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Poland Trip [Research Materials, 1992] [OA 6900] [2]
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Poland Trip [Research Materials, 1992] [OA 6900] [2]
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Records of the White House Office of Speechwriting (George H. W. Bush Administration)
Carol Aarhus Alpha Files
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administrative marker by the George Bush Presidential
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Record Group/Collection:
George H.W. Bush Presidential Records
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Speechwriting, White House Office of
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Aarhus, Carol, Files
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Alpha File, 1990-1992
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13865-002
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Poland Trip [Research Materials], 1992 [2]
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G
19
2
5
6
VOLUME 22
Photography to Pumpkin
THE ENCYCLOPEDIA
AMERICANA
INTERNATIONAL EDITION
COMPLETE IN THIRTY VOLUMES
FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1829
GROLIER INCORPORATED
International Headquarters: Danbury, Connecticut 06816
the
EASTFOTO
Warsow's Old Town, systematically destroyed by the Germans in World War II, has been completely restored.
are
to
tall
10
POLAND
CONTENTS
shel
taction
Page
Section
Page
Land and Natural
4. Culture
309
but
Resources
300
5. Education
310
the Economy
301
6. Government
311
the People
306
7. History
312
attn
Coat of Arms
POLAND, poland, is a country that lies in the
pain of northern Europe. It is the largest and
populous of the East Central European
untries. Poland is bordered by Communist
and is a member of both the Warsaw Pact
INFORMATION HIGHLIGHTS
the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance
Official Name: Polish People's Republic (Polska
OMECON, or CMEA), a military and an eco-
Rzeczpospolita Ludowa).
nati
alliance between the USSR and its Euro-
Head of State: Chairman of the Council of State.
in
satellites.
Head of Government: Chairman of the Council of
Throughout its history, Poland has been over-
Ministers (premier).
lowed by its powerful neighbors to the west
Legislature: Sejm (Assembly).
feet
to the east. The eastward expansion of Ger-
Area: 120,725 square miles (312,677 sq km).
Boundaries: North, Baltic Sea; east, USSR; south,
beginning in the Middle Ages, was at the
pur
Czechoslovakia; west, East Germany.
use of Poland. But Poland was able, during
Elevation: Highest point, Rysy (8,199 feet, or 2,499
rods of Russian weakness, to spread into ter-
meters) in the High Tatra mountains.
that now belongs to the Soviet Union. In
Population: (1982 est.) 36,100,000.
ate 18th century, when both Prussia (which
Capital: Warsaw (Warszawa).
became the core of a united Germany) and
Language: Polish.
old were strong, the Polish state was extin-
Major Religious Group: Roman Catholic.
hed and divided between those nations and
Monetary Unit: 1 złoty = 100 groszy.
Poland was not revived until 1918, when Rus-
Weights and Measures: Metric system.
cod
in the throes of the Bolshevik Revolution
Flag: Horizontal halves of white over red.
abg
Germany had been defeated by the western
National Anthem: Jeszcze Polska nie zginela
By 1939 both Germany and the Soviet
(Poland is not yet lost).
were again powerful and well armed.
299
slovakia follows the Karkonosze and
mountains, and over most of this distance Carpathies
is no dispute. There has, however, been
disagreement between the
ing the small territory of
szyn), important for its coal and steel.
ent the territory is divided between them
1. Land and Natural Resources
the mountains, which form Poland's
Poland is a country of the plain. Except
boundary, its surface rarely rises to
1,000 feet (300 meters) above sea
except in the mountains, is gentle, and the
try consists essentially of the valleys of two
ers-the Odra and Vistula (Wisła) -and of
rive
tributaries. Both rise in the mountains that their bor
ward to discharge into the Baltic Sea.
der Czechoslovakia on the south, and flow north
The rocks that make up the plain are
soft and easily eroded. But areas of older
harder rock are found in south central-and and
ern Poland, which account for small zones south of
bolder relief. The most important of these are
is formed by two hilly ridges known respectivel
as the Holy Cross Mountains (Góry Swietokrz
kie) and the Kraków Jura (Jura Krakowska
During the Quaternary Ice Age most of the
plain was covered by ice sheets, which spread
southward from Scandinavia. On their retreat
they left behind a vast, uneven sheet of sand
CZESLAW MOMATIUK, PHOTO RESEARCHERS
The Tatra Mountains on Poland's border with Czecho-
gravel, boulders and clay, known as bolde clay,
Although this has been largely eroded away from
slovakia attract vacationers and skiers in the winter.
southern Poland, it covers the northern districts
of Pomorze (Pomerania) and Mazury, (East
Prussia). Much of the clay land is poorly drained
Their invasion of Poland in September 1939
and is dotted with large and small lakes
again destroyed the Polish state, which in turn
which Mazury has thousands.
precipitated World War II.
As the ice melted away at the end of the Ice
By 1945, Germany had been defeated and the
Age, vast torrents of water made their way to the
military strength of the Soviet Union was unchal-
lenged in eastern Europe. The part of Poland
sea, scouring a series of small valleys as they did
that had been incorporated into the Soviet Union
so. These now lie across the country in a roughly
east to west direction, forming shallow depres.
in 1939 was retained by the USSR. In compen-
sions that have been of great importance in cut:
sation, Poland received land in the west that had
ting canal links between the main rivers of cen-
been German. Today the territory of Poland is
tral Europe.
about 20% smaller than it was on the eve of
Over much of southern Poland a dustlike de-
World War II.
posit, known as loess, has been blown from the
Since World War II, Poland has been de-
drying boulder clay to the north. It gives rise to
pendent on the Soviet Union for economic aid,
a well-drained and fertile soil, which makes the
and Soviet troops have been stationed, though
loess regions agriculturally the most productive
unobtrusively, on Polish soil. These circumstances
in Poland.
have severely limited Poland's freedom of action.
The mountains that form the southern bound-
Despite a revolt against Soviet control in 1956,
ary of the plain belong to two separate systems.
Poland remains one of the most docile of the
To the southwest are the Karkonosze Mountains,
Soviet Union's satellites.
part of the massif of hard, ancient rock that
Poles, however, have resented their subser-
forms Bohemia. To the south lie the higher and
vience to the Soviet Union. Much of their his-
more complex mountains of the Carpathian sys-
tory has been marked by war with the Russians,
tem. These consist of a series of parallel ranges
and Poles have always tended to see themselves
across which movement is difficult. They cul-
as guardians of Western civilization against East-
minate in the Tatra (Tatry) Mountains, whose
ern barbarism, with which many Poles identify
highest point reaches 8,199 feet (2,499 meters).
Soviet Communism. Polish fear of Germany has
The Polish Carpathians, known as Beskidy, are
been as conspicuous as Polish contempt for the
mostly a beautiful forested region, containing a
Russians. In particular they have dreaded a re-
number of resorts, of which Zakopane is the best
surgence of German nationalism, which might
known.
threaten Polish occupation of the formerly Ger-
The two ranges are separated by a gap known
man territory on the west (the Western Terri-
as the Moravian Gate, which provides an easily
tories). Even though Poland's boundaries are
negotiated route from southern Poland, across
recognized by both West and East Germany,
Czechoslovakia, to Vienna and the Danube basin.
there remains a feeling that Poland is dependent
The Moravian Gate has played an important role
on the Soviet Union for the protection of its fron-
in Polish and East European history, guiding the
tier along the rivers Odra (Oder) and Nysa
movement of invaders in the past and today act-
(Neisse). The southern boundary with Czecho-
ing as a funnel for road and railway traffic and
300
POLAND
301
the Karkonosze and Carpath
the movement of trade. Plans have been
There are valuable sulfur deposits. Zinc and
for to cut a canal through the Moravian Gate
lead are mined in Upper Silesia, and copper in
over
of this distance
Theil
made link the Odra Valley with that of the Danube.
Lower Silesia. Reserves of iron ore are small.
however, been
tweel
two countries
to Climate. Poland typically has warm summers,
a July average of 64°-68° F (18°-20° C),
2. The Economy
rritory of Teschen (Polish,
with long, cold winters. The January average
Poland suffered severely during World War
for its coal and steel.
and from 23° F to 30° F (-5° C to 1.1° C).
II. The whole country was twice fought over,
is divided between them
ranges Winters are increasingly severe toward the north
and the destruction of factories, farms, and farm
tural Resources
the east, where the growing season may be
stock was enormous. Recovery was hindered both
country of the plain. Except
and or three weeks shorter than in the south and
by the postwar exactions of the Soviet Union and
which form Poland's southe
we Although there is a prolonged snow cover
the changes of boundaries and consequent migra-
rface rarely rises to more
west. most of the country, the heaviest precipita-
tion. Poland lost its eastern provinces, notable
meters) above sea level
net is in the summer, when severe thunderstorms
chiefly for their agricultural and forest resources.
