Photo. Drawing by Matylda Damięcka on FB: https://www.facebook.com/MatyldaD -- HENRYK WUJEK IS DEAD: The death of the activist of NSZZ "Solidarność" was announced by Janina Ochojska. "Henio Wujek has died. A wonderful friend, an overly good man, noble and painfully honest. A social activist by calling and a friend to non-governmental organizations. Few remember that he was a physicist by education. He held many political and social positions. Rest in peace, Heniu," Ochojska wrote. Wujek was 79 years old. The information was confirmed by the family of the prominent opposition figure. "My Father, Henryk Wujec, died early this morning. He was a brave, wise, and very good man," reported Paweł Wujec. https://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/7,114883,26201907,henryk-wujec.html -- WALKING GOODNESS - EWA SIEDLECKA: "He was about quiet, stubborn work without reward, for which he never sought attention or sympathy at any time. He didn't seek attention or sympathy. Friends learned of his terminal illness only a few days before his death. Impossibly modest, but when it was beneficial for the cause, he could take on the burden of leadership. In Buddhism, there is the concept of a Bodhisattva – a perfectly compassionate being who has freed themselves from the bonds of 'self', but does not rest in nirvana, but serves others, freeing them from suffering. For me, Henryk Wujec was the embodiment of a Bodhisattva." https://siedlecka.blog.polityka.pl/2020/08/15/pozegnanie-henryka-wujca/ -- PRIME MINISTER MATEUSZ MORAWIECKI ON WUJEK: I will remember Henryk Wujec for his fight for the rights of Ursus workers and his activity in KOR. He stood by ordinary people, citizens, workers, who were often helpless in confrontation with the machinery of a totalitarian state. May he rest in peace. https://twitter.com/MorawieckiM/status/1294563634732032000?s=20 -- DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER PIOTR GLIŃSKI BIDS FAREWELL TO WUJEK: Henryk Wujec has died, a great figure of the Polish democratic opposition, a patriot, a good man. Glory to his memory! https://twitter.com/PiotrGlinski/status/1294533826186752000?s=20 -- HENIEK - WRITES JAN LITYŃSKI: "When I included a sentence about Poland's independence in the ideological declaration of 'Robotnik' (Worker), Heniek objected. Not because he was against independence. He believed, however, that it would distance us from the main goal, which was to help organize the workers. But he was convinced. Because Henio was a fantasist with his feet firmly on the ground. He wasn't a politician. This statement might sound strange in the case of the secretary of the Citizens' Committee, later a Member of Parliament, a member of the authorities of the Democratic Union, deputy minister of agriculture, and presidential advisor. But that's how it was, all these functions were social actions for Heniek. In this, he resembled, perhaps even strongly, Jacek Kuroń. He was an organizer of social actions, an inspirer of non-governmental organizations." https://wyborcza.pl/7,75968,26212197,heniek.html -- HENIU, YOU ARE NOT REMOVED - PAULA SAWICKA ON FB: Henryk Wujec, Henio, has passed away. Grief, sadness, sympathy for Ludka, Pawełek, Mariolka. We have lost a Friend. A good, warm, loyal companion, discreetly kind in daily joys, a comforter in sorrows. We have lost, Poland has lost, an extraordinary politician of a rare caliber today, because he tirelessly pursued the common good, unerringly distinguishing it from personal gain, which was foreign to him. Heniu, you are needed, you are not removed. -- MAYBE IT IS THEY - THE UNCLES ARE THE RIGHTEOUS IN MODERN SODOM AND GOMORRAH - MICHAŁ OKOŃSKI IN TYGODNIK POWSZECHNY: "He had a beautiful smile. In a marital interview for 'Tygodnik', Ludwika Wujec said to her husband: 'there are no such bad emotions in you.' Perhaps that's why his words about activists of the non-governmental movement read like a sketch for a self-portrait. 