those for whom the issue of free trades unions alone would not have been such a burning issue. Again the potency of Poland's historical past attracted support.

Finally I will turn to a question that Giles highlights in his history - what difference did we make? It is very difficult to quantify and be specific about about the part played by PSC in Solidarnosc's eventual legalisation and therefore by implication in the downfall of Russia's European Empire. All one can say is that it is a logical if factually unproveable deduction that if support groups had not existed in countries outside the Eastern Bloc (particularly support groups that challenged pro-Sovietism within the Western Labour Movement) the morale of the Soviet and Polish governments would have been stronger and that of the opposition weaker. I am asserting, even if only as an article of faith, that on the level of macro-politics we did make a difference. On the micro-individual level we know we made a difference: the printing equipment sent through our efforts by British trades unions to Solidarity branches before Martial Law and, after December 1981, the money, parcels, letters of support, protests about imprisonments and police brutality and unaccounted-for deaths undoubtedly raised the spirits of individual Poles.

10

To return to the title of our book: in campaigning for Polish freedoms I believe we did indeed strengthen our own democracy. Freedoms in any society must be reasserted by each generation. We did this when we challenged covert support for totalitarianism in the British labour movement, when we highlighted Robert Maxwell's decision, no doubt influenced by his business connections with Jaruzelski, not to give coverage about Solidarnosc or its suppression in the 'Daily Mirror', or when we campaigned against government injustice in denying Poles visa-free travel. Like many another pressure group we reasserted that it is possible in a democracy for a small group of people to influ-ence and change the policies of powerful organisations, institutions and governments particularly when the cause is as just as that of Solidarnosc

Do we have a future role? Only time will tell. But the history of Poland and Eastern Europe sug-gests caution, so we have decided to maintain a low-key skeleton organisation.

11

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE POLISH SOLIDARITY CAMPAIGN

By Giles Hart

INTRODUCTION In August 1980 a campaign group was formed in Britain to support the strikers in Gdansk. Over the years it has undertaken hundreds of activities, and tens of thousands of people have participated in its public events. What were the forces that shaped the Polish Solidarity Campaign, that determined its activities, its attitudes, its growth, its style, its development? How did the PSC manage to keep going right through to 1994 when apparently similar groups often lasted only a year or two? How did it man-age to hold itself together, when it was not a group based around an existing organization, or one dom-inating personality, and it had a wide ranging membership which had views varying sufficiently, one might have thought, to tear the organization apart? What actually did the Polish Solidarity Campaign do, and how much difference did its activities make, either in Britain or in Poland? Who were the peo-ple who were most active in PSC, and what were their backgrounds?

It is a lot easier to ask such questions, than to give definite answers, but in this brief history I do try to give some answers, and attempt to keep a balance between summary and detail, and between forces that shaped PSC, and individuals who were decisive in the actions and policies of PSC. I have called it 'A Brief History', because I do not claim to be definitive (hence 'a', not 'the'), 'Brief, because it could easily be ten times as long and omit much detail, as so much was done, and 'History of PSC', because I am not attempting to give an account of other organizations, though 1 refer to others, in respect of their relationship to PSC.

In particular I make no attempt to chronicle the events in Poland that were so much more important and decisive than anything happening in the PSC. I assume the reader is familiar with events in Poland, and also recommend the chronology of events and suggested bibliography contained else-where in this book.

I have not attempted to look into the psychological motives of those who were most active in PSC, though no doubt some people found fulfilment and a sense of achievement through their activities that possibly they did not find elsewhere. For some, particularly of Polish descent, but living or even raised in Britain there was the factor of confirming a Polish identity, and possibly for historically minded Brits there was a feeling that Poland was a special case for Britain (due to the Second World War).

I am indebted to all those PSC members whose recollections and comments have enabled me to add to my original draft. I am particularly indebted to Ed Switalski and Adam Robinski (and the Polish Enterprise Centre) for use of their computer facilities, and their help and co-operation in using these facilities. Except where I have quoted other people's assessments, all the assessments are my own. To those who feel they, or their efforts, have been treated unfairly or even omitted, I am sorry but this account cannot be exhaustive, and though I have tried to be objective, it is inevitable that I have not been so (if there is such a thing as objectivity). I have tried to get all my facts right, but if any are wrong I apologize - and invite you to point out any mistakes to me.

When I refer to a period such as 1980/81, I mean the period from the creation of PSC in August 1980 to the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of 1981 (31/5/81). By a period such as 1983/4 I mean the period from the 1983 AGM to the 1984 AGM. Usually the A.G.M occurred in the first quarter of each year.

I have divided my 'Brief History' into three chapters. As far as possible, the information in each chapter refers to the period of that chapter. Where I have been writing about some development or issue that spans the periods I have occasionally, to avoid breaking the continuity of the point I am making, strayed from one chapter period to another. However I have attempted to make this clear in such cases by giving the relevant dates of what I am writing about.

12

Chapter 1 August 1980, Creation of PSC, Martial Law December 1981 to

AGM March 1982

1 - THE CREATION OF PSC

The Polish Solidarity Campaign (PSC) was founded in August 1980 by Robin Blick, Karen Blick, and Adam Westoby. The main idea was to raise support among the Left and Labour movement in Britain for the Polish strikers in Gdansk.

The actual circumstances were that Karen, Robin and Adam were on holiday in a cottage in Wiltshire in August 1980. They had all been brought up in Communist families. Robin's family was pro-Soviet, while Karen and Adam grew up in their respective families believing that the Soviet Union was a paradise on Earth. Karen remembers that the death of Stalin was a traumatic day for her as a small child, in her house seeing a black edged 'Daily Worker' but in school being told Stalin was an evil man. As adults they had seen through this view of the Soviet Union, and had gone through a Trotskyist phase (with the Gerry Healy group). They had left this phase behind also, and were still interested in helping working class movements, but not any aligned with the Soviet view-point. The Blicks had since 1974 been members of the Labour Party.

While on holiday they heard with interest news on the radio about the strikes in Gdansk, and felt that there should be a public meeting in London to support the strikers, and in general to challenge the Left about 'who do you support, which side are you on?'. They rang up a Libertarian Socialist group, called 'Solidarity', to book a hall and make all necessary arrangements (publicity, leaflets etc.), for a public meeting on August 26th, 1980 at Conway Hall London.

This British group called 'Solidarity' was originally formed by former Trotskyists, who having broken away from the Gerry Healy group (in 1960) had formed their own (non-Trotskyist) group 'Solidarity'. During the intervening years the 'Solidarity' group had been joined by others who lacked this background (e.g. Liz Willis), but came from anarchist or other Left backgrounds. The 'Solidarity' group had published books and pamphlets on a variety of subjects, including Poland and Eastern Europe, and they did a good job of publicizing the meeting among their members, and the larger public. About 100 people attended the meeting, chaired by Robin Blick.

Among these hundred were Wiktor Moszczynski, a Labour councillor from Ipswich who had been invited by the Blicks, and travelled down from Ipswich for the meeting as he subsequently did for several months, before moving to London. Wiktor was in close contact with KOR (Committee for Defence of Workers) and its publications. Wiktor had already, throughout July and August, writ-ten a series of letters to E.P.Thompson and leading trades unionists about the strikes in Poland, urg-ing them to express their support. The first of several articles by Wiktor, about the Polish strikes, had appeared in 'Tribune' magazine on 15th August, and Wiktor had chaired a press conference about the Polish strikes, at the Journalists International Centre, on August 22nd.

In the 1970s Robin Blick had set up the 'Greater London Tribune Group' with Mark Jenkins, which campaigned about East European issues. Wiktor acted as a translator at one of the public meetings organised by this group, and that is how Robin and Wiktor met.

Walter Kendall attended the meeting. Walter (like Wiktor) had a very different political back-ground to the Blicks. Walter has been a life long member of the Labour Party, an active trade union-ist and democratic socialist and author of a standard critical text on Communism in Great Britain 'The Revolutionary Movement in Britain, 1900-1921'.

Mr S. Wasik was there, from the Polish Socialist Party in Exile, a small group perhaps, that Wiktor also belonged to, but one that, through the 'Socialist International', also called the 'Second

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International', provided contacts and meetings with real Socialists across the world, including dis-cussions and good contacts with Willy Brandt. News about Poland coming through the radio was relayed to the meeting, in addition to lots of factual information from Wiktor, and discussions about viewpoints and further actions. By the end of the meeting the 'Polish Solidarity Campaign' had been formed: the founder members were not only the three founders (Robin, Karen, Adam), but also ill the others who signed up as members.

The name 'Solidarity' in the PSC was fortunate in that, later on the 31st August 1980, the strik-ers in Gdansk decided to call their new union Solidarnosc (Solidarity). Our 'Solidarity' was more suggested by movements like the Vietnam Solidarity Campaign of the late 60s and 70s, and the Chile Solidarity Campaign.

However it should be pointed out that a figure in the Labour movement Vladimir Derer had been running his 'East European Solidarity Campaign' with a bulletin called 'Labour Focus on Eastern Europe' for some years before 1980. It should also be recorded that the Gdansk strikers had issued three strike bulletins by 23/8/80; the name of the bulletins - 'Solidarnosc'. To summarise: the first meeting of the Polish Solidarity Campaign was set up by, and consisted of a coalition of forces from the left; the democratic, anti-Stalinist (mostly British) left.

The meeting on August 26th was the first in Britain to rally support for the strikers, and preceded 2. Socialist Workers Party meeting by three days. Perhaps it was the first such meeting, outside Poland, in the world. Some of those present at this first PSC meeting were to play major roles in our ;evelopment and future activities: Robin Blick, PSC Secretary 1980/81 (we had no such post as Chairman in the first year), Karen Blick, PSC chair(wo)man 1981/82, and Wiktor Moszczynski, PSC chairman 1982/83. Mr. S Wasik, who had been a member of the Socialist Party in Poland before the Second World War, would be a useful lead (with Wiktor Moszczynski) into the Polish community, and a PSC auditor throughout the years, and Walter Kendall would be PSC chairman 1983/84.

PSC owes a debt of gratitude to the 'Solidarity' group. Although the 'Solidarity' group had made all the arrangements for the founding meeting of PSC, and indeed bore all the expenses, 'Solidarity' never affiliated to PSC, they were in no way behind the scenes controlling PSC, and very few of them joined PSC. Why was this? At this length of time it is difficult to be sure. Ken Weller, one of the 'Solidarity' group organizers of the August 26th meeting recalls that 'Solidarity' only ever intended to act as an enabler for the meeting, and any campaign that developed from it. Adam Westoby recalls that one or two of the 'Solidarity' members were very involved in the first few months but then ceased to be involved due to the choice of speakers on PSC platforms, e.g. Terry Duffy, and Neil Kinnock. Although some of the 'Solidarity' members continued to attend our public events only two of them remained active in PSC, for brief periods: Liz Willis, who became a mem-ber of the Editorial Board, and Terry Liddle who later on became a committee member.

2 - ACTIVITIES, GROWTH, CONTACTS IN THE POLISH COMMUNITY

The first action taken by PSC was to send two telegrams at the end of the founding meeting: one to the strikers in Gdansk expressing support, and the other to the Polish government supporting the workers' call for the establishment of free trade unions. The second action was to demonstrate at the annual TUC (Trades Union Congress) at Brighton, in September 1980. One thousand PSC leaflets were distributed challenging the trades unions about their uncertain attitude to the strikers, urging them to 'ditch the company trades unions', stop the 'double standards', 'show the door' to Boris Averyanov, the TUC guest representing one of Russia's bogus 'company' unions. The leaflet was good hard-hitting stuff, and there was nothing polite or behind the scenes about the 'Ditch the

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Company Trades Unions' banner unfurled for all to see. To quote a contemporary report 'We suc-cessfully antagonised quite a lot of people'.

Contacts were made with the Polish community through Wiktor Moszczynski, Mr S Wasik, and Piotr Iglikowski, head of the Polish students in Britain (an organisation mostly consisting of stu-dents and graduates born in Britain of Polish parents). Through personal contacts, public meetings, and other activities, a membership started to be built up, reaching 66 members by the 1981 Annual General Meeting, held on 31/5/81 when the structure of the organization was put on a more formal footing, based on a constitution by Robin Blick. By August 1981 we had 100 members.

During this period our campaigning continued of course in the Trade Unions, and perhaps due to our influence, perhaps due to events in Poland, perhaps due to both factors, trade union attitudes changed. On 25/2/81 PSC picketted the TUC International Committee Meeting about help to Poland, and the TUC officially agreed to send assistance to Solidarnosc. Thereafter we always had good relations with the TUC International Committee, and particularly with Michael Walsh of that committee. On 1/6/81 Wiktor Moszczynski arranged the arrival of Solidarnosc delegates at the E.E.P.T.U. conference, and the G.M.B.A.T.U. (General Municipal Boiler Makers Associated Trade Union): Wiktor was instrumental in fact in getting the delegates British visas after a last minute refusal by the British authorities. The change in TUC attitudes can be measured by the fact that when Solidarnosc delegates Jozef Patyna and Anna Fotyga visited the TUC for talks (29/11/81 to 2/12/81) they came over from Poland, and were put up at a hotel, as official guests of the T.U.C, which was highly concerned at the developing threat to Solidarnosc in Poland. Wiktor had good contacts and discussions with Jozef and Anna during this visit.

Apart from our campaigning in the Labour party, PSC also had contacts with the peace move-ments. As mentioned earlier even before PSC started Wiktor had written to E.P. Thompson, who appeared on our platforms. When John Taylor went to Poland in 1980 (more details later) he first visited Thompson who put him in touch with Polish academics who provided contacts for him in Poland. When John Taylor returned from Poland, having spent months with Solidarnosc, it was E.P.Thompson who put him in touch with PSC (through Wiktor Moszczynski), and who organised the first speaking tours of CND branches for John.

Additionally on 15/3/81 Wiktor had a meeting with top members of E.N.D. and sympathizers to discuss Polish events: present were E P Thompson, Mary Kaldor, Czech dissident Jan Kavan and Russian dissident Zhores Medvedev.

3 - POLISH SOLIDARITY CAMPAIGN (PSC) NEWS

Additionally, in order to reach and inform a larger audience PSC started a magazine, Polish Solidarity Campaign News. It was produced to professional standards in terms of layout and print-ing, and involved a great deal of work by the Editorial Board: Steve Murray, Julia Jensen (also known as (a.k.a) Julia Kellett), Piotr Iglikowski, Ed Switalski (a.k.a. Al Gregg) and Robin Blick, with help and contributions from others.

Four issues were produced between March '81 and October '81, each 12 pages long, containing translations of Solidarnosc documents, detailed information (including maps) about the growth of Solidarnosc, essays about Poland and the background to the current situation, articles about the atti-tudes of the Labour movement to developments in Poland, and some news about PSC and its activi-ties. Altogether PSC News probably gave better coverage of Poland, and the issues surrounding it, than other publications available to the public.

Much time and effort was spent placing it in bookshops, and it was eventually , in 1982, success-fully placed in the John Menzies chain of newsagents. Thus it could be found by members of the

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public who were not particularly looking for such a magazine, and had never heard of PSC. The magazine therefore served to inform a wider public about Poland, and gave greater prestige

and credibility to our campaign. For those whose interest in Poland extended to actually doing something to help, the magazine gave people an opportunity to join and become involved in PSC. About 2000 copies were printed of each issue. PSC aimed to place these copies in as many different places as possible (in any case many shops naturally had a limit to how many they would take) so not only was much energy spent in placing the magazine, but much energy was spent in trying to recover the monies afterwards. Also, as people (not PSC members) were being paid for doing the printing, and from 1982 also for layout and typesetting to professional standards, much PSC money was spent on producing the magazines. An idea of the impact 'PSC News' could have on a member of the public is conveyed in the novel 'Spring Will Be Ours' by Sue Gee.

4 - STRUCTURE & INDEPENDENCE

PSC from the first was intended to be a broad-based group of volunteers, independent in terms of structure and identity from all other groups. Under the constitution many groups could affiliate to us. and did, e.g. constituency branches of Labour or Liberal parties, student unions, a dance group, an old people's home, other campaigning groups, as well as numerous branches of trades unions, and even national head quarters of trade unions. N.A.L.G.O. (National Association of Local Government Officers) was very supportive, twelve of their branches affiliated to us, as well as their International Relations Office, with whom we had very good relations.

However, no affiliated organization had a block vote (however many thousands of members the Affiliated organization might represent) and although an organization could take out as many affilia-tion memberships as they wished to send delegates to vote at our AGM only two organization ever did this (four affiliations, four memberships, four votes).

The original Aims and Objectives of the PSC, as formally defined at the 1981 AGM were:

•TO CAMPAIGN TO: 1. Support and defend the struggle of all working class and democratic rights in Poland. 2. Gain recognition in Britain for Polish working class and democratic organisations and for the withdrawal of recognition and support from state - employer puppet organisations. 3. Encourage and assist all forms of contact between working class and democratic organisations in Britain and Poland.'

Although at every AGM from 1982 to date time has been spent amending the constitution (rewording and expanding our aims and objectives, to cope with new developments etc., altering the number and functions of committee posts, etc.), some basic rules have remained from the original constitution drafted by Robin Blick for the 1981 AGM. As different organizations can have very different structures, and the structure of an organisation can make the difference between success and failure, it is worth noting what these basic rules of the structure were.

Firstly: one membership one vote. Members should be able to support the aims and objectives of the PSC, as set out in the constitution.

Secondly: an AGM to be held in the first quarter of each year. Everything to be up for voting at the AGM: the constitution can be amended, resolutions can be proposed and accepted or rejected, and every post on the committee is up for election.

Thirdly: Between AGMs the power passes (through the members at the AGM) to the committee members, and remains with the committee. Only the committee members can vote at the committee meetings held between AGMs, to decide the best way to implement the resolutions and aims and

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objectives decided upon at the AGM. But all PSC members can attend all committee meetings, with full speaking rights, and rights to propose motions, though no voting rights. Indeed any member of an affiliated group can attend our committee meetings, with, time permitting, speaking rights, as is the case for the AGM. (Had the hundreds of thousands of members of our affiliated groups exer-cised this right we might have had a problem).

For the first three years we held 'members' meetings' (usually monthly) where PSC members made decisions that the committee would then decide how to implement at 'committee meetings'. But this was very time consuming, and as less members attended 'members meetings', and those that did were happy to participate in 'committee meetings', the 'members meetings' were scrapped, and replaced with the arrangements outlined above.

So, fundamentally PSC was highly democratic. I invite readers to compare our democratic struc-ture with that of other organisations, (e.g. the main political parties in Britain and Poland). The power was with the members, who could attend all meetings, hold the committee accountable for their decisions, and nominate any member (or themselves) for election at any AGM - and elect the committee.

Nobody was elected for an indefinite period, and there were no obstacles to holding leadership challenges, as every year, at the AGM all committee posts were up, not for challenges, but for elec-tion. Such a democratic structure served PSC well over the years, allowing exhausted members to bow out gracefully at the AGM, and new members who wished to take on responsibilities the chance to get involved by attending committee meetings before standing for committee at the next AGM.

Obviously however, such a democratic and flexible structure could not (and should not) give any group on the committee any permanence, other than by the members' support at the AGM and it did open the possibility of a take-over by outsiders, (people who joined PSC in order to change PSC's direction) as we shall see later. This was a danger that groups with less democratic structures (e.g. less regular elections, co-options of half the committee members by the elected half etc., all com-mittee members to be appointed by a leader elected for indefinite period etc.) would not be so open to.

One point in the original constitution that was later changed (at the 1984 AGM) was that the Chairperson and Secretary could not serve in their respective capacity for more than one year, and that the Secretary could not serve as Chairperson in the following year, or vice versa. The point of this was both to avoid 'ossification', and possible splits and bad feelings among members which might arise if the existing Chairperson or Secretary stood for re-election, in opposition to other con-tenders.

However by 1984 it seemed that this rule could prevent a dedicated and experienced PSC Chairman or Secretary from carrying on in one of these posts (if the membership thought them the best candidate) and PSC might end up with unsuitable leaders, or perhaps, as the years rolled on. and this rule excluded 2 more people each year, no candidates to run PSC as Chairman, or Secretary, at all. In short it would be better to risk 'ossification' than face 'extinction'. And indeed in future years we did have Chairman and Secretaries who served for more than one year, and at times when few wanted to shoulder the burden PSC was glad to have them. But let us return to 1981.

5 - FRICTION AND CONTACTS WITH THE LEFT - AND THE RIGHT

Our relations with groups on the Left sometimes caused friction, and generated suspicion. The first demonstration and march ever organized in Britain on behalf of Polish workers (as distinct from the

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picketing and leaflettings PSC had carried out) was organized, not by PSC, but by a Labour group called "Hands off the Polish Workers Campaign' associated with the Labour leadership of the Greater London Council. The march took place on 12/4/81. PSC supported the event, but tried to get its name taken off a leaflet due to a restriction imposed by the organisers on the wording of placards and banners: 'No Cold War Slogans'. If this meant anything at all it seemed to mean that one could say - 'Hands off Polish Workers' but not say whose hands were threatening the Polish workers, - whose hands had oppressed the Polish people since the war. The leaflet quoted Tony Benn MP: saying "all Democratic Socialists should support Solidarnosc in their efforts to introduce democratic accountability into Poland.'

It was good that Tony Benn, Labour MP, supported Solidarnosc, but this was the same Tony Benn MP who never criticised the totalitarianism of Eastern Europe, had even said on one occasion that as twenty million Soviets had lost their lives fighting the Nazis, he would never criticise the Soviet Union. (One would have thought the sacrifices of the Soviet People in the Second World War would have made it all the more necessary to stand up for the human rights of the Soviet peo-rle. rather than keep silent about the suppression of these rights by the undemocratic Soviet govern-ment). This was the same Tony Benn who had supported inviting Communist Party officials to the Labour Conferences, and continued to support this attitude in the face of our campaign in the Labour NEC in 1981 and 1982 (see later). I emphasize this point because it shows a major differ-ence between PSC's attitude, and actions and those of some of the other groups who seemed to, or did support Solidarnosc.

Despite the restrictions, however, the march went from Hyde Park and past the Soviet Embassy, a route we would often take in future for our marches. So it was pretty clear whose hands were being told to keep off the Polish Workers, and to confirm the point there was a communist counter demonstration outside the Soviet Embassy.

We provided a large turnout at the demo, including a Polish contingent, from the Polish Socialist r-LTty in exile, and others. On the demonstration, held on 12/4/81, the day after the start of the Brixton riots, many PSC members were disgusted to see placards linking the case of the Polish workers with rioters in Brixton and bombers and terrorists in Northern Ireland. This, together with the other differences mentioned above (perhaps typified by a placard reading 'Defence of the Soviet Union - Yes! Stalinism - No!' in contrast to our banner reading 'Polish Unions need your help') made PSC determined to ensure we would hold our own demos in future.

The 'Hands off the Polish Workers Campaign' was a coalition brought together for the staging of this demo, and was never active again. Here was another difference between PSC and some other groups.

We were approached for joint co-operation, with offers of funding, by David Irving, then less well known than subsequently when he has emerged in his true colours as a apologist for Nazism, and a Holocaust denier. We made it clear to him that we wanted nothing to do with him, and had nothing in common with him and his views.

6 - SUPPORT FROM MPs - AND CAMPAIGNING IN THE LABOUR PARTY

During 1980 and 1981 we had public meetings at which (in addition to friendly trade unionists, his-torians, and Polish exiles) Labour MPs such as Ken Weetch, Eric Heffer, and Neil Kinnock spoke. After Martial Law it was not difficult to find supporters for Solidarnosc, but it was rarer then, and something new. Our good relations with such MPs did not stop us picketing and leafleting the Labour conference in 1981 about the decision to invite representatives of communist parties to the Conference, as fellow socialists, instead of the true democrats and socialists that these anti-democra-tic communists were imprisoning.

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At the picket we put our case to Michael Foot (then Labour leader), James Callaghan (ex-Labour leader, and ex-prime minister), Judith Hart and others. Attempts to change this Labour practice were actively pursued by PSC through Wiktor Moszczynski and Naomi Hyamson, and through our friendly Labour MPs such as Eric Heffer. At the 1981 Labour NEC (National Executive Council) we only got 3 votes (Eric Heffer, Neil Kinnock, and a Trotskyist Young Socialist) out of 25, in 1982 we achieved success through a narrow majority (though later on the policy was changed back, to some extent).

No doubt the events of Martial Law had an influence on the voting in 1982, but in 1981 the Labour party was inviting Communists in spite of the events in Hungary in '56 and Czechoslovakia in '68. It was our campaign, linking the events in Poland with the issue of Labour's guest list which was a major factor in the change of policy.

7 - AID FOR SOLIDARNOSC - AND CONTACT WITH IT

Once Solidarnosc was legalized in Poland, they were allowed to accept material support from other trades unions, but from nobody else. From the start PSC set up a Trade Union Appeal Fund, with several MPs and trades unionists as sponsors, for trade union donations for Solidarnosc. (Incidentally Arthur Koestler was approached for support, and while he sent his moral support he felt that the use of his name would be detrimental to the cause). We also encouraged trade unions to donate goods that were still working but no longer required, (e.g. printing equipment) to Solidarnosc. The trade unions supplied the equipment, we supplied the know how as to delivery, and destination, and sometimes the cost of delivery.

We had contacts with Solidarnosc from the earliest days. Apart from the already mentioned help PSC gave to Solidarnosc delegates in June '81, and Nov/Dec '81, PSC had much earlier, in Dec '80 had a meeting in London with Miroslaw Chojecki to arrange closer ties between PSC and Solidarnosc. A similar talk took place between Wiktor Moszczynski and Bogdan Lis and Waclaw Korczynski at Wiktor's home, on 1/8/81. In the meantime Wiktor had been of assistance to Anna Kowalska of KOR in May and June '81, helping her have meetings with Labour MPs, Amnesty International, the GLC (Greater London Council) and the Parliamentary Human Rights Group (with Sir Bernard Braine, Lord Avebury (Eric Lubbock), Frank Allaun). Wiktor also met Janusz Onyszkiewicz and Anna Walentynowicz in July '81. Anna was the worker and activist at the Gdansk shipyard whose sacking had led to the strikes from which Solidarnosc was born. Anna spent a memorable evening with the PSC committee discussing Polish matters. We maintained contact with her, and later had a special 'Anna Walentynowicz' fund to give some help to her when she was imprisoned.

John Taylor was a PSC member who had a lot of contact with Solidarnosc. John was in Poland in September 1980 and helped Solidarnosc acquire a printing press. He bought it allegedly for export from an international trade fair in Poland, but it somehow never left the country. When the goods were not exported John was prevented from leaving the country. So Solidarnosc HQ looked after him until Feb '81, when (having worked with Solidarnosc on a daily basis) he was allowed to leave. Possibly the Polish authorities concluded that he was more dangerous to them inside Poland than outside, as having been punished by not being allowed to leave Poland, he was then prevented from returning until 1990. When John returned to England in Feb 1981 he wrote a book 'Five months with Solidarity', and became an active campaigner with PSC, and on his own initiative.

8 - FUND RAISING, INCLUDING T-SHIRTS

In addition to fund raising through jumble sales, and selling Solidarnosc badges, in October 1981, having already sold some T-shirts, we started a mail order business of selling T-shirts, followed by

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sweat shirts. Through a letter about this in the 'Daily Mirror' (in response to an article criticizing Eric Heffer for wearing one of our Solidarnosc T-shirts at the Labour conference) we received orders in 3 weeks for 1,000 shirts. When dispatching the shirts we sent letters giving full details of PSC, our other sales items, including sweatshirts, and thus by December '81 we were deluged with follow-up orders, and had hundreds of new members throughout the United Kingdom, and thou-sands of pounds sterling.

Many people helped me with the packing and mailing of the first 1,000 shirt orders and some people continued as the sales orders carried on for years. I particularly wish to acknowledge the help of Danuta Gorzynska-Hart, Zofia Hart (aka Ewa Germanis), and Ewa Cwirko-Godycka (aka Ewa Metelska), quite apart from their other activities for PSC later.

9 - OUR LEVEL OF ACTIVITIES-AND THE IMPACT ON OUR LIVES

We no longer have a complete record of our activities during this time, but the volume of such activities completely dominated the lives of many members. We were all volunteers, most of us holding down full time jobs, and finding we were working harder, and probably for more hours in the week for PSC, than at work.

Many of the active committee members were busy with the PSC News, and there was massive correspondence. There was the whole mail order side of things, and the turnover of PSC increased from a few hundred pounds by the '81 AGM to over £22,000 by the '82 AGM, mostly made up of small cheques - perhaps an average cheque was £4.00, so there were a lot of accounting and bank transactions.

Additionally there were meetings - apart from those organised by PSC (committee, members, and public meetings) we also tried to address as many other meetings of other groups as possible. Both before Martial Law, and afterwards there was a high level of interest from all sorts of places.

Anna Lubelska, an active PSC committee member in the first few years remembers four meetings she addressed on behalf of PSC which show not only the breadth of these activities, but also the diverse nature of the organisations that wanted to hear more about what was happening in Poland and show their support. One of these was giving a talk on Solidarnosc and Poland from the pulpit of a church (by the BBC at Portland Place): another through an American member Bob Botsford, was addressing an organization of American Democrats abroad at a rather smart venue in Mayfair, another was at a Labour Conference fringe meeting where she found herself on the same platform as a very pro-Solidarnosc union official who, for reasons now long forgotten, 'everybody was supposed to hate'. On the fourth occasion Anna was addressing a smoke-filled Tribune Group meeting (run by Chris Mullins) at which, although this occurred after Martial Law, there was, among some of the audience, indignation that a group other than the U.S.A. was being identified as the 'bad guys'.

Anna remembers: 'Support for Solidarnosc in England came from both sides of the political spectrum, but I soon realised that people looked at Solidarnosc through their own ideological blink-ers The fact that Mrs Thatcher and President Reagan supported Solidarnosc meant that many people just refused to have anything to do with it. I found myself condemned by an Irish feminist who damned me for supporting Solidarnosc which she believed was a movement which would result in the suppression of women by the Catholic church. I was vilified by Stalinist trade unionists outside the Trades; Union Congress in Brighton. A year later even more trades unionists were against Solidarnosc. This was because the electricians' union, which had always supported Solidarnosc, had broken the printers' strike at Wapping that year and so we were damned by association with them'. Similarly Karen Blick recalls a meeting of the Hayes Labour Party where the idea of supporting Solidarnosc was treated with derision because Solidarnosc was supported by Kate Losinska of the C.P.S.A. (Civil and Public Servants Association).

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Wiktor Moszczynski's records show the sheer volume of meetings activity: in 1981 he attended 48 meetings (either PSC meetings, or meetings on behalf of PSC), in 1982 he attended 64 such meetings, in 1983 he attended 18. (Wiktor was less active after the March 1983 AGM). And in the midst of all this activity, the hundreds of membership applications to be answered, often with let-ters that needed answers to questions, the hundreds of shirts that had to be sent out before Christmas, (for many were ordered as presents), the translations and writing articles, came the events of 13/12/1981. Our response had to be, and was, to increase our efforts - not to be stunned into inactivity.

10 - IMMEDIATE RESPONSES TO MARTIAL LAW

We were all devastated when we heard the news of Martial Law on 13th December 1981 and due to quick action and co-ordination by a number of members (most notably Ed Switalski, who as a keen short-wave listener had monitored the news from Poland till the small hours, and begun organizing from 6am on the Sunday) we managed to organize a demonstration (and get it announced on the radio in advance) outside the Polish Embassy that afternoon, attended by such figures as Eric Heffer MP who attempted to make protests in person to the Embassy.

11 - OUR DEMONSTRATION - 20TH DECEMBER 1981

PSC members and committee members present immediately decided to organize a demonstration in Hyde Park the following Sunday and due to immense efforts by Robin and Karen Blick, Adam Westoby, Tadek Jarski, Wiktor Moszczynski, Jacek Rostowski, Wanda Koscia and others, the demonstration was publicised, organised and stewarded from scratch. Following a press conference in the House of Commons on Wednesday, 16/12/81 attended by Labour MPs Eric Heffer, Peter Shore, and Philip Whitehead, both ITV and BBC television gave much needed publicity to our forthcoming demonstration.

The demo was held in a snow storm with an estimated 14000 people attending. There were speakers from all the main parties of the time - Conservative, Labour, Liberal, S.D.P., and this was probably the first time that speakers from all 4 parties had ever shared a platform together.

Our Secretary, Piotr Iglikowski, who had been in Poland on the day Martial Law started had managed to return to the demonstration in time to give a first hand account of the situation there.

To many in PSC the demo of 20/12/81 and the weeks of organising beforehand were the high point of PSC's achievements. Never again would there be so much sympathy, interest and support for what PSC was doing, from MPs, the media, the Polish community, political groups of all kinds, trade unions, and the British public. Never again would so many people consider that a massive turn -out of support WAS IMPORTANT: never again would so many people in PSC work so hard so quickly (or need to). In future years many who attended on 20/12/81 did not turn up to PSC demos because it was rainy, or because it was sunny: because it was an evening, or because it was an after-noon: because it was a Sunday or Bank holiday, or because it was their shopping day, (Saturday), or because it was a weekday evening. But on 20/12/81, on a Sunday afternoon a few days before Christmas, 14,000 people turned out in a snowstorm to express their dismay and outrage at the events in Poland.

Probably every person who attended has their memories of this emotional demonstration. I remember, with others selling Solidarnosc T-shirts, badges etc. in a snow storm - not the right occa-sion perhaps, certainly not the right weather but with the help of the slogan 'it won't always be snowing' we raised about £400.00 although we were only visible to a small part of the crowd. Although probably everyone in the crowd would have liked the right to speak one Conservative

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M.P. stormed onto the platform in the middle of Robin Blick's speech, pushed Robin in the back, and demanded his right to speak - and was given his chance. (Robin never did finish his speech.)

Apart from this incident the crowd behaved in an orderly and proper manner throughout, giving the lie, as crowds at PSC events always did, to the widely spread belief in Britain that whenever a demonstration occurs where people have strong feelings, violence will inevitably ensue. Incidentally how much the Conservative MP concerned (Harry Greenway) cared about Poland rather than self publicity can be judged from his contribution to a debate in the House of Commons soon afterwards about lack of freedom of speech in Poland. Greenway's contribution was not to talk about Poland, but to protest about his lack of freedom of speech at the PSC demo!

I also recall that all sorts of organisations rallied round in helping with arrangements. As nearly every active PSC member was involved in stewarding 1 was, as PSC treasurer, worried about the lack of spare people to handle the collection of money at the demo, and to safeguard it afterwards. Tadek Jarski therefore arranged that the Group 4 Security firm would collect and safeguard the money, and on the Monday deliver it to the Banking trade union BIFU, who would count it, and then pay the money over by cheque to the 'Medical Aid for Poland' charity, as announced at the demonstration. Both BIFU and Group 4 gave their services free of course, and the arrangement worked well.

Ed Switalski recalls 'Few of us who saw it can forget the sight of the enormous column of people forming up and marching along behind a large cross carried laid flat at shoulder height in the style of a Good Friday by young men from a Polish Centre'.

Among his many memories of the demo, Wiktor Moszczynski, who was chief steward,particu-larly recalls two. As the demonstrators left Hyde Park there was a Trotskyist group waiting outside, with their banners and placards. Wiktor had to tell the Polish demonstrators that the Trotskyists were on our side, and waiting to join the march - not counter-demonstrators to be abused. The num-bers of the demonstrators was so great that neither the PSC stewards, nor the police could keep con-trol (not that there was violence of course) and the march somehow ended being split up, with one part of it following a loudspeaker car, twenty minutes and many streets apart from some thousands of other marchers.

12 - SOLIDARITY WITH SOLIDARITY (SWS)

Tadek Jarski (one of our very active members, though not a committee member) felt he could better carry out the kind of activities he wished to do for Solidarnosc without going through the structure of PSC. An early SWS leaflet claims that SWS was formed on the 14th December 1981. If this date is correct it means that Tadek Jarski did not inform PSC members of the fact until ten days later (24/12/81).

In the intervening period Tadek had been active with other PSC members in organizing the demo of 20/12/81, and had suggested himself (and been accepted) as the demo chairman: a position that was no doubt helpful in establishing a high personal profile. SWS was extremely active, and contin-ued until 1992. Over the years PSC co-operated with SWS on joint demonstrations and activities on occasions, and we often supported their events, and vice-versa. At other times we were denounced by SWS, and our offers of co-operation were spurned. There were quite a lot of members who belonged to both PSC and SWS, and even more people who turned up to both SWS and PSC's pub-lic events, being unaware or indifferent to any frictions between the leaderships of the groups.

The denunciations of PSC, for what we had or had not done, sometimes based on accurate infor-mation, sometimes false, were made in SWS circulars, or at demonstrations outside the Polish Embassy, even in letters to the press. PSC believed that it served nobody's interests except the Polish Government's if Solidarity support organisations were squabbling in public, and even to

squabble in private could lead to hostility, diversion of effort from the real enemy, and reduce the possibility of co-operation in future.

A regular problem thus emerged which was put on the agenda for PSC committee meetings: how to respond to the latest attack? Should we keep silent, and not try to refute the attack, and in some cases let the inaccuracies stick. Should we respond, thus perpetuating and publicising the issue, and give people excuses to have nothing to do with either PSC or SWS? Even to discuss the issue at all at the committee meetings was to use up valuable time, that could be better spent. There was proba-bly no right answer to this problem, but naturally we did respond on occasions, usually by rather cryptic items in our circulars that would mean nothing to those who did not know of the original accusations.

Probably the existence of SWS and PSC spurred both groups to greater efforts, to more activi-ties. SWS was like PSC, an English language organisation, but it perhaps drew a higher proportion of active Poles into its membership than PSC. This may have been due to the fact that unlike SWS we had a changing (often not Polish) leadership and therefore would not be easily identifiable through a well known, recognisable, and charismatic figure. It should also be recorded that SWS organised a demo outside the Polish Embassy every month on the 13th, attended by at least 50 peo-ple, and sometimes many more, from some time in 1982, through to the setting up of the Solidarnosc government in 1989.

13 - CREATION OF SOLIDARITY WORKING GROUP / INFORMATION OFFICE There were many Poles stranded in Britain at the time of Martial Law. PSC members Jacek Rostowski and Wanda Koscia helped set up the 'Solidarity Trade Union Working Group' for such stranded Poles who were also members of Solidarnosc. .Many of these people would not have felt comfortable or effective in PSC at that stage, due to their lack of English. Besides it was a good idea for many reasons to have a group consisting of only Solidarnosc members exiled from Poland.

Wanda in particular did a great deal of work for the group. Jacek and Wanda provided office space for the group in their home, and so had scores of people going in and out of the house at all hours.

From this group developed the 'Solidarity Information Office' run by Marek Garztecki, which produced the 'Voice of Solidarity' magazine, a source of information about what was really going on in Poland. For many years the office was recognized as the official British branch of Solidarnosc abroad, run by Jerzy Milewski, in Brussels.

The 'Solidarity Information Office' was assisted by a number of trade unions. John Spellar of the E.E.P.T.U. (Electrical Engineering and Plumbing Trade Union) arranged for their printing and mail-ing facilities to be put at the disposal of the 'Voice of Solidarity' magazine (later called 'Bloc' when it widened to include information on the whole of Eastern Europe). Later on PSC would have the benefit of these facilities when Marek became PSC chairman in 1988: and John Spellar became a PSC member, indeed vice chairman, and an MP. Additionally office space was provided for the Information Office, first by the N.U.J. (National Union of Journalists), later on by the C.P.S.A. (Civil and Public Servants Association).

Throughout the first years after Martial Law PSC co-operated with the Working Group, and some of their members became PSC members, and even committee members. Most of us had excel-lent relations with Marek Garztecki and the 'Solidarity Information Office' and planned and carried out over the years many joint activities, e.g. demonstrations, stalls at union conferences, rallies etc. Eventually Marek became a PSC member, then committee member, then PSC chairman, for one and a half years (1988 AGM to Oct.1989).

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14 - WORRIES ABOUT INFILTRATION, AND 'UNDESIRABLE' MEMBERS

From January 1982 onwards some PSC people were worried about the Trotskyist connections and associations of some of the individuals joining us, and some of the groups affiliating to us. Others felt it was impracticable to set up vetting procedures, or undesirable.

15 - CHARITABLE HELP TO POLAND

Once Martial Law was declared, the problem of how to get support to Solidarnosc underground arose. Solidarnosc, even before Martial Law, had appealed for massive medical help for Poland from abroad. Although we had high financial commitments PSC handed over the collection money at the 20/12/81 (Martial Law) demo to the 'Medical Aid to Poland' charity: an amount of nearly £4,000. When the charity 'Friends of Poland' which intended to deliver food and clothing to Poland was set up in early 1982, we gave them a grant of £1300 which helped them raise other funding, and carry out the first of their many deliveries over the years.

We also, at the request of the 'Karetka Pogotowia' (Emergency Ambulance) donated essential money, and Ryszard Stepan, a very active PSC member, and later Chairman, set up the 'Lifeline to Poland Fund', sponsored by PSC.

16 - FEAR OF POLISH OR SOVIET GOVERNMENT PENETRATION

Obviously, throughout our activities, there was a worry about possible action against us by the Polish or Soviet authorities. To those of us who were British there was little to worry about, particu-larly if we were not planning to travel to the Communist bloc. But for those who were Polish, or had Polish relatives, there was a fear that their relatives in Poland might be punished for the PSC mem-ber's activities in Britain (though quite possibly the Polish authorities had enough on their hands with ten million Solidarnosc members to worry about). It was more likely that the Polish authorities would bar activists from visiting Poland, or bar activists' relatives from visiting them in England. Some people adopted pseudonyms for their PSC activities, and others put their faith in the leg-endary incompetence of bureaucrats.

In general people or their relatives could travel between Poland and Britain, once the first few months of Martial Law were over, but it might depend on how prominent one was. The wife of one of our prominent members was detained by the authorities on entering Poland, until phone calls to Warsaw revealed it was a man they were after. Further, Wiktor Moszczynski was barred from going to Poland, some years after being PSC chairman.

In general we regarded any such risks as being as nothing compared to the risks of dismissal from work, imprisonment, or even death that activists in Poland were facing. We were always aware that PSC might be penetrated by observers from the Polish or Soviet embassies, indeed we would have been offended if it could now be proved this was not so! At public meetings and demonstra-tions there was always a man from the Polish Embassy, a Mr Iwaszkiewicz (who happened to resemble Lech Walesa).

There was usually also a Special Branch man, to keep an eye on him. And of course with our public meetings, our PSC News on sale, our circulars sent to over a thousand members, many of whom we never saw and did not know, there was nothing to stop any spy from knowing what we did, and who were some of the people in PSC.

One of our later committee members claimed in 1988 that there were many people who reported to the Embassy on what was going on in the Polish community, and who was doing it.

But were there attempts at, not just monitoring of PSC, but also direct interference in our affairs? Kiszczak. the former Ministry of Security states in his memoirs that every pro-Solidarnosc group in

the west was either dominated by spies, or if this proved impossible a breakaway group was formed. No names are mentioned in his memoirs, which could mean that the spy master was staying loyal to his spies, or that his claims are exaggerated or false.

In early 1981 a document was widely circulated to many Polish ex-servicemen (including some who were already dead). It took the form of leaflet recruiting soldiers, and asked the recipient to specify the size of gas mask, uniform size etc., required. It did not give an address for replies, but was attached to a genuine PSC leaflet and a leaflet from the already mentioned David Irving. Who would have done this?

When we planned our demonstration of 20/12/81, in a cafe following our demonstration outside the embassy on 13/12/81 (Martial Law), there was a young man who joined us from that demo. He promised to carry out all sorts of arrangements for us-booking Hyde Park, liaising with the Police, while we could concentrate on other arrangements. He did none of these things, and was never seen again by us. We were sensible enough not to rely on him and we made the arrangements ourselves. Was his intervention an attempt to wreck our demo of 20/12/811

Karen Blick recalls some odd events happening in 1982 that made her conclude something very strange was happening - possibly of the dimensions of a Soviet spy operation.

Marek Garztecki, of the Solidarity Information Office, recalls being warned from Poland against two helpers sent to him by SWS. He barred them from the Office and more evidence later emerged to show that one of them was highly dubious.

Wiktor Moszczynski recalls a demo outside the Polish Embassy at which a Polish young man not seen before or since tried to get the crowd to throw stones at the Embassy - Wiktor and others sent him packing.

The most worrying case was that of Lucjan Latala, a Pole stranded in Britain due to Martial Law, who was highly active with SWS. In September 1982 he was found dead in a park, hanging by his neck from a tree, with his hands tied behind his back. There were a number of reasons why his SWS friends could not agree with the inquest decision of suicide: some relating to Lucjan's personality and family circumstances, others due to details of the evidence.

If suspicion in this case sounds rather far fetched, it should be remembered that it was only a few years before that a prominent Bulgarian George Markov was murdered publicly in London by a Bulgarian secret policeman with a poisoned retractable umbrella tip, and another Bulgarian was found dead at home with a broken neck at the bottom of his stairs - inquest verdict, accidental death.

17 - PRO SOLIDARNOSC GROUPS AROUND BRITAIN

Around Britain pro-Solidarnosc groups were springing up, mostly in response to Martial Law. In Cardiff Mark Jenkins (who had collaborated with Robin Blick in London in the 70s in setting up the 'Greater London Tribune Group') set up a successful S. Wales Solidarnosc support group involving local Poles, the Welsh TUC, the Cardiff Labour Party and Plaid Cymru. PSC News no.7 lists con-tacts for Glasgow, Aberdeen, S.Wales, Brighton, Bristol, Cambridge, Birmingham, Bradford, Coventry, Leicester, Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Nottingham, Sheffield, Southampton, Tyne and Wear, Wyre Forest, Macclesfield, and this list did not claim to be comprehensive. These groups var-ied in size, effectiveness, composition, and types of activities. Many of these groups affiliated to PSC, and had the name Polish Solidarity Committee (which could be shortened to PSC) or even in some cases Polish Solidarity Campaign, which could cause confusion, making them sound like a branch of PSC, rather than an affiliated group.

This would not matter at all except that some of these groups were fronts for Trotskyist groups, or contained Trotskyists in them, and thus might well display attitudes which of course they had a perfect right to hold but we would not want attributed to us. Indeed SWS made capital out of the

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fact that such groups could be regarded as our branches, because of the confusion of abbreviations, and that they were listed as contacts in our PSC News.

Some of these groups did excellent work, providing speaking tours of Scotland and the North of England for Marek Garztecki and another member of the Solidarity Trade Union Working Group, Piotr Kozlowski: on these tours they often addressed up to five meetings a day, varying from factory meetings to city councils. Other groups did other good work as well, though space does not permit details.

18 - PREPARATIONS TO AVOID TAKE-OVER AT 1982 AGM

At the AGM of (May) 1981 we had a membership of 66, mostly in London. By the AGM of March) 1982 we had over 850 members, from all over Britain (and even Denmark and Zambia). Affiliated groups included newspapers such as Socialist Organizer. The 1982 AGM offered a :hance to bring many new talents into the committee. It also offered a chance for some groups to try to change the direction of PSC in various ways.