Reli
twn not infrequent. Total precipitation is quite
But it regained the Western Territories, which
untains, is gentle, and the COW
itially of the valleys of two
are over the plain, ranging from less than 19 to
were more richly endowed in mineral resources
him inches (483-635 mm), but somewhat higher
and better developed. The Western Territories,
d Vistula ( of
15 the Baltic coast and a great deal higher-up
however, were almost depopulated by the emi-
rise in the mountains that b.
near to 40 inches (1,016 mm) -in the mountains.
gration of much of their German-speaking popu-
kia on the south, and flow note
e into the Baltic Sea.
Vegetation and Soils. Poland was once densely
lation. This loss was far from offset by the immi-
it make up the plain are most
forested. Today at least one fifth of its area is
gration of Poles from the territory ceded to the
eroded. But areas of old
under forest, with a heavy concentration of for-
Soviet Union. Because Poland thus suffered a
in the poor sandy soil region of northern
severe shortage of labor at a time when mechan-
ound in south central and SOUTH
Poland. ests Broad-leaved trees formerly prevailed,
ical equipment was scarce and the task of recon-
ch account for small zones
with conifers increasing in importance toward the
struction overwhelming, rebuilding was slow.
ie most important of these ar
hilly ridges known respective
northeast. Recent plantations have tended to be
Nationalization of Industry and Commerce. The
S Mountains (Góry Swiętokrz
of softwood, so that the character of the forests
state nationalized all natural resources and most
aków Jura (Jura Krakowska
IS slowly changing.
of the means of production, and attempted to re-
Quaternary Ice Age most of
The soil quality varies greatly. Apart from
construct the society and economy along Com-
the thin and stony soils of the mountains, every
munist lines. To some degree, nationalization
ed by ice sheets, which spre
Scandinavia. On their retre
gradation is found from heavy and poorly drained
was inevitable, since about one third of the coun-
clays to blowing sands. Most fertile are the loess
try's assets had belonged to Germans who left
a vast, uneven sheet of
and clay, known as bolder
soils of southern Poland and the loam soils that
Poland at the end of the war.
occur over large areas in the center of the country.
Rebuilding and development were directed
been largely eroded away fro
Mineral Resources. Poland has rich reserves of
by a series of economic plans prepared and im-
it covers the northern district
omerania) and Mazury (Ex
fuels and minerals. Foremost is coal. There are
plemented by the Central Planning Board (later
of the clay land is poorly drained
large reserves of soft coal, mainly in the coal ba-
the State Commission on Economic Planning),
sin of Upper Silesia, and small reserves of brown
set up by the Council of Ministers. By the end
with large and small lakes
C.
ds.
coal or lignite in central Poland. In Upper Si-
of 1946 less than 10% of gross industrial produc-
IS th
elted
at the end of the
lesia, coal underlies an area of about 2,000 square
tion came from privately owned undertakings,
of
made their way to
miles (5,180 sq km). Seams are thick and lie at
and by 1953 this had fallen to less than 1%.
ries of small valleys as they dMI
relatively shallow depths, making them suitable
Wholesale and retail trade also passed from pri-
across the country in a rought
for mechanical extraction. Petroleum and natural
vate to public hands, and the government used
its powers to control the supply of goods to pri-
ection, forming shallow depres
gas occur in southern Poland, but reserves are
een of great importance in'
nearing exhaustion.
vate retailers and thus drive them out of business.
between the main rivers of
EASTFOTO
southern Poland a dustlike des
loess, has been blown from the
lay to the north. It gives riselto
id fertile soil, which makes the
iculturally the most productive
S that form the southern bound-
belong to two separate systems,
are the Karkonosze Mountams
sif of hard, ancient rock that
To the south lie the higher
and
ountains of the Carpathian
st of a series of parallel ranges
The beach at Sopot, on the Gulf
vement is difficult. They cul-
of Danzig, is a popular resort with
itra (Tatry) Mountains, whose
both the Poles and foreigners. It
:hes 8,199 feet (2,499 meters
is located only a few miles from
thians, known as Beskidy
the cities of Gdynia to the north
are
d forested region, containing
and Gdańsk (Danzig) to the south.
of which Zakopane is the best
'S are separated by a gap known
Gate, which provides an easily
from southern Poland, across
) Vienna and the Danube basin,
te has played an important role
t European history, guiding the
der
e past and today act-
or
d railway traffic and
304
POLAND
In spite of the extensive nationalization of
land's economic plans have been integrated Po-
Poland's Role in the Communist Trading Bloc.
production, the state continued to tolerate, and
may even have tacitly encouraged, small private
through the machinery of COMECON (Council
workshops, primarily because the quality of their
for Mutual Economic Assistance), with those
output was generally higher than that of the
other East European countries, Yugoslavia and of
state-run operations.
Albania excepted. COMECON calls for a degree
Collectivization of Agriculture. The attempts of
of specialization and mutual trade between mem.
the Polish government to control all aspects of
bers of the bloc, and it became Poland's role in
the economy were, however, rebuffed in agricul-
this integrated system to concentrate on the man-
ture. Poland traditionally was a land of large
ufacture of steel and heavy engineering equip-
estates, which were owned by the aristocracy.
ment. While Poland welcomed this particular
Between the two world wars there had been a
role, it has generally opposed the policy of
measure of land reform, which involved the
complete "socialist division of labor" and has a
breaking up of some of the estates into peasant
aimed at a more broadly based economic devel
holdings. After 1945 the peasants expected this
opment than envisaged by COMECON.
process to continue. But the government, follow-
ing the Soviet model, planned to combine small
MINING, POWER, AND MANUFACTURING
holdings and estates into collective farms that
Beginning with the plan of 1950-1956, large-
were to be operated by government-appointed
scale capital investments were made in mining*
officials. In those parts of Germany that passed
hydroelectric development, and iron and steel
to Poland after World War II, many German-
production. New coal mines were opened up
owned estates were taken over by the Polish
and coal production rose from 50 million metric
authorities, and many were run as state farms,
tons in 1946 to 130 million in 1970, almost all of
particularly in the Western Territories.
it from the Upper Silesian field. Poland became.
Elsewhere, the peasants strenuously resisted
after Britain and West Germany, Europe's larges
attempts to establish collective farms, and forced
producer of coal. Coal mining did not suffer as
the government to postpone its plans. These
acutely from the competition of other forms of
were revived, however, in the 1950's. The gov-
fuel as happened in many other countries, part-
ernment played upon the jealousy of the poor
ly owing to its relative cheapness. Furthermore,
peasants toward the rich, and gradually elimi-
Poland retained a significant export trade in
nated the latter. However, the peasants, with
coal.
very few goods available to them on which to
Zinc and lead mining continued to be impor
spend their income, withheld produce from the
tant, and copper mining was developed in Lowe
market to protest the attempts at collectivization.
Silesia. Poland ranked among the leaders in the
This led to acute hardship in the cities. Pres-
production of sulfur.
sure mounted against the government, which
The development of power sources other than
after the uprising of 1956 was compelled virtual-
coal was also one of the goals of the national
ly to abandon, at least for a time, its plans to
economic plans. Power generators were built
collectivize agriculture. Collectivization remains,
with Soviet aid, the hydroelectric potential of
however, a long-term objective.
the mountain streams was utilized, and energy
About 80% of all cultivated land is in private
was made available to factories and workshops
hands. However, the percentage of land in state
The iron-smelting and steel industry has been
or collective farms is slowly increasing. It is
concentrated on the Upper Silesian coalfield. Its
noteworthy that productivity is somewhat greater
capacity was greatly increased by the incorpora-
on this public land and, more importantly, that
tion of the previously German sector of the coal
the ratio of output to labor is significantly higher
basin.
than on peasant land.
Large additions were made to existing steel
The Postwar Shift in the Economy. In the decades
plants. A new works was built near Warsaw, and
that followed World War II, manufactured goods
integrated iron and steel works were built at
formed a steadily increasing proportion of total
Częstochowa and to the east of Kraków, where
production, so that Poland was transformed from
the planned city of Nowa Huta was founded in'
a predominantly agricultural country into one
1949 for the workers in the nearby factory. Since
primarily engaged in manufacturing. At the end
Poland's reserves of iron ore are small, much of
of this period over half of the gross national
the ore for the furnaces is brought by rail from
product was derived from manufacturing, mining,
the Soviet Union.
and power production. Less than 20% came from
The mechanical and electrical engineering in-
agriculture.
dustry was greatly expanded, particularly in
During this same period there was a conse-
Wrocław (Breslau), Poznań, Bydgoszcz, and Up-
quent shift in employment. Agriculture, which
per Silesia. Shipbuilding has been developed, at
had employed more than half the population be-
Szczecin (Stettin) and Gdańsk (Danzig), and
fore the first national plans went into effect after
the manufacture of automobiles at Warsaw.
the war, accounted for only 38% in the 1970's. At
Other important industrial products include
the same time employment in manufacturing in-
chemicals, textiles, and artificial fertilizers. Food
creased.
processing is another important industry. An
Poland's concentration on capital-goods in-
aluminum industry which is based on Hungarian
dustries in the first national plans meant that the
bauxite and domestic brown coal, has also been
production of consumer goods received little en-
developed.
couragement. Clothing, footwear, and all forms
of domestic equipment were continuously in short
AGRICULTURE
supply, and housing construction was inadequate
The expansion of agriculture in the decades
for local needs. These conditions began to change
following World War II was little short of re-
very slowly in the 1970's, as the state planners
markable. Gross agricultural output rose by over
diverted more resources from capital-goods to
80% between 1950 and 1970. Cereal production
consumer-goods industries.
increased twofold, with a significant shift from
in the Communist Trading Bloc.