'There are not many of them. They don't want to choose between 'yes' and 'no', between the right and left side, between open hands and clenched fists, they don't want to rehearse in one choir or the other - he wrote. - They are not in parliamentary or television quarrels, journalists don't chase them - they don't promise scandals. But perhaps it is they who are the righteous in modern Sodom and Gomorrah, who will save the world from destruction.' Everyone is now writing that he was a Righteous man." https://www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl/rozsadny-romantyk-164496 -- EXCERPT FROM A WEEKLY CONVERSATION WITH THE WUJEKS BY BŁAŻEJ STRZELCZYK: "LUDWIKA WUJEC: These are KOR books. And this shelf flows smoothly into the Solidarity one. How many arguments we had about cleaning all this up. HENRYK WUJEK: (calls from the kitchen) You can't tidy up papers, because then everything will be lost!" -- ANOTHER EXCERPT: "HW: Despite the wonderful development of socialist construction, there were defects. Indeed, the water found some outlet in the wall, so it was leaking. I remembered such an anecdote. President de Gaulle once visited Poland... LW: Oh no, how much longer, I'm not listening to this (gets up from the table). HW: De Gaulle is visiting Wilanów, Gierek is showing him around. The General points to the furniture and asks: 'Is this furniture ebony?' And Gierek replies: 'Eh, no, probably old.' LW: Except that anecdote was about Ochab. But it really shows how the nation loved its leaders and made fools of them at every opportunity." -- LUDWIKA WUJEC RECALLED A MEETING WITH HENRYK: "We respected each other's opinions. As it turned out later, at that time I didn't even realize that Heniek valued my opinion so much. I, on the other hand, greatly valued Heniek's opinion. I considered him... Heniu, cover your ears now, because you probably haven't heard such compliments before. I truly considered him a role model of an upright person. And I told myself in my thoughts: 'Well, my dear, if you start getting involved with him, remember that this must be a serious matter. There is no room for jokes, for mistreatment. You cannot hurt such a man.' That was my inner monologue. Heniek is also very brave. For example, at public meetings, he asked questions that I – fearing embarrassment – was afraid to ask. I was very impressed by that." -- YOU CAN NOTICE A TREMOR IN HARD CHEESES - WUJEK'S ANECDOTE: "I remember one story from those press reviews. A military commissioner in Elbląg visited a cheese production plant. Journalists published his statement in an article that sounded something like this: 'A tremor can be noticed in hard cheeses.' And I wrote this to Ludka in my letters: 'My dear, I read something very interesting in the press, it's worth familiarizing yourself with, etc.' I don't know if the censor who read our letters saw a joke in it." -- IN LOVE, THERE IS NO ROOM FOR FALSEHOOD - ANOTHER EXCERPT FROM STRZELCZYK'S CONVERSATION WITH THE WUJEKS: "HW: Releasing tension is sometimes necessary. I remember once Ludka got upset and threw something on the floor. To show her how ugly that was, I grabbed the first toy of Pawełek's I could find and threw it. It broke into pieces. I spent the whole night gluing it back together. LW: Because you threw it pedagogically. But there are no such bad emotions in you. In love, isn't that what it's all about – for all emotions to be sincere? There is no room for falsehood here. If you remember this, everything will work out." https://www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl/milosc-i-wiezienne-muchy-32307 -- SOUTH AMERICA? I CAN'T, I HAVE THE MAYORS' CONVENTION IN BIŁGORAJ THEN - IN A PROFILE OF WUJEK IN WYBORCZA: "However, the benefits derived from the positions he held never interested him – primarily 'grassroots work': in his own constituency, in the countryside, among the people. Once – during the times of OKP or UD – a candidate was sought for a delegation of parliamentarians who were supposed to fly to Venezuela, perhaps. Exoticism, pure pleasure. Wujec was asked if he would go. - South America? Next Wednesday? - he checked his notebook. - I can't! I