The International Marxist Group (I.M.G.) saw our AGM as a chance to take over the PSC, through its front groups (e.g. the Manchester group) and possibly, for all we knew, other members of PSC, or delegates of other groups. As mentioned earlier some PSC members had for some time been worried about the Trotskyist associations of some of the individuals and groups joining PSC. Now, due to a leaked document, we knew of a take-over attempt.

Some PSC members took the view that the only way to build a national campaigning organisa-tion for PSC, was to encourage all sorts of groups across the country to join us (as was now happen-ing). These groups might have differing views to ours, but then we were a broad-based campaign. These groups had proved they could do useful work (e.g. the speaking tours for Marek and Piotr), work that PSC was not doing, as we were doing other things, and work that probably only could be arranged, supported and carried out by local groups with local contacts, local accommodation, know how etc.

Additionally, if some of these groups, with their different views, by participating in the PSC AGM, tried to change the direction of PSC to their views, then that was a risk worth taking, and anyway in a democratic organisation such as ours if they could command support for such change of views, that was just the democratic process working normally.

In any case, even if one did not like these groups what could one do about them - there were no constitutional grounds for expelling anybody in the PSC, and on what grounds, and by what processes could one do so?

Those on the PSC committee who had left Trotskyist groups in the past were not keen to see such groups take over the running of PSC: they knew from years of experience what such groups were like, and could imagine the effect such groups would have on most PSC members. They also knew such groups were often highly active on a particular issue for a short time, and might then move on to another issue, leaving PSC with few if any resources to carry on.

Those on the PSC committee who had never been in Trotskyist groups, but who were in the Labour Party, were well aware of the destructive effects that entryist tactics by Militant and others were having on the Labour party, although it was some years before the next Labour leader, Neil Kinnock, was able to do something about it.

Some other PSC members, who had neither first hand experience of such groups nor were mem-bers of the Labour Party found it very strange, to say the least, that groups espousing the names of Lenin and Trotsky were proclaiming their support for free trades unions in Poland. Lenin and Trotsky had not stood up for free speech, freedom of the press, free trades unions, freedom of wor-ship, national self determination, or democratic processes, in the Soviet Union. Indeed they had

brought about the abolition of any such freedoms that had existed under the Kerensky government, and had ensured that such freedoms did not arise in the Soviet Union. And it was the same Soviet Union, and the same political attitudes, that caused the lack of freedom in Poland and led to Martial Law. So what lay behind the activities of these Trotskyists and Leninists, who were now very active for Solidarnosc?

But in addition to all these worries was an awareness of the fact that some of these groups were opposed to two of the basic principles of PSC: one, that it was a broad-based campaign, two that we wanted the Labour movement to break its links with communist trades unions, and with Communist Party officials, throughout the Eastern Block. PSC's attitudes were quite clear on this, through our activities, through the reports on them in PSC News, through our leaflets. (Additionally PSC sup-ported trade sanctions, and some of these groups opposed that). Some of the groups who joined us felt that the cause of supporting Solidarnosc should not be linked with breaking links with commu-nists, although some of these groups were keen to combine the cause of Solidarnosc with campaign-ing about British Trade Union Rights, and against the Conservative Government, and the American President Ronald Reagan.

So what was the response of those on the PSC Committee who did not welcome the proposed take-over, and were concerned about the effect some of these groups might have on PSC?

Firstly, it should be recorded that there were NO dirty tricks, or constitutional or procedural manoeuvres to exclude any PSC member, or affiliated groups from participating in the AGM. It would have been easy for the committee to have decided to exclude those who had joined PSC at the last moment from participating, by imposing a deadline for membership say one month before: or by just not getting round to sending out AGM details, membership cards, and not cashing cheques for the most recent members, or selected recent members. But nothing like this was done.

Hundreds of membership applications were received in each of the three months between Martial Law and the AGM. They were all processed until the last moment, with all PSC members being sent newly printed PSC membership cards, and AGM details. Additionally accommodation was on offer for the Saturday night before the AGM, and the Sunday night after, for those attending from outside London.

Secondly, those who had built up PSC from nothing, who had campaigned from the very first for 'breaking links', who had worked hard to make PSC not just a labour movement organisation, but a broad-based organisation, were not going to see PSC fall victim to entryist and take-over manoeu-vres that would entirely change the direction and nature of the organisation. Those of us who had built up PSC funds through the running of jumble sales, and the selling of thousands of shirts did not want to see PSC run by those who alleged that it was 'CIA funded" or that 'Robin Blick is to the right of Ghengis Khan'. The fight would be fought at the AGM on the basis of attitudes, and princi-ples, and would be won or lost through the PSC democratic process. Robin Blick, Karen Blick. Wiktor Moszczynski and Naomi Hyamson had a meeting where they worded a series of aims and objectives for the constitution, and a series of resolutions for the coming year's activities: and also constitutional amendments concerning the structure of PSC.

Thirdly, by a series of last minute telephone calls we tried to inform as many PSC members as possible of the proposed take-over, and stressed to these members (who might otherwise have not attended, being happy with the way PSC was run) the importance of attending the AGM.

19 - 1982 AGM - AND OUTCOME

The 1982 AGM, held on Sunday 28/3/82 was a very tense meeting. About 200 members attended, and we had a very strict and well organised checking-in procedure, to cope with the numbers as quickly as possible, but to prevent gate crashers and impersonations. Karen Blick, who chaired the

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meeting informed all present, in her introductory remarks, of the proposed takeover of PSC, and indeed everybody had a copy of the document as part of their AGM papers. However the impact of the announcement was somewhat lost due to the poor microphone system in the hall (this was a problem throughout the meeting, for those without loud voices), due to the poor reproduction quali-ty. of the leaked document, due to the masses of AGM documents handed out to everybody (copies of existing constitutions, previous minutes, reports, several draft constitutions, numerous resolutions etc.) and due to the fact that many people arrived late, due to the clocks having changed to British Summer Time overnight!

The meeting was of a contentious nature, and this led to each candidate standing for election not only making a speech but also being questioned on their attitudes. In view of this and the number of alternative constitutions, aims and objectives, and resolutions submitted it says much for the chair-ing of Karen Blick and John Taylor that the meeting was completed at all. The proposed takeover by the IMG was not successful. Resolutions the IMG supported were amended to exclude linkage, and politically loaded jargon; and other resolutions, aims and objectives, and constitutional changes proposed by Robin Blick and Wiktor Moszczynski) were passed by the AGM. Having seen all this the IMG saw no point in standing for the committee.

By the end of this AGM, PSC had a much larger committee than before, mostly consisting of existing PSC committee members, or long term PSC activists, plus 3 regional members, associated with Trotskyist groups. Founder member Robin Blick had not stood for the committee feeling that given its composition his presence would lead to increasing polarization and friction. The rest of us either felt that there were no undesirable elements on the committee, or that by remaining in the committee and fighting for what we stood for we would win, or that for the good of the cause we should put our differences aside.

20 - CONSEQUENCES OF 1982 AGM

Shortly after the AGM the Glasgow Polish Solidarity Committee disaffiliated from PSC, citing in their letter to us their differences in views to ours. Two articles very critical and somewhat mislead-ing appeared about our AGM in the left press: ('Socialist Organiser' which had actually affiliated to PSC before the AGM, and 'Socialist Challenge'). Our AGM was apparently a wasted opportunity to build up a national labour movement to support Solidarnosc. However those groups who were alien-ated from us at the AGM would now be holding a conference to establish such a movement. If they did it did not produce results that we ever heard of.

These articles probably helped ensure that nobody would try to take us over again- the word got around that we had a substantial membership and were no push-over. Quite possibly we had been saved by the large numbers of Poles who had joined us at the 20/12/81 demo, (and 'Daily Mirror' readers who joined us as a result of our T-shirt letters?) and the curious fact that the groups who wanted to take us over were all based well outside London.

Other groups whose views were different to ours either disaffiliated, or took no further part in our activities, and did not renew their annual membership.

Perhaps the main long term consequence of the 1982 AGM was that PSC never built up a nation-al structure with branches in different parts of the United Kingdom, although the constitution con-fined rules for such branches. Was this because we feared that if we tried to set up branches in places like Manchester, or Glasgow, we would just be creating trouble for ourselves as they would be taken over by the Trotskyist groups we had contact with? Or was it because none of us in London thought it worth the time and effort to travel the country trying to hold founding meetings?

Possibly yes to both questions. But additionally many of us from the start thought it better to let affiliated groups organize themselves, whether they were created to support Solidarnosc, or whether

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they were existing organizations (e.g. union branches) who wished to support Solidarnosc as one of their many activities. Some of us who handled membership and money could see all sorts of prob-lems in the existence of branches with members and monies both separate and shared. Additionally there could be problems about how independent the branches should be from the national organiza-tion, etc. These problems were highlighted in the 1982/3 year when briefly, in addition to national committee meetings, and national members meetings, we tried to have the concept of a separate London branch, with its own activities, decisions etc. There were too many layers, and it was an unworkable concept.

However, we did make it clear that if any PSC member wished to start a regional branch a PSC committee member would attend the founding meeting. The initiative should therefore come from the regional member, rather than from the PSC committee. No PSC member ever tried to start such a local branch until a short lived Scottish branch was set up in 1988.

So in what sense was PSC a national organization, rather than a London organization? Firstly of course we did have members and affiliated groups throughout the U.K., who received

the PSC News, and the monthly circulars - so we were trying to inform people nationally of events in Poland, and involving people nationally in some of our activities e.g. adoption of political prison-ers, collecting monies for Poland, buying our sales items, or selling them to other people, signing our petitions, inviting our speakers for meetings, etc.

Secondly, we did try to send speakers across the country to speak to groups, (whether PSC affili-ated or otherwise) or/and show videos when invited. We maintained contact with various pro-Solidarity groups around the country, e.g. Wyre Forest, Nottingham, Manchester (a different group to the one that had been connected with the l.M.G.) etc., whether or not these groups were affiliated to us, got good support from them with our national petitions, gave them publicity in PSC News, and invited them to give a report on their activities to our AGMs (either a written report, or a report given in person).

Thirdly, we did try to carry out the activities that a national rather than just a local organization would do, in the sense that we tried to deal with organizations at their national headquarters, or national conferences. Being in London, the capital city, naturally made this easier, whether we were demonstrating outside Embassies, or liaising with the TUC, visiting the House of Commons for meetings, or the headquarters of the main political parties, or trade unions, or national newspaper buildings, or the BBC. But apart from this we attended the national conferences of individual trades unions and the TUC, and of individual political parties. And, as detailed later we sent out question-naires to political candidates from across the U.K., and participated in, and hosted international con-ferences of Solidarnosc Support Organizations.

So while it is true that we did not have local branches, our committee meetings and AGMs were held in London, and the bulk of our active members came from London or within reach of London, nevertheless we were a national campaign in terms of our campaigning.

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Chapter 2

Post 1982 AGM to the 1989 Polish Round Table Agreement

PSC ACTIVITIES - A GENERAL DESCRIPTION

With Solidarnosc activists in gaol and Poland under Martial Law it was easier to get support for our cause than before.

On 30/1/82 we had, in response to Solidarnosc's call for a 'Day of Solidarity' organized an indoor meeting of about 1,000 people, with speakers from all the major parties and such people as Vladimir Bukovsky. It was followed by a march to the Polish Embassy with crosses for those mur-dered under Martial Law.

More generally, PSC ran stalls selling literature and fund raising items, not only at our own -emonstrations, socials, and lectures, but also at all sorts of events held by other people: fairs (from riapham Common to the Polish Fawley Court among others) rock concerts, outside or inside the-atres and cinemas, and also very importantly at trade union and party conferences, often in conjunc-tion with the Solidarity Information Office. We continued to organize demonstrations, sometimes outside the Polish embassy, and always at least one massive annual demo, marching across London, either in August or December or both. (Having had appalling weather at our Dec'81 and '82 demos, we thereafter organised indoor events to commemorate Martial Law).

Two of our members took part in the SWS one week hunger strike. We organised demonstrations referring to the historical causes of the Polish situation: a May Day (constitutional) demo, at which Professor Norman Davies, the historian, contributed a specially written article to be read out; several Nazi-Soviet peace pact demos, at which speakers who had been deported to Siberia spoke of their memories of the day the Soviets invaded Poland. We took part, wearing Solidarnosc shirts and radges, in the annual Katyn rally ceremony.

We held exhibitions, video shows and slide shows, we provided platforms for speakers from Poland. We took part in some May Day rallies organised by the TUC, and aroused hostility by our presence and banners, as well as support. We tried to challenge events supporting the domination by the Soviet Union, by picketing Communist Party, Anglo-Soviet Friendship Society, and Soviet Weekly events. We opposed misleading reporting in newspapers on Poland: the articles by Hella Pick in the 'Guardian' (of all papers) were particularly disgraceful (she seemed to regard Solidarnosc and the aspirations of the Polish people as a provocative nuisance that the Polish gov-ernment had to deal with, rather than vice versa) and Wiktor Moszczynski managed to get the Guardian to print his article criticising their general coverage of Poland.* We tried to ensure that commercial organisations which made money out of selling Lech Walesa posters or Solidarnosc badges made contributions to Solidarnosc or Polish causes. (This was not easy, as such organisa-tions could always claim they had made anonymous donations to a Polish cause that must remain secret). We even demonstrated at a football match (England v Poland Under 21) so that our pro-Solidarnosc banners and chants would not only be seen by the players, but also by the TV viewers in Poland. (That was our intention, but the match unfortunately didn't get television coverage).

Above all we carried on as we had done from the earliest days, sending speakers to every sort of event at which people would listen to us.

Year in, year out we organised the events described above, or took part in other peoples' events. As time went by naturally the public got less interested, and the numbers attending the mass

* In December 1994 Richard Gott features editor of the Guardian resigned after admitting to having holidays paid for by the KGB, as well as secret meetings with KGB officers over the years.

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demos marching across London lessened. The activists were all or mostly out of gaol, tanks were no longer on the streets, and many people thought that Solidarnosc underground was not really active or effective, or had no hope of future success. It was always our mission to inform people of the real situation, to remind them that the loss of rights brought about by the suppression of Solidarnosc still existed, even if it wasn't in the news. We were always giving publicity to the documents reaching us from Poland.

22 - POLISH REFUGEE RIGHTS GROUP

PSC felt there was a need for an organisation to help Polish exiles by campaigning to get them resi-dence in Britain, and give practical help to them in form filling, dealing with the Home Office, etc.

From our initial meeting in 1982 emerged the 'Polish Refugee Rights Group' run by Nina Ozols. a completely separate organisation (though always on good terms with us, and co-operating well with us when appropriate). It is still in 1994 in existence as the East European Advice Centre, very busy helping refugees from Bosnia, Serbia, and Croatia, and also helping with the social problems of E. European refugees accepted in Britain in the 1980s.

23 - RESIGNATIONS, WITHDRAWALS, PSC NEWS AND CIRCULARS

In 1982 Robin Blick resigned from PSC when the PSC committee confirmed the right of the editor of PSC News, Steve Murray, not to commission an article that Robin was prepared to write on the origins of the puppet trades unions in Poland and Eastern Europe. Due to the nature of the article, and the views of the PSC Editorial Board, Robin saw this as political censorship: the PSC commit-tee mainly saw it as an editorial decision as to what to leave out among competing items and news. Robin was the first of the main activists to withdraw, and there were more to come.

PSC News did not cover its costs, it was using up much of our money. After Martial Law we started paying for professional typesetting and design . This was because the intention had been to produce it to professional standards in order to be able to sell through bookshops, and newsagents. (Indeed John Menzies did accept it, after Martial Law , while W. H. Smiths would not handle it . though , for no doubt commercial reasons, they did handle 'Marxism Today'). There was friction between those of us who saw PSC News as an essential element of our campaign, bringing the news to a wider audience than our members, and increasing the prestige and influence of PSC - and those of us who were worried that it might bankrupt us, and that the selling of the magazine (the placing in the shops, the collecting of the monies later) would be a massive diversification of our efforts. Two of our committee members, Karen Blick (founder member) and Judy Barker, who both held the latter view, resigned from the committee about these and other PSC News issues.

By the time of the 1983 AGM (6/2/83) the position of PSC News was as follows: 1. There had been 10 issues: four before Martial Law, six afterwards. The first four issues had

12 pages, and about 2,000 copies each. Issues 5 to 10 all had 16 pages, with 5,000 copies each (indeed no.5, produced in Jan '82 had a reprint, so a total of 8,000 copies were printed).

2. An immense amount of work had been put into the magazine, particularly by the Editorial Board who were reduced to three (Piotr Iglikowski, Steve Murray, Ed Switalski (aka Al Gregg) I after resignations or non-activities by the 2 other board members.

3. Sales of PSC News were now declining, as the memory of 13/12/81 receded in the public's mind.

4. By the AGM PSC had an income of nearly £25,000 in the preceding year, but only had about £900.00 left (excluding monies pledged for Poland). Costs of PSC News had been trimmed from over £1,000.00 an issue to just under £900.00 per issue with each issue making a loss of about £500.00.

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5. PSC News was suspended until the 1983 AGM, to avoid bankrupting the organisation. The Editorial Board made two alternative suggestions: either:

To produce a joint bulletin with the Solidarity Trade Union Working Group every two months (leaving the STUWG to produce their fortnightly bulletins the rest of the time) with PSC costs of between £500 to £700 per issue;

Or, to abandon PSC News and distribute to our members, and sell at events, the STUWG bul-letins.

The 1983 AGM passed a resolution to restrict the number of copies of PSC News printed to the number of PSC members plus 800 maximum; to attempt to make full use of existing members' skills in typesetting and layout, instead of paying for these services; and to aim to produce PSC News every two months but to consider collaborating with the STUWG on the joint venture.

This motion was passed because the AGM felt the costs of producing PSC News in large print runs could no longer be tolerated. As a result, Steve Murray and Julia Jensen chose not to stand for either the committee or the editorial board, and took no further part in PSC activities. At one stage it seemed that nobody wanted to stand for the post of PSC News editor. Eventually an offer was made by Marion Biernat, who was editor of the SWS bulletin at the time: some people thought this a gen-erous offer, others thought it a suspicious development. Ed Switalski, who had been waiting to be nominated all along then volunteered and was duly elected. Piotr Iglikowski was elected to the edi-torial board, and the committee, but resigned soon after, and took no further part in PSC activities.

Three more copies of PSC News were produced by Ed Switalski, with Maris Ozols (PSC Secretary 1983/4) and Naomi Hyamson (PSC Secretary 1982/3). Issue no.ll had 20 pages, nos. 12 and 13, the latter dated 'Spring 1984', had 12 pages. These issues, in accordance with the AGM res-olution, were home-produced without recourse to professional layout, typed for free by PSC mem-ber Kasia Budd, and laid out by Ed and Maris at Maris' home. The extra work involved limited the number of issues produced to three in that year.

Additionally PSC produced a booklet 'Solidarity Underground' which explained in detail how Solidarnosc was managing to function underground - how underground bulletins were printed, how union dues were collected, what activities were still happening, etc. This was written by John Taylor, Jacek Rostowski, and Wanda Koscia, with a cover design by the artist (and PSC member) Jan Pienkowski. This booklet was produced in September, 1983 and was sold in the thousands, for several years. Discussions were held over a period of time with Marek Garztecki of the STUWG, (by now Marek was actually representing the Solidarity Information Office, which produced the 'Voice of Solidarity' bulletin) but somehow no agreement to produce a joint bulletin was ever arrived at.

Later on PSC decided to stop producing PSC News, and include much more news to our members in our monthly circulars, which were also sent to selected supporters and influential people. The monthly circular often included up to ten sides of text, and being monthly rather than every 2 or 3 months (as PSC News often was), could contain more up to date news. In addition to articles and translated documents every PSC Circular included a detailed 'Month in Poland' page or two itemising the main events in Poland on an almost daily basis. The 'Month in Poland' was compiled by several different people over the years. The circular was produced by typewriter and photocopy paper, and 'A as a real scissors and paste job - no professional layout, no professional fees, no professional delays.

Later on we made an arrangement with 'Voice of Solidarity' to distribute 'Voice' to all our members, in addition to carrying on with our circular.

24 - SOURCES OF SUPPORT, AND THE STRUGGLE TO CONTINUE

After the 1983 AGM we were in the position that altogether five of our most active earliest mem-rers had withdrawn or resigned in the previous year (i.e. Robin Blick, Karen Blick, Steve Murray,

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Julia Jensen, Piotr Iglikowski) and their skills and energies were missed (though this meant that some of the frictions, and the reasons that had caused them, had now disappeared). Additionally two other committee members had resigned for differing reasons in the previous year (Judy Barker and Charles Raby who had looked as if he would make a major contribution to PSC). Inevitably, as the years went by others left due to internal differences (e.g. Walter Kendall, as described later on), or became less active due to other commitments, and/or exhaustion. The work seemed to be falling on less and less people.

We might have hoped for large number of activists to come forward from the Polish Students Association (ZSAPWB). We had three active committee members who were also successive presi-dents of ZSAPWB: Piotr Iglikowski, Ed Switalski (who stayed a PSC member throughout) and Adam Robinski (who was a student contact at Bristol). Another ZSAPWB member was Ewa Cwirko-Godycka (aka Metelska) active with us from 1981 starting while still at school. By this route we had good co-operation with the Polish Students Assoc. for socials, publicity, stewarding at demos, and through Adam, individual students who were good at P.A. systems, or driving pick-up trucks were helpful on occasions though reluctant (or in one case even offended at being invited!) to get involved more regularly. Regrettably a stream of students or graduates to work with us month by month did not materialize.

Similarly we might have hoped that once the members of the Solidarity Working Group (S.T.U.W.G.) had improved their English and felt better established in this country they too would have played a major part in PSC. The process seemed underway when at the March 1983 AGM two STUWG members were elected to the PSC committee: Jurek Jerozalski, and Marek Ciborowski. At the March 1984 AGM two different STUWG members were elected to the committee: Artur Swiergiel, the STUWG chairman, and Tesa Ujazdowska, an actress who had been imprisoned dur-ing Martial Law.

But for various reasons none of the four mentioned above were able to get highly involved with the regular running of PSC: Marek and Artur studied at Loughborough and Cambridge Universities respectively for instance. Each of the four only served on the committee for up to one year, though Tesa kept in contact with us, and was willing to speak on our platforms at PSC demos, and once went on a speaking tour of Amnesty International branches. Leaving aside the case of Marek Garztecki (see later) only two STUWG members ever got really involved with the regular running of PSC - Anna Boszko who was our membership secretary for two or three years, although she chose not to be a committee member. Also Danuta Gorzynska, later Danuta Gorzynska-Hart, who never actually became a PSC member, but from Summer 1982 onwards helped me daily in my PSC work.

As time went by the number of people belonging to the STUWG dropped considerably. Some dropped out, some went to universities or jobs elsewhere, some took jobs that were incompatible with high profile campaigning (e.g. BBC Polish Service), some left the country, some returned to Poland. Of those remaining some worked closely with Marek Garztecki and the Solidarity Information Office. Others (some of whom had fallen out with Marek) either got involved with Solidarity with Solidarity, helped charities such as Medical Aid for Poland or Friends of Poland, or made their own initiatives such as sending parcels to Poland.

Once again the hoped for influx into PSC did not arrive. A third possible source of support for our efforts might have been those who obtained help from

the Polish Refugee Rights Group, to claim residence in this country, as refugees. If these people were so concerned about events in Poland that they were claiming refugee status then surely they would want to do all they could to help those left behind. Some of these people left for other coun-tries, some probably returned home, none that I know of got actively involved with PSC.

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Perhaps the influx did happen - it just did not mainly happen to PSC. Quite possibly many were Helping Poland by helping 'Medical Aid to Poland' or 'Friends of Poland' charities, or getting involved with Solidarity with Solidarity.

Luckily some individuals did come forward, or long term members became more active. Marion Pitman became treasurer in 1983, releasing me to have time for the other PSC things I was trying to do. Wojtek Dmochowski (aka Tomaszewski) was very active for many years: Barbara Lubienska organized our socials, and introduced many people into PSC, some of them becoming PSC commit-tee members, Sue Chinnick was a very active committee member for years. Ryszard Stepan who v. as PSC chairman for a year was immensely hard working throughout many years, either openly or rvshind the scenes, and totally reliable and unflappable.

We had excellent co-operation with Marek Garztecki and his 'Voice of Solidarity' office, and later he became a committee member, and chairman for 1 '/2 years. Marek brought with him Agnieszka Huston who has remained on the committee to this day (1994).

Nevertheless, during these years, particularly from 1984-88 some of us felt that a few of us were taking on rather a lot, and we missed the political skills and knowledge (both of Poland, and the Labour movement) and the contacts of some of those who had either dropped out of PSC, or were still with us, but less active than before. It was tiring but we kept going.

25 - RELATIONS WITH POLISH ORGANISATIONS

A natural source of support for our efforts (financial and otherwise) might have been the Polish clubs throughout Great Britain. If we could sell thousands of shirts etc to individuals throughout Britain (some of Polish descent, many not) due to one letter in a newspaper, how much better could we do by direct approaches to Polish clubs?

In December 1981 we had written to every Polish club listed in the Polish year book, informing them of our details and activities, and offering them arrangements for the sale of our T-shirts etc. on a sale or return basis. Very disappointingly only one club replied and sold our shirts. Perhaps a travelling member who could visit each club, and make personal contacts would have been successful in achieving sales and support (as we were when we placed sales items in the POSK bookshop in Hammersmith) but there are limits to what a voluntary organisation can do.

Incidentally the energies and achievements of one of our affiliated groups, Wyre Forest PSC, showed how much support could be raised from a local Polish club, when there were two or three local activists (in this case two Liberal councillors, Fran and Mike Oborski) to prompt and maintain such activity.

We always had good relations with the Polish Socialist Party in Exile : they were affiliated to us from the earliest days, and two of their members, and long term PSC members, Mr Wasik and Mr Prokopowicz have usually been on the PSC audit team. We have also had good relations with the Federation of Poles of Great Britain. The Federation chairman, Mr Rynkiewicz, who spoke at many of our events allowed us access to the names and addresses of all the organisations comprising the Federation, and we always used this list to publicise our demonstrations and other appropriate events. This would be in addition to posters put up in London Polish clubs, leafleting outside most of the London Polish churches, as well as publicity in the non-Polish community.

Some of our members were either members of, or associated with the Polish Government in Exile, but this organisation had very little to do with PSC. They were involved with a very well organised rally at the Albert Hall in Jan 1982, (which was organised by a mostly Parliamentary group called 'British Solidarity with Poland') and apparently gave much money to Solidarnosc over the years. However they never organised a demonstration throughout the years, although they did issue a statement in April 1982 saying that those who organised pro-Polish events should work

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through them. This statement was not actually sent to those who actually did organise such events (i.e. PSC, SWS in London) so not surprisingly PSC carried on its activities, and took no notice of the statement.

Twice, when addressing a world wide Conference of Solidarnosc Support Organisations (C.S.S.O.) a spokesman for the Government In Exile made clear, when questioned, that it was not their practise or policy to use their influence to encourage people to attend demonstrations organised by us or SWS.

Some of our members take the view that it was not the business of the Government in Exile to get involved with demonstrations, but recall seeing some of the leaders of the Government in Exile attending our events in an individual capacity.

26 - OUR WIDE RANGING APPROACH- GOVERNMENT, MAIN POLITICAL PARTIES, TRADE UNION CONGRESS, 'PEACE' MOVEMENTS

Our campaigning was now more widespread in political terms. Although before Martial Law PSC contained members from across the mainstream political spectrum it had been vital to get publicly stated support and practical help for Solidarnosc from the Left and the Labour movement. Open support from other political areas might have been an embarrassment to Solidarnosc, which could then be denigrated by the Polish government as not being a real trade union but a group created or supported by foreign groups or foreign governments hostile to working class movements and the existing Polish state. Such denigration could then be used as a pretext to suppress Solidarnosc.

Once Martial Law occurred the situation was entirely different. With thousands beaten or impris-oned, people being murdered, tanks on the streets etc it seemed to PSC (and people in Poland) that the more help and pressure that could be raised in the West against this abuse of human rights, the better.

And so, from the Martial Law demo (20/12/81) onwards we aimed to create a climate of opinion in favour of Solidarnosc and the Polish people from all possible sources. We wanted those who might claim that Solidarnosc had gone too far, had unrealistic demands, had brought the crisis on themselves, isolated within their political groupings. So we campaigned within each political party. at times creating a competitive atmosphere between the parties to offer more public support for Solidarnosc and Poland. Additionally at every major demo and public event we tried to get speakers from all the four main political parties and usually succeeded.

At that time it was a Conservative government in power. If its power could be used in terms of international political and financial pressure to influence the Polish communist government, so much the better.

In the early 1980s it appeared quite possible that either Labour, or perhaps a Liberal-S.D.P. partnership might win the next election, or form part of a coalition government. So apart from all the other reasons for campaigning in, and obtaining support from the main four political parties, it was sensible to take our campaign to parties and people that might well be part of a future govern-ment.

The more important the M.P. who spoke on our platform was, the more that M.P.s speech com-mitted his or her party to a policy of supporting Solidarnosc and the Polish people. The best exam-ple of this was when Peter Shore said that he spoke for the Labour party when supporting Solidarnosc - and that Arthur Scargill did not speak for the Labour Party in denigrating Solidarnosc.

Over the years our Labour speakers included Philip Whitehead, shadow cabinet minister Peter Shore, Eric Heffer and Alf Dubbs and several others (while Neil Kinnock had been a speaker for us before he became party leader). S.D.P. speakers included Shirley Williams and Bill Rodgers (two of

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The four founder members of the S.D.P.). Liberal speakers Simon Hughes, Eric Lubbock, and Paddy Ashdown (before he became Liberal leader). Government rules did not permit government ministers to speak at our types of rallies so we never had the most prominent Conservatives on our platforms. However we were always pleased to have speeches from Sir Bernard Braine (the longest serving M.P. at that time) and from Euro M.P. and historian Lord Bethell.

At the same time it was necessary to lobby the TUC and the trades unions to consolidate, main-tain and extend the shift in favour of Solidarnosc, instead of the Polish Communist trade union and to ensure that the international trade union movements would expel or marginalise the communist trade unions, and support Solidarnosc.

Both these aims were achieved, and when Lech Walesa visited Britain in 1989 he was of course a guest of the TUC, not the government.

In the early 1980s there had been a massive increase in the membership and activities of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (C.N.D.), and there had been the emergence and growth of European Nuclear Disarmament (E.N.D.) The historian and campaigner E. P. Thompson was widely credited (or blamed) for this, and he spoke on our platforms before Martial Law, at the Martial Law demo. and subsequently.

E.P.Thompson and E.N.D. had good contacts with PSC from the earliest days, as already described. They had given PSC member John Taylor a platform for his speaking tours, and had spo-ken out on behalf of Solidarnosc. The E.N.D. movement included members or sympathizers such as Czech dissident Jan Kavan and Soviet dissident Zhores Medvedev.

Among PSC members, and those attending PSC demos were those who thought it ridiculous to claim that the abandoning of the West's nuclear weapons would in some way help those suffering _-under totalitarian rule in Poland. They thought it more likely that the unilateral abandoning of such weapons would make the West more vulnerable to the spread of such rule, from the Soviet Union. Robin Blick, who was a fellow speaker with E.P.Thompson on 20/12/81 recalls him saying on that occasion 'American nuclear weapons won't protect Polish workers'. Some people found it distaste-ful that a week after Martial Law we had a speaker using this occasion to promote his views on American nuclear weapons (which might after all protect the West, if not Polish workers) rather than confining his remarks to the situation in Poland. But in any case, if the decision by Gorbachev not to prop up totalitarian regimes in Poland, E. Germany etc. was due to the Soviet Union's eco-nomic problems caused by the expense of nuclear arms race, then it now looks as if E. P. Thompson's claim was wrong - American nuclear weapons did protect the Polish workers.

PSC lost one or two members through E. P. Thompson's speech. When the November 1983 cir-cular reported 'The PSC team were out in force on October 22nd at the CND rally' one member resigned, assuming that this implied we were supporting the CND. Perhaps the phrase was ambigu-ous but it was in the context of an article detailing how PSC had sold the 'Solidarity Underground' booklets at various events: £400.00 having been raised at the C.N.D. event (by sale of items averag-ing 50p in price). The matter was clarified in a subsequent circular.

In fact most PSC members realized and accepted that our contact with the 'Peace' movements was an inevitable and necessary consequence of our wide ranging approach to inform as many as possible of the true situation in Poland, and to maximise support for Poland. Some of our members may have agreed with E. P. Thompson, (for example Peter Cadogan of 'East-West Peace People' or an affiliated group 'Green CND'); others certainly did not. But of course we had varying attitudes among our members to other speakers on our platforms.

At our 1986 AGM a motion was passed making it clear that PSC had no official view on peace movements, and that our support for persecuted peace activists in Poland was on the grounds of freedom and human rights, rather than agreement with their views.

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27 - FRICTION DUE TO TACTICS AND PROCEDURES

This wide ranging approach across the political spectrum (first adopted at the Martial Law demo of 20/12/81) might have been expected to have caused friction among the members, but in general it didn't.

There were no major frictions about the Trotskyist-linked members from the regions who had been voted onto the committee at the 1982 AGM. Within a year or two they were no longer active with us. What did cause friction were three different issues.

Issue 1: There were still various people in the Labour movement or trade union movement who supported totalitarian governments, and their bogus trade unions, while condemning Solidarnosc: Arthur Scargill, leader of the N.U.M. (National Union of Miners) was an example.

Should PSC take issue with such people a/ openly, b/ behind the scenes or c/ not at all? Issue 2: If the PSC chairman/chairwoman thought an action was necessary, in response to devel-

opments that would not wait for the next committee meeting, what should be done? Should he or she a/ get approval to action by contacting all committee members for responses or b/ do nothing until the next committee meeting?

Issue 3: Should our opposition to totalitarianism in Poland be extended to a/ the whole Eastern Bloc, including countries forcibly incorporated into the Soviet Union, such as the Baltic States - or b/ be confined to Soviet dominated countries outside the Soviet Union (e.g. Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary etc.) -or c/ confined to Poland?

PSC had precedents to saying yes to option a/ in all three cases: 1. PSC had picketed the TUC conference in 1980 (its first public action after formation) and

picketed the Labour conference in 1981, both very public actions, rather than behind the scenes. 2. Quite possibly the procedural niceties of committee meetings had been abandoned in the

activity of organising a demonstration in one week, in response to the imposition of Martial Law. 3. We had invited representatives of the E. European exile communities to attend our demon

strations with their national flags: some of these were of countries in the Soviet Union. However:

1. By the year 1984 and early 1985, when these issues caused differences within the committee, most of those who had taken part in the pickets of 1980 and i 981 had left PSC.

2. It could be argued that the response to Martial Law (i.e. holding an instant demo, and then organising a massive one from scratch, to be held within a week) had to be an exception to normal procedure justified by exceptional circumstances, rather than a precedent.

3. Not everybody on the PSC committee was happy about the display of flags at our demos. In any case it could be argued that it was one thing to have flag displays among hundreds or thousands of people attending a demo: it was another thing entirely to commit PSC in writing to certain views about the rights of self determination of Soviet conquered countries, such as the Baltic States. (Similarly it was one thing to have CND slogans on placards among those attending the demos, and even have a CND speaker on the platform - it would have been another thing entirely for PSC to espouse CND views.)

Eventually there was an action which seemed to combine the three issues. On 21 st January, 1985 Ryszard Stepan, the PSC Chairman sent to the leader of the Labour Party,

Neil Kinnock, a letter expressing dismay at how few Labour MPs were signing some early day motions in support of human rights in Eastern Europe. One early day motion concerned the hunger strike of Polish political prisoners, another motion concerned the murder of Father Popieluszko, and a then forthcoming motion concerned the Yalta Agreement. Ryszard's course of action involved option (a) in all three issues, as follows:

1. The action was open, rather than behind the scenes, in that the next PSC

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circular described the letter, included the wordings of the motions, included a list of M.P.s who had signed the motions and drew attention to the fact that few of these M.P.s were Labour. The circular encouraged PSC members to lobby their M.P.s to sign the motions.

2. The letter was written and sent to Neil Kinnock between committee meetings, after notifica tion to committee members with a limited time given to them for their response.

3. The third of the early day motions that Ryszard referred to called for the recognition of the rights of the Baltic States for self government, on the grounds that the Yalta Agreement had never been implemented by the Soviet Union, which had broken its side of the agreement by not holding free elections, etc. In 1994 it is hard to see how anybody could object to any of what Ryszard had done, and indeed some of us felt that way back in 1985. But at the time it caused immense friction on the committee. It lead to vice chairman (and former chairman) Walter Kendall writing to our affiliated groups to notify them of the action, in terms of disapproval, (and one or two of these groups then resigned from PSC). Walter also wrote to Peter Shore and Neil Kinnock to dissociate hjmself from the action. Walter Kendall resigned before the 1985 AGM, but the fact of his resigna-tjon was brought up at the AGM by others, and seemed to take a disproportionate amount of time in :-the discussion of the year's activities.

The case of Walter Kendall's resignation, and the issues involved were not trivial. After all the issues related to fundamental matters that affect every campaign.

1. What are the most effective and/or morally right ways to campaign? 2. How does an organisation reach its decisions? 3. What does an organisation campaign about, and where does it draw the boundary in its campaigning objectives? At the 1985 AGM we tried to get these matters sorted out. Naturally there were motions passed

defining our activities in the coming year. But we also had two motions arising from the 'Early Day Motion' case. One motion, (arising from issue no. one) stated that PSC should try to identify and openly name any areas of political opinion in Parliament resistant to the values we supported, and campaign to change those opinions The second motion (arising from issue no. three) regarded the Yalta agreement as null and void as the Soviet Union had broken all its promises of allowing democracy in its sphere of influence: therefore we supported the rights of the people of the Soviet Empire to self determination.

Both motions were passed by a large majority, after discussion. There was no motion about issue no. 2. the procedural issue. However, when I became chairman for the next three years, I always considered that issue no. 2 would not cause friction if it were not combined with other issues of contention. ..And of course with Walter's resignation and the passing of the two motions at the 1985 AGM there were now at the very least two less contentious issues than before). Besides there was now a rather different atmosphere on the committee. Although occasionally it was necessary to take action between committee meetings (without prior committee authorisation) nobody ever raised issue no. two again. Indeed the one case when I was severely criticised by some of the committee for procedural reasons was when I had NOT taken action between committee meetings, but had instead waited until the next committee meeting to fully present the facts of the case to the committee.

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28 - RELATIONS WITH OTHER EUROPEAN EXILE GROUPS

PSC established good relations with the European Liaison Group, which was an umbrella group for the various E. European exile communities. Through them, our publicity could reach the other exiles, and useful contacts were made. Many from these communities participated in our demos, turning up with their national flags, (as already mentioned) and sometimes speaking on our plat-forms.

Similarly we gave help to such events as they occasionally organised: e.g. the Chernobyl demon-stration, and the annual Czechoslovakia '68 demo. When Hungarian refugee and former prisoner George Krasso came to Britain we gave him all possible help in organising his '30 years' demo out-side the Hungarian embassy, to commemorate the events in Hungary of 1956.

29 - THE WIDE RANGING COMPOSITION OF PSC MEMBERSHIP

What struck some of us was that the Hungarians and Czechs did not seem to have similar organisa-tions to PSC (or SWS) which brought in people of different generations and backgrounds. Admittedly PSC, by 1986 say, was 6 years old, and the events of 1956 and 1968 were 30 years and 18 years in the past, so this could be the explanation for a lack of an equivalent organisation to PSC. Would we still be going, if there was still suppression of human rights in Poland, in 18 years time (1998) and in 30 years time (2010)?

We supported the Czech demos (and provided speakers - and loud speakers at them), but promi-nent Czech dissidents like Zdena Tomin and Jan Kavan (both of whom spoke at PSC events) who lived through '68 in Czechoslovakia, did not seem to be involved or notified. We gave all possible help to George Krasso for his Hungarian 30 year demo, but there seemed to be no Hungarian com-munity involvement (or separate Hungarian community demonstration): those who attended the 30 year demo seemed to have been invited on an individual basis.

PSC by contrast involved not only British people of varying political persuasions (Labour. Conservative, Liberal, S.D.P. - and those who thought very little of all of them) but also Poles of different generations, and backgrounds. Poles who came here during the war or after the war, Poles imprisoned by the Germans and Poles deported to Siberia by the Soviets, the children of such Poles. Poles who came here somehow during the 50s. 60s or 70s. Poles exiled here when Martial Law was declared and Poles who lived through Martial Law. (and were even imprisoned during it in some cases), and came to Britain later. For one year (1983/4) we had a Secretary of Latvian descent. Maris Ozols.

Though there were naturally differences of opinion and emphasis among individuals there did not seem to be the conflict or suspicion that some people claimed existed elsewhere in the Polish community in Britain, between the older generation, and those who had been brought up under the communists.

30 - AID TO SOLIDARNOSC, AND OTHER POLISH GROUPS

From 1980 onwards PSC had maintained and publicised a bank account separate to its operating costs, and called the 'Polish Trade Union Appeal Fund'. It was made absolutely clear in all our pub-licity and literature that donations to this fund would go to causes in Poland, however little money PSC might have to meet the operational costs of running PSC.

This promise was kept to, throughout the years, and indeed in each year PSC transferred money from the operational costs account into this special fund, as well. Originally all the money was to go to Solidarnosc, and was mostly to be collected from trades unions, but when after Martial Law we started to give money to charitable ventures, and received donations from many

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sources, the promise of our literature was amended, and eventually the name of our fund was changed (to the 'Polish Freedom Support Fund'). Soon after Martial Law we were once again sending money to Solidarnosc, but this time not openly and officially (as had been the case with deliveries of equipment from Trades Unions) but secretly, through our personal contacts. Tens of thousands of pounds were sent over the years, in response to numerous requests all over Poland. we did not send the money through Solidarnosc abroad in Belgium, as we thought it possible that such funds were more likely to be intercepted at some stage by the Polish police. Later on this fact may have gone against us: Solidarnosc H.Q. had no record of what we had sent, and to whom. And as our monies were sent via several different people, on a basis of trust and need to know, we hadn't got, or attempted to keep, an overall list of recipients throughout the period either.

PSC took the view that we could also send monies to other underground groups in Poland, pro-vided they were democratic and against totalitarianism. In January '87 we held a packed public meeting for Leszek Moczulski, leader of KPN (the Confederation for an Independent Poland), in the POSK theatre, and a collection amounting to over £700.00 was given to Leszek for the KPN. One of our committee members, Tadek Warsza (aka Zwilno) was the official representative of Fighting Solidarity, and so we sent some donations, through him, to them. (All such donations were acknowl-edged in the Fighting Solidarity bulletins - and indeed our later donations to Solidarnosc under-ground were similarly acknowledged). In 1988 Kernel Morawiecki, leader of Fighting Solidarnosc came to one of our committee meetings to thank us for our support when he was arrested, and dis-cuss the situation in Poland with us.

In addition to all this, we had encouraged the public during Martial Law to 'adopt' a Polish pris-oner, with the sending of food parcels, letters of support etc. Some long term friendships were formed in this way. PSC also sent food parcels in this period, and sometimes money to individuals once out of gaol, or their families while they were in gaol.

31 - OUR IMPACT IN POLAND

How much effect did our activities have in Poland? Obviously the Solidarnosc leaders knew about as - we had met some of them, we had been thanked for our activities, our AGMs were usually greeted by a message of support from Poland. Obviously the branches of Solidarnosc underground who received help from us knew of us - and we made a difference with our medical help to some people, and with our parcels to prisoners. Clearly the decisions made by the government, the Labour Party and the TUC made a difference in Poland, and we played our part in campaigning for these decisions to be made. Clearly the Polish Embassy and thus the Secret Police in Warsaw had an interest in us - every time we held an event an observer from the Embassy was required to send a report back to headquarters.

And of course nearly all our events were reported to Poland by the BBC Polish Service, and Radio Free Europe. How many people heard about them, and did it lift their morale as much as we hoped?

In December 1984 we held a teach-in about Poland, attended by about 50 people. We were unable to find a speaker to speak against Solidarnosc - even the editor of the Morning Star said he was not against Solidarnosc, and suggested we might try the Polish Ambassador. We felt this was going too far. On the 18th January 1985 the Polish magazine 'Perspektywy' carried a report on the meeting, generally trying to denigrate us, and make us sound a small harmless bunch who commanded no support. But in order to give credibility to the report it attributed its details to the BBC Polish Service, and distorted the BBC report to say that nobody could be found to discuss what the speakers on the platform had said, whereas we had a lively discussion afterwards, and

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the BBC had accurately reported that we had been unable to find somebody to criticise Solidarnosc.

The fact that Terspektywy' had such little credibility with its readers meant that it had to attribute its lies to the BBC, a service Poles were not supposed to believe in, or listen to, was not only amusing but very revealing. Obviously our meetings, as reported by the BBC were having an impact in Poland that Polish propaganda had to counter, not by pretending we did not exist (those who heard about us knew we did) but by trying to minimise our support and activities, by lies, omissions and distortions. A later ' Perspektywy' article on our 3rd May 1985 demonstration left out any mention of the trades union support conveyed at the meeting, or the kidnappings, beatings or imprisonment we highlighted at the demo: it accused us of trying to distort the meaning of the 3rd May constitution of 1791. Somehow our support for freedom for Poland was at variance with the constitution, while the 'Perspektywy' support for totalitarianism was fully in line with the con-stitution!

Both these 'Perspektywy' reports were extremely encouraging to us - which was hardly the intended effect! The intended effect was presumably to convince Poles that groups such as PSC were harmless, and eccentric, but surely very few Poles would be taken in by these reports.

32 - SOME OTHER PSC ACTIONS

In addition to the literally hundreds of actions undertaken during this period, many of which are referred to above, the following actions are also worth listing.

a. The production and sale of thousands of Polish flags, stamped with the Solidarnosc logo, when the Pope met the Polish community at Crystal Palace in spring 1982. This was a joint effort with many members of the Solidarity Working Group, and others. The flags were originally pro duced for the rally the Pope held at Wembley stadium, for the British Catholic community. We felt sure that those greeting the Pope would be very unlikely to have a Polish flag with them, (we were right about this) but would be pleased to 'greet the Polish Pope with a Polish flag' (we were wrong about this). We felt it likely that any Pole who wanted to greet the Pope with a Polish flag would have brought one with them. We also felt it likely that Poles would not appreciate the mixture of politics (the Solidarnosc logo) with national symbols (Polish flag) on a religious occasion. Luckily we were wrong on both counts, and sold out all the flags and a lot of sales items also: over £3,000 was raised.

b. The hosting, and full participation in two World-Wide Conferences of Solidarnosc Support Organisations (CSSO).

1. There were two rather different views on the C.S.S.O. One was that the sharing of campaign ing experiences would be of benefit to all campaigning groups, and could lead to joint actions across the world e.g. all groups would hold demonstrations or ceremonies on particular days.