: plans have been integrate
chinery of COMECON (Coup
nomic Assistance), with thos
pear
untries, Yugoslavia
d.
CON calls for a deg
and
al trade between m.
and It became Poland's role
ystem to concentraté on the in
el and heavy engineering equip
'oland welcomed this partico
nerally opposed the policy of
list division of labor" and
a broadly based economic
visaged by COMECON.
OWER, AND MANUFACTURING
ith the plan of 1950-1956
vestments were made in mini
evelopment, and iron and
W coal mines were opened
:tion rose from 50 million me
130 million in 1970, almost all
er Silesian field. Poland beca
I West Germany, Europe's lar
1. Coal mining did not suffer
EASTFOTO
e competition of other form
d in many other countries
Mechanization of farm operations is widespread on government-run farms but has lagged on peasant holdings.
E
relative cheapness. Furthermo
1 a significant export trade
rye to wheat. The area planted to oats, grown
TRANSPORTATION
d mining continued to be impo
primarily as fodder, also expanded. The produc-
tion of potatoes, which supply much of the hu-
mining was developed in Low
Poland's internal transportation network was
man diet, doubled. The output of sugar beets,
ranked among the leaders in
almost completely destroyed during World War
which are grown in rotation with cereals on the
!lfur.
II. Rebuilding railroads and bridges and re-
ment of power sources other.th
better soils, rose threefold. Com is locally im-
equipping docks became a major objective.
ne of the goals of the nation
portant in the warmer southern districts.
A network of main roads radiates from War-
Poland has restored and expanded the num-
Power generators were
saw to all parts of the country. They are well
ber of livestock on its farms, especially pigs and
the hydroelectric potential
maintained but narrow. Cross-country roads,
cattle. Few peasant farms are without pigs, and
treams was utilized, and ener
however, are often in very poor condition.
though cattle raising is less important than rais-
able factories and workshop
The railroads are relatively more important
eltin
ing swine, the size of the herds has been in-
steel industry has bee
for both passengers and freight than in western
the
creased in an attempt to improve the country's
Silesian coalfield,
Europe. The total length of track is about 14,-
eatly
living standard. The number of sheep is re-
reased by the incorported
425 miles (23,214 km), of which at least 2,000
iously German sector of the d
stricted by the scarcity of good grazing land.
miles (3,220 km) are electrified. The railroads
Horses are less in demand since small tractors are
are much more developed in areas taken from
replacing them for farm work.
ions were made to existing ste
Germany than in the rest of the country.
vorks was built near Warsaw and
and steel works were built a
K. KAMINSKI, TAURUS PHOTOS
d to the east of Kraków, where
I of Nowa Huta was founded
rkers in the nearby factory. Sinc
S of iron ore are small, much
furnaces is brought by rail from
1.
cal and electrical engineeringli
atly expanded; particularly
u), Poznań, Bydgoszcz, and Up
obuilding has been developed
n) and Gdańsk (Danzig) am
of automobiles at Warsaw
The great steel city of Nowa Huta
tant industrial products includ
was founded just east of Kraków
es, and artificial fertilizers. Food
in 1949. It is a major metallurgical
nother important industry. A
center, based on Polish coal and
try which is based on Hungarian
iron ore that is imported primarily
estic brown coal, has also been
from the Soviet Union.
AGRICULTURE
on of agriculture in the decades
i War II was little short of is
agricultural output rose by over
50 and 1970. Cereal production
d, with a significant shift from
305
however, now take the form of animal products
with pork products among the most important of
its food exports. The amount of grain that must
be imported increases as agriculture declines
relative importance in the country's economy and in
as the population expands. Helping to offset
these imports are significant exports of chemicals
textiles and clothing, footwear, and fishing and
other vessels.
Apart from the Communist countries, West
Germany is Poland's largest trading partner, fol
lowed by the United Kingdom and the United
States. In the 1970's, Poland became increasingly
dependent on the United States for grain.
3. The People
The Poles are a Slavic people. The core of
their country was established in the 10th century
by Slavic tribes called the Polane (Poljane), who
lived along the bend of the Warta River. Gradu
ally other Slavic tribes to the north and the east
were brought under their rule. The Poles then
spread across the Vistula, where they partially
absorbed the Prussian, Lithuanian, and Ruther
nian peoples.
Language. The early Slavic tribes of east.
central Europe had their distinctive dialects
K. KAMINSKI, TAURUS PHOTOS
These were gradually replaced by standard Polish
Shipbuilding at Gdańsk (above) and Szczecin (Stettin)
in the area ruled over by the descendants of the
provide Poland with one of its most profitable exports.
Polane. Standard Polish was derived from the
speech of the Polane tribes. Traces of the earlier
dialects still exist, however, among the Kaszub
Rivers and canals are of comparatively little
of eastern Pomerania and in a language akin to
importance as transportation routes. However,
Slovak in some areas of the Polish Carpathians,
the Odra is used for freighting Silesian coal to
Population Growth and Composition. The growth
the port of Szczecin (Stettin) and for importing
of the Polish population was particularly rapid
iron ore. Coal and iron ore are also shipped
during the Middle Ages, when the Poles suffered
along the Gliwicki Canal, which links the Upper
much less severely than the rest of Europe from
Silesian coalfield with the Odra. The Vistula
the ravages of the Black Death. Although the
(Wisła) is too shallow for modern barges.
population suffered serious declines during the
Trade with fellow members of the Communist
bloc goes largely by rail. Seaborne trade with the
wars of the 17th century, it recovered during
the relative peace of the 18th century and again
rest of the world is mainly through the ports of
grew rapidly during the 19th and early 20th
Gdańsk and Szczecin. (Szczecin, on the west
centuries.
bank of the Odra, was included in Poland after
The population of Poland on the eve of
World War II since the Odra basin, which
World War II was more than 35 million. Of this
formed its hinterland, lay mainly in Poland.)
total almost one third belonged to minority peo-
Gdańsk embraces for administrative purposes the
ples, the most numerous being the Ukrainians or
port of Gdynia, developed between the two world
Ruthenians, who made up nearly 14% of the total
wars chiefly for the handling of bulk commodities
population. The Jewish community numbered
such as coal and iron ore. Gdańsk-Gdynia is
nearly 3 million, most of whom spoke Polish and
served mainly by rail and road since the Vistula
were fully integrated into Polish life. The Ruthe
is of little value for commerce.
nians and a high proportion of the Jewish popu-
FOREIGN TRADE
lation lived in the eastern provinces, which in
September 1939 were annexed to the USSR.
The volume of foreign trade steadily in-
It is difficult to estimate the extent of Po-
creased in the post-World War II period. About
land's wartime population losses, but these, in-
two thirds of it is with other members of the
cluding the liquidation of Polish Jews, cannot
Communist bloc. The most important trading
have been less than 6 million.
partner is the Soviet Union. The integrated spe-
Poland's overall reduction in population after
cialization in production among members of
World War II was due largely to the loss of Ger-
COMECON has had the effect of increasing the
mans. The Germans who had been living in the
volume of their mutual trade, since their econ-
area that became postwar Poland numbered more
omies are complementary rather than competitive.
than 8,765,000 before World War II. They were
Poland has become an important supplier as
concentrated in Pomerania, Silesia, in the former
well as importer of machinery and equipment.
German province of Posen, in Gdańsk, and in
Coal has long been a very important export, but
East Prussia. Their numbers had increased to
it is approximately balanced by the import of
well over 10 million during the war by the settle
petroleum. The latter comes largely from the
ment in German-occupied Poland of refugees
Soviet Union by way of the "Friendship Pipe-
from Allied bombing in Germany.
line." Iron ore and textile raw materials are sig-
As the war drew to its end, many Germans
nificant imports.
fled before the Soviet troops advancing on Ger-
Poland at one time was a major exporter of
many. By 1946 the exodus of Germans had
grain to western Europe. Agricultural exports,
duced the German population in Polish territory
306
take the form of animal production
lucts among the most important
about 2,288,000. This was reduced even fur-
ts. The amount of grain that
to by migration during the following year.
ncreases as agriculture decline
ther When migration effectively ceased in the late
tanc
he country's economy
the German-speaking population of Po-
atio
Inds. Helping to
1940's, had dropped to between 125,000 and 300,-
are
cant exports of chemic
Land In 1975 a treaty was signed by Poland and
lothing, footwear, and fishing
000. Germany relating to the further migration
West Germans from Poland. The treaty was ratified
a the Communist countries
of West Germany in 1976. It provided for the
bland's largest trading partner.