have the mayors' convention in Biłgoraj." https://wyborcza.pl/alehistoria/7,121681,26200753,henryk-wujec-nie-zyje-to-jest-model-zycia-dla-polityka.html -- PIOTR WITWICKI ON THE BIAŁOŁĘKA PRISON ON THE CANVAS OF THE FAMOUS PHOTO TAKEN BY JAN KRZYSZTOF KELUS WITH A CAMERA SMUGGLED BY ONYSZKIEWICZ'S WIFE: "Onyszkiewicz ended up in Białołęka handcuffed with Jacek Kuroń, but he shared a two-person cell with Wujec. Both were calm and sat in silence for hours. Mathematician Onyszkiewicz delved into set theory, and Wujec devoured book after book. Annoyed by the fruitless eavesdropping, the authorities quartered Jan Krzysztof Kelus with them. Someone thought that the songwriter would help them open up. It didn't change much. The gentlemen continued to be busy reading, and a bored Kelus wrote prison songs. The atmosphere turned out to be inspiring. Kelus said today that these are some of his best songs. Subsequent lyrics interwove with the lives of the interned. For a happy return, an old game: not everyone among us is Odysseus, not everyone has a place to return to, not for everyone does a dog wait. 'For a good return to Ithaca' by Jan Krzysztof Kelus, June 1982, Białołęka." -- THE WHOLE WORLD SAW THE PHOTO WHERE THE OPPOSITION FIGURES PROUDLY WALK THE PRISON YARD - WITWICKI CONTINUES: "A moment later, the shot from Białołęka became famous. There were 20 photographs in total, but this one became the most popular. The photo was printed by the American 'Newsweek' and even appeared in newspapers in New Zealand or Australia. In Poland, the photograph was reprinted by underground publications. Extremists were behind bars, and the whole world saw a photo of them proudly walking the prison yard." https://www.polsatnews.pl/wiadomosc/2020-08-15/legendarne-zdjecie-z-bialoleki-pieciu-wspanialych-jednym-z-nich-henryk-wujec/ -- PEOPLE HAVE A NEED TO LIVE BETTER, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN THEY ARE MONOLITHIC, YOU HAVE TO CONVINCE THEM - SAID HENRYK WUJEK TO DOROTA WYSOCKA-SCHNEPF ON THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF JUNE 4TH: "There were various people, I talked to one person who said: 'For me, Andrzej Gwiazda is a symbol of professed values, and Kornel Morawiecki is a symbol of courage. But I also want to talk to you, I also value you.' Because people are not monolithic. Propaganda is monolithic, people are not. So there is no other way, you have to go to them. We figured this out a long time ago, 40 years ago, when we started this action to help the workers in Ursus, Radom. It turned out to be a breakthrough. And it always turns out that way. Because there is also the temptation of contempt - 'ah, they are hopeless, they only want money, etc.' That is terrible. You can't talk like that either. People have a need to live better, that's normal. But that doesn't mean they are monolithic. You have to go to them, convince them, talk to them, sometimes you have to listen to unpleasant things. It's a long action, but in the end, it wins." https://wyborcza.pl/7,158533,24867597,henryk-wujec-nie-mozna-ulec-pokusie-pogardy-trzeba-pojsc-do.html -- POLITICIANS REMEMBER HENRYK WUJEK: https://wpolityce.pl/polityka/513506-politycy-i-znajomi-zegnaja-henryka-wujca-czesc-jego-pamieci -- WE CAN TALK ABOUT A BREAKTHROUGH, SOCIETY HAS REGAINED POLITICAL EFFECTIVENESS - SŁAWOMIR SIERAKOWSKI FROM MINSK: "It must be emphasized once again that all are emboldened by the women, girls, and young girls, dressed in white, carrying flowers and holding their hands up with a V sign. They are absolutely everywhere. And where they are - there are car horns. I live in my fourth apartment now and I hear it constantly. And while I can't stand horns, I can listen to them now non-stop. The anthem 'Peremen' even plays during militia patrols. On Friday, technicians, laboratory workers, university staff joined them, standing before them. A whole chain of professional groups has formed. It's hard to say how the apparatus of power will deal with this, because the opposition has gained a clear leverage over the