2. The other view was that while co-operation between local groups was desirable for successful events, co-operation and co-ordination between groups of different countries in simultaneous actions made no difference to the success of the actions in each country, or the publicity gen erated. Additionally, while one could try to plan co-ordinated actions in the future, apart from the obvious anniversaries (such as August 31st signing of the Gdansk accords, Dec 13th, Martial Law, and historical dates in May, September, November) events in the future would be, or should be in response to future events in Poland, which could not be planned ahead. According to this view the C.S.S.O. was therefore a massive diversion of effort from getting on with local campaigning.

3. The two C.S.S.O. conferences we hosted were held in May '85 and the end of August '87 (a time not of our choosing) presumably to commemorate the Gdansk Accords. On the second

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occasion PSC thus had the burden of the conference in addition to organising, publicising and carrying out our demo around the 31st August. Some other groups seemed to be taking part in the C.S.S.O. instead of holding such demos. Additionally PSC delegates attended CSSO conferences held abroad (also held in August). c. The two demonstrations held (in July '85) with the Solidarity Information Office, in response

to Robert Maxwell's intention, publicly announced on Polish radio, to suppress news about Solidarnosc in the 'Daily Mirror'. Maxwell's reaction to this campaign (made at a time when most people would not dare criticise him for fear of bankrupting litigation) was to publicly withdraw the threat, claim misrepresentation and give a Nazi salute when we picketed an embassy reception held to mark the publication by Maxwell of the speeches of General Jaruzelski.

d. A meeting with the TUC leader, Norman Willis, (in 1984) and a different meeting with the leader of the opposition, Neil Kinnock (in 1985). Both these meetings led to the issue of press releases, confirming their continued support for Solidarnosc.

e. One of our many demonstrations in Hyde Park (August 1983) at which shadow cabinet min ister Peter Shore (a long term friend of PSC) clearly stated that Arthur Scargill (N.U.M. leader) in supporting the communists, and denouncing Solidarnosc, did not speak on behalf of the Labour Party.

f. A tree planting ceremony (arranged by PSC member Naomi Hyamson, Secretary for 1982/3) at Battersea Park, where Ken Livingstone, the leader of the Greater London Council (G.L.C.), together with Marek Garztecki planted a tree for Solidarnosc, and freedom in Poland.

g. The sale of thousands of two specially designed posters ('Solidarnosc in Barbed wire', 'Solidarnosc and Bayonet') by the famous photo montage artist Peter Kennard. These posters were used in the Skolimowski film 'Moonlighting' (and indeed in the publicity for the film) without our permission, without any payment to us, without any credits in the film, and without notifying us in advance. Thus a good chance to give publicity to PSC and to sell the posters and other items was wasted, although the film was claimed to be helping Solidarnosc in some way. When challenged about this matter both Skolimowski and producer Mark Shivas (later head of BBC drama) showed no interest, declared that the finances for the film were closed, so payment was impossible, and gen erally passed the buck.

h. 1. A benefit showing (in March '88), for 'Solidarnosc' of the film 'No End' - thanks to the distributors Artificial Eye, who risked future film purchases from Poland by doing this. 2. A leafleting of the National Film Theatre, and questioning of the director (who spoke after the showing) of the anti-Solidarnosc film 'Dignity'/'Godnosc' (July '86).

i. A concert and rally to celebrate the award of the Nobel Prize to Lech Walesa: this was attend-ed by about 1,000 people.

Messages of support were received from 25 Nobel Prize winners including Willy Brandt. j. An exhibition (organised mainly by Zofia Hart) which was on display to the public in

Waterlow Park, Highgate throughout March 1982. k. Providing speakers at several Afghan demos, and the organising of two public meetings (in

'86 and '87) at which a Polish journalist, Radek Sikorski showed his slides of the war in Afghanistan.

1. The sending to the candidates of all the major political parties, at the 1984 E.E.C. elections a questionnaire on attitudes to Solidarnosc, freedom, independence, etc., the collation and publicising (through PSC circulars, and the 'Polish Daily') of the results.

An even bigger task was a similar questionnaire sent to all the candidates of the main parties at the 1987 general election. This was an enormous task (over 1900 candidates) as was collating the replies (284 replies, including 248 completed questionnaires or letters giving amplification of the

42

answers). It was particularly disappointing that when these results were summarised and presented to the 'Polish Daily' newspaper, with quotes from particular candidates, before the election, the 'Polish Daily' felt that the matter was not of interest to their readers, and no coverage was given.

33 -1988 AGM

As stated earlier (section 24 above), some of us in PSC felt we had carried a heavy load that we might not be able to carry for much longer, and we were always looking forward to influxes from Polish Students etc. (that never arrived) to help with, or even take over the running of PSC. Quite apart from all our campaigning activities, the basic functions of PSC connected with circulars and membership were very time consuming.

1. The writing and typing of the 'News about PSC' part of the circular. The writing and typing of other parts of the circular, or the commissioning of other contributions and sometimes the typ ing up of these contributions, if submitted in hand written form. The preparation of membership cards, reminder letters to those whose membership was about to expire (or had expired without renewal of membership), the correcting of membership address list (to take account of changes of address, new members, expired members etc.). The handing over of all these materials to the 'Link Man'.

2. The 'link man' would take all the circular materials, cut them and paste them to form the cir cular, together with added headings, any additional comments, sometimes last minute retyping as well. He would then amend the membership label list, photocopy the circular (which might be up to ten sides) up to as many copies as were required for the current membership plus complimentary copies for certain influential people. He would then pass the photocopies (possibly several thousand sheets), stamps, membership labels, insertions and envelopes to the two packers.

3. The two packers would then collate the circulars, and then for each envelope insert circular plus any individual insertion, seal the envelope, add stamp and address label. Finally they would post the envelopes.

All this is probably standard for any group that does mailing out to a changing membership, but with a voluntary group the willingness of people to do this essential but often taken for granted work can make all the difference between a group continuing or ceasing.

In PSC's case I had taken on the duties described in I/ above, firstly as Secretary (when Ryszard Stepan typed up my handwritten contributions), then as Chairman (eventually typing up my own and some other contributions when Ryszard no longer had the time). For some time I was helped by Anna Boszko with the membership duties. Ryszard Stepan was the 'link man' described in 2/ above, and additionally he often designed leaflets and posters for demos and public events. The packers were Ryszard's friends, Mr. Michorowski and Mr. Bossowski.

This was basically the set up until the 1988 AGM. Prior to the 1988 AGM, I announced that for reasons of exhaustion, and for family reasons I

would only be able to carry on as before, up to the AGM. I would not serve on the committee, though I would carry on with membership duties if necessary, and would be helpful when I could. Unfortunately at about the same time Ryszard gave notice that he too would be unable to carry on after the AGM.

Would anyone be willing to take on the duties of Chairman? Who would take on the stages one and two of the circular? Would anyone be able to provide cost price photocopies as Ryszard had done? Would our packers carry on, if so who would take all the materials to them, if not who would do the packing instead? PSC had not seemed full of people ready to take on these sort of tasks before which was why Ryszard and I had taken on so much. If ever we needed a group of people to gallop to the rescue it was now! One of our pre-AGM circulars contained an item (writ-

ten by committee member Wiktor August in his monthly column for the circular) saying that with the retirement of key members new people were needed to carry out vital functions, and after the PSC AGM there might be a few months uncertainty while the new committee found their feet. SWS promptly took the opportunity to declare, at a demo outside the Polish Embassy, that PSC was moribund!

In fact the rescue came from an unexpected source - Marek Garztecki and the team he had built up at the Solidarity Information Office. Marek and his colleagues, Agnieszka Huston, Wojtek Dmochowski (alias W. Tomaszewski), Zofia Malakowska had been active in PSC for some years -the latter two well before meeting Marek.

The reason the 'rescue' was unexpected was that Marek and his team were taking on these duties i production of circular etc.) in addition to carrying on with the 'Voice of Solidarity' magazine they produced as the Solidarity Information Office. Through Marek we now had the mailing and printing facilities of the E.E.P.T.U., and Marek and his team did the writing, typing, and layout of the circu-lar, which continued to be produced monthly.

At the March 1988 AGM Marek was elected chairman, with Wojtek stepping down as vice-chairman to become circular editor, and Marion Pitman, former treasurer taking over from Barbara Lubienska as secretary.

The AGM went very smoothly, and Marek in his first circular (April 1988) remarked that the sense of continuity was illustrated by the presence of three past PSC chairmen (Karen Blick, Wiktor Moszczynski, and myself) sitting side by side, deeply engrossed in the matters at hand.

34 - LATE SUMMER 1988-NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN POLAND

It sometimes seemed that the communist regime in Poland would go on for ever, as it seemed to be doing in Hungary, Czechoslovakia etc. In Summer '88 there were strikes in Gdansk again, and the Polish government announced that they wanted constructive talks. Was this a trap, or the start of a new phase?

Every year our August demo seemed to attract fewer people than before. However the Aug '88 demo with perhaps 600 people had three times as many people as the '87 demo (200 people). This might have shown a growing interest in the cause, and optimism in the outcome. Alternatively the difference could have been due to the location and timing.

The '87 demo started from an unfamiliar location (a large turning circle for lorries on the north side of the River Thames, opposite Battersea Park), went past the Yalta Memorial, and finished at a location without significance (opposite the Science Museum).

For the '88 demo, after extensive lobbying, we were allowed to use Hyde Park again, and we were also allowed to march past the Polish Embassy for the first time since 20/12/81. The '88 demo was in the evening on a weekday, the '87 on a Bank Holiday afternoon.

The '87 demo however, did give us the chance to hand out hundreds of leaflets and be seen by thousands of shoppers and tourists: the '88 demo mostly marched round some very empty back streets North of Oxford Street.

Depending on one's outlook one could feel that things were improving in Poland, and in terms of PSC support, or that once again in Poland the same cycle of strikes leading to suppression would occur, and once again PSC was going through the motions, but to what effect.

Chapter 3:

From the Round Table Agreement to the tothe Present Day (1994)

35 - PSC SUPPORTS ROUND TABLE AGREEMENT

When the round table talks were announced there were two main views that could be taken. a. Solidarnosc should not talk to the government, who were an untrustworthy enemy. b. Solidarnosc, unlike us, had to live in Poland, and if they thought some good might come of the

talks, let them see what emerges. Similarly, when the agreement was announced for partly democratic, but mostly undemocratic

elections, there were two main possible views: a. Solidarnosc was stupid or treacherous to take part in these undemocratic elections, thus legit

imising the Polish government. b. If ever Solidarnosc, or democracy were to triumph in Poland, the elections would be a first

step. Provided Solidarnosc participated fully the elections would allow Solidarnosc to demonstrate to itself, to Poland and to the world, its level of support. Also Solidarnosc would be in a much stronger position if there were an attempt to fiddle the voting figures, or subsequently ban or imprison Solidarnosc, or its MPs.

PSC committee took view b. in both cases (although one of our PSC members, Tadek Warsza (aka Zwilno), representative of Fighting Solidarnosc denounced the agreement and the election).

36 - SUPPORT FOR THE ELECTION AND SOLIDARNOSC - AND HOSTILITY

It was essential to publicise and explain the conditions for the elections, and justify Solidarnosc's reasons for participation. Our chairman, Marek Garztecki (elected at the '88 AGM) was frequently on the radio and TV explaining the situation, while Tadek Jarski leader of SWS appeared on TV at one stage denouncing the process and Walesa for taking part in it.

Poles at embassies all over the world could vote for candidates in the Central Warsaw con-stituency: this arrangement, it has since emerged, was to give Jerzy Urban, government spokesman, a better chance of being elected on the grounds that Poles abroad would not know what he was really like, and might vote for him.

PSC member Zofia Hart (aka Ewa Germanis), who had just returned from Poland, and knew the mood there, stressed the importance of getting the Polish community in Britain to take part in the elections. So PSC formed and supported an election group including not only PSC members, but other active helpers, nearly all Poles who had come here since Martial Law, including Piotr Nowotny, actor and singer, and two friends or colleagues of Lech Walesa. It was vital to lobby for the Solidarnosc candidates (lower and upper house) and the Solidarnosc Warsaw Central candidates nominated Zofia Hart and Piotr Novotny, as their official representatives, entitled to oversee the voting process and counting, to ensure it was all carried out fairly.

Our election group leafleted outside Polish churches, and in Polish clubs. Usually canvassers and leaflets do not have to explain a complicated voting system, or have to justify voting in an imperfect voting system. However our canvassers and leaflets had to do this, as well as encourage people to go to a place they would not usually wish to be associated with (the Polish Embassy). Additionally of course our canvassers and leaflets had to canvass for the Solidarnosc candidates. Quite a lot of hostility was encountered by our canvassers, as might be expected from earlier events. When the original notice announcing the formation of the PSC election group and inviting helpers had appeared in the 'Polish Daily', there was a lot of trouble within the 'Polish Daily' about letting such an item appear. The Government in Exile responded by placing an item in the 'Polish Daily' warn-

45

ing people not to vote, and to be suspicious of canvassers.

37 - THE 1989 'ROUND TABLE' POLISH ELECTIONS

Our election group members, Zofia Hart and Piotr Nowotny attended the Polish Embassy for 24 hours to ensure correct procedures, while two other Solidarnosc nominated election group members went to Edinburgh to do likewise at the consulate. PSC set up an election stall outside the Embassy, to do last minute canvassing and remind people of the complexity of the voting forms. The voting was quite a moving occasion with some Poles proving their entitlement to vote through the produc-tion of pre-war Polish documents, or in one case a Martial Law internment document. And there were the light hearted moments, with some voters bringing rulers with them, in order to delete all the names of the communist candidates - or during the counting of votes the occasional shouts of 'here's one for Urban'.

An article was sent to the 'Polish Daily' to describe and explain exactly what had happened at the voting, so that people would have no misconceptions. The article however was not printed, and a remark subsequently from a prominent figure in the Polish community, who had not voted, showed how misconceptions about the validity of the voting process, and even the outcome of the embassy votes, remained.

Nowadays the 'Polish Daily' is edited by a former PSC member Kasia Budd so these and other remarks do not now apply to the present newspaper.

38 - OTHER PSC ACTIVITIES, 1989

We took part in the rally (on 11/6/89) to protest against the actions of the Chinese government in Tiananmen Square. PSC had a good presence at the rally, and PSC chairman Marek Garztecki gave i very well received speech. In general PSC was much in demand to give support and advice to the various Chinese pro-democratic organisations. PSC, through Marek, and Wojtek was extremely Active in arranging meetings for the Farmers Solidarnosc, and the Iron and Steel Workers Solidarnosc, when their delegates made separate visits to Britain in October and November. There were meetings with the European Congress of Farmers, Neil Kinnock and shadow foreign ministers, the Foreign Office, the Plunkett foundation etc.

Additionally Marek travelled to Poland in October, and saw and talked to Lech Walesa, Bogdan Lis, Janusz Onyszkiewicz, and many others, including one Deputy Prime Minister, and four minis-:ers.

39 - LECH WALESA'S VISIT TO BRITAIN -DECEMBER 1989

In December '89 Lech Walesa came to Britain, as a guest of the TUC, and had a series of meetings with the government, the opposition, business people, and attended many functions, including sev-eral with the Polish community.

Naturally Lech Walesa's entourage included translators, publicists etc., and as a guest of the TUC he had no need of the help and facilities we had given to other visitors and delegations.

One version of Lech Walesa's visit (as it related to PSC) was that he met two PSC members iRyszard Stepan and myself), praised our efforts to us, publicly thanked PSC at the TUC press con-ference, publicly encouraged people in POSK to join PSC, attended an Baling Council reception mostly organised by former PSC chairman Wiktor Moszczynski, had a brief meeting at his hotel with two of our election group (his two colleagues from days gone by), and attended various recep-tions where PSC members were present, and had the chance to speak to him, to Bogdan Lis, Janusz Onyszkiewicz (who we were in close touch with throughout the visit) Jerzy Milewski and others. And all this is true.

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It is also true however that before Lech Walesa arrived, we had lobbied very strongly for Lech Walesa to address a meeting of 1,000 people, British and Polish, some invited, some members of the public, at a venue booked by us. We argued for this meeting by sending faxes to Lech Walesa's office, by talking to his advisor who came to Britain to make arrangements for the Walesa visit, even by pressing our case at an early stage with Walesa's hosts, the TUC. We felt that on a visit to Britain it was essential that the world's media could see his popularity with the British people, who could ask him questions. After all it would be the British taxpayer who would foot the bill if Government money were used to help Poland - to only mingle with the Polish community would give the wrong message we thought. Even if his office did not want us to organise it for some rea-son, why not get the TUC to do something similar?

Our advice was considered and rejected, and while Gorbachev could be seen mingling with the British public at a walkabout Lech Walesa was not seen with the British public, only with politi-cians, businessmen, V.I.P.s, and the Polish community. And instead of a meeting with 1,000 people (which television stations would, judging by early enquiries, definitely have been interested in cov-ering) there were several meetings with the Polish community (less than 1,000 in total, but taking up much more of Lech Walesa's limited time than one meeting would have), one at a community venue that had not often encouraged or permitted pro-Solidarnosc activities in the past.

Of all our campaigns over the years this was easily the most unsuccessful! Perhaps, in retrospect this all seems reasonable - it was important to get more support for

Solidarnosc, so Lech Walesa had to go where support had not always been forthcoming. Perhaps, as mentioned earlier, as we had not sent our monies to Poland via the Brussels office, but by direct contact in response to requests (and as the Director of the Brussels Office, Jerzy Milewski was one of Lech Walesa's advisers for this visit) Solidarnosc had no record of our contributions and were suspicious of them, or unaware of the extent of them. Perhaps the Walesa advisers just wanted to show us who was boss. But if so we felt it was at their expense, as well as ours.

40 - PSC EXAMINES ITS ROLE

At the time this all produced a lot of disappointment, and anxiety, and an identity crisis for PSC. I took over from Marek (who resigned) as chairman in October '89 and we asked ourselves legitimate questions about our future role. Most of our previous activities (the demos, the pickets, the protests) were, as far as Poland were concerned, no longer necessary, due to the new situation, and as for rep-resenting the position of Solidarnosc in this country, how necessary, or legitimate was this now that Solidarnosc could so openly speak for itself?

Under the PSC constitution we could carry on until the 1990 AGM (February), and then review our position. In the meantime our long term friend Janusz Onyszkiewicz, for many years Solidarnosc spokesman (who had spoken for us at the August '88 demo and a subsequent public meeting) spoke to a packed public meeting at the Polish Air Force Club, London on 28/12/89.

41 - 1990 AGM- PSC DECIDES TO CONTINUE

It seemed quite possible that PSC might decide, at the '90 AGM to initiate whatever constitutional steps were necessary to close. This could be because we might not agree upon a role for PSC, or quite possibly not find volunteers ready to serve on the committee.

A number of possible roles were floated before the AGM, such as campaigning to prevent indus-trial pollution by western firms setting up in Poland, on a scale not allowed in the Western coun-tries. We thought this was worthwhile but perhaps beyond the skills and energies of our members -it would be better to do this through existing green groups. It was considered that we might change our name, and campaign for the same freedoms that were now emerging in Poland, throughout the

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Eastern Bloc. But we decided that the name was something that was well known, a change of name could cause confusion, and that to try to give equal attention and coverage to all the events in E. Europe (as we would feel obliged to if we had the words Eastern Europe in our title) would be beyond what we could manage.

In the end it was decided to keep our name, and thus retain a recognizable identity and continu-ity: to either organise events for other E. European countries, or if more appropriate, give our knowledge and skills in organizing events to other people's demos, as we had done in the past when required. Occasionally we would have seminars and socials to keep in touch. If events in Poland took a turn for the worse, as might still happen, we would still be in existence to organise a suitable response. The PSC circular would continue to carry news and articles about Poland, though possibly be less regular. Karen Blick, one of the three founder members of PSC, who had left PSC in '82 and rejoined a few years later, now came forward as PSC convenor, with a committee mainly composed of Poles.

42 - SUBSEQUENT SITUATION

During these years we saw things happen throughout the communist world that we maybe thought would never happen and, in cases such as Yugoslavia we never wanted to happen. PSC members could travel to Poland without any worries, and we saw friends and helpers go to work in Poland, on a temporary or permanent basis.

PSC speaker Jan Kavan returned to Czechoslovakia to pursue a political career, and George Krasso returned to Hungary to do likewise, before sadly dying.

Former PSC committee member Jacek Rostowski went to Poland as a temporary government economic adviser. Our 'Pole in Afghanistan' Radek Sikorski was appointed as a government minis-ter, which aroused controversy and media coverage in both Poland and Britain. Former PSC chair-man (and local councillor) Wiktor Moszczynski gave training to Solidarnosc candidates before the Polish local elections.

Marek Garztecki recalls that he was instrumental in getting the Polish Socialist Party and the Polish Socialist Party in Exile to re-unite. Three PSC members were elected onto the managing committee of the reunified party, namely Marek, Mr Wasik and Mr Prokopowicz (the latter two being members of the pre-second world war party). Adam Robinski is director of a joint venture, based at POSK, between the Polish Ministry of Industry and Trade, and POSK.

And of course many Solidarnosc members who we had campaigned for when imprisoned, and had contacts with, achieved high office: Janusz Onyszkiewicz became deputy defence minister, and of course Lech Walesa became Poland's president.

43 - SUBSEQUENT PSC ACTIVITIES

During these years PSC's main activities were as follows: a. A campaign, first by PSC alone in Summer '90, then with the co-operation of the Federation

of Poles of Great Britain, to remove the Home Office requirement of visas for Poles entering this country. This visa requirement did not apply to most of the other E European countries, but it took a iot of campaigning, including talks with the Home Office, and making it an election issue in Baling to get the position changed. (The significance of Baling was that the Conservative candidate, Sir George Young, who was re-elected had pledged his support to get the position changed: when he was moved to the Home Office the position was changed). Wiktor Moszczynski of the Federation was very active in collaborating with his old PSC colleagues in this campaign.

b. We established good relations with the new staff at the Polish Embassy, some of whom turned out to be old friends of Polish PSC members. We spent time on trying to get twinning

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arrangements with some London councils, but without success. c. In November 1990 we held a stimulating seminar at the L.S.E. on the anniversary of the

knocking down of the Berlin Wall. Additionally we have had guest speakers, from the Polish Government in Exile, and from Lithuania to address our Annual General Meetings.

d. Various socials and barbecues at which members and activists got to know each other better. e. Help and support to Ryszard Stepan and the campaign he set up, the 'Solidarity Educational

Trust' to monitor and advise the way British government money was spent in giving aid of skill and training to Poland (the 'Know How Fund').

f. Help and participation with the Baltic community here, with their demonstrations for inde pendence and against Soviet oppression, including killings by Soviet soldiers, in their still subjugat ed countries. We encouraged them to go for a big march across London (from Marble Arch to past the Soviet Embassy), and gave them the benefit of all our experience in organising it. Subsequently we took part in an umbrella group to organise such demonstrations, and provided speakers for two Trafalgar Square rallies.

g. We held an all day demo at the 1991 G7 London Conference, linking the issue of aid to the Soviet Union with the issue of independence and freedom in the Baltic States, and highlighting the murders committed there. We gave interviews to media from across the world attending the sum mit.

44 - THE PRESENT SITUATION - AND THE FUTURE

Karen has continued as Convenor to the present ably supported by Agnieszka Huston, Barbara Lubienska and others. At the 1993 AGM it was decided to suspend the organisation until a recalled meeting for all members in October '93 would consider future steps. In the meantime PSC would collect its archives together, to be placed at the POSK library, Hammersmith, on permanent loan. A committee would still exist, and would respond to any event in Poland that might merit a response.

PSC as described above, took an active part in the 1989 election, but it did not take part in subse-quent elections, nor even the presidential election. PSC felt that in all elections subsequent to the 1989 election what we supported was the democratic process, and so different members could cam-paign as they wished (or not), but not under a PSC banner. What we would campaign about is if there were developments in Poland (or outside Poland) that threatened or removed the democratic process. Naturally we all hope such events will never happen, but nothing is certain in life, so nobody can be 100% sure of the future in Poland.

Even if PSC decides to cease in the near future, if the need ever arose the more active members would contact each other to arrange an ad-hoc protest action, or demonstration.

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CONCLUDING REMARKS

I offer no conclusions about the events in Poland, other than the forces of freedom triumphed due to all sorts of reasons, and as is so often the case in life, events do not always turn out as those who instigated the events hoped for, planned or expected. Solidarnosc was always a coalition of many forces, so once the main reasons that held it together no longer applied, it was likely that the numer-ous splits would occur. About PSC I can offer a few conclusions, most of which are only true, I think up to a point.

1. However much PSC did, however much influence we had in Britain, the decisive events were elsewhere, in Poland and in the Soviet Union, and the decisive forces (economic, historical etc.) were much greater than any force PSC could offer!

2. PSC showed that it is possible for a 'single issue' campaign, run by volunteers to have a dis proportionate effect on the attitudes and actions of large organisations, (e.g. political parties, trades unions, even the government). Such a campaign can successfully combine people of many different backgrounds and political outlooks - up to a point.

3. The best way for a campaign to keep going is to keep going, i.e. keep active. Activity unites and enthuses the members of a campaign, while lack of activity demoralises the members, and makes them examine their differences. But again this rule is only true up to a point. If the activity uses up too much of the resources of the campaign, it can bankrupt the campaign, or leave members too exhaust ed to carry on. If the differences between members are large, there must be a time when these differ ences should be faced and dealt with, and not be hidden by more activity. Indeed more activity can reveal differences that members were previously unaware of, or were prepared to ignore as irrelevant.

4. The structure and rules of a campaign can seem irrelevant when everyone is in agreement, but can be vital for the continuation of the campaign when differences emerge. There must be clear decision making processes, and clear rules that allow the members of the campaign to choose who they wish to run the campaign. This was always the case with PSC, though without certain rule changes the campaign might not have carried on in the mid 1980s.

Any structure that allows flexibility in Jerms of election of committee, and change of rules, can always be vulnerable to attempted take-overs. Such rules are therefore both the strength and weak-ness of the campaign.

5. However much one can analyze the forces and factors affecting or determining the growth and activities of an organisation (historical, economic, political, procedural etc.) much still depends on the individuals in the organisation.

6. If no people are willing to undertake the work the campaign collapses, and the personality of those undertaking the work can also make enormous differences: are they reliable, competent, inspiring, conciliatory, willing to carry on in the face of setbacks - or the opposite to all these? Additionally personality clashes can be more damaging (sometimes) than differences of viewpoint.

7. Two other factors should not be underrated. One, luck. (With the T-shirts we were lucky that the 'Daily Mirror' included full details of

the T-shirts but unlucky that fashion later changed to baggy clothes and we then had trouble selling our small and medium T-shirts).

Two, personal relationships. An active member might through their friendships or other rela-tionships bring in and motivate further people who might well become vital for the continuation and development of the campaign.

I hope my account of PSC history contains enough information and detail to enable readers to draw their own perhaps different conclusions.

Giles Hart

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SUMMARY OF A DISCUSSION HELD ON 16TH JULY 1993

The Polish Solidarity Campaign held a meeting about PSC's history from 7.00 to 10.30 p.m. at the Polish Air Force Club, London. The meeting began with a discussion paper by Giles Hart. This paper has been subsequently revised as 'A Brief History of Polish Solidarity Campaign' to include certain corrections and additional information which emerged from the meeting, from subsequent discussions and contacts, and also from the process of collation of the PSC archives. The discussion started at about 8.00, and due to its length this can only be a summary of that discussion. In addition to all the current PSC members invited to the meeting, an attempt had been made to track down leading PSC members from earlier days going back to 1980: 22 such ex-PSC members were con-tacted and invited to attend.

PRESENT: Karen Blick (PSC Convenor, Chair of the meeting) Marion Pitman, Barbara Lubienska, Zofia Hart, Artek Taczalski, Agnieszka Huston, Tadek

Warsza, Marek Garztecki, Giles Hart (all current PSC members). Wojtek Dmochowski, Liz Willis, Robin Blick, Naomi Hyamson, Wiktor Moszczynski, Ewa Moss (all ex-PSC members)

also: three guests: Martin G. and Anna T. (two young students from Poland), Dr. T. Piesakowski (historian)

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE:

Ewa Cwirko-Godycka, Darek Dzwigaj, John Taylor, Sue Chinnick, Kasia Budd, Walter Kendall (who sent a message of support for the meeting, and the history project), Adam Robinski, Ryszard Stepan, Tesa Ujazdowska.

The meeting began with various minor corrections to the discussion paper: ROBIN BLICK The Labour party were inviting Communist Party representatives. It was the

TUC who invited the bogus trade union representatives. ZOFIA HART The Government in Exile not only did not encourage people to vote in the round

table election: they warned people against voting. WIKTOR MOSZCZYNSKI The booklet written by John Taylor, Wanda Koscia and Jacek

Rostowski, which sold in thousands at all sorts of events, and described how Solidarnosc were man-aging to keep the struggle going underground should be recorded.

The discussion then moved to the origins of PSC with contributions from ROBIN BLICK, KAREN BLICK and LIZ WILLIS. Robin, Karen and Adam Westoby were on holiday in Wiltshire in mid August, 1980 hearing the news about the strikes in Gdansk. They rang up a libertarian social-ist group called 'Solidarity' in London, to ask them to arrange for a public meeting to be held in support of the strikers. This was done, and Robin, on returning from holiday chaired the meeting on 26th August 1980, at Conway Hall. About 100 people were present mostly of the left, and news came through on the radio while the meeting was in progress. Wiktor Moszczynski was present, having met Robin while translating at a meeting in the late '70s. The campaign was formed and called 'Polish Solidarity Campaign', probably influenced by the 'Vietnam Solidarity Campaign' that many at the meeting had been involved in or had experience of. The strikers in Gdansk did not name their organisation Solidarnosc (Solidarity) until 31st August. So while Robin, Karen and Adam were the founders of PSC, they were not the only founding members, as all at that meeting who signed up as members were also founding members.

WIKTOR MOSZCZYNSKI commented on the impact PSC had on our lives. As a very active member for 3 years (1981 to 1983) he had attended 48 meetings in 1981 (either PSC meetings or those attended on behalf of PSC), 64 in 1982, and 18 in 1983. This was in addition to writing arti-cles, translating, numerous telephone calls, etc. Wiktor considers that our great role was running a

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coach and horses through the communist stranglehold on Labour foreign policy. Our main impact on British history was in '81 and '82, influencing the Labour NEC to change its policy about invit-ing communists to the Labour Party Congress.

We were able to do this by saying we represented Polish workers and asking 'which side are you on, the oppressed or the oppressors?'. We identified friendly M.P.s, and at the 1981 N.E.C. we got 3 votes for our policy (Eric Heffer, Neil Kinnock, and a (trotskyite) young socialist) out of 25; by the 1982 N.E.C. we got a narrow majority of the 25 in our favour. Some Poles (exiled in Britain after Martial Law) thought we should not be doing this: we should be helping Solidarnosc directly, not also getting involved in British politics.

EWA MOSS said that she had been a member of both PSC and SWS (Solidarity with Solidarity). PSC had carried out an enormous amount, and the account in the discussion paper was very honest.

KAREN BLICK wanted to answer the question listed: what was the political outlook of the founders? A considerable number of the founder members came from communist families (e.g. Robin, Karen, Adam, Julia Jensen) but had seen through this, many had gone through a Trotskyist group, but had left it. They still wanted to support a working class organisation, but it should not be aligned with Soviet policy, and it should be democratic. They wanted to ensure that democratic organisations in this country would not be hoodwinked by the situation in the Communist world.

Karen thought that PSC was unique in the way it brought together many people of differing backgrounds e.g. committed Labour people working side by side with a Conservative councillor like Colin Brewer in the late 1980s. It was often a bigger problem between different shades of the left than between left and right. Karen thought that although she had been involved in many campaigns she had seen more success with PSC than anywhere else: the legalisation of Solidarnosc, the down-fall of the Soviet Empire, - this all gives hope that mankind will pull through. The success of the visa campaign showed that small organisations with limited means can make a difference to govern-ment policies.

ROBIN BLICK referred to the period leading up to the 1982 AGM. People who were sympathet-ic to crypto-stalinists decided to destroy our campaign. We became a target when we became a seri-ous force for the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) and others, who wanted to keep our pro-Solidarity activity on a far left line. The left had tried to set up a rival organisation to argue that while things were bad in Poland they were just as bad in the West. But this organisation never really got going, so PSC were the only organisation ready and able to mount a demonstration in response to Martial Law. But these people then tried to take us over. Our 1982 AGM was seized on by people who had denounced us - referring to Robin as 'right of Ghengis Khan' and PSC as 'CIA funded': these peo-ple now came to take over the PSC. But they were assisted by people within, Steve Murray and oth-ers.

PSC split into two factions. Wiktor, Robin, Karen and Naomi had a meeting to prepare strategy to stop the left taking over, no doubt the other faction had their meetings as well.

Robin wonders what the prime mover behind this was: he thinks it might have been Kremlin inspired.

Shortly before the AGM Robin had been elected to editor of the editorial board: Robin and Steve Murray had arguments about 'PSC News'.

1 - Steve wanted the magazine brighter, more professional. 2 - It should not offend the communists and leftists who (Steve argued) pulled the levers for the

Labour movement. Robin withdrew from the editorial board at the '82 AGM, to avoid further conflict, but was will-

ing to write articles. Steve would not commission an article from Robin about puppet trade unions, as it might offend the communists. When the PSC committee endorsed the censorship of the editori-

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al board Robin resigned from PSC - others resigned from the committee about PSC News at about that time.

If we were in an anti-Nazi campaign, and we were being taken over by Nazis, our response would be rather more robust.

[NOTE - PSC had tried to track down Steve Murray and Julia Jensen for this meeting, but with-out success. Piotr Iglikowski, also on the editorial board during this period, (1982) had been con-tacted but was unable to attend.]

EWA MOSS recalled that as late as '89 (before the Round Table Elections were expected) she attended a local trades union meeting where a CND member criticised Solidarnosc for fighting a socialist government.

GILES HART recalled that some of these groups (that Robin referred to) had done things for Solidarnosc - for example tours of factories featuring Piotr Kozlowski from the Ursus Tractor facto-ry. If they could do such things and PSC either could not, or did not, because it was too busy doing other things then, dislike these groups as one did, one had to consider very carefully the merits of excluding them from PSC if by doing so they were likely to stop these very good activities for Solidarnosc.

MAREK GARZTECKI stated that he was on this tour, with Piotr Kozlowski (both representing the Solidarity Trade Union Working Group). We should distinguish between Trotskyite groups. They were trying to use us, and we were trying to use them. Some people helping with the Solidarity Working Group had friends in the S.W.P they even had an arrangement with the S.W.P. which was aborted. There was a 'soft Trotskyite' group, the 'Socialist Organizer' (as far as Marek remembers) which organized two tours of Scotland, and one of the Midlands for Marek and Piotr. Very effective, 10 days solid speaking in Scotland, sometimes 5 meetings a day: miners, city coun-cils, all sorts of people. They used a name like Scotland Polish Solidarity Campaign.

[NOTE-there followed some comment that this was probably the Glasgow Polish Solidarity Committee, and that there were many groups springing up with the title Polish Solidarity Committee which could be shortened to PSC (e.g Glasgow PSC), thus causing confusion.]

MAREK GARZTECKI said that Solidarity with Solidarity (SWS) were happy to use Trotskyites to further their aims, even though they were publicly castigating us for our Trotskyist influence. Both sides played the game of using each other.

KAREN BLICK said she thought it was fine for Solidarnosc from Poland, or the Solidarity Working Group here to tour anywhere, at the invitation of anybody (within reason). What Karen did NOT think O.K. was for any of these groups to take us over. Karen had the distinct impression, though she could nqt prove it, and thus would not name names, that there was something very strange going on of a Soviet spy dimension.

WIKTOR MOSZCZYNSKI recalled that the acid test put forward at the 1982 AGM for groups and individuals joining us was a/ support the boycott of goods from Poland and b/ the breaking of links with communist trades unions.

The problems continued - Wiktor, who was chairman for 82/3, persuaded Robin not to resign once, later on did not manage to persuade him: possibly Wiktor's powers of persuasion when rung by Robin on the second occasion at 7.30 in the morning were not as strong as they might usually have been.

Wiktor's main idea was 'ideology divides, activity wins'. His idea was to keep going by doing things, not to dwell on the differences, though certain issues like 'PSC News' remained. In 1981 the PSC was largely left wing, but due to the demo of 20/12/81, there was such an influx of members, many not left or not political, that it helped us when the Trotskyites tried to take us over.

Wiktor recalled the range of activities in '82: meeting the Liberal Trade Unionists, a PSC meet-

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ing with Piotr Kozlowski, the Bournemouth Milk Race Demo, the Pope's visit to Crystal Palace, the rally with SWS to Trafalgar Square, selling at Fawley Court, Fringe Meetings at the TUC etc - this •vas a wide range of activities that left the Trotskyites behind, and at the 1983 AGM they felt there was not much point carrying on.

Every time we demonstrated outside the Polish Embassy the embassy staff had to write a report. The Polish Daily were not always much help, but the Polish section of the BBC broadcast accounts of the demos to Poland. Once Solidarnosc abroad got organized in Brussels, they thanked us for our efforts and Wiktor introduced Jerzy Milewski to various people at the 1982 TUC conference, including a paper seller - Ken Livingstone, Leader of the Greater London Council.

Milewski valued us as a support group: he felt our importance was due to our impact in this ;ountry: and that the impact in Poland would come through Solidarnosc in Poland, and the Brussels office and its branches.

MAREK GARZTECKI said that PSC might have been left-leaning in 1980 but so was Solidarnosc in '80 and '81. It was a left-leaning trade union, and he had witnessed a meeting in Warsaw where the right leadership was voted out and almost thrown out: maybe it was different in different towns. So it was natural that PSC was leaning the same way. As we were discussing mat-ters after the victory, Marek felt self-censorship was not appropriate. Of course we were infiltrated; :his is obvious if you read the memoirs of the Minister of Security Kiszczak. The Government in Exile was infiltrated, everybody was infiltrated. The only Solidarnosc office abroad that did not have leaks of documents publicised in Poland was the London Solidarity Information Office. The only document leaked was one the London Office sent to the Brussels Office.

Kiszczak says that in every country they tried to take over pro-Solidarity organisations, whenever they couldn't manage it they tried to engineer a split. Draw your own conclusions.

Two people sent to the Solidarity Information Office, who subsequently were publicly defended by SWS, were publicly exposed as highly dubious.

Marek considered that some of the problems with the PSC and the Solidarity Office were not only due to spies - but due to the 'cock-up factor'. Some people on the right in PSC were playing 'student polities', aligning themselves with the Trotskyists against Robin, Karen and others.

EWA MOSS does not know how many left wingers there were in Solidarnosc, but she does know that it got mass support, not just as a trade union, but as representing the whole nation. She thinks that there could not be widespread support for the left because under communism it was difficult or impossible for most people to distinguish socialism and communism - anything left was regarded as communism. Nowadays it is different, people are experiencing capitalism in Poland and can see that not everything under capitalism is rosy - maybe now they could appreciate the socialist ideas.

MAREK GARZTECKI said that all the surveys in Poland in the last 15 years were for state intervention, welfare state - this is left-wing. All the leaders of Solidarnosc were left-wing.

(At this point EWA MOSS said that this country is for state intervention and the welfare state, and is capitalist, and KAREN ruled that we could have a whole meeting to discuss the meaning of socialism and left-wing, and we should get back to PSC history.]

MAREK GARZTECKI said that he had attended CSSO conferences (Conferences of Solidarnosc Support Organisations) in Canada, USA, France etc, and PSC (or perhaps SWS) was the largest organisation: some of the U.S.A. groups only had 15 or 20 members. In comparison with what we wanted to achieve our achievements might be small, but in comparison with other groups our achievements were very large.

WIKTOR MOSZCZYNSKI admired the longevity of the PSC, still active in '91 and '92: it was a pleasure to work on the visa campaign with old PSC colleagues such as Karen whom he had worked with from 1980-82. He had taken a much lesser role in PSC in the mid 1980s due to other

54

commitments, and exhaustion, and he wondered where did the key core of members, such as Giles, Karen, and Barbara Lubienska get their strength from.

There then followed a discussion on the role of Solidarity with Solidarity (SWS) with many con-tributors. The view expressed in the discussion paper was generally agreed: that while the attacks on us by SWS were very irritating, bad, unnecessary, and unjustified, the existence of two pro-Solidarnosc campaigns (PSC and SWS) stimulated not only more activity in total than one group could manage, but more activity from each group, (due to rivalry and competition) than would oth-erwise have occurred. MAREK said that Tadek Jarski was active mainly among the Poles. He was a charismatic leader: PSC was run by a committee. The organisations had different profiles, different types of leadership. ROBIN paid tribute to Tadek Jarski: every month, in all weathers, on the 13th there was a SWS demo outside the Polish Embassy (with at least 50 people attending each time) from some time in 1982 until the Solidarnosc government. On one occasion Tadek was arrested by the police for refusing to turn his loud speaker off. EWA MOSS thought that some people joined SWS, or left PSC for SWS, because PSC was left, SWS was not, and Poles tend to be Conservative. GILES added that another factor was that Tadek was Polish, and SWS was led by him throughout: PSC had a changing leadership, of various nationalities (English, Polish, Welsh, even Latvian descent): this may have been confusing to those who did not know us well.

WIKTOR MOSZCZYNSKI said some people did not like Tadek Jarski, and this drew people to PSC: both the TUC and the old emigres often preferred us to SWS. We had the young people brought up in Britain of Polish parents in PSC, while SWS had more the Poles who had lived in communist Poland, so some emigres tended to regard PSC as the campaign of 'their children' while being suspicious of SWS. Wiktor recalled often seeing members of the Government in Exile turning up as individuals at our demos. The President of the Government in Exile would turn up at PSC events more readily than SWS's: President Sabat turned up at our Lech Walesa Peace Prize Rally.

EWA MOSS said the attitude of the Polish Establishment was not to support pro-Solidarnosc groups, but to regard them as war mongers. The Polish Establishment called for a total boycott of the (1989 round table) election. After the Mazowiecki government was elected the Polish Establishment wholeheartedly embraced them, and did not like any criticism of it.

MAREK GARZTECKI said that we might have hoped for more support for PSC from the Government in Exile but that was not what they were there for - waving banners in the street etc. Marek recalled President Sabbat visiting Marek in the early days, talking to him when Marek was 'nobody'. All trades unions giving money to Solidarnosc had to account for their donations, and so embassies could find out what had been given, but the Government in Exile was always willing to give monies in envelopes - no questions asked as to use, which could be for bribing police. They were always willing to listen to and meet anybody from Solidarnosc underground visiting Britain. Marek reckons nobody did as much as they did.

DR. PIESAKOWSKI supported what Marek said, and hoped the record would be put straight in Giles's revised paper.

GILES HART said that he accepted this information, but he had not been trying to write other organisation's histories - only their relationships with PSC. That is why he had referred to the CSSO declarations by the Government in Exile that they did not use their influence to encourage anybody to attend pro-Solidarnosc demos. Admittedly they then said (perhaps realizing how badly their statement sounded) that if given notice of forthcoming PSC events they might then use their influence, but when invited (with three months notice) to provide a speaker for the Aug'88 demo, the nominated speaker was unavailable, and with a week to find a replacement they failed to do so: they all had something else to do on that day.

WIKTOR MOSZCZYNSKI said that the contacts were on a personal basis. There was a genera-

55

tion and culture gap - they saw us as doing something different to them, but were pleased at our actions. The individuals who Wiktor sometimes saw at our demos were there, not for Solidarnosc, but for freedom in Poland.

[The conversation then moved away from the Government in Exile, and SWS.] NAOMI HYAMSON recalled that even in 1980 when Solidarnosc was formed, the E. European

governments still managed to con people in Britain. She thought PSC's achievements were remark-able. The left was in a mess, and the trades unions were discredited.

EWA MOSS thought there was a need for such an organisation (as PSC) which would liaise with British trades unions and the Labour Party, to obtain their support for those who should be their natural allies, the Polish trades union Solidarnosc.

GILES HART recalled from about '85 onwards we missed very much the political skills and knowledge of those who had left us, and although we could and did ring up either individual MPs, or the whips, offices, to secure speakers from all the main parties for demos or lectures we missed the inside knowledge (that had made possible the campaigning inside the Labour party on the matter of invites) of party and parliamentary practises, and the politics of different Trades Unions. That was why Giles was so appreciative when Marek Garztecki got involved with PSC as a committee member, he had somehow managed to acquire all this skill and knowledge since being stranded in Britain in '81 and so he could book stalls for us (and the Solidarity Information Office) at as many Trade Union conferences as would accept us. This was great because when PSC first started getting involved with Marek, and the Solidarity Information Office, from early '82 onwards, there were committee members who were suspicious of Marek, and hostile towards co-operation with Marek unless it was on our terms. Fortunately by the time Marek became a committee member these suspi-cions or hostile committee members had left.

WIKTOR MOSZCZYNSKI recalled that we always wanted to ensure that any Conservative speakers were ones who supported democracy everywhere: we didn't want speakers who had said, or were likely to say they supported the Chilean or S. African regimes.

KAREN BLICK found it interesting to recall (in the case of David Irving) and learn about (in the case of Robert Maxwell - which happened when Karen had left PSC) how we had been aware, and ready to take issue with people who had since come to greater fame and notoriety. Maxwell could not have got much money from PSC, as we hadn't got much money, but he could have tried to bankrupt PSC.

[NOTE - If the worst had come to the worst with Maxwell, we would have sent all our money to Solidarnosc underground, rather than have paid him a penny.]

NAOMI HYAMSON said none of us realized how fragile were the bonds that kept the Soviet Empire together. Once there was someone in the Kremlin who said he would not protect these regimes any longer they all crumbled. She wondered what we would have thought then if we knew what had happened since.

TADEK WARSZA said we were congratulating Mr Gorbachev and PSC for overthrowing com-munism. But Tadek thought the job of overthrowing communism had not yet been accomplished. He claimed that it was now evident that what happened in Poland was a deal struck between the Communists and their collaborators, posing as a so-called constructive Solidarnosc opposition.

This constructive opposition, now mainly represented by the Democratic Union (UD) were hand-ed political power by the Communists, and were given a share in the mass media. The Communists in return were allowed unchallenged to grab hold of the economy under a guise of system transfor-mation and privatisation. Some now fear that in the coming election the Communist 'Alliance of the Democratic Left' (SLD) and the Democratic Union (whose pro-communist stance is much in evi-dence) will scoop most of the seats in Parliament and will form a ruling coalition: this will mean

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that the Communists, who have so far ruled by proxy, will have a formal return to power. [NOTE - The tape was not very clear for Tadek's contribution, so this summary has been recon-

structed with Tadek's subsequent help (ditto for Artek Taczalski's contribution later, and Ewa Moss's various contributions). Hopefully the summary reflects what was said, but of course responses made to these contributions were on the basis of what was said, and not what the recon-structed contribution says.]

Tadek's contribution produced a row at this point, and several people left the room until it was over. MAREK took great exception to these remarks, saying it was outrageous that somebody like Adam Michnik (whom Marek had known well since they were at school together), who had fought against Communism for so many years, and had been imprisoned for doing so, should be accused of being a Communist. TADEK replied that he had talked about groups, and had not named individu-als. KAREN (as the chair of the meeting) called the meeting to order, and said that Marek should not call Tadek an 'idiot'. Marek replied that if an 'idiot' was insulting, how much more damaging and insulting it was to call somebody a Communist.