Poland, in the succeeding four years,
United Kingdom and the Unit
to over 100,000 individuals of Ger-
1970's, Poland became increasing
man extraction wishing to leave Poland for West
the United States for grain.
Germany. This enormous migration from Poland after
World War II was only partially offset by the
are a Slavic people. The core
vas established in the 10th centy
immigration of about 1.5 million Poles from the
castern Poland that had passed to
S called the Polane (Poljane)
the Soviet Union, and by the repatriation of
e bend of the Warta River. Grad
about 2,266,000 Poles who had been taken to
vic tribes to the north and the
Germany as forced labor or who had served in
under their rule. The Polesi
the armies of the western Allies.
the Vistula, where they partis
A census taken in 1946 revealed. that the
Prussian, Lithuanian, and Rutk
population of Poland within its new boundaries
was about 24 million. The birthrate was high
The early Slavic tribes of e
during the following years, and the population
e had their distinctive diale
rose steadily. By 1960 it had reached 30 million.
idually replaced by standard Pol
Thereafter the rate of increase slackened, as the
HANS KRAMARZ
led over by the descendants of
birthrate declined from its postwar peak of more
Hundreds of thousands of Polish Roman Catholics make
lard Polish was derived from
than 25 per 1,000 to 18 per 1,000 in 1974. By
a pilgrimage in August to Częstochowa monastery.
Polane tribes. Traces of the earl
1982 the estimated population totaled 36.1 mil-
:xist, however, among the Kasz
lion.
nerania and in a language akin
Religion. The Polish population is over-
In some small towns in eastern Poland the
e areas of the Polish Carpathia
whelmingly Roman Catholic. In the 16th cen-
Jews formed, if not a majority, at least a large
Growth and Composition. The gro.
tury the Reformation made some progress, but
minority. In Warsaw, where they formed a large
population was particularly
this was reversed during the Counter-Reforma-
and closely knit community, they chiefly inhab-
ddle Ages, when the Poles suffer
tion. During the following centuries Poland was
ited the Muranów suburb, to the northwest of
rely than the rest of Europesh
faced with the hostility of Prussia and Russia,
the Old City. Although they were to be found in
F the Black Death. Although C
the one Lutheran, the other Orthodox. The effect
all walks of life, they were most numerous in
fered serious declines during
was to intensify the Catholicism of Poland. In-
urban retailing and in handling the cash sales of
17th
tury, it recovered duri
deed, Russian interference in the internal affairs
the peasantry. Their role in landowning and
ace
18th century and age
of Poland and Russia's involvement in the parti-
farming was limited.
dur
19th and early 20
tioning of Poland in the 18th century had as their
The liquidation of Polish Jewry began soon
immediate cause the Polish treatment of the
after the German conquest of most of the country
ation of Poland on the eve
Orthodox population in the eastern provinces of
in September 1939. Two of the most notorious
was more than 35 million. Offth
the country. During the 19th century, when
extermination camps-Oświęcim (Auschwitz),
ne third belonged to minority
Poland had ceased to exist as an independent
near Kraków, and Majdanek, near Lublin-were
numerous being the Ukrainians
state, the Roman Catholic church played a vital
on Polish soil. Continued harassment of the Jews
ho made up nearly 14% of the to
role in keeping alive the spirit of nationalism.
provoked the so-called Ghetto Rising in Warsaw
he Jewish community number
Without the village priests who identified loyalty
in April 1943, when Muranów was barricaded
n, most of whom spoke Polish
to the church with loyalty to the concept of a
and defended by its Jewish population. Its resis-
grated into Polish life. The Ruth
Poland, it is possible that many Poles would have
tance, however, was short-lived. Muranów was
gh proportion of the Jewish pop
become assimilated with their powerful neighbors.
completely destroyed, and those of its inhabitants
the eastern provinces, which
With the establishment of the Polish Com-
who survived were sent to concentration camps.
9 were annexed to the USSR.
munist state after World War II, the very exis-
The Jewish population of Poland today is es-
ilt to estimate the extent of 5:-
tence of the church was threatened. Yet in no
timated to be about 35,000, but no official count
population losses, but these,
other Soviet-bloc country has Catholicism proved
has been made. Furthermore, the Polish gov-
quidation of Polish Jews, cann
so tenacious in resisting the onslaughts of Com-
ernment has adopted to some degree an anti-
than 6 million.
munism, which is committed to the promotion of
Semitic policy.
erall reduction in population aft
atheism. In the decades following World War II,
Cities, Towns, and Villages. When the Polish
was due largely to the loss of C.
relations between state and church have oscil-
Republic was established in 1918, only about one
mans who had been living in th
lated: at times the state seemed to be seeking
quarter of the population lived in cities and
ne postwar Poland numbered mc
some kind of partial reconciliation with the
towns. Economic development during the inter-
before World War II. They We,
church; but more frequently their relationship
war years led to a considerable increase in the
1 Pomerania, Silesia, in the form
has been marked with hostility, as the state has
size of cities. Nevertheless, the urban population
ice of Posen, in Gdańsk, and
stripped the church of all but its spiritual power,
was only slightly more than 30% by 1939. As a
Their numbers had increased
which has proved to be beyond the state's grasp.
result of World War II, Poland lost the lightly
illion during the war by the setti
Jewish Population. The Jewish population of
urbanized eastern provinces, but gained the more
an-occupied Poland of refuge
Poland numbered about 2,750,000 before World
heavily urbanized German provinces in the west.
nbing in Germany.
War II, almost 80 times larger than it is today.
Despite the wartime destruction of such cities
drew to its end, many Germa
The Jews lived chiefly in the cities, and of these
as Warsaw and Wrocław, the urban population
Soviet troops advancing on Co
urban dwellers a higher proportion lived in east-
in 1950 made up 40% of the total, and this in-
6 the exodus of Germans had F
em than in western Poland. In eastern Poland
creased to more than 50% in the 1970's.
man population in Polish territo
the Pale of Jewish settlement was established
The largest city is Warsaw, with a population
during the Russian Czarist period.
of almost 1.6 million. It replaced Kraków as
307
por
NIECH
Pol.
ROHATERSKA WABSZAWA
(d:
BIASTO PRACY POLICIU
mot
dur:
was
Poli
Oth
(Po
Czę
sma
both
and
trad
the
DPI, FLORENCE TONCIYR
still
The Russian-built Palace of Culture and Science, viewed from a modern hotel plaza, is Warsaw's tallest building.
festi
4.
Poland's capital in 1596 because of its central
is deplorable. But the Polish government has
location. The castle (zamek) was built overlook-
established new residential towns around the
ing the Vistula. To the north lay the Old City;
scio
periphery of the region, made up largely of row
to the west and south there developed elegant
flect
houses, which are generally superior to the
suburbs, in which the Polish aristocracy built
in
earlier forms of workers' housing. The largest
magnificent urban palaces. Many of them sur-
cust
towns within the industrial region are Katowice
have
vive, most of which house departments of the
Zabrze, Bytom, and Chorzów, inhabited mainly
Polish government. Industrial and residential
by miners and workers in the metal industries
suburbs, including Muranów, grew up at a great-
crat
Lódź, the second-largest city, is southwest of
shor
er distance from the city center, some of them
Warsaw. A large, sprawling industrial town
thel.
across the Vistula to the east.
is engaged largely in textile manufacture.
othe
Warsaw's growth was very rapid in the late
grew up in the mid-19th century and at one time
19th and early 20th centuries, and by 1939 it
tried
was notorious for its squalor.
had a population of 1,289,000. It was then more
mus
Other important urban centers are Krakow
tion:
than three quarters destroyed in the fighting in
Wrocław, Bydgoszcz, and the port cities of
September 1939 before it capitulated to the Ger-
Gdańsk, Gdynia, and Szczecin.
mans, during the Ghetto Rising in 1943, and
Kraków (Cracow), the medieval capital of
above all during the general rising against the
Poland, is a city of great beauty and charm
It
Germans in 1944.
is located within a bend of the Vistula, and
Rebuilding began soon after this. The Polish
dominated by its castle, the Wawel, now a mu-
government decided on the slow and costly pro-
seum and art gallery, and the cathedral, which
cess of reconstructing the Old and Inner City
contains the tombs of many of the early kings of
in their traditional styles. They used as models
Poland. It was considered to be a conservative
Malb
the paintings and drawings made between 1770
and aristocratic city, and it is said to have been
one
and 1780 by Bernardo Bellotto, known as the
for this reason that the Communist regime lo-
build
"Younger Canaletto," when he was court painter
cated the largest of its new iron and steel works
by th
to the last king of Poland. The result was widely
and its workers' colony of Nowa Huta a short
centu
praised as a prime example of period restoration.
distance from it. Nowa Huta has been incorpo-
Pruss
The cost was immense, and the rebuilding of
rated into Kraków, which has thus been trans
knigl
housing was unquestionably starved of resources
formed into a mainly working-class city.
