In the Dutch TV series "Maarten & Philip op het spoor", historian Maarten van Rossem and journalist Philip Freriks meet former president Lech Walesa in Gdansk. In the Dutch weekly VARAgids Iwona Gusc from History department places their conversation in context with an article on Walesa legacy and the ideals of Solidarnosc-movement in modern-day Poland.
In the article Solidariteitskwestie Gusc examines a striking contrast. Abroad, Walesa remains the instantly recognisable symbol of a united Poland that freed itself from communism. In Poland itself, his legacy is far more sensitive. Security files that have come to light play a key role here. According to many historians, they prove that Walesa collaborated with the secret services in the 1970s. Walesa denies this, and there is also ample evidence that the services fabricated a great deal of incriminating material against him.
Either way, in today's Poland Walesa is no longer an unambiguous symbol. Polarisation does not spare even historical icons. "More than 35 years after democracy was restored, Poland has still not found a shared story with which it can collectively celebrate that transformation," says Gusc. For the outside world, Walesa remains the face of that transformation. It is no coincidence that Van Rossem and Freriks begin their visit to Poland with a conversation with the country's first post-communist president.
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Read the full article in VARAgids.
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