A discussion then followed on how much difference we made to events in Poland, and how aware people were in Poland of our efforts. EWA said that people were grateful for our work, which was much needed at the time. People did know about actions in Poland (though they would-n't know which was PSC and which was SWS). WIKTOR said our actions gave encouragement but the decisive thing in Poland was due to bigger factors. We were part of a big series of events that took place, mostly in Poland. Wiktor recalled that he was banned from visiting Poland in 1987. KAREN said that we kept the banner flying, and we showed the people in the Embassy who peered through their curtains at us that there was somewhere that their powers did not extend to. GILES recalled a meeting at Conway Hall (December '84) at which, in addition to a range of speakers we tried to find ananti-Solidarnosc speaker. When the editor of the Morning Star was approached by Wiktor he said he was not anti-Solidarnosc, and suggested asking the Polish Ambassador - we thought this was going too far. This anecdote was announced at the meeting, and after the platform speakers we had a discussion from the floor, as usual. Probably there was a Polish correspondent at the meeting, as the event was reported in a Polish newspaper, in Poland. The reporter tried to give the impression, not that we didn't exist but that we had little support, so he said that we had tried to find people to discuss what the platform speakers had said, but we couldn't find anybody. To give credibility to his report he claimed he was quoting from a BBC World Service broadcast. The BBC had indeed reported the meeting, and he had indeed distortedly quoted from the broadcast to give this completely false impression of what had happened. This whole episode was very encouraging to us. It showed that the Polish media knew that news about us was reaching Poland, so instead of ignoring us it had to tell lies about us, pretending we were ineffectual. And it showed that the credi-bility of the Polish media was so low with the Polish public that the media needed to attribute their lies (to give them credibility) to the BBC World Service, which nobody in Poland was supposed to be listening to, but obviously were. WIKTOR recalled that at every meeting there was a spy (who looked like Lech Walesa!) from the Polish Embassy, and there was always someone from special branch to keep an eye on him.

WIKTOR MOSZCZYNSKI recalled a meeting at Conway Hall (30/11/81) which had trade unionist Jimmy Reid, Philip Whitehead M.P., and Neil Kinnock M.P. One of our members, an old trades unionist [and friend of Vladimir Bukovsky - John Lawrence] was sure that Neil Kinnock would never get anywhere. The fourth speaker was Professor Gomulka, who unlike the others was very knowledgeable about Poland, and was actually able to give detailed answers to the questions in the discussion. NAOMI HYAMSON recalled that after the meeting everybody went to the pub and had a good discussion with Neil Kinnock.

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GILES HART said it had to be remembered during these years that there seemed no end in sight for these Communist regimes. There seemed even less possibility of the Baltic States getting their independence. When we had our meeting with Neil Kinnock, then leader of the Labour party 1985), Giles showed Neil one of several early day motions concerning freedom in Eastern Europe ±at a lot of Conservative M.P.s were signing and not very many Labour M.P.s were. This motion was something to the effect that as the Soviet Union had not carried out their side of the Yalta Agreement, by holding free elections etc., the rights of the Baltic people for their own self govern-ment should be recognized. Neil looked at this motion, and said 'I don't agree with it, and I don't suppose you do either'. The matter did not seem worth pursuing, but it did confirm how politicians tend to deal with current realities rather than how things should be, so that they do not attract a ioony' label by seeming to support unrealistic causes. And that is why our campaign may have seemed strange at the time, and why those politicians who stood up to be counted with us were brave, though it might not seem so now, after so much has happened.

EWA MOSS recalls the government policy about the Katyn massacre by the Russians. Everybody knows the truth now, but the truth had been known since the war, (though the British government pretended otherwise).

KAREN recalled that as late as '91 it was very difficult to get a speaker for the Baltic States iemo from Labour - even Giles Radice wouldn't support us. The M.P. who was prepared to speak •A. as a Welsh Nationalist. ROBIN referred to the same 'realism' now happening with Hong Kong, and GILES referred to the Tibetan situation with everybody being frightened of offending the Chinese government by talking to the Dalai Lama.

There then followed a discussion of Naomi's earlier question - what would we have thought then of what has happened since. ROBIN said one can never know what will happen - one can only campaign for things to be better, and overall, Yugoslavia apart, they have been better . NAOMI would have preferred to have thought about what sort of world is coming. It is marvellous the Communists have gone, but now having been deprived of everything but a one party state, there is a struggle for a political culture. WIKTOR said we are all trying to develop a political culture, as the Md certainties have gone, economies are collapsing. He is not despairing about the position in Poland, it is better than it was, but there is mass unemployment. The situation was held together by terror: now the terror has gone all the slugs are emerging from under the stones. With regard to the falling out among old Solidarnosc colleagues, revolutions devour their children, but there has been no bloodshed with this Polish falling out.

GILES said he had never campaigned for a free market economy in Poland, he had only cam-naigned for democracy. What sort of economy the Poles wanted having achieved democracy was always up to them. He found it objectionable the way Britain and U.S.A. said the Eastern Bloc countries must be given help to achieve democracy and a free market economy, as if these two things were synonymous. You could have a totalitarian regime with a free market economy - you could have a democracy with a planned economy. If he met a Pole who said 'I used to have a job, but I haven't now - thanks for all your campaigning' he would be most embarrassed. Giles was always against Communists, but it was the compulsory nature of Communism he objected to: the lack of democracy, lack of free speech. This went for the Trotskyists as well - when Trotsky was in power he did nothing to bring about free speech, free trades unions, and a democracy that might remove the Communists from power. When Trotskyists objected to Stalinism, their main objection was that Trotsky wasn't running it, was excluded and then murdered by it - not the totalitarian nature of it. But if there were Communists who were democratic, who were for voluntary Communism, not compulsory Communists, who were not just democratic until they achieved power then if people wanted to vote such people into power, that was their right. [In response to some

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remarks Giles conceded this analysis was perhaps a bit of a simplification] EWA MOSS felt that it was very important for Poland to be given economic help, not only for

Poland's benefit, but for everybody's benefit. Such help, financial and otherwise would help ensure stability in Poland.

MAREK GARZTECKI described the economic problems in Poland with E.E.C. subsidised but-ter undercutting the Polish product. Marek said that while we have fought battles in the past, a big campaign needs to be fought in Britain to allow Poland access to free trade instead of being hin-dered by trade barriers. Eventually Poland would be allowed to join the E.E.C and thus Poles would be subject to not only the economic conditions, but all the rights of work mobility etc. that E.E.C. citizens have. All Poles are frightened of the economic might of Germany and he could see that the British-Polish friendship, started before the last war, could be important in this respect in say 15 or 20 years.

Marek thought that Poles have a lot to learn from the British, and gave as an example the ways of conducting a meeting. Having seen hundreds of political meetings in Poland he had not seen one conducted as well as this PSC meeting. In fact when Marek conducted meetings of the Polish Socialist party in Poland he was basing his chairmanship on the way PSC ran its meetings.

[Everyone who had not yet spoken was then offered a chance to speak: no takers. The two stu-dents from Poland were asked to speak on the grounds that unlike others present they had spent their whole lives in Poland, and would probably continue to do so, they were younger than us, conse-quently had probably not been involved in Solidarnosc demos, and had probably never heard of PSC. Had they any comments on any of this?]

ANNA T. said that usually people in her age group were not interested in the past, they were fed up with Solidarnosc. They are thinking of what they want to do.

ARTEK TACZALSKI said that some of the youth were very well informed about the Parliamentary factions, the party struggles. Other youths were not involved due to wariness of polit-ical life - they have lost interest due to disruption caused by the current lack of progress in material and employment conditions. There is disappointment caused by the fact that the majority of the Communist Nomenklatura have become the capitalist elite, the economy is very much in their hands. This slows down the economic reforms that Walesa has promised, but has not brought about. One example is the banking system, where the Nomenklatura defends its interests. The know-how people from Britain were entertained instead of being allowed to train people - they were misguided by people afraid of the reforms. After 4 years the progress is minimal. The flow of money out is enormous. Pensions are squeezed to a maximum, while the rich pay low or no taxes.

There followed a brief discussion on what Anna had said. While EWA seemed disappointed at the attitudes expressed, MAREK said that it was encouraging - after generations of Poles who had to be political because of the lack of freedom they lived under, now it was possible for Poles to live without their life being determined by politics - wasn't this just the situation we had been fighting for?

[Everybody present had said what they wanted to say, so KAREN brought the discussion to a close, noting than in September PSC would hold a meeting to decide its future, and that everyone present who was not a PSC member could nevertheless attend that meeting as an observer, if they wished.]

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MORE ABOUT PSC

by Edward Switalski Introduction

Tliis contribution was motivated in part by seeing early drafts of Giles Hart's 'Brief History'. I add some lomments on the early history of PSC, particularly the period of Martial Law and on our work with the political Left. I also expand on the role of second generation Poles, particularly the Polish Students and rffer some conclusions on the effectiveness of PSC.

My Road to PSC

I regard my involvement with politics as nothing special. My early life was spent in an extended family: roth father and uncle had served in the Air Force and both mother and grandmother were in the Warsaw ^K and took part in the 1944 Rising. Their conversation was a primer of political history. I did not expe-rience the traditionalist influences of Polish weekend school as my mother, though one of the original teachers, had broken with the PMS [Polish Educational Society]. Instead I learnt of Granny's risky career :or a demonstrator in 1905, when Warsaw was under Russian imperial occupation and the Polish lan-guage itself had to be learnt clandestinely. Although later running a large import business, she retained a taste for the tough minded writings of Marx and Delasalle and others of the pre-Leninist period. Like many progressive Poles of her class and time she regarded the Russians as irretrievably backward and violent.

This left me predisposed to view Poland in political terms, distrust Western promises and regard iCtivism for independence as the done thing. Just as well — I hadn't even unpacked in Cambridge (to study Maths) when the recruiters from the Polish Society called. It was then just a few years after the 1970 rising on the Baltic coast and I was keen to learn about the history and situation in post-war Communist Poland and E. Europe. Though the PolSoc was not political, we worked our way through all the films of the post-war Polish school, collected money for Amnesty and held readings of dissident liter-ature.

Among our members was the father and son mathematical team of Henryk and Jan Herczynski. Though neither proselytised for the Opposition, at the time, Henryk was later arrested publicising on a ;ode of conduct for scientists under Martial Law. (Scientists often seem to have been effective dissidents, maybe because dim Party aparatchiks found it difficult to meddle)

The Ursus and Radom events broke in the hot summer of 1976.1 well remember the anger and frustra-tion of family and friends alike at the description of this 'zryw' (rising) as 'Food Riots' and the patroniz-_r.g attitude of the British media. I was out in limbo between graduation and starting a job, but the experi-ence left me determined to 'do something next time'.

I joined the London Branch (Kolo) of the Association of Polish Students & Graduates (ZSAPWB) in -ebruary 1980 while finishing an MSc at London University. As London members included university staff (e.g. Wlodek Mier-Jedrzejowicz of Imperial and Adam Ostaszewski - now of the LSE - and also now Chairman of POSK) it was easy to contact political analysts from LSE and SEESS to give talks. Some of the luminaries who spoke were Drs Rostowski, Polonski, Schopflin, George Kolankiewicz of Essex (insight on the workings of the Party PZPR) and Prof Labedz. Many would grace future events such as the first ZSAPWB Poland & Eastern Europe seminar in November 1982 and future PSC events. While they agreed that Communist ideology was 'decomposing', none could predict how the next crisis -.vould come.

The drama of shipyard and rail strikes of August 1980, made a large impact on second-generation Poles. The election of Karol Wojtyla as Pope in 1978 had already caused many to reactivate their Polish identity. After the patronizing treatment of Poland by the media as mainly just another Soviet Satellite, though a more idiosyncratic and rebellious one, the emergence of home-grown figures with the stature of Walesa or the Pope was politically useful.

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August 1980 and PSC

Most of my August/September 1980 was spent in a whirl of activity, first finishing off an MSc dis-sertation, then breaking off for news bulletins from the BBC World Service, Radio Free Europe a Polish short-wave. At the time some commentators regarded the railway strikes as more significarr than the shipyards because they affected 'strategic' transport considered more critical to the Russia military.

In late August, an emergency public meeting was held by the Polish community at the Ognisko in Kensington. Though the speakers from the Government-in-Exile, ZSAPWB or veteran Socialist Lidia Ciolkosz waxed lyrical, no program of action was proposed, not even the old standby of taking a collection. I left very frustrated, but heard from Piotr Iglikowski about the British meeting at the Conway Hall, historic meeting place of progressive causes.

There, in the classroom-like Small Hall I first encountered PSC founders Robin Blick and Wiktor Moszczynski on the platform, with Giles Hart and Stanislaw Wasik and members of the original PPS in the audience. (Giles wondered aloud who among those present might be the Embassy spy). The meeting though small, already had various factions starting to jockey for posi-tion over the Poland issue.

Within a few days some of those who would form the core of PSC activists met at Robin Blick'-house to draft the first Constitution. Given the intense nature of debate over later versions, the first draft (typed on Robin's distinctive typewriter) was agreed amicably and quickly.

Those present came from a broad range of opinion, from Tories through Libertarians, orthodox Labour and its fringe, and in contrast with exile organizations presented a reassuringly large stock of expertise in British politics or running campaigns. Robin and Adam Westoby in particular, had an extensive armoury of anecdotes of betrayal and collaboration. Robin seemed highly sensitised to the excesses of Trotskyism, having been on the receiving end (literally) of a purge of Gerry Healy'-WRP.

PSC was clearly not going to play it safe preaching to the converted. Though doggedly politically unaligned, PSC also took on the important work of unpicking the unhealthy and corrupting 'fraternal' relations of Soviet block governments and trade unions with British 'Labour movement groups. It also meant countering Stalinism and anti-Solidarnosc propaganda in political forums and fighting the generally patronizing and prejudiced view of East Europe in both the Establishment and the 'Labour Movement'.

The other attractive feature of PSC was it aimed to be practical: John Taylor had already routed a £600 printing press to Solidarnosc, and I believe most of the PSC first collection money went towards repaying him.

Most early PSC activists were already politically literate, e.g. Steve Murray, Naomi Hyamson. Very significantly, PSC was also home to effective young activists of Polish descent particularly Wiktor Moszczynski, and Piotr Iglikowski, keen to interpret Polish events for the British community. Wiktor particularly knew both the active younger generation Polish activists and the British political system, being active in his trade union and the Labour party in Baling (and elected local councillor in Ipswich and later Baling).

One of the young PSC's first concerns was an apparent bid to use Poland by the Right. Press adverts for a strangely-named 'Focus Solidarity Campaign' had appeared. After enquiries as to who was behind it, PSC received a letter from David Irving the Holocaust revisionist historian suggest-ing co-operation. Robin drafted a letter noting we had nothing in common. Not too long after came the first anti-Soviet action of picketing a reception for Leonid Zamyatin the ex-KGB 'trade union' boss. This struck me as a well-balanced start.

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The Media Campaign

An early target of PSC was inaccurate, misleading or dangerous reporting of Poland. Most journal-ists seemed to able to do a fair job but there were persistent offenders. Two main bugbears were Tim ('Dim') Sebastian of BBC TV & Radio and the precious Hella Pick of the Guardian.

Sloppy reporting was potentially dangerous, as it allowed enemies of Solidarnosc to exploit the status of the BBC, to legitimize and amplify their own propaganda. While nuances might escape a -.on-Polish speaker, this did not seem to affect ITN's Nick Glass who appeared able to get consis-tently closer both to the realities and the aspirations of Poles. Also most East Bloc regimes then had experienced teams of news managers and pseudo-journalists, well practised in steering or neutraliz-ing naive western journalists, or exploiting the vanity or insecurity of the second-rate with offers of 'privileged' information. The working of totalitarian states is oiled by deceit, betrayal and self-deception and self-justification.

Tim Sebastian (who allegedly got his nickname during an undistinguished spell at Reuters) was :he BBC Warsaw correspondent from 1980 onwards, with an overwrought (or was it self-dramatiz-ing) style of delivery, quivering at every flexing of Soviet muscle, shuddering at every crisis, too often quoting the Government line: e.g. describing the testing of the ZOMO on striking Warsaw Fire Brigade cadets in November 1981 as a (justifiable) raid by anti-terrorist police.

Hella Pick, often seemed to uncritically accept or weave in too many Government news feeds into her copy. Uncomplimentary stories (mainly about vanity and drink) also followed her. Her nadir was probably the 'Jaruzelski kissed my hand' interview after Martial Law. PSC raised com-rlaints and had an inconclusive interview with her and her editor.

To be fair, Poland had excellent and fair analysis from commentators like Timothy Garton-Ash of the Times, who got deeply into East European psyche, or Neal Ascherson of the Observer/Independent, who demonstrated a deep knowledge of Polish history which he could weave into analyses of the British scene.

The media campaign was worthwhile as Poland was often headline news in the UK from August 1980 until displaced during the Falklands War in spring 1982. The work of the Solidarnosc under-ground, and the mass demonstrations e.g. August 1982 anniversary, also received good coverage -and copy.

Resources:

Before the first wave of independent newspapers arrived from Poland, a useful source of informa-:ion was the weekly briefing papers, both in Polish and translation, of press cuttings produced by the Information Centre for Polish Affairs. ICPA was run by journalists from the Polish Section of the BBC, most notably Antoni Pospieszalski and Gienek Smolar. Gienek, expelled from Poland in 1968, was a formidable organizer. So was his brother Aleksander who worked for the 'Kultura' in Paris, the flagship journal of intellectual opposition in Poland. (Like other journals printed abroad, 'Kultura' also came in miniature editions for ease of smuggling back to Poland).

Radio Free Europe also produced a weekly digest of press cuttings and political analysis, but PSC was naturally far closer to the BBC and ICPA. I, for one, felt they were younger and more independent-minded. I became suspicious of RFE after its softly-softly approach in the early stages of Martial Law. It was also my impression that Tadek Jarski cultivated the RFE office in London.

As for books, I spent a pretty penny over the years at Mr Kulczycki's excellent Orbis Bookshop 66 Kenway Road, Earls Court) or its outlets. Besides illegal publications from Poland, Orbis stocked an informed range of political and cultural opposition literature and had a good line in 'Ostpolitik' with its Russian and Ukrainian sections.

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Labour Movement Solidarity Organizations:

Before PSC, some Labour movement organizations and MPs were already supportive of free trade unionism in Eastern Europe. The apparently most significant within the Labour Party was the East European Solidarity Campaign, publishing the well-produced magazine 'Labour Focus on Eastern Europe' covering left-wing dissidents, including Polish strike leaders like Edmund Baluka or the 1970's founding committees for free trade unions.

The EESC was run by the Czech emigre Vladimir Derer (active in Bennite causes like the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy) and Oliver MacDonald of Socialist Challenge. Their agen-da seemed mainly to support reforms of the EE regimes back to 'socialism' - rather a forlorn hope, we felt, given the nature of the regimes and Russian imperialism. Via the CLPD, the EESC appeared close to the Leninist London Labour Briefing group and had the patronage of Ken Livingstone for the 'Hands off Workers Poland' on May 23d 1981.

The EESC were suspicious of PSC for not being avowedly socialist and there was little co-opera-tion after the 'Hands off march to the Russian embassy. PSC had the satisfaction of seeing the Left press cover that march with photographs of our redoubtable 'Granny Squad' and their PSC placards.

A small but friendlier organization was the Committee to Defend Trade Unions run by Harry Stannard and leftist types from South Bank Poly publishing the magazine 'Free Trade Unions'. Some of them were later supporters of the short-lived CDPS (see below).

Another group worth mentioning is Volya, run by Terry Liddle an early member of PSC. Tern was an anarchosyndicalist libertarian once in the (British) political group Solidarity, After a spell in PSC, Terry, who I believe was of Russian descent, began to work in support of emergent democratic groups in Russia and publish newsletters on the subject.

Arguing For Poland

Until Neil Kinnock became leader, the Labour Party, hamstrung by certain NEC members, had been slow and lukewarm in its reactions to the emergence of Solidarnosc. The situation in trade union delegate bodies was more difficult, populated as they then were by significant factions of CP (Communists), Trot' sects and 'semi-detached' members of the Labour Party.

The 'Trots' were the most amusing. The then lush political undergrowth of London was home to an ideological menagerie of sectarian groups, often organized around selling a newspaper, all jeal-ous of the political high ground and scrapping for the franchise on Socialism. While often amusing as individuals, collectively they wallowed in self-indulgence and their indiscipline did far more damage to the interests of British workers than to Solidarnosc.

Before dissecting Left wing factional attitudes, I should state that in my view, much of the 'sup-port' of the Right was mainly hot air, and even that often showed embarrassingly little understand-ing. I do not think Conservative PSC supporters like Lord Nicholas Bethell could deliver much from their government, especially if it involved financial effort or ran against UK self interest. For instance:

It was generally easier to obtain political asylum in France or Germany than in the UK through-out the crisis period. Thatcher's government was quite happy to import Martial Law coal to break the Miners Strike. It was not until the Russians admitted the Katyn forest massacre in 1989 that the British abandoned their polite fiction that the issue was undecided. When it came to the post-1989 Visa Campaign, the Government arguments against lifting restrictions after 1989 were ridiculous and carping. Poland was fortunate indeed that the course of events was mainly determined by inter-nal factors.

The large deal of lip-service from the Right made the Left loath to appear in the same camp. This

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Decreased throughout 1981 and after Martial Law when it became increasingly obvious that Solidarnosc was a genuine and radical, social movement. For instance my own union's (ASTMS) London Regional Council who had originally voted narrowly against affiliating to PSC in Autumn 1980, immediately voted £200 to PSC on the eve of the December 1982 demonstration.

Some trade unionists were sympathetic from the start, particularly proponents of workers' self determination Mike Cooley of Lucas or Jimmy Reid of the Upper Clyde Shipyards work-in. Others had followed the Russian and Ukrainian attempts to set up independent unions like SMOT and the fate of leaders like Vladimir Nikitin, who I believe died in jail just before the system crumbled.

Others conditioned by memories of Budapest or Novocherkask were afraid to encourage Solidarnosc for fear of 'sending them to their deaths' or of precipitating a Soviet invasion.

The arguments heard against Solidarnosc were soon predictable, even without recourse to back issues of Stalinist ('Tankie') organs such as 'Morning Star' (CP) or 'New Worker' (from the even more pro-Soviet NCP). Solidarnosc was branded anti-socialist, reactionary, a CIA front or Catholic/nationalist. The last argument was particularly pathetic as those using it almost invariably supported (reactionary) Irish Nationalism and were all for British troops out.

When all else failed, Stalinists would call opponents 'ill-informed', or avoid mention of 'the trouble in Poland' or play up Reagan's support for Solidarnosc on appeals to the nationalist Little England anti-Americanism and patronizing anti-Europeanism not unknown of these bodies.

Some Trotskyite groups wanted Solidarnosc supporters to endorse their domestic politics as a precondition for their support. At demos they wanted 'linkage' of Polish issues with (their) British ones, or a renunciation of NATO, Reagan, Thatcher & capitalism etc. Such interest was often short-term and opportunistic. Anarchist groups, by contrast, were refreshingly consistent.(l)

Neal Ascherson had it exactly right when he warned early on that activists were in danger of see-ing in Poland what they wanted to see and projecting onto Polish workers attitudes the latter simply did not have.

The most tortuous reason I ever heard came from a feminist-Trot who, starting from the observa-tion most Solidarnosc members were Catholics, decided they were anti-abortion hence anti-women hence she would oppose supporting it.

All these groups were fun to taunt, by using their own Pavlovian phrases against them. With a bit of practice, one could fulminate for minutes on end about 'the neo-bourgeois militaro-fascist Jaruzelski junta and its discredited military regime' - to the great amusement of erstwhile allies.

Stalinists had often invested enormous emotional capital in the idea of the USSR as unique repository of Socialism, and their reaction to threats to this could be petty. Even when they lost the vote, Tankies put up a rearguard action, like trying to sneak in last-minute amendments to diver donations to the government-dominated Polish Red Cross, or sabotage support for pro-Solidarnosc activity. (I well remember the verbal squirming of Clive Jenkins of ASTMS, sent as the TUC repre-sentative to a 'Day of Solidarity' event at Central Hall Westminster, when he tried so hard not to say that the TUC had finally cut links with East Bloc unions).

I think its correct to say that Tankies like Alan Sapper and Ken Gill continued their affairs will East Bloc regimes until the total collapse of 1989.

The Polish Students' Contribution

The Association of Polish Students and Graduates in G.B. (Polish initials ZSAPWB) had a long and quite distinguished history. Founded soon after World War II, many future leaders of the Polish community passed through it as they resumed their educations. Originally an international organiza ;ion (ZSAPU), it was scaled down after heated debate in the 70's.

In the wake of the Ursus and Radom repression, London ZSAPWB members such as Kazik

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Stepan and Dr Adam Ostoja-Ostaszewski (later of the LSE), jointly produced a book called 'Dissent in Poland'. This was a timely set of translations documenting the repression of strikers, the early activities of KOR and the first links between workers and intelligentsia which were to prove so valuable in 1980.

Connections between PSC and the ZSAPWB were informal but close: Wiktor Moszczynski had been prominent in ZSAPWB and three successive ZSAPWB presidents were PSC committee mem-bers- Piotr Iglikowski, myself and Adam Robinski. The next, Janusz Kubsik, (born and raised in Poland) was with the Solidarity Trade Union Working Group in the UK.

In the early days of PSC, ZSAPWB cross-publicized or co-organized events, e.g. invited PSC members to the series of annual seminars on Poland and Eastern Europe, begun in November 1982. Students regularly supported the PSC August demonstrations.

There was unfortunately, no great influx of Students into PSC. Few of that generation were inter-ested in political activity, let alone within the Labour movement. More were involved in church/charitable action such as collecting for food parcels or packing medicines for Medical Aid for Poland.

That being said, when ZSAPWB attended an audience with Cardinal Glemp, the Primate, during his UK visit, even the more 'religious' group were disappointed that he spoke little and complacently about the situation in Poland. The murder of Fr. Jerzy Popieluszko in 1984 re-radicalized some of them, when a priest got the kind of perverted and violent treatment meted out to trade unionists and political activists.

The doyen of Catholic ZSAPWB, Kazik Stepan, became active in running the British Solidarity with Poland campaign. Our personal relations were good, and we agreed to differ, working at oppo-site ends of the British political spectrum.

ZSAPWB undertook a number of student initiatives: campaigning within the NUS to break links with the pro-communist ZSP (Edward Gierek personally awarded Party cards to ZSP members who had attacked meetings of the Flying University) in favour of the independent and Solidarnosc-alignedNZS.

I was aided by Anna Tomlinson, a dynamic character of Polish-Jamaican descent, then an officer in the University of London Union. She tabled NZS/ZSP motions from London to NUS conference. In this we crossed swords with the NUS International Officer, one Jeremy Eccles, who was all for 'fairness' to the discredited and collapsing ZSP. We suspected it was more an issue of not upsetting relations (or compromising exchange trips) to East Bloc countries.

On the practical front, in mid-1981 a request came from NZS for western textbooks in the humanities, economics, political theory, technology and medicine to redress the balance. ZSAPWB began to organize a Polish Students Book Appeal fund to buy or solicit donations of second-hand text-books. It had just obtained sponsors including Dr David Owen MP (who sent us a cheque) when Martial Law closed down NZS and scotched that initiative.

ZSAPWB responded to Martial Law by publicizing lists and home addresses of interned students with its own 'Adopt a prisoner' campaign. Back in Leeds for Christmas, Jurek Skalski and I (with illustrations and production by Nick Sekunda & the Jasinski brothers) printed an emergency issue of the ZSAPWB magazine 'Szczyt', scooping PSC News.

Szczyt featured racy accounts of worker/student Resistance, names of internees, contact list for pro-Solidarnosc organizations and so on. Both papers were on sale for the international solidarity day of 30th January 1982. Some older graduates of ZSAPWB thought this radicalism was infra dig but the Polish Jesuits (who also received PSC News) thought it was great fun.

Szczyt distribution within London University was helped by Anna Tomlinson, who also set up the CDPS 'Campaign to Defend Polish Students' to publicize the cause of detainees and the NZS

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within the NUS. Over December/January, students in Manchester, Leeds and Nottingham organized or were

active in some commendable Polish community Martial Law vigils, in the bitterly cold weather of the winter of 1981/2.

Meanwhile back in London, Polish and Ukrainian students bombarded the switchboard of the Polish Embassy with abusive calls.

ZSAPWB efforts for NUS derecognition with ZSP were redoubled. Jeremy Eccles clung to the oretext that both the ZSP and NZS had both been banned, when it was clear it was the NZS getting arrested or beaten up. Manchester Poles got a pro NZS stand taken by their union, while NUS con-ference passed a motion drafted by Anna and friends on Poland (along with a blood-curdling fellow motion on the repression in Iraq). I understand Eccles dragged his feet over implementing that deci-sion and when last heard of he was a minor researcher at Walworth Road.

Martial Law trapped dozens of Polish students in the UK, all of whom now faced the prospect of a wrecked education. On the heels of a pioneering initiative by Dr Nick Sekunda in Nottingham, a group of academic staff at the LSE, headed by Professors Schopflin, Polonski and Wyles set up the Polish Students Fund and used their contacts to find institutions willing to waive tuition fees and :ake on the Poles.

Students from the LSE Polsoc such as Dzidzia Tendyra (a PSC committee member in 1985) and Rosie Whitehouse (now a reporter) did a great deal of secretarial spadework of matching candidates to courses. Despite the shock and change of language of instruction, most of the Polish students did .veil.

Last but by no means least, a very worthwhile organization set up by a young graduate activist, and supported by PSC, was 'Friends of Poland' the prisoner support charity run by Chris Jaraczewski and Krysia Koscia (sister of Wanda).

ZSAPWB and other East European Student Groups

Solidarnosc when legal, had to pretend its 'revolution was not for export', to avoid antagonizing the Russians. It was thus up to Solidarnosc's allies abroad to further the 'Ostpolitik'. PSC and ZSAP-WB passed on useful organizational materials etc. whenever requested.

One day in mid-1981 I noticed in 'Solidarnosc Weekly' from Poland that Ukrainian Bielorussian and Lithuanian students in Poland were trying to set up their own Associations and informed the corresponding UK student organizations, suggesting they link up with the initiatives in Poland.

The Ukrainian 'Studentska Hromada' represented by Taras Kuzio and Roman Pronszyn reacted very positively. They regarded their culture and national identity as under dire threat, frequently vis-aed Poland to better contact their compatriots, and supported Solidarnosc and Polish-Ukrainian dia-logue. Taras was quite senior in the Ukrainian community (whose smaller numbers meant its youth appeared to be given more responsibility than the Poles). He later ran the UK Ukrainian Press Agency and spoke at PSC's 'When the Wall Came Down' seminar at the LSE in 1990.

As early as 1982 we discussed how nationalist conflict could be avoided when the USSR was no more, given that porous land borders in E Europe had resulted in mixed populations, patchworks of ethnically-distinct villages and dominant peoples congregating in the towns etc. In such circum-stances we felt it least disruptive to leave existing borders in place, but agree enforceable cultural and linguistic non-aggression in the border regions with minority rights to schooling and language. Young Latvians were also positive: Maris Ozols with his Polish wife Nina was active in PSC. Andris Mellakauls of the Latvian 'Ealing Commune' was also a supporter.

Lithuanian students, on the other hand, seemed to be historically almost as afraid of Poland as of Russia, despite the damage of Sovietization. ZSAPWB itself did little with them, though PSC kept

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in touch via the Baltic Council.

Martial Law

As 1981 drew to a close, tension in Poland was high, with creeping militarization of the Polish gov-ernment after the summer Party Conference, the intimidating Zapad 1981 Warsaw Pact military exercises and the first use of the ZOMO to break a sit-in by trainees at the Fire Brigade School in Warsaw.

In response to the crisis, PSC ran a meeting at the Conway Hall in November at which Jimmy Reid (of the Upper Clyde Shipyards) and Neil Kinnock spoke very trenchantly of the responsibility of socialists to support Solidarnosc. By the time of that event, the tension had apparently eased, and when it came to drinks with the speakers in the Dolphin afterwards, the talk was mainly about the future.

At the time, we tended to watch the Russian army rather more closely than the Polish version, and some of us had been more worried by the Bydgoszcz provocation of Easter 1981. No one on the PSC committee (or Tadek Jarski) foresaw the declaration of Martial Law.

During Saturday 12th December, I heard about the call for an independent foreign policy from the Solidarnosc executive meeting in Gdansk and worried how the Russians would react. I came home from a social evening just in time to catch the late-night TV news of tanks and armoured vehi-cles in Gdansk. I stayed up till three listening to the confirmations pile up. Radio Free Europe, nor-mally quite robust, seemed to be pulling its punches, perhaps for fear of sparking an uprising. A few hours sleep and up again at Sam to record a robotic announcer from Warsaw reading out the Martial Law regulations which included the option of a death penalty for disobedience. It was clear the blow had landed. I began to consult further with PSC committee members, feeling that PSC should take the initiative and organize a demonstration outside the Polish embassy, if only to ensure that the anger of Poles (who would inevitably turn up) would be focussed and not get out of hand.

When I put this to Tadek Jarski, I was very surprised that he hesitated a while before agreeing. Robin gave his assent immediately and with that I rang the various national papers and Central London Police to inform them of the intended demonstration at around 7am.

Martial Law came as a shock, particularly as few believed the Polish Army would be so willing (after Katyn etc.) to do the Russians' dirty work. On the other hand it soon became clear that despite the heroic self-image, Poland had as many opportunists, traitors, tin-pot apparatchik dictators and uniform-fanciers as the average banana republic. In fact the Army was very top-heavy with func-tionaries of all kinds. A nation's worst enemies are usually found amongst its own ranks.

We were soon cheered by the fact that strikes and defiance became widespread, long-lasting and mushroomed whenever feasible, despite the fact that many Solidarnosc leaders had been nabbed in their hotels. As time passed, we began to feel the inconclusive attack on workers would deeplv wound the Communist Party, and if Solidarnosc were underground already, a Soviet invasion would be less likely.

Radio Solidarnosc

One impressive trait about Poles and East Europeans was their willingness and ingenuity in repair-ing things and adaptability in mastering technology, no doubt born of a long practice at making do. This was reflected in Solidarnosc's rapid exploitation of emerging computer and mass media tech-nology, often spearheaded by science students. Prior to Solidarity, one of the best known activists had been Mirek Chojecki the brilliant KOR underground printer/publisher.

Working in electronics, I had a hobby interest in radio communication and short wave, including techniques to reduce the effect of Russian jamming on my favourite broadcasts. Well before Martial

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Law, I had been asked for technical advice by a group wanting to set up unofficial local radio. I roped in some British friends, including one with contacts in the UK pirate radio movement. Martial Law stalled those plans, but presented new challenges.

The first was to provide communications for look-outs and also town-to-town relay of news. Cheap 27MHz short-wave CB walkie-talkies of the type fashionable in the UK in the early 80's were shipped out, and a friend suggested how extra daytime transmission range could be obtained by operating at 9 MHz by removing the output tripler.

Another requirement was to hear or detect police radios. Scanners were then expensive, so we produced simple wideband but sensitive miniature regenerative receivers for these bands. Used inconspicuously outdoors with an earpiece, they could give useful warning of police activity and intentions. We heard much later that undercover agents shadowing demonstrations were located by such means.

The mid 80's saw the start of the Solidarnosc underground radio movement, transmitting half-hour news programmes on the local 70MHz FM bands close or competing with government chan-nels. The transmitter sets were often left on rooftops with a programme recorded on a cassette and turned on and off by a delay timer, so the installation crew could get away. A short time on air ham-pered location efforts as did multiple reflections from positioning among steel framed buildings. This tactic was successful in Warsaw and even East German-equipped helicopters often failed to locate stations, which were retrieved to fight another day.

As Polish domestic frequencies were close to the 4-metre band, amateur equipment could be used with little modification. The most ubiquitous type initially were portable transistor designs working off high-current 12 volt supplies like car accumulators. As carrying car batteries into blocks of flats was conspicuous and risky, the search was soon on for better technology.

We soon suggested switched-mode supplies capable of providing heavy current from the mains without the need of a transformer. Using the mains usually meant putting in wires a day or so ahead of bringing in the transmitter. Where not available from the stairwell (most people fail to spot flex taped overhead), mains could be brought up an unused TV aerial lead with occasionally shocking results. Dispensing with accumulators allowed better concealment, and the technique gained accep-tance when the installations were recognized as better able to survive police searches.

With time, operators got more confident or wanted more power to reach a wider audience or directly capture official station frequencies or to jam police radios. We moved back to the future with valve technology. Valves offered higher power and less risk of damage from antenna mis-match. Again mains voltage was exploited for transformerless high tension supplies. The whole set could be light enough to clamp to a metal water tank for cooling.

The UK group provided technical data, components and workshops where Poles and Brits could build designs and then disassemble them into kits for 'transport' back to Poland. The Poles theoretical knowledge and practical skills were of a high standard - all they needed was a safe development environment. The activity went on until 1988. We did not know the final effect, but showed how many things were feasible - half the battle for an engineer.

It is known that Warsaw Solidarnosc helped protect demonstrations by both monitoring police activity and jamming communications, including those to spotter helicopters, while in Krakow a Solidarnosc soundtrack was inserted onto the audio of Polish TV during news broadcasts.

The impetus for these and other exciting developments declined after the Amnesty of 1987 and some of the Poles went legitimate, but some still keep in contact.

PSC News and Publications.

It was part of the political culture of PSC's founders to publish a cheap but saleable magazine to

publicize the cause. The first issues were produced in print runs of just over a thousand at a small radical printers Bread n' Roses. As one of the contributors (as myself, Al Gregg or Marek Gromadzki) I was keen to promote factual background on trade union issues and politics in Poland to complement the polemics, hence the early article on health and safety and the Martial Law chronologies.

The PSC committee started off in agreement on the need to produce better quality Martial Law Issues, to reach a larger audience - to the extent of being prepared to countenance a 'reasonable' loss. This was a departure from the shoe-string PSC News as a service to members that could also be hawked. Judging the economics of the print run was difficult. We had changed to a costlier print technology to reproduce the dramatic photographs and images of Martial Law, and discovered late in the day that income from sales and bookshops was slow and difficult to collect.

The cost of the enhanced PSC News quickly became intolerable, although we did sell some of the back numbers at Crystal Palace in 1982. At the same time other committee members became critical and suspicious of the editor Steve Murray (e.g. his keenness to campaign for cutting links with official East Block unions was seen as pushing the 'Socialist Organizer' line). This cause of suspicion was totally unreasonable as breaking links had been a fundamental part of PSC policy from the earliest days.

Steve and Piotr chose not to stand for either the Committee or Editorial board at the 1983 AGM. Maybe if they had agreed to revert to a cheaper format, they might have survived. As a fellow mem-ber of the production team, I was disappointed but not too surprised as the personal differences had been exacerbated by the hectic pace of work after Martial Law.

Subsequent editorial teams headed by Wanda Koscia, Maris Ozols and myself adopted a cheaper format and smaller print runs and PSC News soon ceased to be a drain on resources. We cut costs further by laying up copy (typed by Kasia Budd) ourselves on Maris Ozols' kitchen table. Later on the EETPU supported the PSC and Solidarity Working Group by printing our bulletins for free.

Wanda Koscia saw through the publication of the PSC special booklet on 'Solidarity Underground'. This account of resistance attracted a gratifying degree of public interest and quickly sold out. It seemed that our audience were quite prepared to pay a bit more for a more substantial publication.

At the time we had a wealth of material not easily available to the average newspaper journalist. I feel it is a pity that we did not produce follow-on volumes or a paper-bound book describing in full the reality of Martial Law Poland.

I took over PSC news production in 1984 after a fierce spat with Marek Garztecki who wanted it to merge with Voice of Solidarity. I felt the PSCN still had a useful niche in distinction to the volu-minous contents of 'Voice'. In the years that followed PSCN, the later styled PSC Report became more of a members newsletter.

Infiltration

Martial Law put great additional political charge into the Poland issue within trade unions. In furi-ous stand-up confrontations the Stalinists were defeated, with the Trots in the winning coalition. Almost inevitably having spent much energy and spilt a lot of ink on the matter, some 'Trot' groups may have wished to capitalize on the issue further.

The 1982 AGM held at the City University was a tense affair, with a great deal of debate about the structure of PSC, the relation of regional offshoots to the original London Committee and how votes should be apportioned. These committees had sprung up after Martial Law, often run by Polish or second-generation union activists like Richard Dalewski (Brian Dale) in Leeds or David Fieckart in Manchester. Maybe they thought they had to clothe their concern for Poland in garb that

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was politically correct for their milieu. After Martial Law, Trot-sounding resolutions allowing regional branches to follow their own

Agendas (interpreting the name PSC as 'Polish Solidarity Committee') were narrowly defeated, but a few figures distrusted by the Blicks were elected to PSC national committee. Robin Blick chose not to stand in consequence and Karen Blick resigned a few months later, a course of action which 1 felt was over-sensitive and would only make the work of potential entryists easier.

As it was, the new committee members were mildly active for a bit and then seemed to fade out. The Trot' influence never came to much, and PSC continued successfully under Naomi Hyamson and Wiktor Moszczynski until the 1983 AGM (at POSK) when the burning issue became the high cost of PSC news and Steve Murray's position. Thereafter left-wing infiltration was not to my mind much of an issue and after 1983 'Trot' interest and influence waned.

Tadek Jarski and SWS

Tadeusz Jarzembowski (aka Tadek Jarski) joined PSC around July 1981 much to the surprise of some PSC Poles mindful of his controversial spell running POSK. He appeared energetic and well connected, with apparently many media contacts (I think his wife worked at the BBC), and volunteered to take on a high workload. Although not a committee member he expressed strong opinions. In retrospect I think he might have been assessing PSC and its suitability as a platform.

PSC had spent the week of 13-20 December feverishly preparing for the demonstration in Hyde Park. I was thus perturbed to learn that Jarski had set up a new organization called 'Solidarity With Solidarity' (self-proclaimed founding date 14th December) operating from a room in the Hotel Georgc.

1 rang up the contact number asking for some background to be answered by a character 1 had not encountered before in pro-Solidarity circles, who chose to give the impression SWS had some kind of track record and was generally co-operative towards PSC.

This cover story annoyed me, this kind of operation required prior planning and would create division among Solidarity supporters. Jarski had been given a relatively free hand within PSC and seemed happy enough, no one else assumed they could always do exactly as they pleased.

From then on 1 regarded SWS as generally conceived in original sin, and found it difficult not to question Jarski's motives. This was reinforced when Jarski soon began a prolonged campaign ag;ainst Marek Garztecki's legitimacy as Solidarnosc spokesman, coupled with a claim to have been made a Solidarnosc conference delegate himself.

The PSC was also a target for Jarski, the very competent Wiktor Moszczynski was attacked in a pr:ess conference. Not surprisingly none of the committee and few of the membership chose to defect to him. To my further annoyance Jarski retained PSC membership and lurked around AGMs for a few years afterwards and committee members might get occasionally approached by him at demonstrations and invited to his place for a chat.

Having seen the SWS magazine (better called, I feel, 'What Tadek Did Next'), and witnessed the -behaviour of members (e.g. chanting'Tadek Tadek' instead of Solidarnosc slogans) I gained the -impression SWS had some characteristics of a cult. Most of its activities revolved around the charis--matic leader, with the members kept off-balance running around doing menial tasks. Years later, I met up with some of the SWS young cohorts of the time. They told a similar story of the initial attraction of radicalism, but left SWS tired out and alienated towards further involvement in politics.

Relations with the Polish Community in the U.K.

PSC was a British political campaign, though its active membership included a large proportion of first- and second-generation or post-war Poles. PSC faced, as its founders had intended, outwards to

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the British political scene and was not a Polish community organization. Despite using 'neutral' Polish community venues, like the POSK centre in Hammersmith, for

convenience and economy, PSC was often misrepresented in its early days by opponents on the Left as allied to the Polish Government in Exile. This was never the case. PSC followed its own agenda and first met the GIE only as late as 1990 (when it was already considering self-dissolution and return of the national insignia and seal to Poland and the Walesa government). I personally was unsure of the effectiveness of the GIE, but gave it its due for symbolizing national independence and rejection of the carve-up of Europe at Yalta.

Members of the independence-minded PPS (Polish Socialist Party) had attended all the early meetings of PSC and acted as PSC trustees and auditors over the years, but they generally kept a low profile as far as committee work was concerned, leaving it up to the young 'uns.

The Polish community generally understood the PSC had to occupy different ground to their own and were individually supportive. Early PSC demos were often supported by a redoubtable squad of mature Polish ladies who were 'bojowe' (gung-ho) and keen to brandish their placards.

In early 1981, PSC had a useful financial boost (of £200 - a tidy sum in those days) from a 'Jumble Sale for Polish Workers' at POK in Ealing - an event gravely reported on by the Economist briefing supplement which also came to the conclusion that PSC was indeed genuine and not a front. In the early days PSC also ran stalls at Polish events.

PSC's best encounter with UK Poles was probably during the Pope's visit to the UK in early 1982. We were worked off our feet at the Crystal Place stall by the demand for Solidarity merchan-dise. Many Poles came up just to give us donations - we should have recorded their names! It was also amusing to have British policemen queuing up to buy pro-striker, riot-filled back numbers of PSC News.

Relations with Venus

Surely the most bizarre act to jump on the Solidarity bandwagon was discovered in summer 1983 by Marek Matraszek of Oxford University Polish Society, who rang me urgently about political materi-al he had received.

This turned out to be a collaboration between with 'Sir' George King, and Mr. Sokolnicki (a failed candidate for the Polish Government-in-Exile) granting the status of Polish ambassador to various obscure Britons. The supporting material soon revealed a factor common to all these 'ambassadors': membership of the Aetherius Society, the flying-saucer worshippers of the Fulham Road - its leader none other than 'Sir' George King. The Oxford students had sent a salty reply, rather upsetting 'Sir' George by its 'irreligious' nature. In a rather disorganized letter of reply Mr King invoked the moral authority of the Pope against the young Poles and styled himself 'a man ol the cloth' also.

ZSAPWB informed the real Government-in-Exile, where it caused no l i t t le amusement. Little was heard of Aetherians thereafter.

Keen followers of TV may have seen a report on the Thatcher Foundation last year, which fea-tured Marek Matraszek, now running the Warsaw branch (sic).

Meeting Real East Europeans

Meeting Solidarnosc leaders, when let out of Poland (usually for medical reasons), could also be a very moving experience. I have in mind Jan Jozef Lipski, Prof Bartoszewski and particularly Anna Walentynowicz: as she had agreed not to appear in public, PSC met her in a private house, packed with supporters. Her moving description of the lift of hope to prisoner morale of knowing that someone was watching over them, underlined the value and relevance of the 'Adopt a Prisoner'

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campaign. Then she hugged and kissed the nearest to hand. PSC support for Solidarnosc was a bit like a long-distance love affair and as such, we knew we

occasionally had to be careful, e.g. strident anti-Communism might not imply a true regard for democracy. The abnormal political climate could result in personalized and then crony politics from some of the exiles.