Pola
as a result. Warsaw became a museum of Polish
Wrocław, formerly the German city of Breslau
eral
history, as it was intended to be, and it was in-
and capital of the former province of Silesia, is
dicative of the prevailing mood of patriotism that
posse
an industrial town lying on the Odra River. Be-
scarcely a voice was raised in protest against this
fore World War II it was a city of great historical
example of extravagance.
interest and an important center of the engineer-
After Warsaw and its surrounding region, the
ing and metallurgical industries. It was, however,
most highly urbanized areas of Poland are Upper
defended by the Germans against the advancing
Silesia and the Lódź region. Upper Silesia, with
Russians in 1945 and reduced to ruins. The older
a population of about 1.5 million, is the leading
part of the city has been rebuilt in traditional
center of heavy industry. Although some of its
style.
closely spaced cities antedate the rise of modern
Gdańsk (Danzig), the old port city near the
industry, most grew up in the 19th century, and
mouth of the Vistula, was predominantly Ger.
are among the worst examples in Europe of
man-speaking before World War II. Though it
unplanned urban growth. Much of the housing
had been constituted a "free city" after World
308
POLAND
309
I, its population was highly sympathetic to
and gentry were of the same ethnic stock as the
War Reich. It was the center of heavy fight-
peasantry and shared with them the same lan-
Hitler's in 1945, when it was overrun by the Red
guage. By contrast, the upper classes in the
ing and severely damaged. The city and its
Czech lands tended to be German, and in south-
Army were rebuilt and reequipped. The older
eastern Europe they were for a long time Turkish.
port quarters were reconstructed, as in Warsaw and
Literature. The Polish cultural tradition took
Wroclaw, in traditional Renaissance style. The
shape between the 16th and 19th centuries. By
pales were eager to emphasize that Gdańsk was
the 16th century a flexible and versatile written
Polish city before it passed under German rule.
language had evolved. A literary tradition began
(dynia, 12 miles (19 km) northwest of Gdańsk,
to develop, and within a century a large and
built up as a port city in the 1920's, and
varied literature had come into existence. Prom-
acks was distinction or charm.
inent among a large number of Renaissance writ-
Szczecin (Stettin), which is a port city near the
ers was Mikołaj Rej, whose most important work
mouth of the Odra, was almost wholly destroyed
was one in prose on the rural life of the Polish
Juring World War II, and its German population
gentry. Among early poets was the 16th century
was driven out. It was rebuilt and colonized by
humanist Jan Kochanowski, who created a na-
Polish immigrants from the lost eastern provinces.
tional poetic literature in the classic and human-
Other important industrial cities are Poznań
istic spirit. Outstanding writers in the 18th
Posen), Bydgoszcz (Bromberg), Lublin, and
century included the political reformer Hugo
Czestochowa. There are many medium-sized and
Kollataj, the real drafter of the Constitution of
small towns.
1791; and Ignacy Krasicki, a poet and the author
Generally, the cottages in the villages line
of Poland's first novel, The Adventures of Miko-
both sides of a street, usually have one story,
taj Doświadczyński (1776).
and are built of wood and thatched according to
The Romantic period was the most distin-
traditional designs, which vary from one part of
guished in Polish literature, because the deeply
the country to another. Peasant costumes are
felt tragedy of the partitions and the demise of
DPI,
tel plaza, is Warsaw's tallest buil
still worn in some areas on holidays and other
the Polish state gave rise to intense literary ex-
festive occasions.
pression. It was dominated by the work of three
poets, Adam Mickiewicz, Juliusz Słowacki, and
4. Culture
Zygmunt Krasiński. Mickiewicz fled his country
But the Polish government
Few European peoples are more deeply con-
with the failure of the 1830-1831 rising against
V residential towns around
scious of their past than the Poles. This is re-
Poland's Russian rulers and became the literary
e region, made up largely of
Hected in their preservation of traditional styles
leader of the Poles in exile. He published many
are generally superior to
if workers' housing. The lar
in the postwar rebuilding of ruined cities and of
poems, but he is chiefly known for his epic poem
e industrial region are Katow
customs that in other Communist countries would
Pan Tadeusz, which presented a sympathetic
have been condemned as bourgeois.
picture of rural life in Lithuania. Thanks to him,
and Chorzów, inhabited ma
A great deal of Polish culture has an aristo-
Polish literature came into the orbit of world
worke in the metal industri
cratic quality. The Polish nobility and gentry,
literature. Słowacki was a poetic dramatist of
econ
est city, is southwest
shortsighted though they were politically, never-
great power and intensity, whose work revolved
ge,
ing industrial town
theless set a standard of graceful living that
around the tragedy of the Polish nation. Krasin-
gely
textile manufacture!
other sections of society have in varying degrees
ski, the last of the three great figures of Polish
mid-19th century and at one'll
tried to approximate. In art and architecture,
or its squalor.
Romanticism, was also a dramatist whose plays
music and dancing, even in daily personal rela-
had a deep political purpose. He was a prom-
rtant urban centers are Krako
tionships, this quality is apparent. The nobility
inent exponent of what has been called Polish
goszez, and the port cities
1, and Szczecin.
racow), the medieval capital
HANS KRAMARZ
y of great beauty and charm
-n a bend of the Vistula, and
S castle, the Wawel, now
allery, and the cathedral,
ibs of many of the early kings
considered to be a conservati
Malbork (Marienburg) Castle is
city, and it is said to have be
one of the largest medieval secular
that the Communist regime
buildings in Europe. It was built
of its new iron and steel wor
by the Teutonic Knights in the 13th
colony of Nowa Huta a sho
century after they had conquered
Nowa Huta has been
Prussia. The headquarters of the
ów, which has thus been tran
knights in what is now northern
ainly working-class city.
Poland, this castle withstood sev-
merly the German city of Bresis
eral sieges before the Poles took
he former province of Silesia,
possession of it in the 15th century.
/n lying on the Odra River B
II it was a city of great historic
important center of the engineer-
gical industries. It was, however
Germans against the advancin
and reduced to ruins. The older
has been rebuilt in traditions
zig), the old port city near the
fore istula, was predominantly Gon
d War II. Though
tute
ee city" after World
Music. Poland has a rich legacy of folk
and dance, which was refined for performance song
the homes of the gentry. Most Polish composers in
made use of traditional materials, and none more
than Chopin, Poland's most famous composer
Karol Kurpiński and Stanislaw Moniuszko were
leading operatic composers of the 19th century
who used the stage to present various aspects
Polish life and aspirations. The 20th century of
composer Karol Szymanowski, while never for
getting the national tradition in music, reflected
more closely the impressionist trends of western
Europe. Witold Lutosławski and Krzysztof Pende-
recki thought. reflect contemporary trends in musical
Architecture and Painting. Though architecture
in Poland has always been influenced by foreign
styles, it has never lost its traditional and
tional flavor. This is shown in the Renaissand na.
architecture of the cities of southern Poland
the 18th century the landowners built rural In
manor houses and urban palaces in the restrained
classical style known as Palladian. Warsaw con-
tains some of the finest Palladian architecture
in Europe. Every effort is made to preserve the
older buildings as part of Poland's cultural her
itage. This is particularly true in the carefully
rebuilt Wrocław. parts of Warsaw, Gdańsk, Poznań, and
Painting developed later than literature
K. KAMINSKI, TAURUS PHOTOS
The royal castle on Wawel Hill in Kraków was the seat
architecture. Bernardo Belloto, an Italian, por- and
of the kings of Poland in the 14th-16th centuries.
trayed Polish life in the late 18th century. Paint
ing in the 19th century was romantic and nation-
alist, and Jan Matejko, the best-known artist of
messianism-the view of Poland, "the Christ
the period, portrayed heroic scenes from Poland's
history.
among the nations," as suffering, dying, and ris-
ing again.
As in the case of literature, socialist realism
The Romantic tradition gave way to a more
was the dominant style in the post-World War
realistic vein after the failure of the final rising
II period. However some artists, working with-
against Russia in 1863-1864. Polish writing be-
out public sanction, painted in the same mod
came less visionary and concerned itself more
ernist styles that were current in the non-Com-
munist world.
with economic and social improvement within a
political framework that clearly could not be
Cinema. Two Polish film directors gained an
changed in the near future. The short stories
international reputation after World War II.
and novels of Bolesław Prus, pseudonym of Alek-
Andrzej Wajda directed a trilogy consisting of
sander Glowacki, were of paramount importance
A Generation (1954), Kanal (1957), and Ashes
for the development of the art of realistic narra-
and Diamonds (1958). Roman Polanski's Knife
tion in Poland. Best known to the West of the
in the Water appeared in 1962. On the strength
writers of this period was Henryk Sienkiewicz,
of this work he was welcomed by foreign pro-
who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1905
ducers and continued his work in the United
States and elsewhere.
for The Teutonic Knights. His Quo Vadis had
a world circulation in the millions.
