Sunday Mass

On our only Sunday in Gdansk we decided to go to Mass in St Bridget’s church. St Bridget’s is architecturally unspectacular, re-built in red brick in 1973 to a 14th century plan. Nonetheless it is thronged with tourists. On the left of the nave is a large chapel dedicated to Solidarity, whose leader Lech Walesa found shelter in the church under martial law.

The shrine is adorned with distinctive red and white solidarity flags and we could not help but be moved by the central sculpted monument to the shipyard workers who died in the police brutality of 1970. The first in a series of strikes by the shipyard workers, the workers demanded higher pay to combat the crippling levels of inflation that gripped the country. This unprecedented public protest caused a knee jerk reaction from the government and police force. Over 200 workers died in the violence and on either side of the chapel there are small crosses are dedicated to each of the fatal casualties of the 1970's strikes.

Looking around the aging population of the church after mass we reckon most of them will remember the shipyard strikes of 1970. The older generation completely fill the cavernous church interior, a few young families scattered amongst them. Many of the congregation may remember Lech Walesa a frequent visitor to the church whose identity is connected so intimatley to his own.

The 1970 shipyard strikes sent shockwaves throughout Poland and still register painfully in the national consciousness. As recently as last year the city commissioned an impressive mural covering a fifty meter stretch of wall by Iwona Zajac which, like the chapel, is a lasting monument to those who lost their lives.

Although shocked by the loss of life in the 1970's strikes, the workers were undeterred. Led by Lech Walesa, they staged a second series of strikes in 1980 which received the attention of the worlds media. The strikes were supported by the Catholic church whose bishop performed a huge open air mass for those who had lost their lives a decade earlier.

As food prices doubled and 24 factories closed in 1980 in the relatively affluent Baltic region, the workers set out a list of 21 political and economic demands. This manifesto included the right to strike, the release of political prisoners and the abolition of censorship. The government, although anxious not to show signs of panic, was forced to concede to many of the workers demands in the Gdansk Agreement signed on the 31st of August 1981. The first trade union behind the iron curtain, named Solidarity, was formed as a result. Led by Lech Walesa, Solidarity was phenomenally successful, attracting over 10 million members in its first eighteen months.

In 1981 martial law was imposed in Poland as a direct result of the activities of Solidarity, who the Polish and Russian governments saw as undermining communism, not only in Poland but throughout the whole of central and eastern Europe. The country's borders were sealed, airports were closed, telephone lines were disconnected and a curfew was imposed between 10pm and 6am. In addition to this television and radio broadcasts were suspended and all public services and most factories were placed under military control. Although many Poles actively resisted martial law Solidarity was driven underground, and almost 4 thousand activists were arrested and imprisoned. During this time St Bridget’s became a welcome sanctuary for Waesla who avoided arrest by hiding there many times in 1980, before finally being arrested and detained for almost a year. Walesa was eventually released, won a Nobel peace prize in 1983 and became president of the third republic of Poland in 1989.