It wa s c l e ar whi le t he good we r e ve r y g ood i n a n i n te l l e c tu a l an d mor a l sense - well tempered by their sometimes savage experience - there was the odd embarrassment, e.g. Leszek Moczulski getting lost in philosophical musings at Brompton Oratory.

Another example: in early 1982 a small group of PSC and Polish community figures met to dis-cuss the likely future with a Solidarnosc representative. The latter, recently arrived from Poland, expressed dread that Walesa would crack in captivity and the game would all be over. The WWII and second-generation Poles on the other hand, probably felt the struggle could continue without him.

We did notice a different political culture, a possible over-stressing of personality issues and a desire to control, by doling out titbits of information or status.

Occasionally the PSC would get annoyed by Marek Garztecki making dramatic cash appeals to meet sudden operating expenses run up by the Solidarity Trade Union Working Group such as phone bills or T-shirts.

Conclusions

In retrospect, the Solidarnosc period seems like the inter-war Polish Republic of my parents' time: a short, sometimes unsuccessful, but overwhelmingly valuable period of political development. PSC played a useful role in promoting and supporting this in the UK.

While we could always have done more, a great deal was achieved over 14 years, and PSC did not prevent others from supporting Solidarnosc as they saw fit.

The most worthwhile PSC activity for me was the Prisoners Campaign and helping to translate reports of repression, defiance and smuggled prison letters (Polish, typically, has a word for it: 'gryps'). I particularly remember translating the statement 'Why I am Returning to Poland' by Jan Jozef Lipski who was facing the likelihood of jail despite his serious cardiac condition and recent surgery.

Independence: PSC took the hard road by guarding its independence and refusing the safer life of a political protege. Given the fickle nature of some bodies, and of 'dominant' personalities in them, this was no loss. PSC could remain exactly what it said it was supposed to be and be able to carry the torch for pro-democracy groups in Poland without fear or favour.

Membership: Though goodness only knows what work Giles did chasing up members, it was hard to retain members after the high point of approx 1200 just after Martial Law. Membership declined over the years to the pre-1982 core of about 200. Although PSC took recruiting material to public events, there was little effort to spare to organize recruitment campaigns - a possible chicken and egg situation. More members might have been retained by cultivating them more personally, an activity requiring endless good cheer and the ability to run up monstrous phone bills.

Sponsors: PSC started with an interesting group. The various PSC questionnaires and lobbies might have been used as a pretext to recruit some more.

PSC News: generally a Good Thing as a service to readers, particularly the Chronologies and translated documents rarely available in English. However, producing a generally saleable magazine is an almost inevitable cash drain on a small organization as revenue from cash sales is slow and erratic.

A larger and more comprehensive pamphlet with a higher cover price appearing every 6 months

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or so might have been a better bet. Modern desktop computer publishing methods allow good quali-ty publications to be produced in small but repeatable batches.

Organization: We could have done with a full-time organizer to help out with the liaison and chasing up etc. The result of everyone being part-time was that PSC was often short-staffed and over the long run this wasted a lot of energy and wore the activists down. The occasional personality clash might have been expected in an active voluntary organization where all the members join out of conviction.

Tadek Jarski: The split weakened the campaigning ability of the Polish community and presented a disunited front. He could have probably achieved more running radical operations within a respectable outfit!

The Future

There is still much work for a solidarity campaign on behalf of Poland and the New Democracies to do.

The are many external dangers: reactionary Russian nationalists and neo-Nazis in Germany. The ex-Soviet Union demoralized, unstable and crime-ridden, now meddling in its ex-colonies as if to compensate. Ethnic conflicts, some fuelled by the underling scramble for resources. Some of the new republics may be non-viable and may hence be swallowed up again.

The more fortunate Visehrad* countries have been forced to telescope decades of political devel-opment into a few years. Not surprisingly, public mood, and election results have swung on timescales of months: in Poland this meant following Western messiahs like Tyminski to voting in ex-communists not long after. Everywhere, Communists have relaunched themselves with their influence and stashed dollars, as nationalists and businessmen. I think Walesa did Poland a great disservice by not opening the informer files, if only to teach Poles how many there were.

The West has delivered so little on its promises that one begins to wonder how many were made in good faith: the economic investment has been minor, the Know How Fund is heavily criticized as feather-bedding British consultants. The EEC denies Poland access to markets in staple goods like agriculture and steel where the subsidized EEC producers could stand a little competition. PSC has already supported action on Visas and the Know How Fund. A campaign with allied organizations in the EEC on fair trade and development may be desirable, already some analysts are starting to label Eastern Europe as a potential economic threat.

The PSC could also gain some additional mileage by continuing to foster twinning arrangements and exchange visits enabling people from Europe to gain experience in how trade unionists, volun-tary bodies and local/regional governments work (the latter before it is further reduced in the UK!).

There is presently an enormous political vacuum and lethargy in Western Europe after the end of the Cold War and the recession caused by West Germany's annexation/reunification. The British presidency of the EEC was a particularly miserable period of inaction, most particularly over Bosnia (which has only encouraged militant separatists all over Eastern Europe).

Given its previous track record in speaking up for national independence and self-determination, PSC may be better placed than it thinks to start the ball rolling on the debate on the reintegration of Europe and the extension of security and defence structures. I think the time is quite ripe, even with-out a change of regime in the UK.

: (Czech republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland)

MEMORIES, MOTIVES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND ASSESSMENTS

PSC members, past and present (leading or otherwise) who, when informed of the PSC history pro-ject expressed interest, were all invited to make a contribution to this book - either by answering a questionnaire and/or by writing a paper of comments, recollections, or whatever relating to any aspect of PSC, and/or their involvement in it. (The responses could be short or long. The question-naire responses are set out below (the other responses comprise the rest of this book).

Many thanks to all those who did reply. Some of the respondents (i.e. Liz Willis and Adam Westoby) had heard or read Giles Han's

'Discussion Paper' presented at the meeting of 16/7/93, and made comments on this in their reply below. As Giles took notice of these comments when expanding the 'Discussion Paper' into the 'Brief History' contained in this volume, some of these comments may not necessarily now be applicable.

WILLIS LIZ

1 - HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT PSC? I heard about PSC at the meeting(s) which started it off, first the one at Conway Hall, then follow-up gatherings (was it upstairs at the Roebuck, Tottenham Court Road?). I could thus claim to be a founder member, though admittedly the three founder-instigators had a special role.

2 - HAVE YOU ANY POLISH CONNECTIONS? No Polish connections at all, and little spe cial knowledge, other than from meeting a few Polish people and having a certain historical and political interest.

3 - WHY DID YOU JOIN PSC? From a libertarian-socialist perspective, as well as from a more subjective humanitarian empathy, the news from Poland about the formation of Solidarity trades- union was exciting, encouraging, and seemed obviously a 'good thing which should be pushed along'. PSC seemed to be a means of expressing support for this very significant struggle and did not show signs of being a 'front' for any particular group or tendency.

4 - WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE THROUGH PSC? DID YOU THINK YOU DID ACHIEVE THESE THINGS? As far as I can recall, I would not have expected any very great achievements - perhaps just to

keep in touch with what was happening, to feel part of the developing situation, to meet with (approximately, on this issue) like-minded people who together might provide visible solidarity (the key word throughout!) and practical help to those in Poland. I would have seen this as part of a more general commitment and would have hoped to make a (modest) specifically libertarian contri-bution to PSC and to liaise between it and the London Solidarity group, seeing and reinforcing the relevance of each to the other - but not aiming to recruit members or push a party line.

5 - WHAT WAS MOST ENCOURAGING (IF ANYTHING) ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERI ENCES? The feeling that the activities of PSC were known and appreciated in Poland by those actually involved in the Solidarnosc movement (e.g. visit from Anna Walentynowicz).

6 - WHAT WAS MOST DEMORALISING ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERIENCES? In-fighting, growth of factions, and authoritarianism (left and right). To illustrate, I remember

two contrasting meetings at POSK: one not long after the declaration of Martial Law, when a large, eager audience was rapidly alienated by a series of squabblings and flouncings from the committee (I'm not sure how this relates to the alleged takeover plot mentioned at the recent meeting - at the time it came across like compulsive sectarianism rampant); another (smaller and later) when some clamorously reactionary Polish ladies were rejoicing at the departure of a prominent committee member.

7 - DO YOU THINK YOU LEARNT ANYTHING THROUGH YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN

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7 - DO YOU THINK YOU LEARNT ANYTHING THROUGH YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN

PSC? (A) That people of widely divergent views can work together in an organisation geared to practi

cal activities around an issue of shared concern more successfully than I would have expected, with out being used or taken over: the price of such rather artificial unity may, however, be a tendency to lapse into dubious alliances, or a worthy but uninspiring fund-raising circuit, with only a dedicated few remaining committed to the long term.

(B) That the significance of Polish Solidarity was less self-evident to some of my former politi cal co-thinkers than I expected: I was asked to explain/justify the inclusion of a supplement on Poland in the London Solidarity magazine: people were unhappy with, e.g. the role and statements of Walesa, and the appearance of religious (RC) symbols, etc., whereas it seemed obvious to me (and some others) that any popular, democratic movements must contain elements that outsiders could not wholeheartedly approve - this did not mean such a movement, especially arising in a very repressive regime after years of apparent despair, should not be supported.

8 - ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS YOU WISH TO MAKE, ABOUT YOUR PSC INVOLVEMENT, PSC ACTIVITIES, PSC INFLUENCE OR ANYTHING ELSE?

I felt that the discussion on 16th July (1993) missed out one strand from the constituent elements of the PSC, viz. the libertarian. We didn't all come from the ex-Trot/hard-left backgrounds (or from the right). True, the part played by the London Solidarity group - for whom a critique of the Soviet Union and kindred regimes had been crucial - in setting up the first meeting was acknowledged, but the impression was given that no-one else other than me from that bit of the political spectrum had much to do with it after that. In fact Chris and Jean Pallis attended at least one social in POSK, and I think there must have been others at meetings and demos in the early days. The name of Terry Liddle should surely have been mentioned? He was around longer than me, and more active, with his newspaper 'Volya' and various contacts.

ZOFIA MALAKOWSKA

1 - HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT PSC? Through Giles. 2 - HAVE YOU ANY POLISH CONNECTIONS? Yes. 3 - WHY DID YOU JOIN PSC? Ideological reasons. 4 - WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE THROUGH PSC? DID YOU THINK YOU DID ACHIEVE THESE THINGS? No reply. 5 - WHAT WAS MOST ENCOURAGING (IF ANYTHING) ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERI

ENCES? That although what we did was a drop in the ocean in helping Poland we did contribute

that drop. 6 - WHAT WAS MOST DEMORALISING ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERIENCES? No reply.

7 - DO YOU THINK YOU LEARNT ANYTHING THROUGH YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN

PSC? No reply.

8 - ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS YOU WISH TO MAKE, ABOUT YOUR PSC INVOLVEMENT, PSC ACTIVITIES, PSC INFLUENCE OR ANYTHING ELSE? Yes, made lots of friends and it gave me an identity.

A LETTER FROM ADAM WESTOBY - 30/9/93

Dear Giles, DISCUSSION PAPER ON POLISH SOLIDARITY CAMPAIGN Warm thanks for preparing this: we are all greatly in your debt. I have only a few points to add. But

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I’d like - briefly - to take up your invitation to reflect and comment, with an eye more to the future -in the past.

Polish Solidarity Campaign was the most fluid of outfits, as one can tell from the comings and goings, the blending of incompatibles, the awkward union of nationalist ambitions with universal inspirations. The forces of British political life that gathered around it could have assembled for few other nations. Poland's history of romantic, liberationist rhetoric made it an ideal cause - both for young people impatient with British phlegmatism and hypocrisy, and for those of the political class •ho were minded to link arms with idealism at a safe distance - and for those whose motives com-bined a little of each.

The chief merit of your account is that it offers future students of nineteenth and twentieth century history a small microcosm of how an essentially ethical cause could take such varied and imperfect humans as its vehicles, the ethical impulse serving to mobilise - and - roughly, to select among them. Its main limitation concerns PSC's central contradiction: it looked to the libertarianism of the left to undermine the despotism of the left. And in a sense its evolution gave a foretaste - though our senses were too fuddled to recognise much of it - of the international processes (of ferment, or corruption, as you prefer) that have overtaken the Soviet Empire since 1989 (and that will likely be echoed in China after Deng goes). The sorry history of Lech Walesa is instructive.

On facts, your revision and amplification might add: 1. The early part played by Solidarity members (Jeanne and Chris Pallis, Ken Weller, Liz Willis)

and their prescient warnings about too much confidence in labour bureaucrats. 2. In the postmodernist manner PSC was set up by telephone. 3. All those involved in the first few days were ex-Leninists (specifically one particular persua

sion of ex-Trotskyist) and PSC, I think, never entirely lost this colouration. 4. The many academics and journalists who helped in 1981-82: including Leo Labedz, Leonard

Shapiro, and Edward and Dorothy Thompson, Norman Davies, Leszek Kolakowski, Peter Reddaway, Timothy Garton Ash, Hillel Ticktin and others at Glasgow University. They did much to inform the press better.

5. Something on the part played by analogous organizations set up about the same time as PSC in Paris, Chicago, Berlin and not last in Prague. I believe the international scale - and more impor tant, spirit - of response to the 1981 coup did much to 'soften up ' Eastern Europe in 1989.

It would be good to place copies of your final version in libraries and archives of record: the British Museum, the Scottish Library, the BLPES (British Library of Political Economic Science), and the labour/left archives at Warwick and Hull; they would catalogue it to make it retrievable in 2080.

With best wishes, Yours ever, Adam

PIOTR IGLIKOWSKI

1 - HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT PSC? I learnt from a Polish friend of a meeting in a pub in North London (off Tottenham Court Road) following a demonstration against TUC decision not to recognise Polish independent unions (i.e. TUC recognised old unions). The meeting was held in the pub before 31st August 1980. My recollection is that my first attendance at a meeting involving PSC was in the pub: there we formed a committee of 4: Robin Blick, Julia Jensen, Piotr Iglikowski, Steve Murray(?). That was when I became involved and a committee member. I was then President of the Association of Polish Students and Graduates in Great Britain.

My recollection is that the first Conway Hall meeting was after the meeting in the pub - but my memory may not be correct. There was an Irish girl (can't recall her name) who argued with the oth-ers. She wanted something in the aims (of PSC) to record that the movement must proceed in the

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proletarian vanguard. 2 - HAVE YOU ANY POLISH CONNECTIONS? Yes, I am of Polish origin, both my parents

are Polish, the first language I spoke was Polish, and I was President of the Association of Polish Students and Graduates in Great Britain.

3 - WHY DID YOU JOIN PSC? Because I wanted to raise support for the struggle of the Polish Independent Workers' Movement.

4 - WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE THROUGH PSC? To gain support and understand ing of Solidarity in Great Britain.

DID YOU THINK YOU DID ACHIEVE THESE THINGS? Yes, and No. Yes, because a section of British society showed genuine support. The downside - that section

was small - and the response of British trade unions was to my mind very disappointing (but I have little experience of trade unions). Why? A mixture of British political apathy, and the surprising power of well organised Stalinist units controlling British trades unions.

5 - WHAT WAS MOST ENCOURAGING (IF ANYTHING) ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERI ENCES? Personally I met for the first time trades unionists (both Polish and British) and understood aspirations and problems of unions. The eagerness, devotion and solidarity of those who were will ing to help.

6 - WHAT WAS MOST DEMORALISING ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERIENCES? Persistent arguments, both due to personality as well as political differences, sapping energy which would have been better devoted to the cause. Especially the bickering ('Blickering') of rival factions (e.g. Trotskyists etc.) on issues whose relevance to the real world was difficult to appreciate. Also prob lems of conflicts of interests between certain members whose political aspirations induced them to be less critical of the response of the TUC and especially the Labour Party to the cause.

7 DO YOU THINK YOU LEARNT ANYTHING THROUGH YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN PSC? Yes, lots.

I learnt how to speak to assemblies - i.e. communicate. I learnt about conditions of workers in Great Britain and Poland. Many practical things - how to organise and control a demo, how to run a meeting (diplomacy)

how to put together a newsletter, how to motivate oneself. 8 - ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS YOU WISH TO MAKE, ABOUT YOUR PSC

INVOLVEMENT, PSC ACTIVITIES, PSC INFLUENCE OR ANYTHING ELSE? I was happy to be involved in supporting a movement (Solidarnosc) which I believe was one of the factors behind the fall of communism. A personal experience: my first visit to Poland - I saw Martial Law intro-duced and was able to explain to the media and people what happened. An anecdote: there was a demo in Cardiff in January 1982 (A day designated by President Reagan, 21/1/82, for Solidarity with Poland). I was a speaker for PSC and there was a Polish member of Solidarnosc, a sociologist. There was an all-party speaker platform, but when the Conservative M.P. tried to speak he was pre-vented by Trotskyist hecklers. A fight then broke out between elderly Polish war veterans interven-ing for freedom of speech and young Trots which was easily won by the Poles. This happened to the amusement and embarrassment of myself and the Solidarnosc spokesman. We were interviewed for BBC Wales TV afterwards. The Solidarnosc member and myself travelled back later in a train wrecked by Manchester United soccer supporters - a fascinating sociological experience for both of us.

GEORGE KONDRATOWICZ

1 - HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT PSC? From friends.

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2 - HAVE YOU ANY POLISH CONNECTIONS? Yes, both parents, and wife are Polish. 3 - WHY DID YOU JOIN PSC? To show Solidarity with people who were trying to do some

thing. 4 - WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE THROUGH PSC? Some moral support for the

Movement in Poland. DID YOU THINK YOU DID ACHIEVE THESE THINGS? I think PSC did. 5 - WHAT WAS MOST ENCOURAGING (IF ANYTHING) ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERI

ENCES? The involvement of non-Poles in PSC. 6 - WHAT WAS MOST DEMORALISING ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERIENCES? The low

attendance at the one demonstration I travelled to London for. 7 - DO YOU THINK YOU LEARNT ANYTHING THROUGH YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN

PSC? Nothing I can bring to mind, my involvement was very small. 8 - ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS YOU WISH TO MAKE, ABOUT YOUR PSC

INVOLVEMENT, PSC ACTIVITIES, PSC INFLUENCE OR ANYTHING ELSE? Only that small things can sometimes make a difference though seeming doubtful at the time e.g. in the 70's we (the Polish Students Society of Manchester) sent a telegram of support to a dissident who had been phys ically abused in a Polish prison. To our surprise quite a few years later we learnt that it had reached its destination and apparently greatly lifted the spirits of the political prisoner and his supporters. I am sure that PSC must have produced a wealth of similar positive but unquantifiable effects.

STANISLAW WASIK

1 - HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT PSC? From the Polish Socialist Party and the Polish Craftsman and Workers Organisation (in Britain).

2 - HAVE YOU ANY POLISH CONNECTIONS? I am Polish myself. 3 _ WHY DID YOU JOIN PSC? I am always for a collective effort as more efficient than indi

vidual attempts. 4 - WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE THROUGH PSC? To make Solidarnosc known in

the British Workers movement. DID YOU THINK YOU DID ACHIEVE THESE THINGS? This aim was achieved only to a certain extent. 5 _ WHAT WAS MOST ENCOURAGING (IF ANYTHING) ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERI

ENCES? Certain support in the academic circles and in some trades unions. 6 - WHAT WAS MOST DEMORALISING ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERIENCES? Initial sym

pathetic attitudes quickly forgotten. 7 - DO YOU THINK YOU LEARNT ANYTHING THROUGH YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN

PSC? The European problems are still less interesting for the British people than the developments in the countries, however distant, of the former (British) empire.

8 - ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS YOU WISH TO MAKE, ABOUT YOUR PSC INVOLVEMENT, PSC ACTIVITIES, PSC INFLUENCE OR ANYTHING ELSE? 'Every little helps', the formation and activities of PSC were steps in the right direction, making any further efforts easier.

ANITA KOMORNICKA-RICE

1 - HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT PSC? It was a long time ago - can't remember now, how. It was probably through members of the 'Solidarity Working Group' to which I belonged at the time.

2 - HAVE YOU ANY POLISH CONNECTIONS? Yes I have (born and bred in Poland). 3 - WHY DID YOU JOIN PSC? After 'Solidarity Working Group' was dissolved (?), (ceased to

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exist?) I decided that I would still like to be involved in the so-to-speak Polish affairs. Therefore joining PSC was a natural way for me to carry on with my Polish interests.

4 - WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE THROUGH PSC? DID YOU THINK YOU DID ACHIEVE THESE THINGS? I was not actively involved in PSC

- not as much as I would have liked - because of family reasons, therefore I did not expect much; only keeping up with the events over the years.

Mr. 'S.P.'

1 - HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT PSC? Through Polish contacts in Scotland. 2 - HAVE YOU ANY POLISH CONNECTIONS? Yes. My father was Polish and I have many

Polish relatives in Poland and abroad. 3 - WHY DID YOU JOIN PSC? To help liberate Poland from Soviet-imposed Communism. 4 - WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE THROUGH PSC? The above. DID YOU THINK YOU DID ACHIEVE THESE THINGS? Not entirely, bearing in mind the

recent election results! 5 - WHAT WAS MOST ENCOURAGING (IF ANYTHING) ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERI

ENCES? To be associated with like-minded colleagues in a matter of fundamental importance. 6 - WHAT WAS MOST DEMORALISING ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERIENCES? Being not

of the mainstream of PSC activities, which were concentrated (for understandable reasons, of course) in London.

7 - DO YOU THINK YOU LEARNT ANYTHING THROUGH YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN PSC? That it is very difficult to organise Poles into a fully united, cohesive force! Polish individual ity is admirable in the main, but also on occasion frustrating.

8 - ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS YOU WISH TO MAKE, ABOUT YOUR PSC INVOLVEMENT, PSC ACTIVITIES, PSC INFLUENCE OR ANYTHING ELSE? PSC now has a purpose only as an anti-communist organisation. It should campaign against the current Polish gov ernment, advocating its dissolution, new elections, and confiscation by the state of all Communist- held property. Former top-ranking officials of the pre-1989 regime should be barred from office and their property confiscated. General W. Jaruzelski should be tried for high treason and murder, and the likes of Mr Jerzy Urban for a lifetime of anti-Polish activity.

RYSZARD STEPAN

1 - HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT PSC? From the advertisement of PSC demonstration in the Polish Daily.

2 - HAVE YOU ANY POLISH CONNECTIONS? Yes, I am Polish-born. 3 - WHY DID YOU JOIN PSC? as 4 below. 4 - WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE THROUGH PSC? Assist my mother country to

achieve independence. DID YOU THINK YOU DID ACHIEVE THESE THINGS? Yes. 5 - WHAT WAS MOST ENCOURAGING (IF ANYTHING) ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERI

ENCES? My first experience in political work with a good team. 6 - WHAT WAS MOST DEMORALISING ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERIENCES? Unending

slog over the years with the issue of the bulletin. 7 - DO YOU THINK YOU LEARNT ANYTHING THROUGH YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN

PSC? Much, developing all round experience of dealing with people. 8 - ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS YOU WISH TO MAKE, ABOUT YOUR PSC

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INVOLVEMENT, PSC ACTIVITIES, PSC INFLUENCE OR ANYTHING ELSE? Too many even to begin making them.

ARTEK TACZALSKI

1 - HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT PSC? From the Polish community at the POSK (Polish Social and Cultural Centre).

2 - HAVE YOU ANY POLISH CONNECTIONS? Yes. 3 - WHY DID YOU JOIN PSC? I wanted to contribute towards political change in Poland. 4 - WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE THROUGH PSC? I hoped I would help the PSC in

organisational matters and fund-raising. DID YOU THINK YOU DID ACHIEVE THESE THINGS? I only achieved my aims in part

since I had too little time to be more involved because of family commitments. 5 - WHAT WAS MOST ENCOURAGING (IF ANYTHING) ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERI

ENCES? Detailed knowledge of Polish affairs of the PSC members and dedication to their cause. 6 - WHAT WAS MOST DEMORALISING ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERIENCES? I have not

experienced anything demoralising about PSC. Dwindling membership was disappointing. 7 - DO YOU THINK YOU LEARNT ANYTHING THROUGH YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN

PSC? I learnt that however small our contributions or actions may be, they can help against a pow erful enemy.

8 - ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS YOU WISH TO MAKE, ABOUT YOUR PSC INVOLVEMENT, PSC ACTIVITIES, PSC INFLUENCE OR ANYTHING ELSE? PSC activities have been very well received among the Polish community in Great Britain and Poland. Many actions were extremely effective, e.g. the removal of visa requirements for Poles arriving in Great Britain, and organized demos in early 80s. Due to my association with PSC I arranged for Mr Lech Walesa, Solidarnosc leader, to be godfather to my son Carlo John-Paul Lech, born in 1986. Lech Walesa's place was taken by his proxy Mr Grzywaczewski who was on the Inter-City Committee during the Gdansk Shipyard strikes in August 1980.

MARION PITMAN

1 - HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT PSC? I heard about PSC at the demo in Jan '82, which I was told about by a friend.

2 - HAVE YOU ANY POLISH CONNECTIONS? My only Polish connections are friends. 3 - WHY DID YOU JOIN PSC? I joined PSC because I felt strongly about the situation in

Poland and wanted to do something. 4 - WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE THROUGH PSC?

DID YOU THINK YOU DID ACHIEVE THESE THINGS? Hoped to contribute to improve-ment of situation. I don't know if I did or not.

ADAM ROBINSKI

1 - HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT PSC? I heard about PSC through the Association of Polish Students and Graduates - Piotr Iglikowski - and through Ilona (Iwona?) Czekierska who was run ning the Polish Solidarity Campaign Soc. at Bristol University in 1981/82?

2 - HAVE YOU ANY POLISH CONNECTIONS? Apart from being born and brought up in a very Polish family in London, my connections were via the Association of Polish Students and Graduates as I set up a University Polish Society at Bristol University in 1980. Also I had been pre viously involved with the youth at the local Polish Parish in Baling, the Polish YMCA and the

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Polish scouts. I also had many friends and acquaintances from the pre-'O'-level Polish Saturday school.

3 - WHY DID YOU JOIN PSC? I joined PSC to become more directly involved with helping Poland in a 'political' way after the birth of Solidarnosc. I also wanted to find out more about the changes taking place, and to take part in a campaign that was based on a wider spectrum of people than just emigre Poles, and thus more credible. I was interested in meeting the English people in PSC to find out what moved them to support PSC.

4 - WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE THROUGH PSC? I hoped to increase British peo ples' awareness and active concern for Solidarnosc and the Polish opposition movements. I hoped to bring about the end of communism in Poland and the return of independence.

DID YOU THINK YOU DID ACHIEVE THESE THINGS? Yes, both were achieved, though

the latter more than the former. 5 - WHAT WAS MOST ENCOURAGING (IF ANYTHING) ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERI

ENCES? To find out that there were other people sincerely committed in campaigning for human and trades-union rights in Poland, despite the fact that it seemed at the time a fairly lost cause, con sidering the Cold War and the military strength of the Soviet Union. Meeting those people and working with them was very enjoyable. Also the meetings with Polish oppositionists were truly very interesting and motivating.

6 - WHAT WAS MOST DEMORALISING ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERIENCES? The lack of commitment of some members of the committee and of the organisation. The lack of planning and occasionally effective leadership. Externally the poor quality of most of the material produced by PSC and its lateness. Possibly above all the continuing rivalry with Solidarity With Solidarity which contributed to lessening each organisation's external credibility and effectiveness with the British government and other authorities.

7 - DO YOU THINK YOU LEARNT ANYTHING THROUGH YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN PSC? That even if a campaign seems to be endless and without hope, history can spring the biggest surprise. The effects of such campaigns can be much greater than one is lead to believe at the time. 'Evil empires' can collapse quite rapidly and unexpectedly of their own accord! The need to find good committed people to sit and be active on committees and the need for maxi mum planning in voluntary organisations. I also learnt much about the history of Poland, the Eastern Block, and Communism at the same time. Also I met many interesting people and made many useful contacts.

8 - ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS YOU WISH TO MAKE, ABOUT YOUR PSC INVOLVEMENT, PSC ACTIVITIES, PSC INFLUENCE OR ANYTHING ELSE? With hindsight I regret not having believed more in the whole point of the campaign and therefore to have been more involved in the organisation. However it was a very useful learning period. I feel that from about 1986 onwards PSC became somewhat of a cosy club rather than a diverse broad organisation, although I do understand that many people from the early days who were from diverse interest groups lost interest after the first few years and maybe went on to more popular causes. Some of these may have been hoping to use PSC for their own ends and when it started shrinking jumped ship as they were not prepared to do anything about building it up.

The Polish political trait of where there are 2 Poles there exist 3 parties re-emerged with Mr.

Tadeusz Jarski's splitter [sic] Solidarity With Solidarity. The Association of Polish Students and Graduates, which I was chairman of for 3 years in the

mid to late 80's, provided a few individuals who assisted PSC in various ways. However the mass support was clearly lacking despite my efforts to interest and cajole members into partaking in PSC demonstrations and events. This was, I feel, due to a general lack of interest by Polish 'youth' in

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activities which were perceived as being, in some way, 'political' and therefore 'boring'. Moral per-suasion failed to increase mass support for PSC. A few individuals like Mike Dembinski, Janusz Kubsik, Andrzej Poloczek and Ewa Cwirko-Godycka, who were already interested in Polish affairs and were already 'converted', did support Solidarnosc and or other opposition movements either directly or via PSC.

My overall feeling was that Polish youth had been brought up believing that the best way of expressing their Polish patriotism was through their cultural activities such as Polish folk dancing and singing, visits to family in Poland, Polish Church and Polish friends but not through 'political activity' - maybe this was an effect of British culture.

EWA CWIRKO-GODYCKA

1 - HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT PSC? Through Giles Hart. 2 - HAVE YOU ANY POLISH CONNECTIONS? I am Polish. 3 - WHY DID YOU JOIN PSC? I joined PSC because of Martial Law in Poland and a need to

do 'something' to help. 4 - WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE THROUGH PSC? The main aim of joining PSC

was to raise awareness of the Polish situation in the British public and a vague hope of pressurising the Polish government - 'the world is watching you'.

DID YOU THINK YOU DID ACHIEVE THESE THINGS? In my belief PSC did achieve these things.

5 - WHAT WAS MOST ENCOURAGING (IF ANYTHING) ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERI ENCES? PSC was encouraging as was interest in the things PSC produced.

6 - WHAT WAS MOST DEMORALISING ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERIENCES? Undermining by other organisations.

7 - DO YOU THINK YOU LEARNT ANYTHING THROUGH YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN PSC? One learns from every experience - here was a very old lesson - 'if we join together we can change something'.

8 - ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS YOU WISH TO MAKE, ABOUT YOUR PSC INVOLVEMENT, PSC ACTIVITIES, PSC INFLUENCE OR ANYTHING ELSE? Martial Law was a 'shock' to the system and I had to do something. I was active for a while then I became pas sive again and I hope we helped a little in the change in Poland.

DAREK DZWIGAJ

1 - HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT PSC? Through Ewa Cwirko-Godycka. 2 - HAVE YOU ANY POLISH CONNECTIONS? I am a Polish citizen (born in Poland). 3 - WHY DID YOU JOIN PSC? 4 - WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE THROUGH PSC? DID YOU THINK YOU DID ACHIEVE THESE THINGS? I wanted to contribute to the fight

for freedom in Poland. I think that PSC played very important part in the struggle. Both material and moral support was very important for those struggling in Poland. It proved that the outside world cared about what was going on. In the U.K. PSC played vital role in drawing attention to the situa-tion in the Poland. PSC helped in keeping British public informed about the events and repression which followed. PSC encouraged British politicians and other influential members of the public in taking actions against the ruling regime in Poland.

5-WHAT WAS MOST ENCOURAGING (IF ANYTHING) ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERI-ENCES? My trip to Blackpool to the TUC conference and the support (I sold much more T-shirts, badges and stickers than I expected) and understanding of the problems in Poland.

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6 - WHAT WAS MOST DEMORALISING ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERIENCES? Hostile co existence of PSC and 'Solidarity With Solidarity'.

7 - DO YOU THINK YOU LEARNT ANYTHING THROUGH YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN PSC?

8 - ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS YOU WISH TO MAKE, ABOUT YOUR PSC INVOLVEMENT, PSC ACTIVITIES, PSC INFLUENCE OR ANYTHING ELSE? PSC con tributed to the fall of the Communist system in Poland. It was very important for me to see that many British people actively supported 'Solidarnosc', working in PSC for many years, doing so much for the cause which was so important for me.

ZOFIA HART

1 - HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT PSC? Through Giles Hart. 2 - HAVE YOU ANY POLISH CONNECTIONS? Yes, born in Poland, and came to live in

England as a mature person in 1978 (i.e. before the Solidarnosc time). 3 - WHY DID YOU JOIN PSC? I felt it was my duty to do something about the situation in

Poland. PSC, for me was the best and nearest way to do something, and to keep in touch with devel opments in Poland.

4 - WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE THROUGH PSC? As above. DID YOU THINK YOU DID ACHIEVE THESE THINGS? Yes - to a great extent. 5 - WHAT WAS MOST ENCOURAGING (IF ANYTHING) ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERI

ENCES? It gave me a very good example of a British democratic organisation in action. The com plexity and thoroughness of the voting procedures (including wording of motions etc.) was alien to me.

6 - WHAT WAS MOST DEMORALISING ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERIENCES? Encounters with Trotskyists, including those who tried to take PSC over. In my particular case (I had organised an exhibition, with others, at Lauderdale House, Highgate, in 1982) the exhibition was borrowed by the Socialist Workers Party for exhibition elsewhere, but was treated carelessly and returned with many exhibits destroyed - so could not be exhibited again.

From their attitude and actions I felt our exhibition was used for their political purposes and that this was happening all the time.

7 - DO YOU THINK YOU LEARNT ANYTHING THROUGH YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN PSC? A lot about myself, other people, decision making processes. I learnt that even untidy people (they know who I mean!) can be effective if committed (as opposed to tidy, well organised people being ineffective through lack of commitment). It taught me that when a group of people wanted something it can be done.

8 - ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS YOU WISH TO MAKE, ABOUT YOUR PSC INVOLVEMENT, PSC ACTIVITIES, PSC INFLUENCE OR ANYTHING ELSE? I met some wonderful people, committed to justice in Poland, and justice in general. PSC gave me more trust in human nature. I was struck by the experience of British people supporting the cause, particularly after Martial Law. Some British people travelled long distances (e.g. one woman even from Bristol) to support the 'candle' vigil outside the Polish Embassy straight after Martial Law was introduced.

WOJTEK DMOCHOWSKI

1 - HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT PSC? I think it must have been at that first big demonstra tion marking the declaration of Martial Law (20/12/81 demonstration).

2 - HAVE YOU ANY POLISH CONNECTIONS? I am Polish. 3 - WHY DID YOU JOIN PSC? To help in any way I could.

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4 - WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE THROUGH PSC? DID YOU THINK YOU DID ACHIEVE THESE THINGS? To raise the level of awareness in

Britain of the situation in Poland. To help those imprisoned. Attempt to influence British govern-ment policy towards Eastern Europe. The British public were largely indifferent to events in Poland, and only took some interest when invasions, strikes, manouverings were in the offing. The same story as always. The sending of letters of support and monies to activists for printing equipment, cameras helped. As for the British government they would have obviously preferred Solidarnosc never to have existed and the status quo to have remained that as had been decided upon at Teheran and Yalta. A singular lack of vision and mere lip service to the concept of human rights were the hallmark of British foreign policy.

5 - WHAT WAS MOST ENCOURAGING (IF ANYTHING) ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERI ENCES? To work with people who were motivated by a selfless concern for others.

6 - WHAT WAS MOST DEMORALISING ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERIENCES? To find that so few second generation Poles could be bothered to help PSC. There is more to being a Pole than turning up at mass on Sunday, and dancing in national costume.

7 - DO YOU THINK YOU LEARNT ANYTHING THROUGH YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN PSC? Not to be too pessimistic, but then again not to be too surprised either.

8 - ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS YOU WISH TO MAKE, ABOUT YOUR PSC INVOLVEMENT, PSC ACTIVITIES, PSC INFLUENCE OR ANYTHING ELSE? I would like to express my admiration for all those people who served in PSC for many years, and who did so for no reward and scant thanks.

CAROLE GARDINER

1 - HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT PSC? I attended the huge demonstration on Sunday, 20 December 1981 which was held in protest at the declaration of Martial Law in Poland the week before. At that meeting I was handed leaflets concerning PSC.

2 - HAVE YOU ANY POLISH CONNECTIONS? None whatsoever. 3 - WHY DID YOU JOIN PSC? Because I felt so angry at the declaration of Martial Law in

Poland, and wanted to do whatever I could to help the people of that country, and to try to get Martial Law lifted.

4 _ WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE THROUGH PSC? The lifting of Martial Law in Poland, obtaining contacts in the Solidarnosc underground, and even the eventual overthrow of the communist regime (though this seemed an impossible dream in the dark days of early 1982).

DID YOU THINK YOU DID ACHIEVE THESE THINGS? I think PSC (and other groups such as the UK's 'Solidarity With Solidarity' and human rights groups round the world) definitely con-tributed to the lifting of Martial Law in Poland. I did get some contacts in the Solidarnosc under-ground, and I feel that the massive efforts all our organisations made helped towards the eventual overthrow of communism. However, apart from the Solidarnosc underground contacts (which I got through PSC) I personally feel that I achieved these objectives more effectively through 'Solidarity With Solidarity'.

5 - WHAT WAS MOST ENCOURAGING (IF ANYTHING) ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERI ENCES? The fact that we were all working to a common goal. It eased the immense frustration I felt at the hopelessness of it all to think that I was actually trying to DO something about the situa tion in Poland, and was not just sitting at home thinking 'what a shame'. Again I felt these things even more when I later joined 'Solidarity With Solidarity'.

6 - WHAT WAS MOST DEMORALISING ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERIENCES? The fact that I was under-used. I am a very fast and accurate typist, yet was rarely called upon to put this to

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good use for the organisation (this was resolved when I joined 'Solidarity With Solidarity' who even taught me word processing skills!). Also I had not realised when I joined PSC that so many of the committee at that time leaned rather further to the left than I would have liked. I was very dis-couraged by this! I was also at an early AGM (1982) where extreme left-wingers tried to take the organisation over, which was probably my most demoralising experience as a PSC member.

7 - DO YOU THINK YOU LEARNT ANYTHING THROUGH YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN PSC? PSC was my first contact with Polish people, and through them I learnt what life was really like in Poland under the communists. Most of my learning was with 'Solidarity With Solidarity', as through manning their office alone twice a week I learnt a lot about telephone work, including deal ing with politicians - this has proved useful in my current employment.

8 - ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS YOU WISH TO MAKE, ABOUT YOUR PSC INVOLVEMENT, PSC ACTIVITIES, PSC INFLUENCE OR ANYTHING ELSE?

I am grateful to PSC for introducing me to Polish human rights activism. My main criticism of the organisation is that it did not appear to react fast enough to situations. I got the feeling that every little decision had to go through the committee, but sometimes the ever-changing situation in Poland required snap decisions and fast action. It was 'Solidarity With Solidarity' - not PSC - who phoned me and demanded that I and others go to the Polish Embassy at once on the occasion of certain Solidarity activists being arrested in Poland. It seemed from this layman's point of view that PSC worked well behind the scenes, and achieved a lot, but that 'Solidarity With Solidarity' was a more upfront organisation.

SUE CHINNICK

1 - HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT PSC? From the press announcements of the 20th December 1981 demo which I saw after my return from Warsaw on the first plane out after 13th December.

2 - HAVE YOU ANY POLISH CONNECTIONS? Several good friends of long standing (30 + years).

3 - WHY DID YOU JOIN PSC? 4 - WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE THROUGH PSC? To help the Polish people

achieve free and democratic elections. DID YOU THINK YOU DID ACHIEVE THESE THINGS? Yes. 5 - WHAT WAS MOST ENCOURAGING (IF ANYTHING) ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERI

ENCES? The enormous fund of sympathy and goodwill displayed by so many British people, and their involvement in the struggle.

In my neighbourhood even young children knew about 'Solidarnosc' and 'Lech Walesa'. 6 - WHAT WAS MOST DEMORALISING ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERIENCES? The lack of

interest and sometimes outright hostility, expressed by some sections of the Polish community. 7 - DO YOU THINK YOU LEARNT ANYTHING THROUGH YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN

PSC? 8 - ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS YOU WISH TO MAKE, ABOUT YOUR PSC

INVOLVEMENT, PSC ACTIVITIES, PSC INFLUENCE OR ANYTHING ELSE? No comments.

GILES HART

1 - HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT PSC? From a notice in the political listings page of 'Time Out' magazine, concerning a PSC public meeting at Conway Hall in 1980 - October, I think.

2 - HAVE YOU ANY POLISH CONNECTIONS? Only through friends, and now through mar riage.

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3 - WHY DID YOU JOIN PSC? To keep in touch with a movement that was helping to cam paign for freedom, and trades union rights in Poland. I was pleased to find a campaign that recog nized the totalitarian nature of Communist Eastern Europe, instead of referring to the Soviet Union as a 'Socialist state where workers have real trade union rights'. (Yes, descriptions like this could be found, e.g. in a report on a trip to Russia, in a Civil Service Union magazine, in the late 1970s).

4 - WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE THROUGH PSC? (a) Initially I hoped PSC would try to mobilize opinion for the workers in Gdansk and their new organisation, would send moral sup port and perhaps aid to this organisation Solidarnosc, and in general try to change political attitudes in Britain to communist Europe. The extraordinary expansion of Solidarnosc in just over a year, from a group of strikers to a national organisation was something that I could not have realistically expect ed, much less the eventual downfall of totalitarian regimes in Poland (and throughout Eastern Europe), to be replaced by democratic systems. Although this all seemed totally unrealistic, it was of course what I wanted and hoped for, and I hoped PSC would play a part in bringing it about.

(b) Initially all I hoped to achieve in PSC was to lend support by turning up at meetings, or demos if any, and doing any miscellaneous tasks that would release the main PSC members to carry out the major tasks. I had been a supporter of one or two other campaigns before, but either because I had differences of opinions with some of the aims of those campaigns, or because these campaigns were already well organized (or not organized to encourage participation by new-comers) I never got very involved. With PSC I got talking to Piotr Iglikowski at my first meeting and felt that there was an interest in new members, what they thought and what they could offer. Not being Polish I could not offer translation work: not being a member of any political party I could not offer cam-paigning within a political party (as so many of the early PSC members could, within the Labour Party). I had no experience of most types of campaigning activities. Perhaps I could offer help with keeping accounts, offer the use of my car, and try to bring my Polish friends into the PSC.

DID YOU THINK YOU DID ACHIEVE THESE THINGS? (a) As an organisation - yes, and no. Yes - there is now a democratic regime in Poland. The people have chosen a communist govern-

ment, but that is their choice - if they are democratic communists (and of course they do include many who supported totalitarian communism in the past) then the Polish people will still have a choice of rulers in the future. No - we campaigned for full trade union rights, and I'm not sure that in a capitalist Poland the workers have these rights. No doubt the widespread support of these rights was precisely because in a totalitarian country there were not democratic rights: Solidarnosc (and the Roman Catholic Church) seemed the only way that people could have free speech and influence events under a totalitarian system. Now that there is democracy, full trade union rights are regarded by some as anti-democratic and the influence of the Roman Catholic Church (e.g. trying to ban con-traceptives, at one school stigmatising children whose parents had not been married in church) is resented and feared by many.

(b) As an individual - yes. In fact I achieved a lot more than I originally expected to within PSC. In 1981/3 I was the treasurer / membership secretary / sales officer. This released others to get on

with the campaigning (translating, organising events, public speaking, 'PSC News'etc.). By starting up the mail order side of things I vastly increased PSC's membership and fame, and helped generate a considerable increase in our monies, to cover the costs of our activities (including 'PSC News') as well as generate monies for Poland. Later on, by being part of the membership/circular production line (with Ryszard Stepan) and being Secretary for one year, Chairman for three years, I feel I helped PSC hold together and continue, when many of the original leading members had dropped out, or through exhaustion or other commitments were only able to play a lesser role. I tried to keep on good terms with everybody in PSC, while trying to ensure that PSC kept active in terms of public

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meetings, demos etc. I aimed to strengthen our links with Marek Garztecki at the 'Solidarity Information Office' after a period when there had been personality clashes between some PSC members and Marek, which I felt were only to the advantage of those who opposed us. It seemed to me that our mutual co-operation was to our mutual benefit, and indeed led to Marek and his team carrying on with PSC when Ryszard Stepan and I had to reduce our involvement. When Marek stepped down at the time of the Walesa visit (Oct 89) I was able to hold PSC together until the 1990 AGM, after which Karen Blick, who I had recruited back into PSC a few years before, has been Convenor of PSC. Incidentally, I did manage to bring most of my Polish friends into PSC. They probably thought that if somebody like me could be involved, why not them. Zofia Hart, Ewa Cwirko-Godycka, Barbara Lubienska, Zofia Malakowska were all committee members at times, all very involved in PSC to a greater or lesser extent, over greater or lesser periods.

5 - WHAT WAS MOST ENCOURAGING (IF ANYTHING) ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERI ENCES?

(a) Good news from Poland, particularly about the strength of Solidarnosc and then Solidarnosc underground.

(b) Being told by people (particularly from Poland) that what PSC was doing was worthwhile, and made a difference.

(c) The occasional appearance of people in PSC who turned out to be hard working and reliable for long periods.

(d) The unexpected successes, such as the shirt sales. (e) The occasional untruthful attacks on PSC in Poland by the Polish press, particularly when

these lies were attributed to the BBC external service! 6 - WHAT WAS MOST DEMORALISING ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERIENCES? The con

verse of (a) to (d): i.e., bad news from Poland, indifference or hostility from people from Poland, unreliable or unpredictable people in PSC, the unexpected failures (e.g. an event that though well organised and publicised were attended by very few people). We never got the converse of (e) - if we had received a good press from the official Polish press prior to the Solidarnosc government I would have been rather worried! I will go into more detail about discouraging cases - as I kept going I suppose I wasn't fully demoralised. The loss of many active PSC members when it seemed they were most needed. After the 1982 AGM when the attempted takeover of PSC was resounding ly defeated, I had hoped we could now put this behind us, and campaign more actively and effec tively than ever. So it was most discouraging to see the issue of 'PSC News' lead to the dropping out of two founder members, and other committee members drop out also, when there was so much work to be done. When the danger of 'PSC News' bankrupting PSC was resolved at the 1983 AGM it was another blow to see three of our active members drop out because of this also. This, com bined with an awareness of certain others taking a less active role, some previously reliable people becoming less reliable, the friction with SWS (which would sometimes erupt just when one thought it had permanently ceased), people turning up who seemed to be very committed, but would drop out soon afterwards, all added up to a series of discouragements. When people turned up who were reliable and corrlmitted over a long period, an atheist like me almost felt like offering a prayer of thanks!