5. Education-
At the turn of the century, realism gave way
to symbolism and modernism. One of the out-
In 1918, Poland faced the enormous task of
standing poets of the new era was Jan Kasprowicz,
overcoming the inadequacies of the educational
a lyric poet. The gifted novelist Stefan Zeromski
systems as they had developed in German-, Rus-
brought an unprecedented lyrical vividness to
sian-, and Austrian-held Poland. In Russian
his descriptions of poverty, suffering, and social
Poland, illiteracy was high. In German Poland;
evil. The novelist Władysław Reymont won the
education had been subordinated to other objec-
Nobel Prize for literature in 1924 for his novel
tives of the state, two of which were to counter
The Peasants. The most creative dramatist of
the influence of the Roman Catholic Church
and to destroy Polish nationalism.
the period was Stanisław Wyspiański.
The educational system devised for a united
In the first decade of Poland's rebirth as a
Poland reduced illiteracy to 12% by 1939. School-
sovereign nation, lyric poetry predominated, un-
der the aegis of a group called the Skamandrites.
ing was made compulsory for all between the
Its outstanding poet was Juljan Tuwim. The nov-
ages of 8 and 15. Education was organized in
elists generally were realists.
two stages, primary and secondary, with a third
After World War II, socialist realism took
stage for selected students between the ages of
root, with literature tending to serve the political
16 and 18. Private organizations, in particular
aims of the state. However, when Nikita Khrush-
the Roman Catholic Church, played an important
role in organizing education. The Polish author-
chev came to power in the Soviet Union in 1956,
a temporary "thaw" ensued in Poland that per-
ities permitted teaching in non-Polish languages
mitted greater literary freedom.
in communities where these were spoken. In a
large number of schools, German, Lithuanian,
310
POLAND: 5. Education-6. Government
311
land has a rich legacy of folk
Czech, Yiddish, and Hebrew
6. Government
/hich was refined for performance
the
ry. Most Polish compo
Russian, Ukrainian, "ereducation
in Communist Poland. After World
Before World War II, Poland was, according
trac
materials, and nonem
P
most famous compo
II the Communist authorities imposed a
to its constitution, a parliamentary democracy.
ski Stanislaw Moniuszko
War uniform and closely controlled educational
However the spirt of the constitution was violated
tic composers of the 19th centu
more wstem. Few concessions were made to linguistic
when Marshal Pilsudski, minister for war and
minorities, and the role of private organizations
inspector general of the army, exercised almost
stage to present various aspects
Macked schools was organized
education, in particular that of the church, was
dictatorial control in the decade before his death
nd aspirations. The 20th centr
in 1935. This constitution effectively lapsed with
rol Szymanowski, while never
lines. Textbooks were re-
the fall of the republic in 1939, though appeal
ational tradition in music, reflect
the impressionist trends of west
written on to fit the new educational philosophy.
was constantly made to it by the postwar govern-
history books now portrayed the Soviet
ment. A temporary constitution was adopted in
Id Lutosławski and Krzysztof Pend
contemporary trends in music
The ('nion as Poland's savior. At the same time the
1947, but it was continuously modified in the
teaching of the Russian language was made com-
direction of the Soviet Union's.
training in mathematics and scien-
A new constitution was adopted on July 22,
and Painting. Though architect
was strengthened.
1952. Openly modeled on Stalin's constitution of
always been influenced by fore
university level, education is orga-
1936, it provides for a single chamber assembly,
never lost its traditional and
nized into three stages. Children are required to
or Sejm, elected for a four-year term by all
This is shown in the Renaissa
attend nursery schools from 4 to 6, in part to
citizens over 17 years old. There is, however,
f the cities of southern Poland!
indoctrinate them at an early age, in part to allow
a single list of candidates, so that the elector can
tury the landowners built
their mothers to take factory or office jobs. Com-
vote only for or against the official nominee.
and urban palaces in the restrai
pulsory schooling continues to the age of 15 and
The chief function of the Sejm is to choose
known as Palladian. Warsaw
followed by an optional period of three years,
the Council of State, which corresponds to the
the finest Palladian archited
during IS which the student usually specializes in
Presidium of the Supreme Soviet within the
'ery effort is made to preserve
scientific subjects. In attempting to fulfill its
Soviet Union. The chairman of the Council of
; as part of Poland's cultural
declared objective of creating a skilled and
State is the titular chief of state. The council
particularly true in the care
literate work force for a modern industrial soci-
serves as a kind of collective sovereign body for
of Warsaw, Gdańsk, Poznan,
E.
cty, Poland has undoubtedly achieved consider-
the Polish state. It can issue binding decrees in
veloped later than literature
able success with this educational system. The
time of emergency and is the supreme interpreter
Bernardo Belloto, an Italian,
price has been the suppression of religious educa-
of the constitution in cases of dispute. It does
tion, the loss of the richness and variety of a
not, however, exercise executive functions under
fe in the late 18th century. Par
system that was adjusted to ethnic and regional
normal conditions. These are vested in the Coun-
century was romantic and nati
differences, and the imposition of a crude Marxist-
cil of Ministers, a kind of cabinet, presided over
Matejko, the best-known artist
Leninist philosophy.
by a chairman who serves as premier. The
trayed heroic scenes from Polat
Before 1939, Poland as it then existed had
Council of Ministers is elected by the Sejm. It is
five universities. The Jagiellonian University in
the duty of the Council of Ministers to prepare
ase of literature, socialist real
Kraków, founded in 1364, was one of the oldest
the budget and to formulate the economic plans,
ant style in the post-World V.
in Europe. The others were at Warsaw, Poznań,
all of which must be submitted to the Sejm for
vever some artists, working WI
Lwów, and Vilna. The last two are now in the
ratification. This constitution establishes certain
ctior
ted in the same mc
Soviet Union. In addition, there was a Catholic
outward forms of democracy, including the re-
it
rrent in the non-C
University at Lublin, supported and staffed by
sponsibility of the premier and Council of
the church. This still survives as the only private
Ministers to the Sejm. They are, however, nomi-
) Polish film directors gained
university in the whole Communist bloc. As a
nees of. the party, as is the Sejm itself. Further-
putation after World War
result of boundary changes, Poland acquired the
more, the Council of State also includes nominees
directed a trilogy consisting
university of Wrocław (Breslau). It has also
of the Communist party.
1954), Kanal (1957), and A
founded five new universities at Łódź, Lublin,
Communist Party Structure. The Communist
(1958). Roman Polanski's K
Cdańsk, Katowice, and Torun. The one at
party of Poland, known as the Polish United
peared in 1962. On the strent
Lublin was clearly designed to counter the influ-
Workers' Party (Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robot-
was welcomed by foreign
ence of the Catholic University of Lublin, located
nicza), was formed in 1948 by a fusion of the
tinued his work in the Unit
a short distance away on the same street.
Communist Polish Workers' party with the Polish
here.
There are in addition ten technical universi-
Socialist party. Its membership, always quite
ties, in which instruction is geared to the needs
small, is about 2.5 million. This is in keeping
of industry; seven agricultural colleges; six insti-
with the general Communist practice of preferring
ind faced the enormous tasi
tutes specializing in economics and social sciences;
a small party of indoctrinated and dedicated
inadequacies of the educan
and a number of training colleges for teachers,
cadres to a larger group of doubtful loyalty. The
ad developed in German,, R.
music academies, schools of art and drama, and
party is more highly organized and more active
rian-held Poland. In Russt
vocational schools that provide part-time training
in the industrial cities and the western parts of
was high. In German Polar
for those already employed. Medical schools,
the country than it is in the east, where the rela-
en subordinated to other obj
which were formerly attached to the universities,
tively conservative peasantry is numerically dom-
two of which were to count
are now dependent directly on the ministry of
inant.
the Roman Catholic Chr
health. A number of new academies of medicine
The local Communist parties elect members
olish nationalism.
were founded in the 1950's.
to the central committee of the party, which in
al system devised for a unit
At the summit of the Polish educational sys-
turn delegates control over all political activity
literacy to 12% by 1939. Schoo
tem is the Academy of Sciences. In its organiza-
to its politburo (political bureau). The most
ompulsory for all between
tion it is modeled directly on the Soviet Academy,
powerful person within both the central commit-
;. Education was organized
with a number of institutes or divisions corre-
tee and its politburo is its first secretary.
ry and secondary, with a.th
sponding with special fields of knowledge. It is
Power in Poland ultimately rests with the
students between the ages
not primarily a teaching institution, though its
central committee and its first secretary, since
ite organizations, in partice
staff has close links with the University of
they in fact control all the institutions of govern-
ic Church, played an import
Warsaw. Its purpose is to carry on research, to
ment provided for in the constitution. This is
education. The Polish autl
provide a link between the government and
not to say, however, that they are beyond the
tching in non-Polish langus
academic bodies, and, above all, to ensure that
reach of public pressure. In 1956, in 1970, and
here these were spoken,
higher education and research conform strictly
in 1980, rioting led to shakeups in the party
scho
German, Lithua
with the principles of Marxism-Leninism.
and the replacement of the first secretary.
