Remembering and celebrating Anna Walentynowicz on the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Polish Solidarity Movement

Remembering Anna and Solidarność

 Anna Walentynowicz

Today is the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Polish Solidarity movement in Gdansk and sharing some videos and links. The strike at the Gdańsk Shipyard in 1980 led to the Solidarity labor union forming and in June 1989, a free Poland. Lech Walesa had an important role in its founding, but the firing of Anna Walentynowicz, a welder and crane operator, was the spark that led to the strike, and she played an important role and became a life long trade union activist. Below is a recent video from the Polish Foreign Ministry on Anna's life.

The following video was made in 1980 during the last week of the strike inside the shipyard and reporter Julian Manyon interviewed Anna. She is described as a "simple 51 year old woman who works as a welder in the shipyard became a kind of saint to the striking workers. a reminder of their grievances a symbol of their courage. Everyday she walked to pay her respects at a memorial for the 27 shipyard workers killed by the police when the government crushed the first strike in 1970. Since then Anna has fought a lonely battle for workers rights that climaxed on August 7 when she was sacked."

This courageous woman, together with Lech Walesa, and many other courageous Poles liberated their country and brought about a new birth of freedom.

Anna Walentynowicz and Lech Walesa in 1980