When campaigning for PSC, or generally talking about Poland, it was sometimes discouraging to meet negative reactions from people in the Polish community, or indeed from Poland. I well remember a certain Pole from Poland, a few months after Martial Law, being very abusive to me because, while I was trying to do something about the situation in Poland, it was not actually within my powers to bring about the changes singlehanded! The two friends of this person were telling me that the leading figures in Solidarnosc were just as bad as the communists - they were oppor-

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tunists, and corrupt. Within the Polish community here, while there was marvellous support and activity from some quarters, the indifference or even hostility from some other quarters had to be seen to be believed. Personally I think that immigrants to a country should try to identify more with the country they choose to live in rather than the country they chose to leave behind, unless they have a good reason that prevents them returning. So for those Poles or children of Poles who regard themselves as British, it was not discouraging for me if they had no special interest in Poland, or campaigning for Poland. However many Poles or children of Poles do identify them-selves as Polish. (Some attend Polish church rather than English church, though the Roman Catholic religion is the same. Some belong to the 'Association of Polish Students and Graduates' - note it is not called the 'Association of Students and Graduates of Polish Descent'. Some send their children to Polish Saturday school.). Surely these people would have cause to support the campaign for Poland. After all, they regard themselves as Polish, they chose not to live in Poland, so unless the reason was marriage with somebody British the reason would surely be the lack of freedom in Poland. So why not campaign for those left in Poland, suffering from the lack of free-dom?

The indifference merging into hostility shown by parents at a certain Polish Saturday school in Essex to the idea of educating the children by attendance at a demonstration for freedom in Poland was quite extraordinary. To demonstrate for freedom in Poland was to take a political attitude. (It was not clear whether it was a political attitude that the parents who enjoyed the freedom of this country did not support.) Children should not be politically indoctrinated (though religious indoctri-nation was presumably quite acceptable). Even to attend the annual ceremony at Gunnersbury Cemetery to mark the massacres at Katyn (this at a time when the truth about these events could not be openly spoken about in Poland) was not an idea to be considered - it was an unpleasant subject that might disturb the children, and besides one would only be commemorating the dead of one side! One parent told me that if the Saturday school went down the road that I was suggesting, he and many other parents would withdraw their children from the school. The arguments that these activities were unsuitable for children might have been more convincing if the parents involved had expressed any interest in taking part in the events themselves, or spreading the news about these activities to other people without children. But this was not the case. The most demoralising thing that happened to me in PSC was the attitude shown by the 'Polish Daily' and 'Polish Weekly' to the survey PSC did before the 1987 general election. All the Parliamentary candidates of the main par-ties (i.e. over 1,900 candidates) were sent questionnaires by PSC. As such candidates get massive demands on their time, including all sorts of questionnaires, mostly (naturally) on British issues, the fact that 284 replied was very encouraging. Either 284 candidates were sufficiently interested in Poland and Eastern Europe to reply, or they thought it was enough of an electoral issue to merit a reply. Even a busy party leader such as David Steel (Liberal) found time for a full, hand written reply. The 'Polish Daily/Weekly' was offered the results of the survey. One might have expected them to have printed the results, and encouraged their readers to ask similar questions of their candi-dates, if their candidates had not replied to the questionnaire. But instead they printed nothing about the results of the survey, because they thought it was of no interest to their readers. Were they right? From my experience with the Saturday school parents I could well believe it! This was the most demoralising thing that I ever encountered in PSC (particularly due to the enormous amount of work involved in the survey) and combined with my family commitments, this was probably the main factor that led me to step down as Chairman (and from some other duties) at the 1988 AGM, even though I could not be sure that others would take over. But in general we tried to keep going, and not get demoralised as we could always compare any demoralising situation we came across with the real hardships that Solidarnosc activists in Poland were facing.

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7 - DO YOU THINK YOU LEARNT ANYTHING THROUGH YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN PSC? A great deal.

When I joined PSC I had never organized a public meeting, written leaflets or press releases, approached M.P.s or others to speak, sold at jumble sales, created or run a mail order business (I didn't even know what a sweatshirt was). I had not spoken publicly, or given a speech from the plinth at Trafalgar Square (let alone improvise one when my carefully written speech referring in detail to the 'Gdansk Accords' had disappeared down a side street on the back of a lorry which had been leading the march). I had not dressed up as a druid, or been master of ceremonies at a children's fancy dress party, both roles required of me at Barbara Lubienska's inventive socials which were intended to attract new members and more funds. I was not used to selling, or to cop-ing with the various responses. (I was accused of trying to start the Third World War, on another occasion a British businessman told me that the only trouble with Poles was that they were bone idle!)

And there was much more that was new to me. Some I learnt from others in PSC, some I had to learn or work out for myself. About myself, I learnt (or perhaps confirmed) what I suspected - that I am much more effective in pushing a cause than in promoting myself. Also although I can get bad tempered easily in my personal life I found that I had extraordinary patience (by my standards, at any rate!) on most occasions - as long as it seemed beneficial to PSC's objectives to remain calm, and keep co-operating with people who had let PSC down, rather than express annoyance and drive them away entirely. (Quite often those who let PSC down on one occasion might be very helpful on another occasion).

In general I learnt (or confirmed) that attention to detail is essential, especially when there is a division of labour. In co-operating with people it is important to keep in close touch.

8 - ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS YOU WISH TO MAKE, ABOUT YOUR PSC INVOLVEMENT, PSC ACTIVITIES, PSC INFLUENCE OR ANYTHING ELSE? I've made most of them, above. There were the occasional amusing moments in PSC. A carefully prepared leaflet publicising the T-shirts was revealed, at a last minute proof reading, to have one spelling mistake - unfortunately it was the letter 'r' missing from the words 'T-shirts'. Our first batch of T-shirts with the Solidarnosc logo had labels on them saying 'Made in Romania' which some people found politi cally significant - not realizing that the 'Solidarnosc' logo had been added on in Britain, not Romania. (Well, these examples were funny at the time).

However, generally PSC was often not much fun - there is not much fun in mailing out T-shirts or circulars, updating membership lists, doing accounts, writing up minutes, etc. But it did give something that fun usually cannot provide - satisfaction. The satisfaction came from a belief that our campaigning was worthwhile and did make a difference to the situation in Poland - a difference for the better. I believed it then, and I believe it now. If one didn't believe it then it was impossible to carry on - if it was not true then we were all wasting a lot of time and effort.

In general my instinct, or perhaps tactic was to 'hang on in there' - if I felt PSC was going in the wrong direction (on one matter, not overall) I would not resign but stay within PSC and try to get the direction changed: at first through the committee, or later through the AGM, when bigger deci-sions on policy could be proposed, and accepted or rejected by the members. As the Acting Treasurer in 82/83 for example, I was well aware, perhaps more than anyone else, of our financial position and the effect that the costs of 'PSC News' would have, particularly once sales and mem-bership influx had peaked. I was determined to stay on in PSC and find a way to solve the impend-ing crisis, and we did solve it, though several key activists (from both sides of the 'PSC News' issue) left because of these issues. With other cases I was determined to outlast people, outwork them, and to always have ready for meetings (AGM or committee meetings) the motions I wished to

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propose, clearly typed, with copies for everybody. (Without this, one can have a lot of discussion with nothing specific to vote on, and nothing decided or mandated). The main question I asked myself when there were controversies and people were dropping out (on principle, though principle is a good reason to give when one is exhausted) was: can I do more for the cause I have been campaigning for, by staying on within PSC, or by being outside PSC? For me the former was always the answer, though for some it was tempting to give the latter answer - after all, they could always join Tadek Jarski's 'Solidarity With Solidarity'. Through PSC I have met a wide range of interesting people who I would otherwise not have known.

A brief comment about Poland: what happened in Poland was obviously more important than what happened in PSC! It was disappointing to see the Solidarnosc movement split up, and produce such bickering and disillusionment that the Polish people voted in a communist government con-taining such people as lerzy Urban and others who found Martial Law and totalitarianism quite acceptable in the past. But then I'm not very keen on the government that the British people keep electing - a party that seeks to replace democratically elected organisations with unelected and unaccountable quangos throughout Britain, as well as being opposed to most forms of trade union rights. When people ask if Poland is now truly democratic, without going into a philosophic discus-sion, and without covering all aspects of democracy, I would suggest a simple comparison between Poland and Britain. Would you expect a democratic country to have 1) a democratically elected first chamber, 2) a democratically elected second chamber, 3) a democratically elected head of state, 4) a written constitution?

If so, then Poland scores four out of four, and Britain one out of four! So whatever comments can be made about the political culture in Poland, apathy of voters etc., at

least Poland has strong democratic structures - structures that for all Britain's long standing democ-racy we still have not achieved.

DANUTA GORZYNSKA - HART

1 - HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT PSC? I was staying temporarily in London in 1981, and as a Pole and a member of Solidarnosc was naturally very concerned about developments in Poland. However I was unaware of the existence of any such organisation as PSC, and neither was I in con tact with the Polish exile community. On 13th December 1981, having heard about the events in Poland on the BBC, I tuned to LBC radio station as they had more regular news bulletins. During a phone-in between bulletins a caller (Ed Switalski) announced the demo outside the Polish Embassy before the presenter could stop him. From attending this PSC demo, and subsequent candlelit vigil (not organised by PSC) I learnt about the formation of the Solidarity Working Group (which I joined) and the forthcoming PSC demo of 20/12/81 which I attended. (Later I heard more about PSC when I met Giles Hart through a mutual acquaintance, and also in early 1982 when Piotr Iglikowski gave a talk to the Working Group about PSC).

2 - HAVE YOU ANY POLISH CONNECTIONS? I am Polish, born and brought up in Poland. 3 - WHY DID YOU JOIN PSC? I never formally joined PSC as I was a very involved member

of the Solidarity Working Group, and was also helping the 'Friends of Poland' charity. However I was actively helping PSC, firstly by liaising with Giles Hart and others in PSC from early 1982, then helping Giles on a regular basis from June 1982 onwards, and later on a daily basis.

4 - WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE THROUGH PSC? I made no distinctions between the Solidarity Working Group, the Solidarity Information Office, and the PSC in terms of what I was hoping they could achieve - namely to bring about a change of the situation in Poland, for the better.

DID YOU THINK YOU DID ACHIEVE THESE THINGS? The situation has changed in Poland, democracy was achieved.

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5 - WHAT WAS MOST ENCOURAGING (IF ANYTHING) ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERI ENCES? To see people involved, particularly British people devoting their time (sometimes all their spare time) for the Polish cause.

6 - WHAT WAS MOST DEMORALISING ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERIENCES? People who promised actions and didn't carry them out leaving very few to carry the burden. More generally, in terms of support for the cause, it was demoralising to see Polish people, especially those recently arrived from Poland, doing little or dropping out after a short period.

7 - DO YOU THINK YOU LEARNT ANYTHING THROUGH YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN PSC? Through supporting the cause I did a number of things for the first time that were difficult for somebody of my temperament. Some of these things were done for PSC, some for the Solidarity Working Group, some for the Solidarity Information Office. In particular, approaching people with leaflets, items to sell, petitions to sign etc; selling advertising space to raise funds for PSC; public translation. Being a treasurer for a while for the Solidarity Working Group and the Solidarity Information Office. In addition to skills I learnt how great a range there is in people's reliability, commitment and persistence.

8 - ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS YOU WISH TO MAKE, ABOUT YOUR PSC INVOLVEMENT, PSC ACTIVITIES, PSC INFLUENCE OR ANYTHING ELSE? My comments have already been made above.

ANDRZEJ POLOCZEK

I think I was so marginal that I could not really have had much by way of insight here. I did some translation work, helped a tiny bit with PSC News, before going abroad for the best part of 1983 and 1984, most of that on a Polish government scholarship for post-graduate research into Polish coal-miners. I do not recall that I did anything much after I came back other than compiling a few chronologies. But anyway:

1 - HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT PSC? From distributed material, PSC News I think, received via a friend.

2 - HAVE YOU ANY POLISH CONNECTIONS? Yes, family ties here and in Poland. 3 - WHY DID YOU JOIN PSC? Interest in the Solidarnosc phenomenon; the view, acquired

from PSC News I suppose, that PSC was a better informed organisation, or organisation of better informed people, and that I might learn something - certainly that I was less likely to find it embar rassing than certain ad-hoc emigre initiatives around at the time; the feeling that this way I might in fact make 'a contribution', however modest, amidst sound people.

4 - WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE THROUGH PSC? As above, 'a contribution' to 'the cause'. The latter I perceived both in what must, I suppose, be described as nationalist terms - the struggle if not for national liberation, though it rightly or wrongly seemed clear to me that was the bottom line, then at least for national self-expression - and vague socialistically: trades unions, a good thing....

DID YOU THINK YOU DID ACHIEVE THESE THINGS? Did I achieve anything? So intangi-ble, but there is nothing to regret or hide.

5 - WHAT WAS MOST ENCOURAGING (IF ANYTHING) ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERI ENCES? The awareness that PSC cultivated an area that was traditionally ignored by or beyond the capabilities of most Polish-orientated or emigre organisations or initiatives: the left. It was always easy, come moments of oppression and repression in Poland, for Polish emigres to get expressions of sympathy and tears from the right. But there seemed to be various degrees of disdain for or diffi culty with the left, or lefts, and with the trade unions. Given the nature of the struggle in Poland, the driving force at that stage and significance of the industrial working class that had been created by

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communism, this was silly. PSC had the will, the personnel and the contacts to go for this. To me that was the best and clearest thing about it. Irrespective of how successful it was given the opportu-nities, and I don't know enough and wasn't involved enough to comment on that, this made it 'dif-ferent' to the climate in which I was brought up and had moved hitherto.

PSC sought to address the trade union issues, the welfare issues, the issues of working people that were actually in play at the time, and to organise appropriate support around them. I thought that gave it best, and in the end the most honest, formula around.

And especially with the ensual of the time of demonstrative fervour after the declaration of Martial Law, it was important to remember and follow the progress of the substantive issues the 16-months of Solidarnosc in 1980-81 had all revolved around.

6 - WHAT WAS MOST DEMORALISING ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERIENCES? The fact of being myself by nature an observer. No activist or lobbyist I, still less an effective one.

Coming across those on the left whose analysis exactly and perversely mirrored that of those on the right who started and ended with the anti-Sovietism of Solidarnosc, with nothing else, whether context or detail, deemed important.

7 - DO YOU THINK YOU LEARNT ANYTHING THROUGH YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN PSC? Yes. About the nature of the left; about the all too easily dreary plod of attempted activism; about some of the difficulties and improbable intellectual surprises, as it seemed to me, that can arise when trying to explain aspects of Eastern Europe in this country - negotiating the cultural divide to see what is in fact in common and what not, as one always does, but this time with com pletely different people. So it all helped widen my personal world too.

STEVE MURRAY

1 - HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT PSC? I don't remember definitely. I thought I was at the first meeting of PSC (26th August 1980, Conway Hall) but perhaps not. If I wasn't at the first meet ing I probably heard about it from Julia Jensen or possibly Robin Blick or Adam Westoby.

2 - HAVE YOU ANY POLISH CONNECTIONS? No. 3 - WHY DID YOU JOIN PSC? Because it seemed like the right thing to do. 4 - WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE THROUGH PSC? To play a part in supporting the

struggle against oppression in Eastern Europe. DID YOU THINK YOU DID ACHIEVE THESE THINGS? Yes. 5 - WHAT WAS MOST ENCOURAGING (IF ANYTHING) ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERI

ENCES? The willingness of people in PSC, at the early stages, at any rate, to co-operate across political divides. AND - the way that such a tiny number of people could, by standing as witness and drawing attention to certain things, have a disproportionate impact.

For instance, without the dozen people involved in forming PSC, there would have been no big story about the TUC attitude to Solidarnosc in 1980.

6 - WHAT WAS MOST DEMORALISING ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERIENCES? The dread ful bickering and disputes that followed the first years of Martial Law.

7 - DO YOU THINK YOU LEARNT ANYTHING THROUGH YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN PSC? Yes.

8 - ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS YOU WISH TO MAKE, ABOUT YOUR PSC INVOLVEMENT, PSC ACTIVITIES, PSC INFLUENCE OR ANYTHING ELSE? Of all the polit ical activities I have been involved in, PSC probably, for the number of people involved, achieved more successes than any of the others. And we had good cartoons.

I often look back at PSC and remember with affection the activities and people in it - even Robin Blick!

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JEDRZEJ DMOCHOWSKI

1 - HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT PSC? Through relations/friends. 2 - HAVE YOU ANY POLISH CONNECTIONS? I am of Polish origin - 1st generation in

England. 3 - WHY DID YOU JOIN PSC? I joined PSC to help maintain/stimulate interest in this country. 4 - WHAT DID YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE THROUGH PSC? I hoped to contribute to the

above. Any 'achievement' as such had to be a result of collective effort: fund raising - events - radio - leaflets - meetings - distribution of information etc.

DID YOU THINK YOU DID ACHIEVE THESE THINGS? I'm not sure whether my efforts amounted to much, although the combined international efforts (European/Brussels/London) cer-tainly played a part in maintaining public awareness - and so effect Polish-Soviet dialogue. Participating in demonstrations definitely is one way of exercising democratic rights denied others and thus demonstrating solidarity with the rights of citizens in states controlled by totalitarian regimes.

5 - WHAT WAS MOST ENCOURAGING (IF ANYTHING) ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERI ENCES? The continuous efforts of others - and, as mentioned, the multiplicity of forms of activi ties.

6 - WHAT WAS MOST DEMORALISING ABOUT YOUR PSC EXPERIENCES? Hearing about Solidarity Campaign squabbles. Inter-personnel squabbles, etc. This doesn't encourage any one to participate.

7 - DO YOU THINK YOU LEARNT ANYTHING THROUGH YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN PSC?

(a) That when a cause is worth supporting it should not be abandoned. (b) Support for Solidarity, although generally widespread, had to be maintained through the

efforts of activities. 8 - ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS YOU WISH TO MAKE, ABOUT YOUR PSC

INVOLVEMENT, PSC ACTIVITIES, PSC INFLUENCE OR ANYTHING ELSE? I think/know that many people did a great deal more than I, and I have a great deal of respect for their stoicism and achievements.

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EXTRACTS FROM WIKTOR MOSZCZYNSKI'S PSC DIARY

by Wiktor Moszczynski

(Note - As these are only extracts from Wiktor's PSC activities, and as there were also many other PSC events not involving Wiktor the following should in no way be regarded as comprehensive of PSC activities, or Wiktor's activities during the period covered. Wiktor has not included, for exam-ple, 75 visits to Labour Party and Trade Union branch meetings to speak on Solidarnosc.)

1980 July/August Write scores of letters to E.P.Thompson and leading trade unionists on strikes in

Poland urging them to express support. August 15th Publish article in 'Tribune' on Polish strikes. August 22nd Chair press conference at Journalist International Centre in Pall Mall on Polish

strikes. Other participants of press conference - Leszek Kolakowski, Leopold Labedz, and Frank Chappie. About 50 people attend. Reports from the press.

August 26th At Robin Blick's invitation attend PSC public meeting in Conway Hall. August 29th A second article in 'Tribune' on Polish strikes. August 30th Invited to 'Beyond the Fragments' conference in Leeds University with 1600 partic-

ipants, where I announce latest news about Poland to massive cheers in this vast left wing audience. September 19th Article in 'Tribune' on Polish Trade Unions. September 29th Attend Labour Party Conference in Blackpool, translate for radical Polish

Trades Unionist Edmund Baluka there. October 27th Move from Ipswich to London. Same day speak at PSC public meeting at Conway

Hall. December 3rd Attend and speak at special conference on Poland organized by East European

Solidarity Campaign. December 4th Am co-opted onto Polish Solidarity Campaign Committee. December 20th Meet Miroslaw Chojecki, to arrange closer ties between Solidarnosc support

groups like PSC and the Solidarnosc Union. (Chojecki was a leading member of K.O.R., publisher of 'A.S.' magazine, close to people like Bujak, Kuron, Michnik. Later on he was imprisoned. He now runs independent TV station.)

1981 January 25th At invitation of Steve Murray (fellow PSC committee member) speak on Poland to

Islington Socialist Centre (a forum where all sorts of socialists could meet - about 50 people attend-ed.)

January 28th First PSC demonstration outside Polish Embassy. January 29th First duplicator sent to NSZZ 'Solidamosc' Warsaw. February 1st Am elected Treasurer to the PSC 'Polish Trade Union Appeal Fund' sponsored by

many Labour and Trade Union personalities. [In this capacity (and later on, when Wiktor was a sig-natory but not Treasurer) Wiktor would have responsibility for weighing up competing claims for financial and material help in Poland, and making arrangements for sending such help to Poland, sometimes on an open basis, and after Martial Law on a secret 'need to know' basis.]

February 3rd Press Conference on PSC organized in POSK. February 11th With Julia Jensen (also known as Julia Kellet, PSC Treasurer) meet Tom Jenkins

of TUC International Dept. to discuss co-operation.

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February 18th First PSC Newsletter. February 24th First meet John Taylor on his return from Gdansk. February 25th Picket TUC International Committee Meeting about help to Poland. TUC offi-

cially agrees to send help to Solidarnosc. February 28th Acrimonious PSC meeting about whether to support left wing 'Hands off Polish

Workers' demonstration. March 3rd Attend 'Hands off Polish Workers' meeting as delegate of PSC. March 6th First 'PSC News' published. March 12th Second acrimonious PSC meeting on 'Hands off Polish Workers'. Decision not to

support their march officially, only as individuals. March 15th Discuss relevance of Polish events with top END (European Nuclear Disarmament)

leaders and supporters, E.P.Thompson, Mary Kaldor, Jan Kavan, Zhores Medvedev. April 12th 'Hands off Polish Workers' march takes place on Soviet Embassy. About 100 partici-

pants including many individuals from PSC. May 19th-27th Assist Anna Kowalska (of K.O.R.) in meetings with Labour M.P.s and Amnesty

International. May 31st First PSC AGM. I present report on situation in Poland. June 1st Arrange arrival of Solidarnosc delegates to NALGO (National and Local Government

Officers' Association) and GMWU (General and Municipal Workers' Union) conferences after their visa refused.

June 2nd Second issue of PSC News. June 2nd-3rd Assist Anna Kowalska in meetings with G.L.C. (Greater London Council) and

Parliamentary Human Rights Group - Bernard Braine (Conservative), Lord Avebury (Eric Lubbock, Liberal), Frank Allaun (Labour).

June 5th Help arrange PSC photo exhibition at NALGO conference. June 10th Arrange pro-Solidarnosc resolution of Baling Acton CLP (Constituency Labour Party)

to go forward to Labour Party Conference. June 15th Arrange for meeting with A.P.E.X. (Association of Professional Executive Staff)

Trade Union on behalf of Solidarnosc research team, under Jerzy Jasinski. July 13th Speak at PSC public meeting with Ken Weetch M.P.(Labour) Mike Cooley and E. P.

Thompson. July 19th Meet Anna Walentynowicz and Janusz Onyszkiewicz. July 23rd Visit TUC with Jerzy Jasinski. August 1st Visit from Bogdan Lis and Waclaw Korczynski at my house to arrange full relations

between Solidarnosc and PSC. September 17th PSC Meeting on Poland organized at Friends Meeting House, Euston. September 28th PSC demonstrates at Brighton against Communist guests at Labour Party

Conference. October 17th Seminar on Polish Unions organized by Walter Kendall at Ruskin College with

PSC participation. November 29th - December 2nd Meetings with official Solidarnosc Delegation (Jozef Patyna,

Anna Fotyga) at TUC Headquarters. November 30th PSC Public Meeting - Neil Kinnock, Jimmy Reid, Philip Whitehead, Stanislaw

Gomulka. December 13th Demonstration at Polish Embassy in blinding snow. December 17th I chair press conference on PSC demonstration in House of Commons (Eric

Heffer, Peter Shore, Philip Whitehead (all Labour MPs)). ITN and BBC News announce that PSC

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will organize march on December 20th. December 20th The big march. 15,000 marchers. Police and PSC lose control. Speakers include

Whitehead, Shore, Shirley Williams, a Tory M.E.P., union leaders. Harry Greenway incident. Police surround the LOT office, and the Soviet Aeroflot office.

December 23rd Picket outside TUC Headquarters at TUC General Council meetings, successful-ly urging unionists to condemn Jaruzelski and support Solidarnosc.

1982 January 14th Visit TUC International Section with Andrzej Lodynski. January 21st Introduce Lodynski to EESC (East European Solidarity Campaign) meeting. January 30th Demonstration meeting at Friends Meeting House, Euston. Speakers from all par-

ties, including Terry Duffy of AUEW (Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers), Lord Bethell, and Russian dissident Vladimir Bukovsky. March to Polish Embassy with 2,000 participants. Duffy, Bukovsky and Rynkiewicz place bouquets of flowers at mock Gdansk memorial outside Embassy.

February 16th Spoke at founding meeting of Leeds branch of PSC. February 17th PSC help organize meeting on Poland at London School of Economics (LSE). February 20th Become acting editor of PSC News no. 6 March 4th PSC Exhibition in Highgate. March 21st PSC News no. 6 issued. March 27th Finalize proposed constitution of PSC with Naomi Hyamson, the Blicks. March 28th PSC AGM at City University. Am elected Chairman. Our proposed constitution

agreed by AGM. May 12th PSC no. 7 issued. My article on trade unions included, but no longer under my editor-

ship. May 13th PSC organize demonstration outside Polish Embassy. May 20th Chair PSC public meeting with Piotr Kozlowski. May 23rd PSC demonstrates at Milk Race at Bournemouth. May 30th PSC stall during Pope's visit to Crystal Palace. We make 2,000 pounds sterling. June 13th SWS demonstration, from Hyde Park to Trafalgar Square. Am PSC speaker. June 20th PSC quarterly members meeting in Con way Hall. July 2nd Assist and co-ordinate meeting between Polish Emigres and Polish Trade Union

Working Group in POSK. July 25th Meeting with Jerzy Milewski of the Solidarnosc International Office in Brussels. We

lay down guidelines for co-operation with PSC. (The Solidarity Information Office in Britain were obliged to follow these guidelines but Milewski recognized that as PSC were an independent orga-nization, these guidelines could not be binding on PSC.)

July 28th PSC picket outside N.E.C. (National Executive Council) meeting outside Labour Party Headquarters. Party decides to sever links.

August 15th PSC stall at Fawley Court Polish festivities. August 27th Press Conference on PSC at House of Commons with Philip Whitehead. August 31st PSC organized Hyde Park rally - 4,000 present. I read emotional bulletins from

Poland. Speakers from all parties. March ends emotionally with songs in Malet Street. September 9th Assist Jerzy Milewski and Magda Wojcik (one of Walesa's secretaries in Gdansk)

in meetings at TUC Conference in Brighton. (Jerzy and Magda were official guests of the TUC, and sat on the TUC platform).

September 12th Chair quarterly meeting of PSC in POSK. September 13th SWS vigil outside Polish Embassy.

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Foot, David Owen and Shirley Williams. October 9th PSC picket outside Polish Embassy. Interview for L.B.C. radio. October 18th Polish Airmans' Club. On behalf of PSC attend liaison meeting with SWS and

Solidarnosc Trade Union Working Group. October 23rd Attend SWS/PSC demonstration outside Haling Town Hall over a meeting there of

the 'British-Soviet Friendship Society'. November 5th Jarski circulates his public letter 'Trotskyism or Solidarity' critical of PSC. November 7th Further meetings with Milewski in Brussels. November 10th Demonstration outside Polish Embassy. November 30th Visit 'Guardian' newspaper (accompanied by PSC member Jacek Rostowski,

and a representative of the Information Centre of Polish Affairs) to discuss pro-communist bias in their coverage. Effective conference with Campbell Page (Guardian foreign editor), Jonathan Steele and Hella Pick (Guardian Polish correspondent).

December 12th PSC 'Solidarnosc Lives' demo in Hyde Park, 2000 people attend in heavy rain. December 13th Guardian publishes my article on 'Solidarity' (and Guardian coverage of it).

1983 January 23rd PSC helps organize day school for student Solidarnosc supporters in L.S.E.

(London School of Economics). January 28th PSC public meeting - Tim Garton Ash is main speaker. January 29th Attend Solidarnosc Offices Abroad meeting in Brussels. February 6th PSC AGM. Am succeeded as Chairman by Walter Kendall. March 9th PSC organizes demonstration in support of Anna Walentynowitcz

outside Polish Embassy. July 1 st Become Chairman of Co-ordinating Group of Solidarity Organisations preparing joint

August demonstration. August 31st Joint Solidarity demonstration in London. September 13th Convince Labour Party to invite K.O.R. to Labour Conference. (Jacek Kuron

and one other to represent K.O.R.) October 4th PSC organizes fringe meeting on Poland at Labour Party conference in Brighton. October 6th Formally request Labour Conference to send congratulatory telegram to Lech

Walesa on his Nobel Peace Prize Award. [This was agreed by acclamation - Wiktor gave the telegram address details.]

October 10th Assist (with John Taylor of PSC, and Lynn Jones) in presentation of E.N.D. state-ment in support of Walesa and Solidarnosc.

December llth Helped organize, and jointly chaired a massive tribute to Walesa on his Nobel Peace Prize (including concert) at Hammersmith Town Hall. Congratulatory messages/messages of support were received from 25 Nobel Prize winners, including Willy Brandt.

1984 February 9th Second PSC demo in support of Anna Walentynowicz outside Polish Embassy. July 25th Distribute leaflets on Polish Amnesty to (Labour Party) N.E.C. meeting. December 11th PSC meeting at Conway Hall - 'Solidarity, Peace, Socialism'.

1985 February 22nd Chair a PSC demonstration outside Polish Embassy.

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March 10th Elected Vice-Chairman of PSC. May 3rd Chair PSC demonstration outside Polish Embassy. May 13th SWS demonstration outside Polish Embassy including Hunger Strike. July 1st PSC demonstration (with 'Voice of Solidarity') outside Mirror building. July 11th Visit Neil Kinnock with Joanna Pilarska from Solidarnosc Brussels office, Marek

Garztecki and Giles Hart. August 31st '5 years of Solidarity' rally finishes outside Soviet Embassy.

1986 March 23rd Chair PSC AGM. Resign from PSC Committee. (Not on principle, but due to other

commitments). April 16th Chair meeting on 'Freedom and Peace' movement with PSC support. Speakers

include E.P. Thompson, Paddy Ashdown (future leader of the Liberal Democrats), Rula Lenska, Zdena Tomin.

June 23rd Speak at PSC public meeting on 'Poznan Riots of 1956', at Conway Hall. August 31st Chair PSC demo at Hyde Park .

1987 January 29th Chair PSC public meeting in POSK with Leszek Moczulski.

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FIVE INVOLVEMENTS WITH PSC

Some of the following accounts were written as a response to the P.S.C questionnaire, but were written to be read without the questionnaire, so are shown separately. Wanda Koscia has been rather modest about her contribution to the PSC - see section 13 of the 'Brief History of PSC' for more details. Maris Ozols is of Latvian descent and was Secretary of PSC for 1983/4.

SOME REFLECTIONS AND RECONSIDERATIONS ON THE EARLY HISTORY OF PSC

by Robin Blick

As one of the co-founders of PSC with my wife Karen and Adam Westoby, I feel that some com-ments by me on the first phase of the campaign might interest readers. When we first had the idea of convening a London meeting in support of the Polish strikes, we had no clear idea of what course events would take, either in Britain or in Poland. The meeting itself, which I chaired, was conducted in an unforgettable atmosphere of mounting excitement, bordering for some on ecstasy, as news kept arriving of fresh strikes and deepening crisis for the Polish authorities. Out of that meeting came a decision to found what became known as the Polish Solidarity Campaign. Involved as I was in its formation and then activities over the next eighteen months or so, I can honestly say that for the greater part of the period, certainly up to the declaration of Martial Law on December 13, 1981, both the PSC Committee and the Editorial Board of PSC News worked in a remarkably harmonious way, and this despite the substantial political divergences that existed among the members involved.

Political frictions only really began to emerge in the wake of the coup, first in the shape of the departure of Tardek Jarski to form his own 'Solidarity With Solidarity', an episode which, however unexpected and, in the short run, damagingly acrimonious, was quickly over. Then came a much more protracted and debilitating schism, brought about by an assault on the tempting target of a now nationally prominent and well-financed PSC, mounted from without by an assortment of Trotskyist organisations, and aided from within either unwittingly, reluctantly, naively or (in at least one instance) quite deliberately by members with whom I had previously worked without serious fric-tion. Interestingly, the conflict had little or nothing to do with the conventional Left-Right divisions in politics. Among the advocates of an 'open door' attitude towards the Trotskyists were to be found not only those of a 'hard left' disposition, but also their equivalents on the Tory right. Neither was it in any sense a British-Polish antagonism. As the involved members will recall, each faction was 'Anglo-Polish' in composition. My response to this attack (known in Trotskyist parlance as 'entry-ism') was to warn anyone prepared to listen as to the objective of its perpetrators which, I still believe, was either to hijack the PSC and render it toothless or, failing this, to inflict upon it as much disruption and damage as possible. On the basis of previous personal experience and a certain his-torical knowledge of the modus operand! of all Leninist/Trotskyist organisations, I considered that the motives that lay behind this operation were not so hard to divine. All the organisations involved proclaimed in their publications their over-riding loyalty to the USSR and the Leninist political principles that had brought it into existence. And, as the totalitarians they were, they naturally found PSC's commitment to democratic pluralism objectionable. The strategy was simple. In the interests of the struggle against 'anti-Sovietism', PSC had either to be domesticated, castrated or put down. Anyone still doubting the motives of the entryists can read Joe Quigley's inside account of one such operation in another section of this book. As for tactics, if the entrists could find dupes or accom-plices within the PSC to aid them in this undertaking, so much the better. As it turned out, sadly, they found both.

My argument then, and I stand by it today, was that it made no more sense to admit into our

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ranks such organisations than it would have done to welcome avowed racists into the Anti-Apartheid movement or known fascists into the the Chile Solidarity Campaign. Some agreed, but the majority of those whose opinion and votes counted did not, though I should add at once that my opponents on this issue differed with me for a variety of reasons. Some - most, in fact - shared my fears about the entrists' motives - after all, where had they been since August 1980? - but felt it was either wrong or not possible to keep them out. Realising that my view had not carried the day, I accepted the need for a compromise solution. Some of those who agreed that the impact of entrist infiltration should be kept to a minimum met just before the 1982 AGM to devise common tactics and means to secure the election of a PSC committee that would, in its majority, work to keep the campaign on its traditional lines. Meanwhile, others were meeting, PSC members as well as Trotskyists, to achieve a different outcome. Inevitably, the AGM itself became a battleground between these two groupings, with caucusing and what amounted to bloc voting throughout its pro-ceedings. This, together with a mounting personal hostility between people who, in many cases, had once collaborated so harmoniously, generated an almost tangibly ugly and sickening tension which so painfully contrasted with the exultant atmosphere which prevailed at PSC's birth. I can remember vividly the humiliation and anger I felt for PSC when a 'delegate' from the Trotskyist 'Workers' Socialist League', Tony Richardson, having defended from the rostrum the Red Army invasion of Poland in 1920 (in which Lenin offered a bounty of 100,000 roubles for every Pole hanged) was then, despite vehement and entirely justified opposition, elected, with the indispensable votes of several promiment pro-entrist PSC members (including, if my memory serves me right, incredibly, some of Polish origin) to the new Committee. This, I thought, is not only shameful. It is the end.

As it turned out, I was wrong. The new Committee was, as our pre AGM conclave had intended, in its majority composed of members loyal to the original goals of PSC. And, although in my opin-ion the new Committee, despite repeated warnings from a minority, made a serious mistake in allowing the entrists and their supporters within it to nearly bankrupt PSC (and enrich its enemies) by allowing the editorial board of PSC News to indulge in absurdly grandiose expenditures and accept inflated tenders from favoured Trotskyists, I was just as mistaken, maybe more so, to throw in the towel. PSC survived, not only survived the attack but, as Giles Hart's account relates, both the the invaders and those who aided and encouraged them from within eventually vanished from the scene. I regret now not being there to speed and celebrate their departure.

I also want to pay tribute to those who, even if they in some cases might have been a little slow to grasp exactly what the entrists were up to, stuck it out and by doing so, kept the body and original spirit of PSC alive.

What was I doing? Well, though I had (wrongly) given up on PSC I didn't give up on the cause. I spoke regularly for 'Solidarity With Solidarity', an organisation which, despite the eccentricities of its founder, had for me at least the virtue of being Leninist free. Now that the same can be said (with some reservations) of not only Poland, but the whole of the former Bolshevik empire, PSC's work is probably done. It was certainly the best and most fruitful political activity I have ever engaged in, and my only regret is that I didn't see it through to the end in the way I could have and should.

WHY I LEFT PSC AND WHY I REJOINED.

by Karen Blick

In my 'Introduction' I deliberately avoided personal comment, though unavoidably my account is coloured by my own approach to history and politics and, in describing the motivation of the British founders of PSC I have explained my own involvement and enthusiasm for the cause of Solidarnosc. Initially I (and Robin was very much of the same opinion) decided not to make any

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more personal contribution because this would necessarily include writing about my reasons for leaving PSC. I decided to avoid this partly because I believe that raking over all old quarrels, as a rule, serves no good purpose and partly because it was a painful episode in my life. But, through being very much involved in producing the book, I necessarily became acquainted with parts of other members' reminiscences. I also felt I should respond to the enormous efforts that Giles was making to get as full a picture as possible of PSC through members' different perceptions. So I then decided to make some comment of my own concerning my departure from PSC and then my later renewal of membership.

I was brought up in the Communist Party and spent ten years in Trotskyist groups in all of which organisations so-called 'democratic centralism' reigned. My more recent Labour Party experience had shown me the benefits of a democratically-based organisation (with all its problems) and rein-forced my determination that PSC should be as democratic as possible. I found the commitment to this style and the comradely (in the true sense) relations amongst PSC members refreshingly agree-able. Disagreements which are bound to occur in organisations didn't in my experience descend into personal vendettas, were openly expressed and did not cloak a hidden agenda. In general, though members came from very different backgrounds and had different approaches, we had broad agree-ment on our principles and objectives, did not abandon these for expediency and did not see PSC as a vehicle for our political, religious etc. beliefs .

In the middle of 1981 I became chair(wo)man of PSC and in this new position my experience of PSC's ethos continued to be the same. Then, after the Declaration of Martial Law, I sensed a change. It was of course to be expected that friction within the movement would increase, that sharper arguments about tactics would take place. The departure of Tadek Jarski was one such event. But I felt that we were experiencing difficulties above and beyond what was to be expected. At least two Trotskyist groups were targetting PSC, their motivation being, as I saw it, to build their own groups rather than to promote the interests of Solidarnosc. Poland was in the news and the lat-est band-wagon to jump on. No doubt because of my inside knowledge of the way these groups worked, I was hyper-sensitive and emotionally vulnerable to the attentions they were paying PSC. I found any contact with this type of politics and the sort of conflicts it engendered very difficult, because I had hoped that I had left all thai behind. I remember one particularly unpleasant experi-ence at a meeting hosted by PSC in POSK in February or March 1982. Various belated self-styled supporters of Solidarnosc, from the Manchester (Trotskyist) International Marxist Group (whom I had never seen before) had just set up an ephemeral Solidarity group and spent the meeting shouting at me for my views on the conduct of our campaign. I realise that for many other leading members of PSC the activities of the Trotskyists, though unwelcome, were not so personally threatening as they were for someone like myself, reared as I had been on an unquestioning attitude to the rulers of the Soviet Empire. But I still believe that the damage they did to PSC outweighed the contact it was thought they would (wrongly as it turned out) bring us with trades unionists.

At the 1982 AGM (which I chaired) an attempted take-over by one group of Trotskyists was defeated. But after the AGM I felt depressed and debilitated. I know that Robin and Adam Westoby also felt very disturbed by the AGM. I continued on PSC committee (though not in the chair because our rules called for an annual change of chair and secretary) but with some reservations. In my opinion the general political style and orientation of the Trotskyists was to some extent continu-ing to influence the decisions made by PSC. I felt that because of the political leanings of its editor PSC News was, to some degree, subject and susceptible to their pressure. It was because of issues surrounding the publication of PSC News that I resigned from the committee and eventually left PSC. By far my strongest reason for leaving the committee was my objection to the way in which PSC funds (given by a wide public to aid Solidarnosc) were being consumed in a costly production

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of PSC News. I saw this as an editorial ego-trip which was of very debatable assistance to Solidarity. Giles in his 'History' describes how this impending financial crisis came to a head and was eventually resolved. My other concern was my suspicion that the selection of articles to the Journal was being tailored to the sensitivities of Trotskyists and other like-minded people for whom the 'progressive' origins of the Soviet Union outweighed its contemporary oppressive features. As the money being consumed by PSC News was for me a matter of principle I still think my only course of action was to resign from the committee. But in retrospect it would have been better to remain a member of the organisation, staying in the background and letting others for whom the issue was less personal deal with the situation, until the Trotskyists' interest in PSC waned and they passed on to more fruitful recruiting grounds.

After 1982 I intermittently attended demonstrations organised by either PSC or SWS. Even if I had not had differences with PSC my family commitments may well have meant a reduction in the time I could give to the organisation. I was well aware that December '81 had not been an ideal Christmas for my children. I suspect my participation would have been greatly reduced during the middle eighties because for me at least, being a parent to teenagers was a much less 'joyous', much more aggravating and draining experience than bringing up younger children. In the late eighties on a PSC or Afghan demonstration, I met Giles Hart again and he persuaded me to rejoin the campaign. In 1990, and with some reservations, I agreed to become convenor of PSC, initially on a temporary basis, and have continued in this post to the present day. The activity has been far more low-key than in the eighties but nevertheless stimulating and rewarding. To hold a meeting with a former Solidarity member, now an embassy official inside the once Stalinist citadel of the Polish Embassy; to auction off pieces of the Berlin Wall at an LSE Seminar; to speak in favour of the independence of the Baltic States in a Trafalgar Square Rally; to beard the Home Office bureaucrats in their Lunar House den in Croydon over their indefensible insistence on Polish visas; these have all been worthwhile and memorable experiences.

AGE OF INNOCENCE

by Wanda Koscia

I cannot remember how I heard about PSC but I think it was around about the spring of 1981 when everything was already in full swing. I am a Polish Londoner by birth and when 'Solidarnosc' erupted in the summer of 1980 I had just returned from two years in Poland on a British Council scholarship. 'Solidarnosc' was the most wonderful thing that had ever happened. Looking back now it was a true 'age of innocence', a 'festival of liberation'. A time when the issues were clear cut, black and white, and we were in the right. David was slaying Goliath but without violence and with total self-control. It was impossible not to get involved. Initially I did some work for a British TV company and in the spring of 1981 Gienek Smolar asked me to organise an exhibition of 'Solidarity' material at POSK. (We had done a similar exhibition about the Workers Defence Committee (KOR) a few years earlier.) I think it was then that someone (Anna Lubelska?) told me about PSC. At that time the membership was predominantly British and I was impressed that non-Poles could be moved to get actively involved in supporting a cause 'in a far off country of which (the British) know little.'

The function of PSC in 1980-81 was to give support to 'Solidarity', both in material and in propa-ganda terms. The focus was specifically on the British Trade Union and Labour movement. It was a very sensible strategy. This was still the Cold War (albeit not that icy at the time). Support for 'Solidarity' from anti-communist quarters and the right ('Reagan-Thatcher') was natural and clearly

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voiced. Far more ambiguous was the response from the left, many of whom did not really wish to confront the uncomfortable reality of workers protesting against a so-called workers' state. Inside the labour movement there was a strong lobby of Soviet loyalists and 'tankists' opposed to any recognition, let alone support for Solidarity. The founding members of the PSC were themselves very often of the British labour movement and addressed their campaign primarily to that move-ment. In the early days, PSC helped 'Solidarnosc' acquire a voice on this arena. Individual union contacts were facilitated and technical assistance was provided.

When Jaruzelski imposed Martial Law in Poland on 13 December 1981, PSC organised a mass demonstration in London which took place within a week. London was fly-posted, considerable sympathetic media coverage was achieved, and despite sleet and snow there was a huge turnout. These were not only emigre Poles but many British trade unionists, politicians ranging from Conservatives to communists (the latter were not on the platform!) and many ordinary people.

In the wake of Martial Law, PSC helped set up the 'Solidarity' Trade Union Working Group which consisted of 'Solidarnosc' members who had found themselves stranded in the UK and which took over the role of 'spokesmen' for Solidarnosc. PSC itself grew immensely in the early months of 1982. Its members were involved in a large number of activities including humanitarian aid for internees and their families, a campaign of adoption of internees, help for the 'Solidarnosc' under-ground, etc. PSC continued to lobby inside the Labour movement with stands and stalls at confer-ences and public meetings. However, the growth in membership also led to a gradual change of pro-file as many who joined were not very interested in hard politics nor in the intricacies of committee room lobbying and even less in the moral dilemmas of the labour movement and the subtleties of weaning it off the last vestiges of its allegiance to the Soviet Union. They wanted more demonstra-tions and a more direct expression of their disgust with Martial Law.

The more extreme proponents of the 'direct action' school of thought (which held that the more passionate and energetic their efforts, the greater the effects would be in real terms - the more they shouted on the streets of London, the better things would be in Poland) found their place in Tadek Jarski's 'Solidarity With Solidarity', which he set up immediately after the PSC demonstration in Hyde Park which he had helped organise. Unfortunately this parting of the ways created confusion and did not occur without acrimony and some mud slinging, chiefly from the hand of Tadeusz Jarski who circulated letters to the Polish community maligning PSC as being 'red'. I still cannot under-stand his real motive for doing this. The whole incident was very unpleasant and stupid. Many of us suspected that there were a few too many people who wanted to be the 'London Walesa'. Notwithstanding, 'Solidarity With Solidarity' can be credited with some very energetic (if not always wise) campaigning. It was they who continued to hold regular demonstrations outside the Polish Embassy on the 13th of each month for years. There was also some cooperation between the various 'Solidarity' support groups, so things were not so black.

Gradually with time, I became less and less involved in PSC as I felt it was no longer needed. 'Solidarnosc' in Poland had developed its own direct channels to politicians, trade unions and insti-tutions in the west; it had its own 'embassy' in Brussels; western public opinion was fairly clear on the rights and wrongs of the case and Gorbachev was himself dissolving the Soviet Union. Certainly after the Round Table Talks and the semi-free elections of 1989 I saw no need for PSC as such though the political activities of certain individual members (for instance Wiktor Moszczynski) remain valuable.

Not having ever been seriously involved in politics, PSC was an education to me; not only did I learn a great deal about the inside workings of the British Labour movement, I also witnessed and participated in committee politics British-style. Whether it is due to the British character or to cen-turies of stable government and the existence of tried and used institutions, or a combination of

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both, the British do it in style: they are democratic, self-disciplined and restrained. Such was PSC at its best.

The achievement of 'Solidarnosc' was of course due to the actions and courage of people in Poland itself. But I would like to think that PSC helped to drive the point home in the UK.