state, over the economy, over the streets, over the atmosphere and public opinion. It can be said that the open consensus – 'what everyone thinks' – is on the side of the demonstrators and strikers, they are the masters of opinion. Why can we talk about a breakthrough? Society could not be intimidated and has regained political effectiveness." https://www.onet.pl/informacje/onetwiadomosci/protesty-na-bialorusi-po-wyborach-slawomir-sierakowski-to-moze-byc-przelomowy-dzien/k0gc7wt,79cfc278 -- THE REGIME IS FALLING - TOMASZ SAKIEWICZ IN NIEZALEŻNA: "The anachronistic regime of the 'Minsk Tsar' survives through violence and Russia's support. For several years, Lukashenka has been sending signals that he wants to loosen ties with Moscow. He had no choice, because Russia no longer wanted to support him. But this does not mean that the Kremlin will easily give up Belarus. If necessary, Moscow is capable of intervening to maintain its influence there. The international community's reaction should therefore be twofold: towards Moscow, to leave Belarus in peace, and towards Lukashenka, to allow society democracy. Suppressing protests will no longer help Lukashenka, because the democratic movement has emerged from Minsk and reached the provinces, including workplaces. Soon he will run out of money to maintain the totalitarian machinery, unless Russia wants to take on another problem during the crisis." https://niezalezna.pl/346298-nie-zatrzymaja-wolnej-bialorusi -- LUKASHENKO IS ALREADY A POLITICAL CORPSE - ANDRZEJ ŁOMANOWSKI IN RZ: "Aleksander Lukashenko is already a political corpse. But the decay of his regime may poison the air in our part of Europe for a long time to come, unless an American-Russian agreement drives a stake into this dictatorship." -- THE THRONE IS CRUMBLING - ŁOMANOWSKI CONTINUES: "Many indications also suggest that Lukashenko's throne is already crumbling. The largest factories are joining the strikes, and his only true supporters – Belarusian riot police, or OMON – are increasingly tired. One of the mutinous police officers said that with nightly clashes and the necessity of running for many hours in full gear without the possibility of prolonged rest, the OMON units will be in a state of extreme exhaustion by the end of the week. And the end of this week is approaching." https://www.rp.pl/Komentarze/308139908-Andrzej-Lomanowski-Dlugie--pozegnanie.html -- THE RIGHT TO DOUBT IS BEING TAKEN AWAY - PIOTR ZAREMBA ON POLITICAL CORRECTNESS - in Polsat News: "I still can't keep up with the merits of the dispute. I read that M.S. is a 'non-binary' person. And I read that this means not a change of sex, but a kind of staying between sexes – male and female. If so, this person is objectively neither a woman nor a man. In such a situation, one has the right to consider various criteria. Some will take the person's own demand. Let's add that quite recently, according to reports and film records, they had no objection to being described as a man ('they had the right to change their mind'). Others, however, may equally well consider criteria such as sex on documents or appearance. This choice has been given a sharp ideological meaning. Anyone who denies 'Margot' femininity is naturally a reactionary and wants to harm 'them'. We watched a TVN reporter being scolded by an LGBT activist because if he says 'he', he is offending. At the same time, a treacherous line of thinking has been activated. Since the only criterion is the subjective feeling of a given person, this opens the door to all sorts of abuses and mystifications. However, fervent proponents of 'progress' are ready to surprise themselves with a lack of seriousness. As long as they demonstrate their humanism and dislike for traditional society. In the end, it can also be destroyed through masquerade. Writing this, I am not prejudging how it is with Michał-Margot. But the right to doubt is being taken away from us." https://tygodnik.polsatnews.pl/news/2020-08-14/odbiera-nam-sie-nawet-prawo-do-watpliwosci-zaremba-o-politycznej-poprawnosci/ -- I DID NOT