A Few Words From A Polish Solidarity Leader General Jaruzelski has announced that those internees who desist from activities “contrary to the law” will be released. And so freedom is within the reach o f one’s hand. A few strokes o f the pen on the loyalty declaration will suffice....... Friends and relatives are asking, “So what’s stopping you from making these few inconsequential gestures?” It is very easy, indeed, to exchange the barred window, with its clear outline of a barbed wire fence behind it, for “ freedom.” The steel gates of Bialoleka will open up before you, and instead of the prison yards you will see the streets of your hometown, filled with strolling army patrols and rolling tanks. You will see people being asked for identification cards, cars being stopped to have their trunks inspected, the security agent, with his keen eye, fishing out of the crowds individuals suspected of “ violating the state of war legislation.” You will hear World War II terms that until now you know only from history books: “ roundup,” “Volksllste"—words cleansed of the dignifying patina of time and pulsing with new menace. You will hear about new arrests, about people sought by the police or in hiding, about Draconian sentences. And if you are capable of making self-interested decisions, then the first reason for not signing is: it isn’t worth it. Here, no one can put you in “ provisional detention” ; here you need not fear anything. It is paradoxical, I know, but if one morning you are awakened by banging on the door you are not going to be afraid of the uniformed guests; it is only your good-humored jailer handing out the morning coffee. Here, you do not panic at the sight of the cynic with his darting eyes—a stool pigeon is not a threat. Bialoleka is a moral luxury and an oasis of dignity. It is also a conspicuous symbol of your dissent and your importance. Since you are an internee, the authorities take you seriously. They will sometimes try to scare you. A friend of mine, a factory worker from Warsaw, was promised fifteen years in jail; another was threatened with trial for espionage; a third was interrogated in Russian; a fourth was marched out of his cell and told that he would be going to the depths of Russia (when he was really being taken for an X ray). But all this is bearable. I actually believe that it is easier to cope with than the morally and politically complicated situation on the other side of the wire fence. (“ Perhaps it is easier to be in prison than to go free,” a good friend wrote to me. “Outside, the waters have rushed forth and turned to foam, and an opaque scum is floating on the top.” ) The primate of Poland has condemned the practice of coercing people to sign the loyalty declarations. The pope has openly called this violation of human conscience a crime. One cannot but agree with this definition. All condemnation must be directed at those who extort these written declarations—those who employ this cruel means of degrading human dignity. A young woman, the wife of a Solidarity activist, was imprisoned after being dragged away from her sick infant who, she was told, would be placed in an orphanage. She signed the declaration. A friend of mine was taken away from his mother, who lives alone and is dying of cancer, and was told that “ not a soul will even make a cup of tea for your little mother.” He signed the declaration. There is no point in listing any more cases of the cruelty of some people, the helplessness of others—the tragic dilemmas and the dastardly blackmail. Everyone is familiar with the various reactions of people who are subjected to these pressures. The primate of Poland left open the question of whether to sign, especially for teachers. In his opinion, for them to maintain their dignity and to be able to continue to teach are both important. The choice is always up to the individual—to the voice of his or her conscience and reason: no one can condemn anyone else’s choice. Ostracism would play into the hands of the people in power, since this is precisely what they want—to break society’s resistance and the solidarity of the people by creating divisions. To tolerate and understand, however, is not Clinton St. Quarterly— Spring, 1987 31
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