Wanda Koscla 4 May 1994

POLISH SOLIDARITY CAMPAIGN - EXPERIENCE OF DEMOCRACY

by Katarzyna Budd

I came to England in summer of 1980, the summer of Solidarnosc. As in Poland I was close to the opposition movement. When I learnt through my friend Zofia Hart about the Polish Solidarity Campaign, I went to the meeting to see what they were doing and how they were trying to help the struggle of the Polish people against the communist regime. It was my first contact with the English organisation and I was very impressed by the way it tried to achieve its goals. I was aware that the PSC was set up mainly by people one way or the other associated with the Labour Party, but for me it was a secondary issue.

I was not involved in the Committee, but for many months I and my husband Martin Budd were quite active, helping with PSC News, preparing the Press Releases, going to demos etc. For me it was not only a way of working for Poland but also of getting to know England and I made some good friendships at the time, which have lasted until now.

Obviously, we got more active after Martial Law was introduced in Poland. The biggest event for us was a demo on 20 December 1981 with thousands of participants. A few months afterwards we organised an exhibition of photos, posters and documents in a gallery in Highgate. I do not remember all the people involved but they included Zofia Hart, Zofia Malakowska, Wanda Koscia, and Wiktor Moszczynski who on the behalf of the Committee opened the exhibition which was attended by the Mayoress of the borough.

At that time my husband and I wrote letters to several MPs and members of cabinet to ask them to state their position on Poland and the Polish crisis. I received about twenty replies, including one from the personal secretary of Mrs Thatcher.

At that time the Solidarity Working Group was set up and soon we started to help them with printing Voice of Solidarity and this co-operation lasted for the next three years. It was very demanding work which had to be done to a deadline.

PSC also organised many open meetings which were sometimes attended by hundreds of people with some important politicians like Eric Heffer, Peter Shore and others. A few times I was asked to give lectures to the Labour Party constituencies. I found those meetings very rewarding. I shared my experience of what it was like to live in communist Poland and at the same time I was learning how political life operates here in England. As a new comer to this country I was impressed by the democracy here and by the democratic way the PSC was run.

During the first few months of Martial Law in Poland PSC was growing very quickly. Some of the new members started to be very active. These were all together the good months for the organi-sation which got several hundred new members per month. At the same time the meetings started to be longer and longer as different views started to emerge and I found that for some people work for PSC was not so much work for Poland but more work for their own career.

Soon after 13 December of 1981 the new organisation which was a splinter group from PSC, Solidarity With Solidarity, emerged. The members of this new group were mainly the Polish people who stay in England after Martial Law and got the Exceptional Leave to Remain. This new organi-

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sation, run by Polish people, had somewhat more appeal to them than did PSC, which was English dominated and held meetings completely in English. (Many of the Poles at that time did not speak English). The other reason why Poles found PSC distant to them was the left wing approach of many of its activists and this, after the experience of communism, was difficult for Poles to accept. The competition between those two organisations was very apparent and for me distressing. I felt that much time and effort was wasted by this competition, especially with the Solidarity Working Group (later on Solidarity Office in England) being the third element and bringing more antagonism between the three organisations.

The main objectives of PSC - abolition of Martial Law, compliance with the human rights by the regime in Poland and re-legalisation of Solidarnosc - were at the end achieved, but I do not think that the pressure by PSC had much to do with it; rather the opposition in Poland itself and the devel-opment of the international situation. PSC was much more effective in publicizing the cause of Solidarnosc in British society.

With time passing PSC somewhat lost its impact, membership levels were shrinking and the role of that organisation was less and less important. But by that time I was not a member of PSC. For me the PSC did not present the main objective: free and independent Poland. During the meetings they were rather talking about 'Finlandisation' of Poland. I thought, 'I am between these English people who look at us in their own way and do not understand what we really want. When they stop fighting for Poland, they will find some other worthy cause to fight for. What I am doing here?'.

But still I consider my involvement in PSC as one of my very important experiences, especially as it was the only organisation in my life - in Poland and in England - that I was a member of.

Additionally PSC provided my first experience of editing and journalism, which I subsequently developed as a career -I am now the editor of ' Dziennik Polski' ('Polish Daily')..

Katarzyna Budd

PSC AND ME

by Maris Ozols

I first heard about PSC through a Latvian friend who had met Wiktor Moszczynski, although I can't remember how. I think it was before the coup of December 1981.1 did not immediately con-sider joining. The organisation seemed to be overly concerned with its connections with the Trade Unions.

I had more than average interest in Poland. I had visited Poland four times in the seventies - two of those times before I had met and married my Polish wife, Nina Ozols. Up to the coup, I remem-ber following events in Poland with great interest. No such post-war challenge to communist totali-tarianism had yet been mounted. Also, since more than thirty years had passed since Moscow had imposed its will on Eastern Europe, it was clear that the experiment had not worked and that the people were ready to throw off their shackles. If that was the mood in Poland, something similar must surely exist in the remainder of Eastern Europe, including the Baltic states which interested me most.

When the coup came it was difficult to believe. On the other hand, it was difficult to predict where the preceding 20 months were leading. The only options seemed to be the complete collapse of the Polish state- or repression from above. When the latter occurred I simply could not accept the fact that yet another insurrection, this time peaceful, against the communists was likely to be put down. I had to do something. The first opportunity to find expression for one's views came with the mass demonstration of 20th December 1981, organised by PSC. The feeling of being among 13,000

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like-minded individuals was uplifting. It clearly inspired a lot of people for in the period that ensued, I believe that PSC enjoyed a massive increase in members, including me.

I don't think I expected miracles of PSC. The best that could be hoped for was a constant irrita-tion for the Polish government. I now had come to feel that the best opposition to the Polish junta was one rooted in the left wing. Any opposition coming from the right wing was bound to be passed off as in the political interests of the right. Left wing support for Solidarnosc could not be faulted especially since many on the left had flirted with Moscow in one form or another. Or so I thought. Until I joined PSC my familiarity with Trotskyist politics had been sketchy at best. Now I discov-ered that it was politically expedient for the Trotskyists to attack the communists because of their own ideological positions. This discovery severely depressed some of us who came to feel that no one was supporting Solidarnosc for genuine reasons. In any case, as long as Poland remained in the news, the Polish government would have to continue to publicly offer some kind of defence of its actions.

It was fascinating to observe the motley crew that made up PSC. It was good that the majority of its members were non-Poles. The last thing I was looking for was a passionate emigre grouping. On the other hand, I sometimes felt that PSC was a repository for people who were too idealistic to live normal lives outside it. Since I was of a similar disposition this did not trouble me.

I suppose gradual estrangement came as PSC became bogged down in day to day administration and also seemed not really to be taken seriously by anyone (outside PSC). Equally dispiriting was the visit of (Solidarnosc spokesman) Janusz Onyszkiewicz (later a minister in the Polish govern-ment) to Britain during which he was unable to find time to see PSC members. Another factor which nurtured the rot was the lack of interest shown by both emigre Poles and Poles visiting from Poland who were more concerned with working in the British black economy.

I fear that PSC did not really influence anyone or anything and was purely a vehicle for massag-ing a lot of egos. This had an effect on me later when I did not become involved in any organisa-tions as the Baltic States moved towards freedom, believing that if it was going to happen it was going to happen.

Of encouraging experiences I can say that it was good to come into contact with people far more interesting than one meets going about one's business in everyday life. It was of course, also an invaluable political education.

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ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

by John Taylor

1

My involvement with Solidarnosc began to take shape shortly after the great strikes broke out on the Baltic coast in mid-August 1980. The heroism and collective defiance of the strikers excited and inspired me, as it did many others; but it was only when I went to a cinema in the Haymarket in London to. see the film of Gunter Grass' novel 'The Tin Drum', set in and around Gdansk, that it occurred to me that I might actually go there. There was daily fear of Soviet intervention. I was unemployed, and it seemed to me that if the strikes were crushed, then the more Western witnesses the better. I felt I could make this demonstration of solidarity, and if repression did not occur would have the opportunity to be present at a momentous juncture of popular self-assertion.

I should say that at this point of decision I had no contacts in Poland whatsoever, though along with other countries in Central Europe I had a strong passive interest in it and some knowledge of its recent history. For example, I had read about the Warsaw uprising and had eagerly followed the events of 1956 and 1970. Solzhenitsyn was a hero to me in the 1970s, and not just as a writer. I fol-lowed with admiration his battles and those of other Soviet dissidents.

I had however plenty of contacts on the Left in Britain and thought it prudent to secure a lifeline in this quarter before launching myself into the unknown. My first approach was to the historian E. P. Thompson whom I knew from my work as a tutor with the Workers' Educational Association; he lived outside Worcester, not far from me in Dudley. He was the leading force, through his pamphlet 'Protest and Survive', a polemic against Cruise missiles, in reviving C.N.D. (Campaign against Nuclear Disarmament ) and establishing its new semi-independent extension European Nuclear Disarmament (E.N.D.)

Thompson responded enthusiastically, quickly seeing my trip as a means of establishing a link between the Polish strikers and the newly renascent European peace movement. I think he must have met me off the train in Worcester, from where he drove me out to his rural mansion at Wick Episcopi. I recently turned up the list of contacts he gave me there, which includes the name of Wiktor Moszczynski, 'leading member of British Information Centre for Polish Affairs. Friendly'. I did not get in touch with Wiktor for some reason but I did approach the Oxford philosopher Steven Lukes who invited me to stay with him and his wife and arranged a dinner party or at least a meet-ing with two exiled Polish intellectuals : the philosopher Leszek Kolakowski (to whom Edward Thompson had once addressed a famous open letter about the humanist potential of communism) and the economist W. Brus. Both men affected a wry fatalism about events in Poland, a pose rather undermined in Kolakowski's case by a large badge he wore which said ' Kiss me, I'm Polish'. Both were sceptical about my projected visit. I don't think they saw the point.

Steven Lukes was much more positive. His interest derived from his involvement with the cause of intellectual freedom in the communist bloc. He gave me the names and addresses of two academ-ic contacts in Warsaw. One was the economist Tadeusz Kowalik: the other I forget. These were the only names and addresses I took with me to Poland. I looked them both up, but only after I was well settled in. On Edward Thompson's advice I also rang Ken Coates, of the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation in Nottingham. He too was encouraging about my trip and undertook to do what he could to haul me out of trouble should the need arise.

And so I set out, leaving London by train on September 3, four days after the victorious conclu-sion of the great Baltic strikes. I delivered the resolution from END which Edward Thompson had entrusted me. On my first visit to the Hotel Morski I handed it over to the young man I met in the

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interpreters' room who promised to pass it on to Walesa. In the following weeks I also distributed copies of the END leaflet I had brought with me. But I did so with diminishing commitment as I became absorbed into the excitements of Solidarnosc's high-risk confrontation with the authorities. The dangers of nuclear destabilisation seemed metaphysical in comparison. 2 I went to Poland on a two week visitor's visa but stayed much longer, for reasons explained in my book 'Five Months with Solidarity'*. The disorientation of my swift expulsion after this length of time turned into a sort of agitated depression when I found myself back in England at the end of January (1981), suddenly very remote from the tense euphoria that reigned that winter in Poland. Edward Thompson, I fear, found me a most disappointing emissary with him early the following month. I passed much of my visit stomping over the misty landscape.

I knew what I had to do however: mobilize support for Solidarnosc among British trade unions and on the Left generally. This I had agreed with Magda Wojcik, who comprised one half of Solidarnosc's international department where I latterly spent much of my time.

Edward Thompson started me off in a number of helpful directions. He suggested I write to his old comrade-in-arms Lawrence Daly, general secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers. I did this, and while in London succeeded in door stepping a couple of other major unions. At the Transport and General Worker's Union I saw Ron Todd, then National Officer, and at the Association of Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staff (A.S.T.M.S.), Roger Lyons, whose title I forget. Both men listened sympathetically but were non-committal on action. Daly meanwhile did not reply, so when in Bradford the following month I wrote to Arthur Scargill, the N.U.M. president, offering to come and see him in Barnsley. He wrote back that he was too busy. Edward Thompson also suggested I make contact with Wiktor Moszczynski. I rang him up from Thompson's place and later met him in some pub in central London. It was then, I suppose, I first learnt about PSC.

It was Thompson finally who launched me as a travelling speaker on behalf of Solidarnosc. The very first public meeting I did, some time in February 1981, took place in the Guildhall, Newcastle under Lyme, and was organised under the auspices of the local CND by an old friend, Robert Fyson. This however was a one-off, until Thompson rang me up in late March and said that CND groups in West Yorkshire (no doubt prompted by him) were interested in hearing me speak. So it was I found myself addressing meetings on successive evenings in Hebden Bridge, Halifax and Leeds. This last I seem to remember was a flop in terms of attendance, but the other two each attracted 30-odd people.

Shortly after I got to meet further members of the PSC, among whom I remember Naomi Hyamson, Giles Hart and Steve Murray. The occasion was a modest Sunday demonstration, spon-sored by the Labour Party and various left grouplets, which marched from Hyde Park Corner to the Soviet Embassy in Notting Hill Gate under the slogan 'Hands off the Polish Workers'. It was April 12th, shortly after the Brixton riots. What I chiefly remember is that Naomi and I got into a heated argument with certain other marchers who were chanting some slogan equating Brixton with Gdansk.

I remained only loosely attached to the campaign (PSC) since I was based that summer first in North Staffordshire and then in Birmingham. However I had found my feet and now saw how I could campaign for Solidarnosc: by addressing more meetings and by writing something. At first I had an article in mind. Then in the first half of May I attended what I think was the national confer-ence of END, held at the University of Keele. It was a conversation there with Ken Coates - written to and telephoned but never met - that put the idea of the book into my head. With this new resolve I returned to Newcastle, but made only minimal progress as I sat day after day in my friend Fyson's

* For more details of what John Taylor did in Poland in 1980/81 see Section 7 of the 'Brief History of PSC'.

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study, gazing out of the window into the green and gold of early summer. Maybe it was this writer's block that drove me out on to the speaking trail; more probably I

received further invitations. At this distance of time I can no longer construct my precise itinerary. I know I spoke to CND groups in Sheffield and in Hull, both modest gatherings. I spoke in Bradford at a meeting of Labour Party and CND types organised by my friend Maggie Pearse. I spent a cou-ple of separate weeks on Tyneside, where I used to live, pulling on my contacts to get in to speak at CND meetings in Jesmond and central Newcastle, at a meeting of the Socialist Workers' Party, at both Gateshead and South Shields Trades Councils. I did a Labour Party meeting in Sunderland, and even spoke at Stanley in north west Durham.

In the Midlands, where I had also lived, I addressed the AGM of the Coventry Trades Union branch of the Workers Educational Association; and spoke at a shop floor meeting of the Massey-Ferguson tractor works (which had a sister factory at Ursus, outside Warsaw) .1 was given a spot at a meeting of the Kidderminster Trades Council. I spoke to Bristol CND. I shared an audience of 150 plus with Zdena Tomin - and someone else, now forgotten - at a major END gathering at Shepton Mallet: not one of my best performances. I was too long and over-emphatic.

At this point, mid June perhaps, I withdrew from my travels to the flat in Birmingham of another hospitable friend, Roberta McDonald, where I got down to serious writing. I had a much clearer idea now, thanks to all the meetings, of what I needed to say and how to say it. I was invited to address the regional council of ASTMS in support of a resolution to send Solidarosc a financial con-tribution. I spoke to CND people in Stourbridge. But mostly I just wrote in the cool and spacious flat while summer blazed outside.

By the end of July I had virtually finished. By the end of August my savings were running out and I started applying for teaching jobs. My last speaking engagement that summer was at a PSC meeting held in Friends' House, Euston Road on September 17, the anniversary of the Soviet inva-sion of Poland. I shared a platform with Eric Heffer M.P. I remember his speaking notes written out in old fashioned longhand. Likewise his splendid declaration in discussing Solidarnosc's socialist credentials. 'I don't care whether they are socialists or not. They are democrats and trade unionists, and that's enough for me'.

The following week I disappeared to the north of England. From October I was teaching in Macclesfield, Cheshire. In November a letter arrived from Piotr Iglikowski, PSC secretary, saying that the committee wanted me to act (in effect) as the Campaign's regional organiser. I attended a Saturday conference held at Ruskin College, Oxford, but otherwise I don't recall I did anything else that autumn.

The publication of my book in December coincided with the imposition of Martial Law and mass arrests in Poland. Such topicality helped sales: and brought me further speaking engagements. The first invitation, in January, was to Milton Keynes. The last, in July, was to address South Ribble Trades Council in Leyland, Lancashire. There were not so many in fact when I came to count up. I remember only Liverpool, New Mills, a couple of meetings in Macclesfield and a return visit to Hull. My hosts this time were the local Anarchist group. I spoke to a crowded meeting upstairs in a pub called the Black Boy.

Various bits of correspondence are extant from this period. The reference in a letter of June 15 from the I.C.I. Macclesfield branch of ASTMS to imports from Poland relates to PSC's attempts to secure a boycott of Polish goods and materials, as happened at the Massey-Ferguson plant. On an earlier trip to Teeside - the subject of another letter - I made contact with the ICI shop stewards as well as peace activists, and for the same reason.

I think I'll stop there before these memoirs run away with me. I now played in any case a more mainstream role with PSC and the Solidarity Trade Union Working Group in their campaigns

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against Martial Law. I remained an erratic presence all the same since these were my middle aged 'Wanderjahre' (years of wandering). Unable to return to Poland I disappeared to France and Spain in August 1982 and did not renew my involvement with PSC until the following year.

From April 1983 however I took up a teaching post in London and once again became a regular activist. One particular initiative from this period involving me was the publication of a 24 page PSC 'special report ' entitled ' Solidarity Underground '. The idea was Jacek Rostowski's. Wanda Koscia and I were his co-authors, the other two writing under pseudonyms. We secured a cover design from the illustrator Jan Pienkowski. I saw the publication through the press in time for sale at our demonstration to mark Solidarnosc's third birthday.

In November 1983 I flew off to Australia and did not return for over 18 months. That was the end of my involvement with PSC.

3 I calculate that I addressed about 30 meetings altogether. In seeking material for the PSC archive

I discovered some old speaking notes. They show my concern to allay doubts and suspicions widely held on the Left. These were firstly to define Solidarnosc and its goals in our naive left/right terms: was it socialist or anti-socialist? Secondly to explain its Roman Catholic manifestations. And thirdly to dissociate it from its right wing champions in the West.

My audiences, by and large, responded sympathetically to my account of the elan, idealism and self-disciplined solidarity of the Polish union. To CND listeners I had to explain the indifference of Solidarnosc members to issues of nuclear warfare, and specifically their lack of concern about NATO's Cruise missile programme. However sympathetic they were though and despite the best efforts of Edward Thompson and END, these audiences took a cool geopolitical view which subor-dinated all varieties of human rights to the overriding need to avoid destabilization which might end in nuclear conflict between East and West.

S.W.P. (Socialist Workers Party) hearers were the most appreciative of the self-acting creativity of the Polish workers, though they were also distressed at the lack of any Marxist-Leninist credo. During questions, almost always, defenders of the old regime made themselves heard. These were not just members of the Communist Party or other Stalinist fragments. Solidarnosc acted as a litmus paper which identified a whole segment of fellow travellers - or more charitably, naive apologists -within the Labour Party and the unions. At national level their influence combined with the slow-moving conservatism of these bodies to view Solidarnosc like a dangerous shop-stewards' move-ment. I met these apologists at the local level. At bottom theirs was a simple-minded nominalism which went 'We are socialists. They (the communist regimes) are socialists. We must be brothers'. It was a view underpinned by references to the defeat of Nazism and 'the achievements of socialism' and memories of fraternal visits.

These elements apart, my talks around the country were met, as I say, with a lively sympathy. But that was as far as it went, despite PSC, until after Martial Law. It was only then, too late in an important sense, that the left mobilized in support of Solidarnosc. Only then did the little red badges become fashionable.

One is tempted to theorize that many on the Left prefer symbolic gesture politics to politics which tries to influence actual situations. In support of this thesis one might compare the mass cam-paigns ten years ago against a potential nuclear holocaust to the recent silence about an actual holo-caust in Bosnia. Which is the issue for me now.

JT April 1994

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ONE UNION'S SUPPORT FOR SOLIDARNOSC

By John Spellar M.P.

(Political Officer, A.E.E.U. Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union)

llth July 1994

Dear Giles, As you know I had worked with the E.E.P.T.U. since 1969. The experience of the previous Communist regime in the old E.T.U. had always made the union particularly sensitive to the issues involved in the Cold War and the repression in East Europe and the Soviet Union. In this we had to face the opposition of the TUC bureaucracy influenced partly by the C.P. (Communist Party) and partly by the Foreign Office.

We kept up a steady pressure through resolutions and letters on the TUC often helped by the C.P.S.A. (Civil and Public Servants Association). We provided facilities and [platform] stewarding for the demonstration in Hyde Park after the military takeover.We realised that the best weapon of the Communist authorities was inertia and boredom. Our task as we saw it was to facilitate those who would keep concern alive particularly in the Labour movement.

Amongst others we worked with Marek Garztecki and through him came to PSC. We provided platforms at our Conferences and articles in Union journals. However, our most important facility was the provision of printing facilities which we hoped helped to sustain the cause.

Our main fear all along was getting entangled in emigre politics and I think we evaded that fairly successfully.

Yours sincerely, John Spellar

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SOLIDARITY IN THE WEST MIDLANDS by Jo Quigley

[Jo was the Secretary of a group affiliated to PSC- the Birmingham Polish Solidarity Committee. He was a member of the PSC committee for 82/83]

When Giles asked me to provide an account of solidarity work in the West Midlands, I thought nothing could be so easy as to chronicle accurately events that were so vivid and so politically deci-sive at the time. This in practise has proved to be far from the case, so instead of an unfolding histo-ry, the only reliable thing I can offer is a collection of memories.

hi late 1980 or perhaps early 1981 there was a group organising medical supplies for Poland based around the Polish Club at Digbeth, outside Birmingham. I was the trade union liaison officer with this group. As a trade union official for the G.M.B. (General Municipal and Boiler Makers union) I was approached by a Polish businessman called John. He had been a member of the Polish Socialist party before the second world war and was now a member of the Polish Socialist Party in Exile. He believed my skills as a Union Health and Safety Adviser would be better appreciated in Gdansk than he thought they were in Birmingham. I did not dissent, but the promised transfer he believed he could arrange never materialized - and of course after Martial Law (13/12/81) would have been impossible.

My friend, John Fisher, who also works for a trade union MSF (Manufacturing, Science & Finance Trade Union), had visited Poland in 1980/1, and was planning to return when the military clampdown took place in December 1981. Marek Garztecki and Piotr Kozlowski (who were visiting Britain for differing reasons in December 1981) found themselves condemned to live in Britain for far longer than they had planned once General Jaruzelski struck, and started touring Britain on behalf of' Solidarity'.

John made contact with them, and arranged a number of meetings in Coventry at which they spoke. Perhaps the most significant was Piotr's translated call to a mass meeting of Massey Ferguson workers to black the sending of any parts to the Ursus tractor Plant in Warsaw, where Piotr had been a shop steward. This was unanimously carried. Sharing the platform with Piotr was Jimmy Dunn, then the senior steward at Massey Ferguson. He was a committed supporter of Solidarnosc and spoke at PSC meetings in London. He now lectures for the Workers' Education Association.

Piotr appeared to drift away after a time - Marek explaining he was taking to emigre life less well than himself, though he found it difficult. Some of his resources for surviving in the United Kingdom he displayed after a meeting back at my flat, where he stayed for a little while. Late at night he was talking about Solidarnosc while the radio played pop music. As I tried to guess the name of each record on hearing the opening notes, Marek displayed his considerable knowledge of my Country's popular music by beating me every time!

Marek spoke at a number of public and trade union meetings. Not all were enthusiastic at what they heard.

The Trade Union, the GMB, were unqualified in their pleasure at what Solidarnosc was pioneer-ing in Poland, and Marek received very warm welcomes when he addressed the Shop Stewards' Council at Dunlop in Erdington (where my father had once been the senior shop steward), and when he addressed the eighty strong membership of the GMB's Regional Council in March 1982.

The Regional Committee maintained their link after Marek's visit, with a bulk order of PSC Campaign News - and later the 'Bloc'.

At the Polish Club in Digbeth one Sunday, both Piotr and Marek spoke in Polish, and while not being able to follow the argument, the tone clearly indicated some strongly dissented from what

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Piotr and Marek especially, were saying. According to Marek's subsequent analysis his and Piotr's appearance was both welcome, but a

cause of perplexity and pain for some in attendance, especially a priest with whom Marek was in open disagreement.

Many in the Club viewed opposition to the Polish regime as heralding a return to the pre-World War Two social order. For them, socialism and communism were interchangeable terms, while Marek's socialism and Piotr's independent trade unionism looked to the future rather than the re-capturing of a world that had been forever lost.

At Birmingham University, the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies treated Marek to a cool civility that did not disguise that Marek's urgent preoccupation with the problems of the real world were very far from theirs.

I was elected to the PSC National Committee at the 1982 AGM (as was John Fisher). I attended a number of PSC National Committee meetings at POSK (Polish Social and Cultural Centre) in Hammersmith, and tried to sell my quota of t-shirts. I have blurred memories of enjoying the hospitality of Wanda Koscia and Jacek Rostowski, and the beauty of Anna Lubelska.

In the mid-1980's I drifted away from a practical involvement in PSC, though Solidarnosc con-tinued to preoccupy my political thinking. Those like myself, with a Marxist background, reacted very differently to the emergence of this genuinely independent trade union. Those who wanted the Stalinist apparatus throughout Eastern Europe overthrown, saw and enthused over the democratic character of the movement. Those who felt some affinity with the Stalinist bureaucracy, expressed their hostility to Solidarnosc by dwelling upon its 'Catholic' character. Yet ironically, these same anti-clericalists have happily supported for over twenty years, a campaign of sectarian terror waged by the Catholic IRA against the Protestant majority in Northern Ireland.

Although Trotskyist groups in theory were supposed to be implacably hostile to the Stalinist regimes throughout Eastern Europe, in practice they found themselves in a dilemma whenever called upon to give support to the victims of Stalinist rule. This dilemma became even more acute when the victims fought back. For not only were the Trotskyists opposed to Stalinism, they were also enjoined to defend the 'workers' states', the so called gains of the October Revolution. As the Stalinist rulers were in every meaningful sense the guardians of those 'workers' states', any and every attack upon those rulers unavoidably put at risk the revolutionary conquests of 1917.

Thus Trotskyists found themselves obliged to qualify their support for those fighting bureaucrat-ic terror by imposing conditions upon how the victims could resist. Resistance, to merit Trotskyist support, must not disturb or threaten the statised property forms, though paradoxically the bureau-cracy's power and authority resided precisely in their control and management of state property.

Their dilemma was captured in a humorous satire that Michael Frayn once wrote for the Observer newspaper. Called 'the Perfect Strike', Frayn explored the conflict between respectable opinion's acknowledgement of a workers democratic right to withdraw his labour and respectable opinion's hostility to strikes!

The solution to this conflict was for workers to strike in their lunchtime when their affirmation of their democratic rights wouldn't disturb anyone. Trotskyist support for those who resisted the rulers of Eastern Europe had a similar character.

When Solidarnosc emerged in Poland I was a member of a Trotskyist organisation, and I experi-enced this dilemma at first hand. While the leadership of the Workers Socialist League debated its attitude towards 'Solidarnosc' individuals like Ian Macalman in Glasgow, and myself in the Midlands, joined the Polish Solidarity Campaign and busied ourselves in organising support.

The W.S.L. leadership, like other Trotskyist groups, finally decided that while it could not avoid supporting 'Solidarnosc', it did not like the Polish Solidarity Campaign. So, along with other

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Trotskyist groups, it tried to set up a rival solidarity organisation on 'correct political lines'. This was to come to nothing and the Trotskyist groups then made equally half hearted attempts to work within and take over PSC.

But while trying to establish a rival sectarian alternative to the PSC, the WSL leadership tried to drive out of PSC its members like myself, who had been working for some time with PSC. The bureaucratic device for doing this was to demand that I sign a petition calling for the establishment of a rival solidarity campaign. When I refused to do so all kinds of threats of Leninist discipline were proposed against me!

While writing this piece I discovered a copy of my response to those threats (see below). It was both pleasing and a relief to see that my defence of my membership of PSC was so robust. The let-ter I think is illuminating about the ambiguous and sectarian spirit that Trotskyists entertained towards opposition in the Stalinist regimes, as well as providing further detail of practical solidarity work that was carried on in the Midlands.

In the mid-1980's I undertook an MA in Sociology at Warwick University. Polish Solidarity loomed large in my research, and also influenced an essay I wrote on Lenin and Trade Unions. Thanks to Solidarnosc I was finally able to put to bed an unquiet spirit that had disturbed my peace since the late 1960's. Jo Quigley, July 14th 1994

The 'comrade' to whom this letter is addressed is lohn Lister who was at the time National Secretary of the Workers Socialist League.

The practise of members assuming party names was practised by a number of organisations including this one. Thus Colin Morrow is the party name of a Peter Flack of Leicester, MacVittie is Ian Macalman. My feelings about this theatre of the absurd are well expressed by my choice of party name, Amos Q Sinclair.

Birmingham 15 February 1982

Dear Comrade Thank you for your letter of 21 January. I did indeed refuse to sign your labour movement petition. For many months now I have been an active member of the Polish Solidarity Campaign. No one at either local or national level has ever questioned my membership of or work within that campaign. To expect me therefore to sign a petition calling for a rival campaign appears to me as most unrea-sonable.

In any case there is not adequate justification for forming a rival campaign. In the Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx claimed that Communists have no interests separate from the working class. By which he meant the interests of a party, or a faction, or a group, should never be counterposed to the interests, nor placed higher than the interests of the working class. Can you honestly say you had the interests of the Polish working class in mind when you initiated your ill considered rival cam-paign? Experience should have taught us all by now that splits even when principled, unavoidable and necessary, demoralise and dissipate. They should only be contemplated after strenuous and hon-est efforts at unity have been tried. Have you made such efforts?

Your petition is not only as I told your petitioner, sectarian and splittist, it must also I am afraid be described as opportunist. Surely it is remarkable that a campaign claiming to be a labour move-ment campaign should omit all mention of the programme of the campaign. Is this because the Socialist Challenge, London Labour Briefing, and the Socialist Labour Group (through their co-

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thinker Reg Race), are opposed to what Solidarnosc and the PSC are calling for? i) Blacking ii) Withdrawal of recognition from fraudulent state company unions. You claim to support these two basic demands, yet for diplomatic reasons you dropped them to

accommodate the other signatories. This is precisely the kind of behaviour that Marx so strongly condemned. You have placed tactical advantage and manoeuvre within the family of Trotskyist groups (tainted as they are to different degrees with Stalinism) above the interests and needs of both the Polish and British working classes.

Already in a very short period of time your sectarian and opportunist campaign against the P.S.C. has forced you to :

i) fail to report the key role that P.S.C. played in getting blacking adopted at Massey-Ferguson ii) re-write reports of work in Glasgow and Birmingham, so that the role of P.S.C. is obscured iii) totally suppress an article from Glasgow, showing how the IMG collaborated with the CP to

oppose blacking iv) start a malicious whispering campaign in the organisation that, without any basis whatsoever,

and without even attempting to use the easily available means of verification claim that the 'Solidarity trade union working group in the U.K' has refused to affiliate to the P.S.C. because of its reactionary politics. Predictably enough the source of this poisonous gossip is one Colin Morrow.

I would urge you to stop and carefully think where your sabotage of a unified solidarity cam-paign is leading. As Trotskyists you doubtlessly would wish to convince Polish Solidarnosc mem-bers that your Leninism has nothing in common with the official state Leninism which they have experienced in their own country as a massive system of lying and manipulation. Is it not the case that your performance to date is more likely to convince Poles that there is not much difference between Trotskyism and Stalinism?

It seems odd and discriminatory in any case to make such a fuss about my signature. Many mem-bers of the League have not been asked to sign and would refuse if requested for reasons not dissim-ilar from my own. In my own branch and area I have not been asked to sign, know no one in the branch who has.

Can the EC claim any authority for its action. No real discussion has taken place, and it now seems to me you wish to prevent discussion by polarising things in such a way that narrow group loyalty determines the group's position rather than what is the correct principled and honourable thing to do.

It is however quite wrong to say I obstructed or attempted to obstruct your petition. I arrived in the hall sat down by a friend, Austin Morgan, and almost immediately was presented with the peti-tion to sign. I refused to sign a splittist sectarian and opportunist petition. Morgan was then invited to sign and to help him make up his mind he asked me to repeat my reasons for refusing to sign. This I did, whereupon he too declined. Your petitioner then passed on to the row in front where he met no obstruction from me.

As for information about P.S.C. activities, may I suggest that for national activities you contact the P.S.C. in London. As for my work in the Midlands, I have been engaged in:

i) organising a three day tour for two Solidarnosc members from Warsaw. It included : Public meetings in Birmingham, Coventry and Telford Address to Birmingham Trades Council Press Conference in Birmingham Address to shop stewards' committee at Dunlop, Birmingham Address to Labour Club at Birmingham Polytechnic, Perry Ban-March through Birmingham City Centre

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Address to Polish Club.

ii) I have also spoken at L.P. meetings at Madeley Branch, Wrekin CLP GMC, Shifnal, Bridgnorth, Telford, Birmingham University Labour Club

iii) Secretary of Birmingham Polish Solidarity Committee iv) sale of PSC literature v) helped form aid groups for Poland in Wolverhampton and Bridgnorth and represent trade union liaison on Polish community's aid committee in Birmingham.

It is very good that you are seeking information about what PSC is doing. I must say however that it would have been better for you to have sought this knowledge before rather than after you decided to form a rival campaign. In your pursuit of knowledge you might find it fruitful to ask i) what does the Polish Trade Union working group in the U.K. think of the P.S.C? ii)what does it think of the idea of forming rival committees and campaigns? iii) those who are so critical of my efforts could provide details of what they have done or are doing on behalf of Solidarity. I don't at all disagree with the point you make about submitting material to the I.E. However you seem to be arguing rather like the Law Lords against Harriet Harman in trying to claim that my and MacVittie's resolution should be treated as an internal document. It had already been seen and dis-cussed by the full NC, some 50 people.

On Wolverhampton I will only say that it is regrettable that you should so effortlessly hold the EC up to contempt. In the Midlands it is well known what took place, and an honest admission of that would have earned you more respect than the artless cover up job you attempt. The quality of the EC's so called investigation is exposed by the simple fact that the one remaining member of the Wolverhampton branch was not even approached for her opinion! What would we say of a police investigation into a murder case when it was discovered that they hadn't even bothered to interview the one surviving witness?

p.s. As the allegations against me have been printed in internal minutes, I request that my reply be published internally for the members to judge for themselves.

Yours, Amos Q Sinclair

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Appendix 1 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF POLISH SOLIDARITY CAMPAIGN 1980-90

How did PSC change over the years, in terms of what it stood for? Any changes in the aims and objectives may (or may not) be revealing in this respect.

September 1980 A three point 'declaration of principle' was agreed upon at one of the first meetings of PSC

(September 1980) and was formally adopted (with the small change from 'We campaign ' to 'To campaign') at the 1981 AGM (May 1981) as the 'Aims and Objectives ' of PSC, as below:

To campaign to : 1) Support and defend the struggle for all working class and democratic rights in Poland. 2) Gain recognition in Britain for Polish working class and democratic organisations: and for the

withdrawal of support and recognition from state employer-run puppet organisations. 3) Encourage and assist all forms of contact between working class and democratic organisations

in Britain and Poland.

1982 AGM To campaign to: 1) Support and defend the struggle of the Polish people for democratic rights and particularly the

struggle of Polish workers for trade union rights. 2) Retain British Trade Union recognition and support of the Independent Autonomous Trade

Union 'Solidarnosc' and to uphold all free trade union activities in Poland. 3) Terminate official recognition and sever all organisational, political and social links between

British trade unions and political parties, and the ruling political parties and state controlled puppet trade unions in all Warsaw pact countries.

4) Encourage all forms of contact and exchange between trade union and democratic organisa tions in Britain and Poland.

1986 AGM As for 1982, except that 4/ was changed and 51 was added: 4) Encourage all forms of contact, solidarity and exchange between organisations and groups in

Poland independent from the government and working for democratic rights, and trade union and democratic movements in Britain and organisations working in Britain on behalf of independent democratic movements in the Warsaw Pact countries.

5) Assist independent organisations and/or groups in Poland and other Eastern European states in their long term struggle for freedom and independence and to campaign in Britain to achieve this aim.

1989 AGM Revised to read as follows: 1) To campaign for the retention of British recognition and support of the Independent Self-gov

erning Trade Union 'Solidarnosc' and its associate organizations and to encourage and facilitate all forms of contact and cooperation with independent, democratic organizations in Poland.

This recognition should also be extended to all independent trade unions that are formed in the Eastern Bloc.

2) To encourage British political parties to foster links with Eastern bloc political representatives enjoying popular support rather than with party functionaries.

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3) To assist independent Polish organisations, groups and ventures in their struggle for human rights, democracy, freedom and independence and particularly the struggle of Polish workers for trade union rights.

4) To publicise in Britain the activities of Polish independent democratic organizations and groups and to support, expand and develop amongst the British people a knowledge, understanding and awareness of Polish independent political and cultural life.

5) Assist independent organisations and/or groups in Poland and other Eastern European states in their long term struggle for freedom and independence and to campaign in Britain to achieve this aim.

1990 AGM Updated to read: 1) To assist the activities of Polish democratic organizations .groups and ventures whose goals

are freedom, justice and democracy. 2) To publicize in Britain, the activities of Polish independent democratic organizations, groups

and ventures, and to develop amongst British people a knowledge and understanding of Polish social, political and cultural life.

3) To campaign in Britain in support of independent trade unions, political and ecological orga nizations in East European states in their long-term struggle for democracy, freedom and indepen dence.

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Appendix 2

PSC COMMITTEE CHAR 80/1

T198C

-90 82/3 83/4 84/5 85/6 86/7 87/8 88/9 89/90 _

a Robin Blick S *

a Karen Blick C *r a Steve Murray * * * a Julia Jensen T e Piotr Iglikowski * S * *r e Wiktor Moszczynski c * C * * *

a Giles Hart c T aT * S C C C aC a John Taylor c * * e Anna Lubelska * * * e Ed Switalski * * * * * a Naomi Hyamson S * * *

a Charles Raby Tr a JoJJuigley

*

a Tony Richardson * * a John Fisher

*

a Judy Barker *r b Ryszard Stepan * C e Henry Wizgier * a Walter Kendall C *r f Maris Ozols S *r a Peter Ludbrook *T

*f

a Marion Pitman T T T T T S e Jacek Rostowski * d Jurek Jerozalski * a Nick Butler *r a Sue Chinnick * c * * *

e Richard Janecki * d Marek Ciborowski * e Zofia Malakowska * * d Artur Swiergiel * e Wanda Koscia * d Tesa Ujazdowska *r a Terry Liddle *r e Artur Oborski Sr a Michael Lewis *r e Bernadette Tendyra *r c Ewa Cwirko-Godvcka * * * b Barbara Lubienska * S S * *

e Adam Robinski * * * e Wiktor August * * * e Wojtek Dmochowski

* * * *

c Taduesz Warsza * * *r

e Joanna Switalska * *

d Barbara Wicher-Kucharska *

e Anna Zaranko *r d Marek Garztecki * C Cr d Agnieszka Huston * * a Chas Greetham * c Zofia Hart T d Stan Prochniak

*

d Sylwester Grabowski *

a John Spellar(M.P.)(Labour) * a Cllr. Colin live) T

80/81 81/2 82/3 83/4 84/5 85/6 86/7 87/8 88/9 89/90

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WHO SERVED ON THE PSC COMMITTEE? 1980-1990 (notes by Giles Hart)

The attached chart shows the names of all those elected to the PSC Committee, year by year, in the first ten years of its existence i.e from the strikes in Gdansk (1980) to the 'Round Table Elections' and the first Solidarnosc government. The chart is mostly self explanatory.

(1) the column on the left lists all those elected or serving on the committee at some point during the period 1980-1990 (the name is preceded by a 'nationality background category' a,b,c,d,e,or f, explained in the'Brief Analysis ' below).

(2) The other columns show the years (e.g 81/82 is from the May 81 AGM to the March 82 AGM), and the markings in the columns show the person is a committee member in the period of

the column. C= Chairman or Chairwoman, S= Secretary, T= Treasurer, other committee posts are marked by *.* c= co-opted onto the committee to fill a vacancy created by resignation. Tr or Sr or Cr or *r

shows the person elected resigned during the year (from Treasurer, Secretary etc. as applicable). aT or aC show the committee member became the acting Treasurer or Acting Chairman, as applicable.

(3) Thus by reading across one could follow a particular person's committee membership

through year by year: by reading down for a particular year one could see the committee composi

tion in that year. The chart is complete for all those elected at the AGM during the period: those listed for the

year 80/81 (i e August 80 to May 81) were either elected at a very early meeting, or co-opted later (with the approval of committee members and other members present) - there was not an actual AGM till May 1981 Possibly there were two or three more resignations from the committee during 80 to 90 than I have indicated - sometimes if a committee member did not attend and there was nobody to replace them whether they resigned or not became purely academic.

A Brief Analysis , Tr Altogether there were 53 committee members in the period 80/90, filling up 118 post/years. If we ignore the fact that many committee members did not serve for the full year for which they were elected we arrive at an average of approx. 2 years committee membership per person which reflects the high turnover which was sometimes demoralising to those who stayed on - how demor-alising depended on how much use the committee member was. The 'burn-out' could be due to dif-ferences of policy, exhaustion, failure to realize the degree of commitment involved when standing for the post increasing non-PSC commitments, or despair that our efforts could make no difference to the situation in the seemingly eternal Soviet block. What were the nationality backgrounds of the committee members? From my knowledge of the committee members I have made the following breakdown which is almost certainly very accurate.

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Men Women Total

a: British, born of British parents. 16 6 22

b: Poles settling in Britain as a result of the 2nd World War 1 1 2

c: Poles settling in Britain in the 1970s. 1 2 3

d: Poles (Solidarnosc members) staying on

because of Martial Law - plus Poles coming to Britain after Martial Law 6 3 9

e: British born, of one or more Polish 10 6 16 parents

f: British born, of Latvian parents 1 1

TOTAL COMMITTEE MEMBERS 80/90 35______ 18 ______ 53

The following points may put the chart in context. (1) Some people who were not committee members in particular years contributed a lot more to

the PSC than others who were committee members. Some committee members did little other than turn up to committee meetings, and some turned up to few or in one or two cases none at all (before resigning).In no way therefore can this chart be a measure of how much people did for PSC, how valuable they were etc.

(2) An immense amount of work was done on PSC News, mostly by committee members dou bling up on the Editorial board. The composition of the editorial board was as follows :

PSC News l(March 81) - R. Blick, P. Iglikowski, J. Kellet, W. Moszczynski, S. Murray, E. Switalski, Liz Willis PSC News 2-no credits PSC News 3 (Sept 81) - P. Iglikowski, W.

Moszczynski, S. Murray, J. Taylor, N. Hyamson, David Rees~, Chris Cieszkowski~ Anna Tomlinson.~

PSC News 4 ( Oct 81) - R. Blick, P. Iglikowski, A. Lubelska, W. Moszczynski, S. Murray PSC News 5- no credits PSC News 6 ( March 82) - P. Iglikowski, A. Lubelska, W. Moszczynski,S. Murray PSC News 7 ( May /June 82) - S. Murray, P. Iglikowski, J. Quigley, C. Raby, E. Switalski PSC News 8, 9, 10 (Dec82/Jan83) As for no.7 PSC News 11 ( July/August 83) - E. Switalski ,N. Hyamson, M. Ozols PSC News 12, 13 (Spring 84) - no credits- but probably as for 11 with J. Taylor, Kasia Budd ~ ~ indicates someone who did not at any stage become a committee member. (3) The PSC auditors were usually Mr. S. Wasik and Mr. T. Prokopowicz (4) This chart does not record the committee members for years subsequent to 1990 when, the

PSC objectives having been achieved, our main activities were campaigning about the Baltic states, and campaigning against British visas for Polish visitors. Inevitably the total PSC level of activity lessened, but the main roles of Karen Blick (Convenor throughout), Agnieszka Huston, and Barbara Lubienska during this period should be recorded.

To return to the second chart I should add that PSC never thought in terms of quotas by sex or background! Certainly it was true that the more varied the background of the committee member-ship, the more varied the communities and political groupings we could campaign in effectively, and the more we were a broad based organisation which anyone supporting our basic aims could feel comfortable in, and take an active part in. Obviously we wanted Poles, or those of Polish descent, for their linguistic skills, contacts with Poland, and knowledge of Poland, and we wanted British people for their knowledge and contacts in Britain and so that PSC would not be, and would not be seen to be, an exile organisation. (The disadvantage of this of course would be, with all respect to exile communities, that (to simplify) politicians respond to numbers of voters, and an organisation seen as representing a comparatively small exile community would be perceived as representing the concerns of less people than an organisation representing the broad British commu-nity, as well as the exile community).

With some people, e.g. Wiktor Moszczynski we had the best of both worlds - Polish knowledge, contacts etc. etc, and as Wiktor was a Labour activist, the knowledge and contacts in the British politi-cal scene. Basically, when it came to electing PSC committee members, those present at the AGM were probably most concerned, not with categories at all, but with what the candidates could offer PSC in terms of skills, energy, time, knowledge, commitment: how valuable the candidate would be to PSC. In those years when the committee posts were uncontested, we were pleased to get people to fill them! As far as political background is concerned, PSC did start out from the Left. But almost imme-diately people like P. Iglikowski and myself (I tend to vote for the Liberals, though I am not a member of any political party) got involved, and the only 'political' criteria for PSC was that members support-ed our aims, and therefore would be in favour of democracy, trades union rights etc. We did not want racists or anti-semites, and most of us did not want those on the far left who supported those who founded the totalitarianism we were fighting against: we also did not want to be taken over by some other group. For what it is worth, I estimate that of our 22 British (of British parentage) committee members, 15 were from the Labour party or Labour movement background, or 'on the Left ', one a Conservative Councillor, one an uncommitted Liberal, the other five either unclassifiable - or I do not know. I can't give an estimated breakdown for other categories (B to E),and for those recently from Poland (category D) to have defined their attitudes in terms of British politics would be a difficult and possibly misleading or meaningless task.

From the '84 AGM to '90 AGM none of the 15 referred to above (as being of the 'Left' ) were occupying the key positions of Chairman, Secretary or Treasurer. Some people might think this sig-nificant, a sign of PSC changing its character etc. Others might think it just happened to be a matter of who was prepared to carry out certain work! In a way both opinions are right - every time any active member drops out, or a new one joins there will be some kind of change - every time an organisation does more or less of a particular kind of activity it is changing. And as PSC expanded (up to 1982) and then contracted, in terms of total membership, and responded to the changing situ-ation in Poland and elsewhere, in terms of its campaigning activities clearly it was changing in some way all the time. Even if one has the same people doing the same things year after year, then that is a change - the people are either more experienced, or more exhausted or 'cosy', more set in their ways, more 'ossified '.

