 matcrazy1's Gdansk Travelogues | | | |
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| Page Views: 967 Last Visit to Gdansk: August, 2005 | Personal reflection 1 by matcrazy1 - last update: Dec 2, 2005 |
| POLISH GROCERY IN LATE 1970' AND 1980' (A CRAP) |
Crap then My visit to Gdansk in 2005 have provoked deep reflection about both the past and the future, both mine and of the nation, about German-Polish relationship then and now. Let me share some my thoughts.
When I entered the exhibition "Roads to Freedom" in Gdansk shipyard and when I was looking at a reconstruction of a grocery store and a toilet/restroom from late 1970' or 1980' I easily figured out what had been the basic inconvenience for an average person living under rules of the Soviet communism. For me, as a teen that time, it wasn't lack of freedom or any persecutions against only few dissidents, I had never knew personally but it was that what we, pupils at school, called using a bad Polish noun SYF, or more exactly "communist syf." This strongly dissaproving word means a crap or a pigsty or more politely mess. We simply got furious being forced to look everyday at that "syf" and to live in that "syf."
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| VINEGAR AND MUSTARD AND NOTHING MORE! |
Crap now Although Poland and even more Gdansk has been fast growing and changing since the communism collapse in 1989, there is still a lot of that "crap" easily seen outside the touristy old town. You may see bumpy roads, huge holes in sidewalks and generally a lot of mess. But it changes for better quite fast. However, unfortunatelly, there are many typical for communist era, very ugly, rectangular, huge apartment buildings full of small and poor apartments/flats in the Gdansk suburbs. They destroy the architecture of Gdansk for years or forever as most people living there can't afford getting loans for leaving their poor flats and moving in new houses. Well, at least most of these buildings made of precast concretes produced in so called "factories of houses" have been painted recently.
But there haven't been groceries similar to this one in my picture since 1st January 1990' when market economy was introduced in place of bankrupt "socialist economy" and suddenly everything started to bring profits. Nowadays you may see a grocery with bottles of vinegar, jars of mustard and bags of tea but nothing more on shelves exclusively in a museum. The stores and supermarkets in Poland and, say Germany or France, have already been similar that starts to be a bit boring, right?
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| NEW GENERATIONS MARCHING :-) |
Future generations marching Not those fast or slowly changing things are the most irritating but all that "crap" contained in brains of some people who had been living most of their life under communist rules. Well, it's obvious that things are easier to change than human behaviours and addictions. Well, there are still people who think that they have right to cheat their new employers and they do it consequently like they cheated their state-owned (read: foreign) companies. They used to call corruption - smartness, bribes are gifts for them and those who don't accept to take them are utter fools etc. etc. Well, luckily it's no longer majority.
The new generations who can't be depraved by life and work under communism are marching now. They are ambitious and industrious. They hate politics and don't care about any past. They would never waste their time to write such useless things like I am writing now. They are focused on their carreer and desperately want to succeed luckily rarely in dishonest way. In case of failure they are ready to start again and again here in Poland or abroad. As many of them are unemployed due to wrong labour law (it's difficult to release "old" employee, never mind how usudul he/she is at work) some of them work abroad in other countries of European Union and think over where to live. I had an interesting chat with two of them in Irish pub in Gdansk.
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| PRISON UNIFORM OF A DISSIDENT |
Them and ours (1970') Well, I do respect now, after many years, those brave folks who actively fought against communist authorities and who were persecuted for their, often unknown to the public in 1970', activity. They were either omitted (in 1970') or called "anti-socialist elements" (in 1980") by communist mass media, the only we could legally read and watch. Majority had considered them as either brave heroes or naive (or even silly) idealists or often both. Their prison uniforms with some "rebel" writings have been displayed in the Roads to Freedom exposition.
Most, exept only few active "rebel elements" and more numerous but silent visionaries, couldn't have imagined the collapse of communism and the "powerful" Soviet empire during their life. No wonder. We lived in a strange country, formally independent one but ruled by Poles always elected unfairly and always loyal to or rarely influenced by the Soviet Union, a country of sluggish and backward socialist economy of never ending shortage of basic goods, a country of one party (well we had 3 parties but they were "3 in 1"), one truth, and heavy censorship, a country of powerful and omnipotent secret police and persecutions for every behaviour against its socialist character, a country of Ours and Them in the end.
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Them versus ours Only few THEM ruled and always won, numerous OURS were always defeated. So, the key words to describe behaviour of OURS was hopelessness and "internal immigration." The key words to decribe THEM was rewarded loyalty (to the Soviet Union), historical necessity of "keeping order" (communist order, otherwise Poland might have been invaded by Soviet troops like Prague in 1968 and Hungary in 1956). OURS considered THEM as traitors to Poland, influenced and well rewarded by the Soviet Union. THEM considered OURS as irresponsible or just silly people who threaten the independance of Poland.