FULLY FEEL THE SUPPORT FROM THE PLATFORM - MAŁGORZATA KIDAWA-BŁOŃSKA IN CONVERSATION WITH PIOTR WITWICKI IN POLSAT NEWS: "I didn't fully feel it. The turning point for me was the election convention in February. After that, it was as if the fuel ran out for further initiatives. However, the good energy on the road did not change: meetings went very well, people asked for election materials, they wanted to hang banners. Many colleagues supported me, they were heavily involved in meetings in the field. The support of friendly local government officials was also very important." -- KIDAWA ON THE MOMENT OF RESIGNATION: "I stood up alone and announced my resignation alone, because I believed it was my responsibility. It wasn't loneliness, but agency, and also showing that, contrary to the opinions mentioned, I am a strong and brave woman. I manage to make important decisions without a crowd of colleagues." -- KIDAWA ON THE FACT THAT THE ELECTION BOYCOTT WAS A COLLEGIATE DECISION OF THE PLATFORM: "It was a joint decision. It's never the case that a candidate makes such a decision alone. Everyone knew about it. Chairman Budka knew, and the Secretary General of PO also knew. Everyone knew. I respect my colleagues in the party. This decision had to be made after consultations, and that's how it happened. I remember that Sunday very well. I remember the previous conversations and agreements. And I don't deny this decision, because I think it had to be made. The government took over the organization of the elections. Jacek Sasin, by taking away the powers of the PKW, wanted to offer Poles a spectacle instead of elections in the midst of a pandemic. We all saw it. And for that reason alone, it was worth doing it. And then win against Andrzej Duda." https://tygodnik.polsatnews.pl/news/2020-08-14/kidawa-blonska-przy-oglaszaniu-waznych-decyzji-radze-sobie-bez-wianuszka-kolegow/ -- EVERYONE CARED ABOUT THE RAISES, IT WAS AN AGREEMENT WITH PIS - AN OPPOSITION POLITICIAN TELLS AGATA SZCZĘŚNIAK IN OKO: "'It was an agreement between PiS and the opposition,' says a Member of Parliament. 'Opposition MPs also wanted these raises. PiS said they would put it to a vote on the condition that the opposition also voted for the law. You can imagine that we would cheat: first we say we will vote, but then we don't do it. PiS conducted test votes to check this.' -- POLISH POLITICS IS POOR - SZCZĘŚNIAK'S INTERLOCUTOR CONTINUES: "He says that parliamentarians are frustrated by low wages. 'MPs are subsidizing politics. Trips to the constituency, clothes – and if you're a politician, you buy more clothes. MPs belonging to parties give a few percent of their salary to party contributions' – he lists. 'That's several hundred zlotys. If you don't pay, you have a problem. You might get a bad place in the next elections or not be on the list at all. When elections come, you spend 50,000 zlotys at once.' And he sums up: 'Polish politics is poor.' -- RECONSTRUCTION - THE SECOND BOTTOM OF THE RAISES - SZCZĘŚNIAK CONTINUES: "In his opinion, the introduction of the law right now is not just a matter of holidays and less public interest in politics. It is also about the government reconstruction that PiS is preparing for the autumn. 'PiS's deputy ministries were growing, every MP wanted to become a deputy minister, because it's good money, offices, cars. Fabricated, unnecessary jobs were created. Everyone wanted to earn those 10,000 zlotys. PiS put young, more capable people there, the rest of the MPs were frustrated. If PiS wants to reduce the number of ministries, limit government administration, then raises for MPs are a way to deal with frustration,' our interlocutor believes." https://oko.press/wszystkim-zalezalo-na-tych-podwyzkach-to-byl-uklad-z-pis-mowi-oko-press-posel-opozycji/ -- WOJCIECH TEISTER IN GOŚĆ NIEDZIELNY ABOUT PRESSURE ON THE SENATE: "But for now, the Sejm has passed it. For it to come into force, it must still gain Senate approval, and the Senate is in the hands of the opposition. So senators will have an opportunity to show