So, while there might be some significance say in Ryszard Stepan being voted in as Chairman in '84 (the first Chairman who was born in Poland) as opposed to Walter Kendall (founder member, the 83/84 PSC Chairman, as such probably the choice of the majority of the 83/84 committee) it would be too simple, or downright incorrect to see this as a matter of British Labour movement ver-sus Polish exile community. Ryszard was also a Labour supporter (and as such unpopular with some quarters in the Polish exile community), and after his year as Chairman we did not have another

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Chairman (or candidate for Chairman) from the exile community (as distinct from Solidarnosc member Marek Garztecki in 88/89,89/90). All the same the choice of Ryszard Stepan led to the con-flicts detailed elsewhere concerning our decision-making processes, and our areas of campaigning, the resignation of Walter Kendall (the last of the active 'Brits' from the August 1980 founding meeting, until Karen Blick returned) and the contest between Naomi Hyamson and myself for the position of Chair at the '85 AGM. (Ryszard Stepan was unable to carry on, except doing essential work connected with the production of the circulars etc., in the background).

Possibly the election of Ryszard in '84, and myself in '85,86,87 had no significance other than the members wanted to elect those who they felt would work very hard indeed. Possibly some members felt that Ryszard and myself, not being clearly linked with the Labour party, would be seen to be more independent of it when campaigning - and possibly the whole 'Letter to Neil Kinnock' row seemed to confirm this, although other issues were involved. But I think that the consequences of Ryszard's and my election were rather different. To some of us in 83/4,84/5 it appeared that PSC was doing less and less - activities such as the August demo were being conceded to Solidarity With Solidarity (who were also holding monthly demos in front of the Polish embassy ). Active committee members had dropped out, or were less active. In place of the activities conceded to SWS we had alternative actions (e.g. exhibitions, seminars) some of which never materialized. The Dec. '83 'Lech Walesa Nobel Prize Rally' and the Dec. '84 'Solidarnosc Teach-In' were events organized by very few committee members, at the last moment almost, to ensure we were doing something worthwhile and visible!

Thus both Ryszard and I felt that the time for the PSC Chairman to be a sort of moderator or ref-eree at the committee meetings had gone. This was a valuable function, and quite appropriate when the PSC Committee was full of people willing to do lots of things, with often conflicting ideas of what these things should be. The PSC Chairman had to be seen to be impartial then, trying not to take sides, something like the Speaker in the House of Commons: trying to ensure that the business of the agenda was got through, but (unlike the Speaker) occasionally offering advice and experi-ence. (Also unlike the Speaker the Chairman could be highly active in carrying out the decisions of the Committee and doing other things for PSC: Wiktor Moszczynski's diary shows how active he was in 82/83 while being an 'impartial/Speaker/Moderator' type Chairman, at committee meet-ings).But by 84/85, and even more by 85/6 the conflicting elements in the PSC Committee had gone, and the committee was not full of people wanting to do things - some felt that less should be done, others were not willing to do much, others did not carry out what they had undertaken - and others, we didn't know what they thought as they rarely turned up for the Committee. To Ryszard, and myself the time to be neutral or impartial had gone: we could be neutral or impartial perhaps between different alternatives of actions, but we could NOT be neutral or impartial between being active, or doing nothing: between missing deadlines or meeting them: between turning up at meet-ings, or not turning up, between carrying out the tasks we had been mandated to do at the AGM or letting the PSC grind to a halt. So perhaps we became the 'leader' type Chairman; proposing courses of action; making it clear that the actions mandated by the AGM (some of course which we had proposed at the AGM) must be carried out, even if we had to do them ourselves; making clear our views on many matters. But this did not preclude the democratic process - all actions would only take place if the committee voted for them. The point was that once the committee could see that the event was possible, that one or two people were determined to carry them out if allowed to, they would be more likely to vote for these actions, where possibly in other circumstances they might not have proposed them, or not have voted for them if they felt there was nobody with the time and energy to ensure they were implemented. (Incidentally I don't think this 'leadership' approach was very different from the way that Robin Blick chaired the meetings in the year 80/81 while building up the PSC from its first meetings to a highly active group with many active members by the time of

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the first AGM -1 don't know if Robin would agree on this). Perhaps I seem to have strayed from the subject of analyzing the committee composition! But

my point is that what I have said above, about changes in the committee - the significant changes in my opinion for the years 84/5 onwards, are not changes one could deduce from the committee chart, the analysis of backgrounds national or political. In other words, although the data is hopefully accurate and interesting, beware of hasty conclusions - there are lots of other factors which are not contained in the data that might be more significant.

Having said that, one can observe certain things - that as the years went by the proportion of members of British parentage steadily dropped on the committee, and the proportion of Poles, or people of Polish parentage steadily rose. Interestingly enough these members were not mostly from the two expected sources of active supporters - the Solidarity Working Group, and the Polish Students Association of Great Britain. Some were individuals not associated with either group who either joined PSC in the later years (due to the efforts of Barbara Lubienska perhaps, or due to only just becoming aware of us) or were individuals who had been in PSC for many years and either due to changed circumstances, increased confidence, or increasing involvement eventually arrived on the committee. Why the two obvious 'source ' organisations did not provide as we hoped for is a question I won't attempt to answer here.

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Appendix 3 CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS IN POLAND

by Robin Blick

875 (circa) Foundation of Vistulan dynasty. First Christian conversions. 900 (circa) Magyars arrive. 966 Birth of Polish state under Mieszko I. 969 Bishopric of Krakow founded. 992-1025 Boleslaw I founds Kingdom of Poland. 1225 Teutonic Knights arrive on Baltic. 1241 Mongol incursions begin. 1320 Wladyslav I crowned King of Poland. 1331 Victory over Teutonic Knights. 1333-70 Casimir III (The Great) extends Kingdom (L'vov). Founds Krakow University. 1370-82 Louis I introduces religious toleration for Greek Orthodoxy and Jews. 1382-1572 Rein of Jagielo dynasty. Rise of elected monarchy. Birth of Sejm parliament. Union

with Lithuania. Copernicus founds modern astronomy. 1447-92 Casimir IV extends borders from Baltic to Black Seas. 1475 Ottoman incursions begin. 1486 Russian attacks begin (Ivan III). 1517 Germans (Albrecht of Hohenzollern) ally with Russians against Lithuania. 1524-29 Suleyman I attacks Hungary, Vienna. 1548 Sigismund II allies with Emperor Charles V against Turks and Russians. 1575 Compact Of Warsaw establishes equality of all religions. 1572-1697 Reign of Vasa dynasty. 1618-1648 Thirty Years War. Poland attacked by Swedes, Turks, Russians. Counter-Reformation

gathers pace. Rise of Jesuits. 1648-68 Rein of Casimir II. War with Ukrainian Cossacks, Sweden, Brandenburg, together with

plague, reduces population by half. End of religious toleration. 1697-1733 'Saxon' era begins with reign of Augustus II. He allies with Russia (Peter The Great)

against Sweden in 'Northern War'. 1733-63 Augustus III elected with Russian support. Frederick II (The Great) of Prussia expands

kingdom in war with Austria (Silesia). 1756-63 Seven Years' War. Russia uses northern Poland as base against Prussia. 1762-96 Catherine the Great. 1772 Russia combines with Prussia and Austria in First Partition. Poland loses 28% of territo-

ry- 1775. Liberal reforms, first central government established. Peasant emancipation. Economy

revives. Education re-organised. 1789 French Revolution begins. 1791 Constitution adopted by Sejm. First in Europe. 1792 Catherine invades Poland to destroy reforms. 1793 Second Partition. Russia seizes Ruthenia. 1794 Poles rise against Prussia and Russia. 1795 Rising defeated, ends in Third Partition. Austria takes Krakow, Prussians take Warsaw.

Poland removed from map.

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1798 Secret patriotic-democratic society founded in Warsaw, 'Society of Polish Republicans'.

1807 Napoleon I defeats Austrians and Prussians, creates Duchy of Warsaw under King of Saxony, Frederick Augustus. Peasants emancipated from serfdom.

1813 Napoleon defeated at 'Battle of Nations' (Leipzig). Poland returns to Russian rule under Alexander I. 1814-15 Congress of Vienna re-partitions Poland between

Russia, Prussia and Austria. 1830 July Revolution in France. Rising in Poland against Russian rule (Nicholas I). 1831 Rising defeated. Leaders emigrate to France (Chopin). 1832. Constitution of 1791 abolished, replaced by Organic Statute incorporating Poland into

Russia. 1846. Insurrection in Krakow against Austrian rule, defeated. 1848 Year of Revolutions in Europe. Support for Polish independence grows in West. 1853-56 Crimean War. Russia defeated. 1861 Alexander II of Russia abolishes serfdom. 1863 New insurrection in Warsaw against Russia, defeated. 1864 International Workingmen's Association founded (Marx). Campaigns for Polish inde

pendence. 1864 on. Russification of Poland intensifies. 1869 Warsaw University Russified. 1869-85 All Polish schools Russified. 1881 Alexander II assassinated, succeeded by ultra-nationalist son Alexander III. 1885 on Poland begins to industrialise. Beginnings of Polish socialism. 1886 Polish League,

later National League, founded. 1892 Polish Socialist Party founded (Pilsudski). 1905 Revolution throughout Russian Empire. Nicholas II concedes reforms. 1906 Elections to Duma. Repression in Prussian Poland. 1907 Manhood suffrage in Hapsburg Poland. Polish Peasant Party founded. 1914-18 First World War. Central Powers and Russia each promote Polish independence move-

ments against the other. 1917. Revolution in Russia. Nicholas II overthrown in March. Bolsheviks seize power in

November, promise Polish independence. 1918 Central powers lose war. Polish independence proclaimed in Lublin, Nov. 7. Republic

proclaimed Nov. 11. Pilsudski Head of State. 1919 Paderew ski Prime Minister. 1920 Trotsky (War Minister) concludes secret pact with German Army (Von Seeckt) to re

partition Poland. Spring, Poland invades Soviet Ukraine. August, Red Army defeated at 'Miracle on Vistula' outside Warsaw.

1921 Treaty of Riga establishes Polish-Russian border. Poland forms alliance with France, Romania.

1921 on German Army trains secretly in Russia. 1926 Pilsudski seizes power in coup, with some left support. 1926-30 Authoritarian-nationalist regime headed by Pilsudski. 1929 Poland hit by world slump. 1930 Pilsudski loses elections to centre-left. 1931 Economic crisis worsens. One third unemployed. 1932. Poland concludes non-aggression pact with USSR.

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1933 Hitler comes to power in Germany. 1934 Poland concludes non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany. 1935 New, more authoritarian constitution adopted. Pilsusdki dies.

1935 Opposition boycotts elections. 1936 Strike wave, workers occupy factories. 1937 Pro-government 'Camp of National Unity' formed. 1938 Elections boycotted again. 1938 Czech crisis, Nazis occupy Sudetenland. 1938 Stalin disbands Polish Communist Party, executes most of its leaders. 1939 Stalin overtures to Hitler. Nazis respond. Hitler begins campaign over Danzig and

Polish corridor. Britain pledges support to Poland. Nazi-Soviet Pact agrees new parti tion of Poland. Hitler invades Poland. Second World War begins. Stalin invades Poland from East. Poland surrenders (Oct. 5). Britain (Lord Halifax) accepts Soviet annexa tions. Polish Government-In-Exile established in West under General Sikorski, former democratic opponent of Pilsudski. Resistance begins in Nazi- and Stalin-occupied Poland.

1939-41 Mass deportations of Poles to Eastern Siberia (approx 2 million). 1940 Nazis turn West, occupy Norway, Denmark, Low Countries, France. Exile Government

moves to London. 1940 Nazis begin use of Polish slave labour. I.G. Farben plant built at Auschwitz. NKVD

murders 15,000 Polish officers at Katyn Forest and camps in Russia. 1941 Nazis invade USSR (June). Japan attacks Pearl Harbour (Dec.). 1942 'Final Solution' begins in Polish Death Camps. Stalin revives Polish Communist Party,

now called Polish Workers' Party. Gomulka emerges. 1943 Germans defeated at Stalingrad. Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Tide turns for Allies.

Landings in Sicily, then Italy. Italy surrenders, then joins Allies. Stalin breaks links with Polish Exile Government over Katyn. Sikorski killed in plane crash. Churchill, Roosevelt accept Stalin's annexation of East Poland at Tehran Conference. Stalinist puppet 'National Home Council' launched under Gomulka, Bierut, Dec.

1944 Normandy landings (June). Stalinist puppet 'Lublin Committee' founded in July. Red Army enters Poland. Warsaw Uprising betrayed by Stalin. 200,000 die in fighting, 700,000 deported by Nazis. Puppet 'Lublin' 'Provisional Government' formed in Moscow.

1945 Red Army enters Warsaw (Jan.). At Yalta Conference (Feb.), Stalin, Churchill, Roosevelt, recognise Lublin Government. Poland's new borders agreed. War in Europe ends (May) and in East (Sept). Potsdam Conference confirms division of Europe. Poland allotted to Soviet sphere. Free elections promised by Stalin. Repression of oppo sition begins. Arrests, bans, executions. Land reform, industry nationalised. 'Democratic Bloc' formed by Stalinists, Socialist Party and Democratic Party.

1947 Elections (Jan.). Bloc gets less than 20% of votes, but awarded 383 seats out of 444. Puppet government strengthens grip. Stalin forms 'Communist Information Bureau' ('Cominform') to control East European parties and regimes.

1948 Stalinists impose merger with Socialist Party to form 'Polish United Workers' Party'. Tito breaks from Stalin, expelled from Cominform. Stalin launches purge of East European Communist Parties. Gomulka sacked, then jailed (1951). Agriculture collectivised.

1949-53 Purges, arrests, trials, executions throughout East Europe. Stalin launches drive against Jews.

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1952 New Stalinist Constitution adopted. Bierut becomes Premier. 1953 Stalin dies (March). Cardinal Wyszyinski interned for defending Church independence

(Sept.). Workers' rising in East Germany put down by Red Army. Revolt in Vorkuta Slave Camp (Summer). Thaw' begins in USSR.

1954 Cyrankiewicz (renegade socialist) replaces Bierat as Premier.

1956 Khrushchev denounces Stalin in 'Secret Speech'. Bierut dies (March), replaced as Party chief by Ochab. Gomulka rehabilitated. Strikes, demonstrations, riots in Poznan, for higher wages, free elections, removal of Russians. Tanks called in, 70 killed. Unrest spreads to rest of Poland. Gomulka returns to Centra! Committee. Khrushchev arrives in Warsaw (Oct.), threatens invasion. Gomulka elected First Party Secretary. Agrees Red Army to stay. Revolution in Hungary, put down by Red Army (Nov.).

1957 Gomulka stabilises regime, winds up workers' councils. 1958 Political trials begin in Poland, 'Kultura' circle. Anti-semitic 'Partisan' faction on rise

(Gen. Moczar). 'Crooked Circle Club' formed.

1962 Crooked Circle Club closed down. More trials. 1963 Censorship tightened. 1964 Fall of Khrushchev, Brezhnev begins partial re-Stalinisation.

1966 More arrests and trials (Kuron). 1967 Six Day War triggers anti-Semitic campaign. Power bid by 'Partisans'. 1968 Student demonstrations in Warsaw put down by riot police. Czech 'Prague Spring'

crushed by Warsaw Pact invasion. Gomulka leadership re-Stalieises. 1970 Strikes on Baltic (Dec.). Gomulka calls in riot police. Workers massacred under direc-

tion of Gen. Jarulselski (Szczecin). Gomulka sacked, replaced by Gierek. 1970-73 Gierek reflates economy on western loans. 1974 Western recession triggers economic crisis in Poland. 1976 Price rises (60%) provoke strikes (June). Violently repressed. But increases reversed.

KOR formed (Kuron etc.) to aid victims. 1978 Cardinal Wojtyla elected Pope John Paul II. 1979 Pope visits Poland. 1980 Strikes begin on Baltic, strikers demand free trade unions.

Strikes spread to rest of Poland. Birth of Solidarnosc. Gdansk Agreement, August 31. Gierek sacked, replaced by Kania. Regime recognises Soiidamosc (Oct.) Kremlin begins campaign against Soiidamosc, threatens invasion. Solidarnosc membership reaches 13 million (10 million industrial, 3 rural).

1981 Kania sacked, replaced by Jaruzelski, who stages coup, Dec. 13. Martial Law pro claimed, Soiidamosc leaders and activists arrested.

1982 Solidarnosc outlawed (Oct.) Economic crisis worsens, more strikes. 1983 Martial Law lifted (July).

1988 Regime begins talks with Soiidamosc. 1989 Soiidamosc legalised (April). Election pact to share seats, Soiidamosc wins all contest

ed seats in June (65%). Jaruzelski elected President by Sejm and Senate (July). Chooses Walesa aide Mazowiecki as Prime Minister, who then forms coalition of Soiidamosc and former pro-regime United Peasant Party and Democratic Party.

1989 Revolutions in East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Romania, fall of old guard in Hungary. Bulgaria. Collapse of Kremlin empire in East Europe.

1990 Polish United Workers' Party disbands, divides into sundry factions and new parties. Industrial output falls by 12%. Presidential elections (Nov. Dec.). Walesa defeats

128

Mazowiecki. accelerates drive to market economy. 1991 Bielecki appointed Prime Minister (Jan.), followed by Olszewski (Dec.). Inflation now

at 50%. Failed coup in Moscow (Aug.) leads to break up of USSR. Poland accepted as associated member of EC. General election (Oct.), only 43% turn out. 120 parties con test, 20 elected to Sejm. Democratic Union 51 seats, Democratic Left Alliance 49 (both Solidarnosc) win between them 12% of vote. Confederation for an Independent Poland 51 seats, Christian National Union 49, Centre Alliance (Catholic) 44.

1992 Olszewski cabinet falls amidst rumours of coup (June). Replaced by Hanna Suchocka, forms centre-right coalition. Living conditions continue to stagnate or worsen. Strike wave in summer as privatisation continues.

1993-4 Ecomomic revival, signs of political stability.

129

Appendix 4

BIBLIOGRAPHY by Robin Blick and Marek Garztecki

HISTORIES OF POLAND

Davies, N. 'God's Playground: A History of Poland' Vol.1 'The Origins to 1795' Vol.2 '1795 to the Present', Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1981. Zamoyski, A. 'The Polish Way. A Thousand-Year History of the Poles and their Culture', John Murray Publications, London, 1987.

MODERN POLAND Albright, M. 'Poland: The Role of the Press in Political Change', The Washington

Papers, N.Y.,1983. Bethell, N. 'Gomulka', Penguin, London, 1969. Coutouvidis, J.& Reynolds, J. 'Poland 1939-1947', Leicester University Press,

1986. Garlinski, J. 'Poland in the Second World War', Macmillan, 1987. Kot, S. (Ed.) 'Conversations with the Kremlin and Dispatches from Russia', OUP,

1963. Leslie, R.F. 'The History of Poland since 1863', Cambridge 1983. Michnik, A. 'Dissent in Poland 1967-77' (Intro), Association of Polish Students and

Graduates in Exile, 1979. Piesakowski, T. 'The Fate of Poles in the USSR 1939-1989', Gryf Publications

Ltd., London, 1990. Raina, P. 'Independent Social Movements in Poland', London School of

Economics, London, 1981. Raina, P. 'Political Opposition in Poland 1954-1977', Poets and Painters Press,

1978. Westoby, A. & Blick, R. 'Early Soviet Designs on Poland' in 'Survey', Autumn

1982, Part Two. Zamoyski, A. 'The Polish Way', John Murray, London, 1987.

SOLID ARNOSC Ascherson, N. 'The Polish August', Penguin Books, London, 1981. Ascherson, N. (introd. by) 'The Book of Lech Walesa', Penguin, Harmondsworth,

1982. Barker, C. & Weber, K. 'Solidarnosc: From Gdansk to Military Repression',

'International Socialism' No. 15, London, 1982. Barker, C. 'Festival of the Oppressed: Solidarity, Reform & Revolution in Poland

1980-81', Bookmarks, London, 1986. Berlinguer, E. 'After Poland' Spokesman, Nottingham, 1982. Craig, M. 'The Crystal Spirit: Lech Walesa and his Poland', Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1886. Brolewicz, W. 'My Brother Lech Walesa', Robson Books, London, 1983. Dede, S. 'The Counter-Revolution within the Counter-Revolution: about the events

of the Years 1980-1983', 8 Nentori Tirana, 1983.

130

Dobbs, M. Karol, K. Trevisan, D. 'Poland - Solidarity - Walesa', McGraw-Hill, NY, 1981.

Garton-Ash, T. 'The Polish Revolution', Johnathan Cape, London, 1983. Karpiuski, J. 'Countdown - The Polish Upheavals', Karz-Cohl, NY, 1982. Kuron, J. & Modzeleuski, K. 'Solidarnosc: The Missing Link - The Classic Open

Letter to the Party', Bookmarks, London, 1982. Lebedz, L. (Foreword) 'Pictures from a Strike' (editor anon), Puls

Publications, London, 1981. Lebedz, L. (Ed.) 'Poland Under Jaruzelski', Charles Scribener's Sons, NY, 1983. Macshane, D. 'Solidarity: Poland's Independent Trade Union', Spokesman,

1981. Mur, J. 'A Prisoner of Martial Law', Harcourt-Brace Jovoniowich, New York, 1984.

Myant, M. 'Poland: A Crisis for Socialism', Lawrence and Wishart, London, 1982. Persky, S. 'At the Lenin Shipyard', New Star Books, Vancouver, 1981. Persky, S. (Ed.) The Solidarity Source Book', New Star Books, Vancouver, 1982. Potel, J. 'The Summer Before the Frost: Solidarity in Poland', Pluto, 1982. Robinson, W. (Ed.) 'August 1980 - The Strikes in Poland', Radio Free Europe

Research, Munich, 1980. Rouane, K. 'The Polish Challenge', BBC Books, London, 1982. Sanford, G. 'Polish Communism in Crisis', Croom Helm, London, 1983. Sebastian, T. 'Nice Promise', Chatto & Windus, London, 1985. Sikorska, G. 'Jerzy Popieluszko - A Martyr for Truth', Collins, London, 1985. Simon, H. 'Poland 1980-82: Class Struggle and the Crisis of Capital', Black & Red,

Detroit, 1985. Spasowski, R. 'The Liberation of One' Harcourt Brace, NY, 1983. Starr, R. (Ed.) 'Transition to Democracy in Poland', St. Martins Press, NY, 1993. Sterski, S. 'Class Struggle in Classless Poland', South End Press, Boston, 1982. Taylor, J. 'Five Months With Solidarity', Wildwood House, London, 1981. Touraine, A. 'Solidarity-Poland 1980-81', Cambridge Univ. Press, 1983. Weschler, L. 'In the Season of its Passion', Simon & Schuster, NY, 1981. de Weydenthal, J.et al. 'The Polish Drama 1980-1982', Lexington Books,

Lexington & Toronto, 1983. Yardley, M. 'Poland A Tragedy', Dorset Publishing, Sherborne, 1982. Zalewska, M., Gawinski, J. (Kosia, W., Rostowski, J.) & Taylor, J. 'Solidarity Underground', PSC, 1983.

GENERAL

Blick, R. Book Review of Roberts, G. 'Unholy Alliance: Stalin's Pact With Hitler', in 'Revolutionary History', Vol.3, No.4, Aut. 1991. Fejto, F. 'A History of People's

Democracies: Eastern Europe Since Stalin', Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1974. Fowkes, B. 'The Rise and Fall of Communism in Eastern

Europe', Macmillan, 1993.

Garton-Ash, T. 'The Uses of Adversity', Granta Books, Cambridge, 1983. Garton-Ash, T. 'We The People: The Revolution of 89', Granta Books, 1990.

131

Harman, C. 'Class struggles in E. Europe 1945-83', Bookmarks, London, 1988. Schopflin, G. 'Politics in Eastern Europe', Blackwell, 1993. Westoby, A. 'Communism Since World War IF, Harvester Press, 1981. Westoby, A. 'The Evolution of Communism', Polity Press, 1989. Zinner, P. (Ed.) 'National Communism and Popular Revolt in Eastern Europe: A Selection of

Documents on Events in Poland and Hungary Feb.-Nov. 1956', Columbia University Press, 1956.

FICTION

Gee, Sue 'The Spring Will Be Ours', Century Press, 1988. (a novel which includes an account of PSC). Michener, J. 'Poland', Corgi

Books, 1984.

PERIODICALS

'PSC NEWS' Available in PSC Archives, POSK Library, 234-246 King St. London W.6. 'Voice of Solidarity' (also known as 'Solidarnosc News', & 'The Bloc'),

published by Solidarnosc Information Office, London.

132

Index

Compiled by Robin Blick

Aberdeen, PSC in 25 Aetherius Society 71 Afghanistan 8,42,48,101 Allaun, F., MP 19,95 Alliance of the Democratic Left 56 Amnesty International 19,33,60,95 Anglo-Soviet Friendship Society 30 Annual General Meeting of PSC, 1982 26,27,28,29,37,52,69, 87,96,100,101,113,117 APEX (Association of Professional Executive Staff) 10 Ascherson, N. 62,64 Ashdown, P., MP 36,98 Asssociation of Polish

Students and Graduates (UK) 33,60,64,65,66,71,76,77,80,81,88,124 ASTMS (Association of Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staff) 64,109,112

AEEU (Amalgamated Angineering AUEW (Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers) 96,111

August, W. 44,119 Australia 110 Austria 7 Avebury, Lord E. 19,36,95 Averyanov, B. 14

Baltic Council 67 Baltic States 6,37,38,49,58,105,106 Baltic Strikes (1980) 107 Baltic Strikes (1970) 60,101 Baluka, E. 9,63,94 Barker, J. 31,33,119 Bartoszewski, Prof. 71 BBC 20,21,33,40,41,42,54, 57,61,62,70,77,87,90,95 Belgium 8,40 Benn,T., MP 18 Berlin 76 Berlin Wall 9 Bethell, Lord N. 10,36,63,96 Betrand Russell Peace Foundation 107 Bielorussia (Belorus) 66 Biernat, M. 32 BIFU (Banking, Insurance and Finance Union) 22

133

Birmingham, PSC in 25,112,114,116 Birmingham Polytechnic, PSC at. 115 Birmingham University, PSC at 113,116 Blackpool, PSC in 81,84 Blick, K. l,6,13,14,20,21,25,27,28,31,32,44,48, 49,51,52,53,54,55,57,59,70,87, 96,99,100, 101,119,121,123,123,124 Blick, M. 10 Blick.R. 9,13,14,15,16,21,22,25, 27,28,31,32,36,51,52,53,54, 55,58,61,67,70,76,77,92, 94,96,99,100,101,119,121,123,124 Bobczynski, Captain 8 Borisov, V. 9 Bosnia 31,73,110 Bossowski, Mr. 43 Boszko, A. 33 Botsford, B. 20 Bournemouth, PSC at 54,96 Bradford, PSC in 25,109 Braine, Sir B., MP 10,19,36,95 Brandt, W. 14,.42,97 Brewer, C. 52,119 Brezhnev, L. 8 Brighton, PSC at 25,95,96,97 Brighton TUC, 1980 14,20,37 Bristol, PSC in 25,83,109 Bristol University Polish Society 80 British National League for the Independence of Poland 7

British Solidarity With Poland 34,65 British-Soviet Friendship Society 97 Brus, W. 107 Brussels 92,96,97,98,103 Budapest 64 Budd, K. 32,47,51,69,104-105,121 Budd, M. 104 Bujak, Z. 94 Bukovsky, V. 30,57,96 Bulgarian Secret Police 25 Burke, E. 7 Butler, N. 119 Bydgoszcz 67

Cadogan, P. 36 Cambridge, PSC in 25 Campaign for Labour Party Democracy 63

134

Campaign For Nuclear Disarmament (CND) 15,36,37,53,107,108,109,110 Campaign to Defend Polish Students 65 Canada 54 Callaghan, J.,MP 19 Cardiff, PSC in 77 Cardiff Labour Party 25 Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) 27,52,64 Chappie, F. 10,94 Chartists 7 Chicago 76 Chile 56 Chile Solidarity Campaign 14,100 China 47,76 Chinnick, S. 34,51,85,119 Chojecki, M. 19,67,94 Ciborowski, M. 33,119 Cieszkowski, C. 121 Ciolkosz, L. 61 Coates, K. 107 Committee to Defend Trade Unions 63 Communist Party of Great Britain 13,110,111 Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) 10 Confederation for an Independent Poland (KPN) 40 Conference of Solidarnosc Support Organisations (CSSO) 41

Conservative Party (UK) 9,21,36,39,52,56,58,61,63,77,90,95,96,103 Cooley, M. 64,95 Coventry, PSC in 25,109,112,115 CPSA (Civil and Public Servants Association) 10,20,23,111 Cremer, W. 7 Croatia 31 Crystal Palace, Pope visits 41 Cwirko-Godycka, E. 20,33,51,82,87,119 Czechoslovakia, 37,44,48 1968 invasion of 19,39 Czekierska, I. 80

' Daily Mirror' 11,20,42,50,98 Dalai Lama 58 Daly, L. 107 Dalewski, R. 69 Davies, N. 30,76 Deng Xiaoping 76 Dembinski, M. 81 Democratic Union 56 Denmark, PSC in 26 Derer, V. 14,63

135

Detente 8 Digbeth, PSC at 112 Dmochowski, J 51 Dmochowski, W. 34,44,83,84,93,119 Dubbs, A., MP 35,96 Duffy, T. 14,96 Dunn, I 112 Dzwigaj, D. 51,82,83

Baling, PSC and, in 48,66,71,80,95,97 Baling Council 46 East European Solidarity Campaign 14,63,94,96 East-West Peace People 36 Eccles, J. 65,66 EEPTU (Electrical, Electronic and

Plumbing Trades Union) 10,15,20,23,44,69,111 Edinburgh, PSC in 6,46 'Entryism' 26,70,99 Erdington, PSC at 112 European Economic Community

(Now European Union) 73 European Liason Group 39 European Nuclear Disarmament (END) 15,36,95,97,107,108,109,110

Falklands War (1982) 62 Federation of Poles of Great Britain 34,48 Feinburg, V. 9 Feickart, D. 69 Fighting Solidarity 40,45 Fisher, J. 112,113,119 Flack, P. 114 Focus Solidarity Campaign 61 Foot,M.,MP 19,97 Fotyga, A. 15,95 France 54,63,110 Frayn, M. 113 'Free Trade Unions' 63 Friends of Poland (19th Cent.) 7 Friends of Poland (1982) 24,33,34,66,90

Gardiner, C. 84,85 Garton-Ash, T. 62,76,97 Garztecki, M. 23,25,26,32,33,34,42,44,45,46,47,48,51, 53,54,55,56,58,69,70,72,87,98,111, 112,113,119,123 Gdansk 12,13,14,19,44,51,67,80,95,96, 107,108,112,120

Gdansk Accords (Aug. 1980) 41,89

136

Gee, S. 16 Germany 7,10,59,63,73 Germany, East 36 Ghengis Khan 27,52 Gierek, E. 65 Gill, K. 64 Glasgow, PSC in 25,28,53,113,115 Glasgow University 76 Glass, N. 62 Glemp, Cardinal 65 GMBU (General Municipal and Boiler Makers' Union) 15,95,112 Gomulka, Professor 57,95 Gorbachev, M. 36,47,56,103 Gorzynska-Hart, D. 20,33,90,91 Gott, R. 30' Grabowski, S. 119 Grantham, R. 10 Grass, G. 107 Greater London Council (GLC) 18,19,42,54,95 Greater London Tribune Group 13,25 Green CND 36 Greenway, H., MP 22,96 Greetham, C. 119 Grzywaczewski, Mr. 80 'Guardian', The 30,62,97

Halifax, PSC at 108 Hands off Polish Workers Campaign 18,95,108 Harman, H., MP 116 Hart, G. 1,6,44,46,50,51,53,55,56,58,59,60,61,

72,74,75,83,85,86,87,88,89,90,98,100, 101,104,

108,111,112,119,120,123

Hart, Z. 42,45,46,51,75,83,87,90,91,104,119 Hart, J..MP 19 Healy, G. 13,61 Hebden Bridge, PSC at 108 Heffer, E., MP 10,18,19,20,21,35,52,95,104,109 Helsinki Agreement (1975) 8 Herczynski, H 60 Herczynski, J. 60 Hong Kong 58 Hughes, S., MP 10,36 Hull, PSC at 109 Hungary 37,44,48 1956 invasion of 19,39

137

Huston, A. 34,44,49,51,119,121 Hyamson, N. 19,27,32,42,46,51,52,56,57,

58,61,70,96,108,119,121,123 Hyde Park PSC rally, Dec. 1981 21,22,25

Iglikowski, P. 15,26,31,33,61,65,69,76,77,80,

86,90,109,119,121 'Independent', The 62 Information Centre for Polish Affairs 62 International Marxist Group (IMG) 10,26,28,29,101,115 International Workingmen's Association (First International) 7

IRA 113 Iraq 66 Ireland 64,113 Irving, D. 18,25,56,61 Islington Socialist Centre 94 ITV 21 ITN 62,95 Iwaszkiewicz, Mr. 24

Jagodzinski, Dr. 1 Janecki, R. 119 Jaraczewski, K. 66 Jarksi, T. 21,22,45,55,62,67,70,

73,81,90,97,99,101,103 Jaruzelski, Gen. W. 11,42,62,64,79,96,103,112 Jasinski, J. 95 Jenkins, C. 64 Jenkins, M. 9,13,25 Jenkins, T. 94 Jensen, J. 15,32,33,52,53,76,92,94,119,121 Jerozalski, J. 33,119 Jesuits 65 Johnson, R., MP 10 Jones, L. 97

Kaldor,M. 15,95 Katyn Massacre 30,58,63,67,88 Kavan, J. 9,15,36,39,48,95 Kendall, W. 13,14,33,38,51,95,97,119 Kennard, P. 42 Kerensky, A. 27 KGB 30,61 Kidderminster, PSC at 109 King, G. 71 Kinnock, N., MP 10,14,18,19,26,35,37,38,

47,52,57,58,63,67,95,98,123

138

Kiszczak (Polish Security Minister) 54 Know How Fund 73 Koestler, A. 19 Kolakowski, L. 76,94,107 Kolankiewicz, G. 60 Komornicka-Rice, A. 78,79 Kondratowicz, G. 77,78 KOR (Committee for Defence of Workers) 13,65,67,94,95,97,101 Korczynski, W. 19,95 Koscia, K. 66 Koscia, W. 21,32,51,66,69,99,102,103,104,110,113,119 Kowalik, T. 107 Kowalska, A. 19,23,95 Kozlowski, P 26,54,96,112 Kolakowski, L 76 Krakow 68 Krasso, G. 39,48 Kubsik, J. 65,81 Kulczycki, Mr. 62 'Kultura' 62 Kuron, J. 94,97 Kuzio, T. 66

Labedz, L. 60,76,94 'Labour Focus on Eastern Europe' 63 Labour Party (UK) 9,10,13,15,16,18,19,20,21,26,

35,37,38,39,40,42,51,52,56,58,61, 63,66,77,86,94,95,96,97,101, 104,109,110,122

Lasalle, F. 60 Latala, L. 25 Latvia 39,99,105 Lawrence, J. 57 LBC Radio 97 Leeds, PSC in 25,65,66,69,94,96,108 Leicester, PSC in 25 Lelewel, J. 6, Lenin, V. 26,100,114 Leninists, Leninism 27,63,76,99,110,114,115 Lenska, R. 98 Leyland, PSC at 109 Lewis, M. 119 Liberal Party (UK) 16,21,34,35,36,39,95,96,98,122 Liddle,T. 14,63,75,119 'Lifeline To Poland' 24 Lipski, J. 71,72 Lis, B. 19,46,95

139

Lister, J. 114 Lithuania 66 Liverpool, PSC in 25,109 Livingstone, K., MP 42,54,63 Lodynski, A. 96 London Labour Briefing 63,114 London School of Economics 49,60,65,66,96,97 London Trades Council 7 London University 60,65 Losinska, K. 10,20 Lubelska, A. 20,101,113,119,121 Lubienska, B. 34,44,49,51,55,87,89,119,121,124 Ludbrook, P. 119 Lukes, S. 107 Lyons, R. 108

Macalman, I. 113,114 Macauley, T. 7 Macclesfield, PSC in 25,109 Macdonald, O. 63 Macdonald, R. 109 Malakowska, Z. 44,75,82,87,104,119 Malikauls, A. 66 Manchester, PSC in 25,26,28,29,66,69,78,101 Maresch, Mrs. 1

Markov, G. 25 Martial Law (Dec. 13, 1981) 6,8,10,18,20,21,23,24,25,27,30,

31,33,35,36,37,39,40,41,45,46, 52,60,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,69, 70,72,74,77,81,83,84,87,90,92, 94,99,101,103,105,110,112

Marx,K. 7,8,60,114,121 Marxism 113 Matraszek, M 71 Mazowiecki, Prime Minister 55 Maxwell, R. 11,42,56 Medical Aid For Poland 24,33,34,65 Medvedev, Z. 15,36,95 Meir-Jedrzejowicz, W. 60 Michnik, A. 57,94 Michorowski, Mr. 43 Milewski, J. 23,46,47,54,96,97 'Militant' 26 Milton Keynes, PSC at 109 Moczulski, L. 40,72,98 Morawiecki, K. 40 Morgan, A. 115

140

'Morning Star' 40,57,64 Morrow, C. 115

Moss, E. 51,52,53,54,55,56,57,58,59 Moszczynski, W. 9,13,14,15,19,21,22,24,25,27,

30,44,46,48,51,52,53,54,55,56,57,58, 61,65,70,94-98,103,104,105,107, 108,119,121,122,123

Mullins, C.,MP 20

Murray, S. 15,31,32,52,53,61,69,70,

76,92,94,108,119,121

NALGO (National and Local Government Officers' Association) 10,16,95

National Union of Students (UK) 65,66 NATO 64 Nazi-Soviet Pact 30,110 Newcastle, PSC at 109 Newcastle-Under-Lyme, PSC at 108 New Communist Party (UK) 64 New Mills, PSC at 109 'New Worker' 64 Nikitin, V. 64 Nixon, R. 8 Nottingham, PSC in 25,29,66 November Uprising (1831) 6 Novocherkask 64 Novotny, P. 45 NUJ (National Union of Journalists) 23 NUM (National Union of Mineworkers) 10,37,108

Oborski, A. 119 Oborski, F. 34 Oborski, M. 34 'Observer', The 62,113 Odger, G. 7,8 Onyszkiewicz, J. 19,46,47,48,95,106 Ostaszewski, A. 60 Ostoja-Ostaszewski, Dr. A. 65 Owen, Dr. D., MP 65,97 Oxford, PSC at 109 Oxford University Polish Society 71 Ozols, N. 31,32,39,66,105 Ozols, M. 66,69,99,105,106,119,121

Page, C. 97 Pallis, C. 75,76 Pallis, J. 75 Paris 76

141

Parliamentary Human Rights Group 19,95 Patyna, J. 15,95 Pearse, M. 109 Peel, R., MP 7 Pelikan, J. 9 'Perspektywy' 40,41 Pick, H. " 30,62,97 Pienkowski, J. 32,110 Piesakowski, Dr. 55 Pilarska, J. 98 Pitman, M. 34,44,51,80,119 Plaid Cymru 25 Poland passim Polish Air Force Club 47,51,97 Polish Craftsman and Workers Organisation (UK) 78 'Polish Daily' 42,43,45,46,54,79,88,105 Polish Educational Society 60 Polish Embassy (London) 22,23,24,25,30,40,44,46,

48,54,55,57,67,83,85,94,96,97,98,101 Polish Government-in-Exile 34,35,45,49,51,54,55,56,61,71 Polish Library 1 Polish Red Cross 64 Polish Refugee Rights Group (1982) 31,33 Polish Socialist Party 48 Polish Socialist Party in Exile 9,13,18,34,48,71,78 Polish Solidarity Campaign, PSC passim Polish Students Book Appeal 65 'Polish Weekly' 88 Polish YMCA 80 Polonia Aid Foundation Trust 1 Polonski, Prof. 60,66 Poloczek, A. 82,91,92 Pope John-Paul II 41,54,60,71,96 Popieluszko, Fr. J 37,65 POSK (Polish Social and Cultural Centre) 1,34,40,46,48,49,70,71,74,80,96,98,101,11; Pospieszalski, A. 62 Poznan (1956) 98 Prague 76 Prague Spring (1968) 9 Prokopowicz, T. 34,48,121 Prochniak, S. 119 Pronszyn, R. 66 Prussia 7 'PSC News' 15,16,26,29,31,32,52,53,65,68.69,

71,80,86,87,89,91,95,96,99,100,101, 102,112,121

142

Quigley, J. 99,112,113,114,115,116,119,121

Raby, C. 33,119,121 Race, R., MP 115 Radice, G., MP 10,58 Radio Free Europe 40,61,62,67 Radom Strikes (1976) 60,64 Reagan, President R. 20,27,64,77,101 Redaway, P. 75

Reid, J. 57,64,67,95 Reuters 62 Richardson, T. 100,119 Rising (Polish) of 1863 7,8 Robinski, A. 1,33,48,51,65,80,81,82,119 Rodgers, W.,MP 35

Roman Catholic Church 20,41,64,65,81,86,88,111,113 Romania 89

Rostowski,J. 21,23,32,48,51,60,97,110,113,119 Round Table Talks and Agreement, 1989 6,44,45,46,103,120 Ruskin College, PSC at 95,109 Russell, Lord J. 7, Russia 6,7,8.8,66,67,73 Russian (Bolshevik) Revolution 113 Rynkiewicz, Mr. 34,96

Sabat, President 55 Sapper, A. 64 Scargill, A. 10,35,37,42,108 Schapiro, L. 76 Schopflin, G. 60,66 Scotland, PSC in 29,53 Sebastian, T. 62 Sekunda, N. 65,66 Sheffield, PSC in 25 Shepton Mallet, PSC at 109 Shivas, P. 42

Shore, P.,MP 10,21,35,38,42,95,96,104 Siberia 30,39 Sikorski, R. 42,48 Skalski, J. 65 Smolar, A. 62 Smolar, G. 62,101 SMOT (Soviet Free Trade Union) 9,64 Social Democratic Party (UK) 21,35,36,39 Socialist (Second) International 13 'Socialist Challenge' 114 Socialist Labour Group 114 Socialist Organiser (UK) 26,28,53,69

143

Socialist Workers Party (UK) 14,52,53,82,109,110 Sokolnicki, Mr. 71 Solidarity (UK Libertarian group) 9,13,14,51,74,75,76 Solidarity Information Office (Brussels) 96 Solidarity Information Office (UK) 32,33,42,44,54,56,87,90,91,96 Solidarity Educational Trust 49 Solidarity With Solidarity (SWS) 22,23,25,32,33,35,44,45,52, 54,55,56,57,70,81,82,84,85, 87,90,96,97,99,101,103,104 Solidarity Working Group (UK) 23,26,32,33,41,53,65,69,72, 78,90,91,96,97,103,106,109,115,124 Soiidamosc passim Solidarnosc Weekly' 66 Solzhenitsyn, A. 107 Southampton, PSC in 25 South Africa 56 South Wales, PSC in 25 South Shields, PSC at 109 Soviet Embassy (London) 24,49,63,95 Spain 110 Spellar, J..MP 23,111,119 Stalinism, Stalinists 58,61,64,69,77,101,110,113,114,115 Stanley, PSC at 109 Stannard, H. 63 Steel, D., MP 88 Steel, J. 97 Stepan, K. 65 Stepan, R. 24,34,37,38,42,46,49,51,79,80,

86,119,122,124 Sunderland, PSC at 109 Swiergiel, A. 33,119 Switalska, J 119 Switalski, E. 1,15,21,31,32,33,60-73,

90,119,121 Szczyt' 65

Taczalski, A. 51,57,58,80 Taylor,J. 15,19,28,32,36,51,61, 95,97,107,108,109,110,111,119,121 Teheran Conference (1944) 83 Tendrya, D. 66,119 TGW (Transport and General Workers' Union) 108 Thatcher, M., MP 20,63,64,71,101 Thompson, D. 76 Thompson, E. 13,15,36,76,94,95,98,107,108,110 Tibet 58 Ticktin, H. 76

144

'Time Out' 85 'Times', The 62 Todd, R. 108 Tomaszewski, W. (see Dmochowski, W) 44 Tomin, Z. 39,98,109 Tomlinson, A. 65,66 Trade Union Appeal Fund (of PSC) 19,39,40,94 Trade Union Congress (TUC) 7,10,14,15,29,30,36,37,40,

46,47,51,54,55,64,76,77,81,94,95, 96,111

Trade Unions (UK) 9,10,13,15,21,36,40,41,55, 56,61,77,91,94,96,101,108,112,117

Tribune' 94 Tribune Group (of Labour MPs) 20 Trotsky, L. 26,58 Trotskyists, Trotskyism 13,24,25,26,27,28,37,52,53,54,

58,61,63,64,69,70,75,76,77, 82,97,99,100, 101,102,106,113,114

Tyminski, S. 73 Tyne and Wear, PSC in 25

Ukraine 64,66 Ujazdowska, T. 33,51,119 Urban, J. 45,46,79,90 Ursus Factory 109 Ursus Strikes (1976) 60,64 USA 20,36,54,58 USSR 8,13,14,18,25,26,27,30,37,38,49, 50,52,53,56,58,62,63,64,74,76,81,86, 103,105,106,111 Versailles Treaty (1919) 8 Vietnam Solidarity Campaign 14,51 'Voice of Solidarity', later, The Bloc' 23,32,34,44,69,112 'Volya' 63,75

Walentynowicz, A. 19,71,74,95,97 Walesa, L. 24,30,36,42,45,46,47,48,

57,59,60,71,72,73,75,76,80, 85,87,96,97,103,108,123

Walsh, M. 15 Warsaw 54,62,67,68,94,107,109 Warsaw Pact 67,117 Warsaw Rising (1944) 60,107 Warwick University 114 Warsza, T. 40,45,51,56,57,119 WasikS. 9,13,14,15,34,48,61,78

145

Weetch, K., MP 18,95 Weller, K. 14,76 Welsh TUC 25 Wembley Stadium, Pope at 41 Westoby, A. 9,13,14,21,51,52,61,74,75,76,92, West Midlands, PSC in 112 Whitehead, P., MP 10,21,35,57,95,96 Whitehouse, R. 66 Wicher-Kucharska, B. 119 Williams, S., MP 10,35,96,97 Willis, L. 13,14,51,74,75,76,121 Wizgier, H. 119 Wojcik, M. 96,108 Wolverhampton 116 World War One 8 World War Two 8,12,18,64,72,113 Workers' Educational Association 107,109,112 Workers Revolutionary Party (UK) 61 Workers' Socialist League (UK) 100,113,114,115,116 Wyles, Prof. 66 Wyre Forrest, PSC in 25,29,34

Yalta Conference (1945) 8,37,38,58,71,84 Young, Sir G., MP 48 Yugoslavia 48,58

Zambia, PSC in 26 Zamyatin, L. 61 Zaranko, A 119 ZOMO (Polish Security Police) 62,67

146