312
POLAND: 7. History
Local Government. Following the reform of the
7. History
administrative structure in 1973-1975, the num-
state.
ber of provinces (województwa) was increased
The Polish state was born in the mid
their
from 22 to 49, of which three are the metropoli-
tan cities of Warsaw, Łódź, and Kraków. In each
of the 10th century. It appears in recorded!!
mark its beginning. Poland was formed by
tory in 963, and this date is commonly taken
rolar
there is a twofold structure of civil government
Unio
and party organization. At the local level of
administration there are 2,365 gminy (communi-
tribes that lived in the area between the
ties), which have replaced the earlier and more
and the Vistula rivers. The most important
will
complex structure of counties, municipalities, and
literally "the people of the plain." It is
these Slavic tribes were the Polane Poljane)
move
I
communes. In each of these lower-order units,
them that Poland derives its name.
next
peoples' councils, similar to the soviets in the
tribes, were first brought under a group
The Polane, originally a loosely knit
wun
USSR, exercise jurisdiction over local affairs.
be
These major reforms in local administration
had the effect of reducing the size of the bureauc-
leadership in the early 10th century. common To
for
literally "the people beside the sea," whose
north of the Polane lived the Slavic Pomorzania
coun
racy, since thousands of jobs were eliminated
make
with the demise of the counties (powiaty).
survives in the regional name of Pomorze
them
Furthermore, increasing the number of provinces
ania). The Slavic Mazowszanie lived to the
meant the reduction of each in size. In this way
in the Vistula Valley. These regional grouph
over
Warsaw was able to dilute the political impor-
of Slavic tribes persisted through the Mid.
effec
tance of the provincial party chiefs.
direc
Defense. Poland is a member of the Warsaw
Ages in Poland and were reflected in Poland
Pact (the Eastern European Mutual Aid Treaty).
political divisions. Some of the tribes continued
fami
to exist in almost complete independence
die
It maintains a standing army with paramilitary
The Piast Dynasty. The first historicall
units. It is organized on the Soviet model, with
fiable member of the family that dominated
integ
three military areas based on Warsaw, Bydgoszcz,
area between the Odra and the Vistula
and Wrocław. Polish youth are subject to con-
coun
scription at the age of 18, and may be recalled
Mieszko I. He founded the Piast dynasty Pin
Odn
for service up to 50.
being the name of one of his family's legendary
Bole
was recognized as king by Emperor Otto III, and Who
ancestors. Mieszko (reigned about 963-992)
There is also an air force, equipped with
mou
Soviet-built planes. The navy consists of a few
succ
destroyers and submarines, together with mine-
his immediate successor, Boleslav the Brave
alien
(Boleslaw Chrobry; reigned 992-1025);
sweepers and auxiliary craft.
expanded the limits of their state, conquering greatly
calle
A Soviet force of two divisions is maintained
1333
on Polish soil for the ostensible purpose of
territory westward to the Odra, northward to the
Casi
maintaining communications with the Soviet
Baltic, and southward to the mountains The
reil
forces in East Germany. Though stationed away
general limits of the state over which the early
ruler
from centers of population and rarely seen, this
Piasts asserted at least nominal control were At
his
military presence is a guarantee of the loyalty of
proximately those of modern Poland, exclusive
vers:
Poland to the Soviet Union.
of its northeastern section. The seat of Piast
the
authority was Gniezno, in the center of (their
velo
Highland shepherds wearing traditional costumes drive their sheep into summer pastures in the Tatra uplands.
Pias
Pola
ish t
which
early
cam
prov
Poli:
ever
Sile:
was
alon
vite
pute
Teu
invi
(M:
the
the
they
Cas
thro
kins
suc
Jad
(W
who
Jag
Poli
For
con
POLAND: 7. History
313
From here it was moved to Poznań, and by
common sovereign. By the Union of Lublin in
1300 to Kraków.
1569, concluded a few years before the death of
state
born in the middle
to Christianity and placed
the last Jagiellonian king, this personal or dynas-
ntury. It appears in recorded
under the direct authority of the pope.
tic union was replaced by the political union of
nd this date is commonly täke
seat of an archbishop, which
the kingdom of Poland and the grand principality
ning. Poland was formed by S
19th century, when the
of Lithuania.
ed in the area between the (
and primate of Poland was
The Poles had already begun to penetrate
la rivers. The most importan
moved seat to Warsaw.
Lithuania, still largely pagan and tribal in its
tibes were the Polane Polja
The political history of Poland during the
organization, when the Lithuanian duke Jagiello
people of the plain." It is
and derives its name.
next 500 years is extraordinarily complex. The
became king of Poland. The Polish nobles soon
country continued until the late 14th century to
formed a blood brotherhood with the Lithuanian
originally a loosely knit group
ruled by members of the Piast dynasty. But
landed aristocracy and carved out for themselves
first brought under a com
be for much of this period Poland was not a united
vast estates in this thinly populated land. At the
the early 10th century. To
lane lived the Slavic Pomorza
country. It was the practice among the Piasts to
same time the Lithuanians were converted to
make provision for younger sons by granting
Roman Catholicism.
:ople beside the sea," whose
them a duchy or province for their support. The
The Poles hoped to use Lithuanian manpower
regional name of Pomorze (Por
king continued to have a nominal suzerainty
in order to help stem the advance of the Ger-
vic Mazowszanie lived to the
over the whole country, but his authority was
mans. Of the Germans, the Teutonic Knights of
Valley. These regional group
effective only in those areas that were under his
Prussia presented the gravest threat because they
S persisted through the M
direct control. Periodically, however, those Piast
were well disciplined and efficiently armed and
and were reflected in Pola
families holding appanages from the crown would
equipped. From their fortress of Malbork
is. Some of the tribes conting
die out, and their territories would revert to the
(Marienburg), they made raids into Polish terri-
st complete independence!
king. As a result, the country alternately dis-
tory. But in 1410, Jagiello and his Polish-
nasty. The first historically
integrated and drew together again.
Lithuanian army defeated the German knights at
of the family that dominated
Among the rulers who restored unity to the
Tannenberg (Grunwald). The Poles failed to
the Odra and the Vistula
country were Casimir (Kazimierz) I, named
follow up their victory, but at least, they con-
founded the Piast dynasty,
Odnowiciel, the "Restorer," in the 11th century;
tained the Germans, who thereafter posed no
of one of his family's legen
Boleslav III, nicknamed Krzywousty, the "Wry-
serious threat to them for more than two cen-
ko (reigned about 963-992),
mouthed" (reigned 1102-1138), who tried un-
turies. The Teutonic Order retained its land in
:S king by Emperor Otto III
successfully to terminate the practice of royal
Prussia, though in 1466 it was obliged to accept
successor, Boleslav the B
alienation of land; and Vladislav (Władyslaw) I,
Polish sovereignty over it. At the Reformation,
ry; reigned 992-1025), gre
called Lokietek, "the Short" (reigned about 1306-
these Prussian lands were secularized and ulti-
mits of their state, conque
1333). Vladislav was succeeded by his only son,
mately passed to the Hohenzollerns of Branden-
d to the Odra, northwardito
Casimir III, known later as Wielki, "the Great"
burg, by whom they were eventually used as a
hward to the mountains.
(reigned 1333-1370), the most distinguished
springboard for an attack on Poland.
the state over which the
ruler Poland was to know. He is remembered for
During the Jagiellonian period, which lasted
leas
ninal control were
his founding of Poland's first university, the Uni-
almost two centuries, Poland became at least
e 0
ern Poland, exch
versity of Kraków, his patronage of the arts, and
outwardly prosperous: the estates of the aristoc-
rn
The seat of
the encouragement he gave to the economic de-
racy produced grain for export to western
niezno, in the center of
velopment of the country.
Europe, and the merchants of Gdańsk grew rich
The weakness of the Polish crown under the
on trade. Yet all was not well with the Polish
Piasts, coupled with the political divisions within
state. The kings, in origin Lithuanian rather than
er pastures in the Tatra uplands
Poland, permitted Germans to encroach on Pol-
Polish, made far-reaching. concessions to the
ish territory. Germans advanced across the Odra,
gentry, or szlachta. This numerous body of land-
which had served as the western boundary of the
owners gained exemption from taxation in 1374
early Polish tribes, and much of Pomerania be-
and the right to fill the major offices of state.
came German in speech. Rulers of the western
The szlachta were given wide powers over their
provinces changed their allegiance from the
tenants, whose status they soon depressed to that
Polish crown to the Holy Roman Empire, and
of serfs.
even Casimir III relinquished the rich province of
Decline of Poland. In 1572, Sigismund (Zyg-
Silesia to the king of Bohemia. The Polish state
munt) II, the last king of the house of Jagiello,
was thus in retreat from its earlier boundary
died. Thereafter, until the disappearance of
along the Odra river.
Poland at the end of the 18th century, rulers
There were even times when Piast leaders in-
were elected not only from among the Poles but
vited Germans to aid them in their internal dis-
also from various royal and princely houses of
putes. In this way the crusading Knights of the
Europe. None of the foreign rulers had any deep
Teutonic Order went to East Prussia about 1226,
interest in the fortunes of Poland, and all were
invited by the Polish prince Conrad of Mazowsze
prepared to make concessions to the politically
(Masovia) to help him defend his borders against
powerful landowning gentry to secure election to
the fierce, marauding Prussian tribes. Inevitably,
the throne or to preserve an outward peace and
the German knights stayed to occupy the land
order.
they had been asked to protect.
