Andrzej Gwiazda
Andrzej Gwiazda (born 14 April 1935 in
Martial Law in Poland
). His wife, Joanna Duda-Gwiazda (they married in 1961) also was a prominent member of the anticommunist opposition in the 1970s and 1980s.
Life and activism
Gwiazda's father was a sailor of the
Polish September Campaign, as a soldier of Independent Operational Group Polesie. After capitulation of Poland he was caught by the Germans, and spent the war in Oflag II-C in Woldenberg. Young Andrzej, together with mother Zofia (née Zamojska) and grandmother, was in 1940 deported by the Soviets (see Soviet invasion of Poland, Soviet repressions of Polish citizens (1939–1946)) to Kazakhstan, where they stayed until 1946.[1] After the return and reuniting with Stanisław Gwiazda, the family first settled in Upper Silesia, then they moved to Gdańsk, where Andrzej studied electronics at Gdańsk University of Technology, graduating in 1966.[2]
After graduation, he worked at Cybernetics Institute of the University, and in 1973 took a job at Power Supplies Factory Elmor in Gdańsk.
Gwiazda married Joanna Duda-Gwiazda in 1961. After marriage, Andrzej and Joanna became more active in anticommunist movements. In 1968, Andrzej was involved in student protests in opposition to the Polish government. In December 1970, he participated in demonstration protesting the dramatic rise in
ZOMO officers, and sentenced to five months. After spending time in prisons in Gdańsk and Zabrze
, he was released on 15 May 1985.
In 1986 - 1989, Gwiazda was one of leaders of Working Group of National Commission of Solidarity. The group was opposed to any forms of negotiations with Communist authorities. Unlike Lech Wałęsa, Gwiazda did not participate in creation of the
Polish Round Table Talks. He remains a firm skeptic about Wałęsa, saying that "from the beginning of the strike at the Gdańsk Shipyard, he was acting to the detriment of Solidarity". Also, he says that Wałęsa should never have been made "a symbol of Poland".[4]
Bibliography
- Outside the System (Poza układem) (2008)[5]
Further reading
- Gwiazda, You were Right (Gwiazda miałeś rację) (Interviews with Andrzej Gwiazda by Wiesława Kwiatkowska, 1990)
- Constellation in „Solidarity" (Gwiazdozbiór w „Solidarności") (Interviews with Joanna and Andrzej Gwiazda by Remigiusz Okraska, 2009)[5][6]
References
- ^ Opozycja PRL, Andrzej Gwiazda Archived 6 September 2012 at archive.today
- ^ Andrzej Gwiazda in Encyklopedia Solidarności
- ^ "Freedom Collection » Interviews » Andrzej Gwiazda and Joanna Duda-Gwiazda". www.freedomcollection.org. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
- ^ Andrzej Gwiazda o Wałęsie, 2008-06-20
- ^ a b "Poza układem" (in Polish). Archived from the original on 19 August 2013. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
- ^ "Gwiazdozbiór w "Solidarności"" (in Polish). Nowy obywatel. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
External links
- Who is Anna Walentynowicz?, a documentary film by Sylke Rene Meyer (2002) about Anna Walentynowicz, with Andrzej Gwiazda talking about Solidarity
- Motion for a resolution by the European Parliament (taking note of the open letter prepared by Andrzej Gwiazda in 2004)
- Website dedicated to Andrzej Gwiazda
- Robotnik Wybrzeża (The Coastal Worker), issues of the Free Trade Unions of the Coast underground newspaper of which Gwiazda was an editor
- Andrzej Gwiazda Freedom Collection interview