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City of Solidarity - Pulling teeth from Soviet Bear!
Many associate Solidarity and the Solidarity movement with events like the fall of the Berlin Wall, or end of Polish communism near the start of the 1990’s. These spectacular events, however, were achieved after decades of strife, murder, and shadowy threats with real consequences.
Our tour is designed to show you Solidarity’s struggle and its successes. Although the movement eventually spread across the whole of Poland, it had humble beginnings at Gdansk’s Shipyards, then known as the"‘Lenin Shipyard" From the "Solidarity Square", you can look in on the shipyard, still active to this day. Bright green cranes swing busily back and forth beyond the shipyard gate, which is adorned with a number of plaques and small carvings, honoring those workers who first stood up to the Soviet Bear. The square itself is home to the "Three Crosses" monument, which was a major source of contention during the early days of worker agitation. While the men and women of the shipyard wished to erect this monument to pay tribute to those who lost their lives in a series of bloody strikes in 1970, the politically powerful were all too aware of what this marker might inspire. Despite the reluctance of those elite, the Three Crosses monument was eventually built, near to the shipyard’s main entrance where the workers would see it daily. Flanking the three crosses is a wall, thoughtfully adorned with relief statues and a variety of writings, all carved in a blocky font, which is seemingly the only font allowed by whichever committee was in charge of public monuments during the era of communist influence in Poland.
Outside of the Solidarity Square, you’ll hear more about how the Solidarity movement spread beyond the Shipyard Gates, to cities and towns both foreign and domestic. A sure stop is the Green Gate, located at the tail end of the Royal Route, where Solidarity’s charismatic leader Lech Walesa has his offices and keeps his 1983 Nobel Peace Prize. You’ll also gain access to Gdansk’s Solidarity Museum, which promotes the causes the movement advocated over 20 years ago. In fact, nearly every stone and sidewalk in Gdansk has some story to tell about this movement’s famed march against tyranny.
However, the greatest monument to Solidarity might not be found in Gdansk at all and isn’t part of our tour. Really, it’s the continued echoes and new revolutions inspired by Gdansk’s Shipyard workers. From the "Tulip" Revolution in Kyrgyzstan to rock concerts held by exiled Belarussian musicians, it’s the sense of community felt by all those willing to make a stand that serves as Solidarity’s true legacy, because those ideals are sure to outlast even the steel ships built on those same backs of Gdansk’s working class.
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