that they are needed for something. Whether they will show it depends, probably, on how strong social pressure will be." https://www.gosc.pl/doc/6460556.Senat-przed-zyciowa-szansa -- FOR THE SAME THING JEDLIŃSKI WAS THROWN OUT, A NEW WONDERFUL WORLD - JOANNA LICHOCKA IN CONVERSATION WITH MICHAŁ KARNOWSKI: "No satisfaction, rather I felt sorry for Mr. Piotr Jedliński. He has a different outlook on the world than I do, but I believe he is an idealist, that he truly sought his own freedom. This led him to create Radio Nowy Świat, of which he suddenly became a victim, where he collided with what can truly be called ideological terror. I see in this also the statement, already articulated by Mr. Jedliński, that Ms. Jethon transferred the pathologies of the old Trójka, a never-decommunized editorial team created in the times of Jaruzelski and Kiszczak. This new ideology over the Vistula, it so happens, is proclaimed and implemented by old, post-communist circles with their approach to freedom of debate shaped in totalitarianism. But there is not a shred of satisfaction in me over Jedliński's dismissal. I know the bitter taste of such treatment, because it was the fate of tens and hundreds of journalists called 'right-wing', continuously in the 90s, 2000s, and later, driven out of one editorial office after another, deprived of work, forced to change professions. Journalists who spoke as it was, were fired from their jobs. For the same thing today, Piotr Jedliński was fired. Behold, a 'new wonderful world'. -- MUSICALLY VERY GOOD, IDEOLOGICALLY NOT VERY WISE - LICHOCKA ON THE NEW RADIO: "I observed this new radio with curiosity: musically at times very good, ideologically very unwise, and Mr. Jedliński's case clearly shows this. But for Trójka, this time should have been simply a rebirth." -- LICHOCKA ON THE SITUATION AT TRÓJKA - OPERATIONAL WEAKNESS, LOW JOURNALISTIC AND MUSICAL LEVEL, IT'S PREOCCUPIED WITH ITSELF - SHE TELLS KARNOWSKI: "Trójka is a radio where there are no restrictions, the team enjoys full freedom, including in preoccupying itself with itself, because that is the currently favorite topic on the air. Every day we can hear that one of the hosts is missing a colleague, that another might return to the radio but is considering it, that the director is pursuing one, but not another. Yet another demands allegedly deserved apologies and then might come, and they, the hosts and the whole team, are waiting for it. This has been going on for a quarter of a year, and they haven't noticed yet that radio is made for listeners, not to constantly talk about its alleged martyrology. It's quite comical but also, unfortunately, not at a very high professional level. Every day on the air, you can hear mistakes, slips, poorly edited materials being released, linguistic and dictional sloppiness from many hosts. Unfortunately, on the day we are talking, August 13th, Trójka presents a low journalistic and musical standard. And I hope that Kuba Strzyczkowski, who as a host and journalist is a professional, will finally notice this and propose corrective actions." https://wpolityce.pl/media/513486-nasz-wywiad-z-joanna-lichocka-o-trojce-i-radiu-nowy-swiat -- SZCZERSKI FOR 300: THE ENTIRE CONVERSATION WITH POMPEO ABOUT BELARUS, MULLER ABOUT 5G COOPERATION THAT WILL ENSURE SECURITY - 300LIVE: https://300polityka.pl/live/2020/08/15/ -- ATLANTIC COUNCIL ON WHY CENTRAL EUROPE IS KEY TO STOPPING CHINA'S TECHNOLOGICAL EXPANSION: https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/beyond-5g-central-europe-will-be-key-to-countering-chinese-technological-influence/ -- 13th anniversary of the death of Jerzy Zimowski. -- EWA DEMARCZYK IS DEAD: As announced by Piwnica pod Baranami, Ewa Demarczyk has died. The singer was 79 years old. "She presented to several generations what is noblest and most valuable in song," wrote Wacław Krupiński. https://kultura.gazeta.pl/kultura/7,114526,26212207,ewa-demarczyk-nie-zyje-miala-79-lat.html#s=BoxMMt1 -- BIRTHDAYS: Danuta Kuroń, SUNDAY: Krystyna Mokrosińska, Jacek Karnowski, Jan Łopata.