There coudn't have been any real, authentic public life due to circumstances beyond any control of both OURS and THEM. Instead of that, to keep order (communist order) THEM offered OURS some false, propagandist ideas like "free" (always read: paid by all) health care, almost "free" company holidays (in Poland or Bolgaria mainly), almost "free" apartments/flats and work for everyone (read: very low, usually minus efficiency in large factories who employed thousands workers who had nothing to do at work). The problem was that basic rules of economy worked out in "socialist economy" as well. Thus everything which was "free" was backwards and of very poor quality. The poor (at some places and in basic level) health care with extremely underpaid staff still exists in 2005. For a visitor, huge apartment buildings full of poor and very small flats are the best seen reminder of those times both in Gdansk and in other Polish cities.
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| LENIN STATUE IN GDANSK SHIPYARD MUSEUM NOW :-) |
Ours, "spaces of freedom" and laugh :-) To survive all above mentioned "communist crap" and not to end up at the nearest psychiatric ward OURS had to either accept unchangeable and poor reality around (impossible for open-minded ones) or to laugh at it or to close eyes ("internal immigration") or really immigrate to the West.
Good laugh was quite effective and common medicine that time. OURS have made a lot of jokes on absurd communist world. My brother and later I myself loved very funny cabaret called "Cellar under the rams" who gave perfomances in cellars of the Palace under the rams by Krakow's Main Market Square. It was difficult to get to that cellar due to lack of space and information (schedule was not fixed) but it was great and refreshing to watch and hear famous Polish actors and actresses mocking and making fun of communist rules and authorities. It was just small, short-therm space of freedom in Krakow. I can't forget their so-called "morning dances of free Central Europeans" when all participants (over 2 hundred people) of the all-night perfomance-party, led by the cabaret leader, left the cellar and started to play music, dance and sing on the Market Square exactly half an hour before the end of strictly ordered curfew (up to 3 years in a prison for breaking curfew rules). More, the OURS gave flowers and offered glasses of vodka to THEM - numerous, heavy armed policemen who tried unseccessfully to keep order on the square. Usually THEM were finally amused, too and thanked for that vodka passed to them. Well, due to breaking censorship, authorities closed the canaret many times and after silent and loud protests again let them play.
It all started in August 1980 in Gdansk where the Gdansk shipyard had become strong "space or an island of freedom" which quickly expanded to the whole country. The 16 months of the early Solidarity are often called "the carnival." which ended with the martial law, delegallisation of Solidarity, many arrests, persecutions etc. |
| VEHICLE USED BY ZOMO AGAINST SOLIDARITY FANS |
Ours and "internal immigration" The other way to survive the martial law periode (1981 - 1989) of stagnation and broken hope of OURS was so-called "internal immigration". After 16 months of "the carnival" and civilian "over-actrivity" Most OURS stopped to do anything in public life. OURS focused on their private, family life, thus we had unbelievable high birth rate in 1981 - 1985. Kids of the martial law enlarge an army of unemployed now. Unemployment rate is 18% in Poland now (2005) but it's over 35% among these "kids". Some OURS were looking for their own, small "space of freedom" in areas of activity far from any politics. The problem was that under the Soviet regime every activity could have been considered as political. For example the top Polish band sang a song titled innocently "Chcialbym byc soba" (I'd like to be myself") but OURS always sang rebel "Chcialbym bic ZOMO" (I'd like to beat ZOMO = hated, heavy armed formation of police used against demontrators supporting Solidarity). Communist authorities got furious about that and in the beginning they wanted to ban the song or to arrest the band but, finally they gave up. OURS might have sang the rebel refrain of the song even if THEM didn't give up. |
| PLACE OF THE 1ST SOLIDARITY CONVENTION IN 1980 |
Ours, real immigration, hope Over 1 mln people (of 39 mln) had left Poland and immigrated mainly to Western Europe, the USA, Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand during 1981 - 1989. The main reason of that huge move was of neither economical (poverty) nor political (persecutions) nature in my opinion. The main reason was that "communist crap" and no hope for changing it. In 1989 the agreement between THEM and OURS was signed. Soon we had anti-communist Prime Minister and parliament following by market economy and the sea of hope.Together with that hope of 1989 over 300,000 Poles living abroad came back to run their new businesses in OURS' (not THEM) homecountry. |
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 Comments for matcrazy1 about Gdansk | | | | |
807Wheaton Fri Jul 18, 2008 19:36 UTC
We visited Gdansk in September 2007 on our Princess Cruise. I'm still trying to get the cities we visited on VT - WOW! Your Gdansk page is great - and a great help. Thanks. Marcia | flyingscot4 Fri Jun 22, 2007 15:23 UTC
Wonderful personal history. While the outcome was great, the struggle was brutal. Thank God for John Paul II, whose personal courage gave the people strength; and Ronald Reagan, who outspent the Soviet Union; and the Polish people. | Ekaterinburg Sat Apr 28, 2007 22:50 UTC
You must have explored every inch of Gdansk and I am enjoying accompanying you through the back streets and unvisited corners. Lech Walesa's house ?? Wow ! :)) | isailthe7seas Sun Apr 8, 2007 18:43 UTC
just wanted to say thanks for the tower listings... We are in Gdansk 1 day as we are on a Princess cruise itinerary (we have every intention of returning by land in the future) We love get a birds eye view... Also, thanks for the tip on Artus Court. |
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