The most successful of these elected kings
The Jagiellonian Dynasty of Poland-Lithuania.
was Stephen Batory (Báthory; reigned 1575-
Casimir III the Great left no direct heir. The
1586), prince of Transylvania. He was followed
throne passed to his nephew Louis, who was also
by the Vasa kings, members of the Swedish royal
king of Hungary. In 1382, Louis died and was
family. In 1669 a Pole, Michał Wiśniowiecki,
succeeded as "king of Poland" by his daughter
was chosen king. He ruled as Michael I and was
Jadwiga. In 1386 she married Vladislav Jagiello
followed by another member of the Polish aris-
Wladysław Jagiello), grand duke of Lithuania,
tocracy, Jan Sobieski, who ruled as John III.
who was crowned king of Poland, the first of the
John's death in 1696 was followed by the choice
Jagiellonian line. In his person he united the
of Augustus II, who as Frederick Augustus I was
Polish state with the vast duchy of Lithuania.
elector of Saxony. His son, who succeeded him
For two centuries the two countries were almost
as Augustus III, was confirmed as Poland's king
continuously united in the sense that they had a
in 1736. The last king of Poland, Stanislaw
LIVONIA
Moscow
Riga
SEA
COURLAND
BALTIC
Gdańsk
DUCHY
RUSSIA
OF
Chernigov
POLAND-LITHUANIA (1550)
Pozha
0
200 MI
0
200 Km.
HOLY
ROMAN
EMPIRE
Vienna
TRANSYLVANIA
SEA OF
MOLDAVIA
AZOV
HUNGARY
BLACK
SEA
Poniatowski, who ruled as Stanislav II (reigned
to avoid entanglement in the Thirty Years' War
1764-1795), was once again a native Pole.
(1618-1648), became deeply involved in war on
This succession of weak rulers was confronted
its southeastern frontier. Poles were pressing into
with problems that were far more serious than
the Ukrainian steppe, and their leaders were
es-
those the Jagiellonian kings had faced. The in-
tablishing large estates there. This aroused the
fluence of the gentry continued to grow, and the
hostility of two separate groups: the native
power they usurped was generally used for selfish
peoples of the steppe, the seminomadic Tatars;
ends. Eventually they acquired the right of
and the mixed group of frontiersmen or Cossacks,
liberum veto, by means of which any one of them
whose leader Bohdan Chmielnicki (Ukrainian,
could veto the proceedings and decisions of the
Khmelnytzkyi) became the most determined ad-
gentry meeting in the Sejm. Thus no policy
versary of Poland. The Tatars and Cossacks were
could be adopted or consistently pursued, and
supported in their resistance to the Poles by the
government gradually came to be replaced by
Turks to the south and the Russians to the north.
the "golden anarchy" of the Polish gentry.
Poland suffered severely during these confusing
The spread of serfdom impoverished the
frontier wars.
peasantry and reduced their demand for goods.
In 1655, Poland was invaded by the Swedes,
Craft industries withered, and the commerce of
who sought to extend their control in the Baltic
the small towns dried up. Poland became one of
region. The Swedes were joined by the Branden-
the least progressive countries in Europe.
burgers, and Poland was overrun by foreign
The political unification of Poland and Lithu-
armies. The Swedes were victorious until they
ania in important respects weakened rather than
attacked the hilltop monastery of Jasna Góra at
strengthened the state. The Poles were almost
Częstochowa in southern Poland. There they met
exclusively Roman Catholic, as were many in the
with unexpectedly stubborn resistance and were
Lithuanian aristocracy and gentry. But the
defeated. According to Polish legend, the de-
peasantry and lesser gentry of at least the south-
fenders were aided by the direct intervention of
eastern parts of Lithuania were Orthodox and re-
a religious ikon, the so-called Black Madonna,
sented the imposition of Catholic practices such
which hung within the monastery. In any case,
as the payment of the tithe. The feudal and
the Poles were heartened by what they considered
social stratification already present in these regions
divine support and forced the Swedes back to the
was reinforced by a religious gulf that was to
coast. The war dragged on for almost five more
have disastrous consequences.
years. It ended with the Peace of Oliva (1660),
International Repercussions of Poland's Decline.
by which Poland lost territory to both Sweden
As Poland's domestic problems increased, so did
and Brandenburg. Poland was devastated and
the power of its neighbors: Prussia to the west,
impoverished, but it had at least survived.
the Habsburg Empire to the south, the Tatars
The war in the steppe, however, was not
and Turks to the southeast, and Muscovy, or
over, in part because the Russian czar had every-
Russia, to the east. The only external threat that
thing to gain from stirring up the Cossacks and
Poland had previously faced was from the
Tatars against the Poles. Muscovy began its
Germans. Now land-hungry neighbors watched
steady pressure against the Polish-Lithuanian
as Poland grew steadily weaker, until at last they
state and in 1667 succeeded in annexing the
fell upon the helpless country and divided it
Kiev region. To the southeast the Turks joined
among themselves.
in the war against Poland. They were held by
The first intimation of this fate came in the
Jan Sobieski, later King John III, the last heroic
mid-17th century. Poland, which had been able
king of Poland, who ultimately drove them back.
314
trased The truble trouble the continued Turks Polish was to state. mount. spent, But the and power they
of the Russians
The 18th century was marked by the con-
weakness of Poland. The country again
www.fought.den over in the course of the wars be-
and Russia. Augustus II, Poland's
!ween who was also elector of Saxony, put the
interests king, of his Saxon electorate before those of
Polish kingdom. In 1733, when the Polish
his tried to elect a native Pole as his successor,
POLAND-LITHUANIA
Sejm was foiled by the Russian empress Anna Iva-
200 M
novna, it who won the succession for the elector's
who ruled as Augustus III. On the death of
200
will Augustus III, the last "Saxon" king, in 1763, the
Russian empress Catherine the Great nominated
her former lover, Stanislaw Poniatowski, who
mled Poland as Stanislav II. He failed to become
Catherine's pawn and so won her enmity.
Social and Religious Conditions in Poland Prior to
the Partitions. In the 18th century the political
scene within Poland was dominated by a small
SEA OF
number of aristocratic families, of which the
AZOV
Czartoryski, Lubomirski, Radziwiłł, and Potocki
were among the most important. Each owned
vast estates. The Lubomirski were said to have
held 10,000 square miles (26,000 sq km) of
SEA
land, 31 small towns, and more than 700 villages.
The gentry, each of whom held an estate, how-
ever small, numbered more than 700,000. They
¿lement in the Thirty Years
were a turbulent and unruly lot. Many were im-
EASTFOTO
ecame deeply involved in WA
poverished. Most were prepared to sell their
Kraków's historic Cloth Hall, backed by the Town Hall
frontier. Poles were pressing
vote and their sword to the highest bidder, and
tower, encloses one side of the city's large market square.
teppe, and their leaders were
they tended to form factions centering on one or
estates there. This aroused
more of the rich magnates. Towns were numer-
ous but small. Only Warsaw exceeded 50,000
The first partition (1772) was organized by
O
e groups: the mai
inhabitants by the end of the century, and the
the ambassadors of Poland's three most powerful
ste[
e seminomadic In
urban middle class was small and politically
neighbors. Prussia took Ermland and Pomerelia
(roup
fontiersmen or Cossa
Bohdan Chmielnicki (Ukrain
powerless. The rest of the population-no less
(renamed West Prussia), but without Gdańsk.
became the most determined
than 85% of the total-was made up of the
Austria acquired Galicia, and Russia absorbed a
d. The Tatars and Cossacks
peasantry. They were poor, weighed down by
substantial part of what is today White Russia.
feudal obligations to their lords, and wholly
The Ottoman Empire was too weak to claim a
eir resistance to the Poles by
ith and the Russians to the
without political rights or aspirations.
share of the spoils.
The social and political problems of Poland
The first partition occurred because the Poles
severely during these confus
tended to assume the outward forms of a reli-
lacked the unity and leadership to resist. But the
and was invaded by the Swe
gious dispute. Most ethnic Poles were Roman
next 20 years were marked not only by an out-
'xtend their control in the
Catholic. Protestantism had made some headway
pouring of visionary, patriotic fervor but also by
edes were joined by the Brand
in the towns in the 16th century but had then
a realistic attempt to reform the constitution.
oland was overrun by for
been largely suppressed by the forces of the
The reform movement had a strongly anti-
Counter-Reformation. Lutheranism had made
redes were victorious until
Russian character, and its progress was continu-
progress among Lithuanians. But most of the
ously watched and, where possible, opposed by
top monastery of Jasna Cór
lesser gentry and much of the peasantry in south-
Russian emissaries. A constitution was accepted
southern Poland. There they
ly stubborn resistance and
eastern Poland and southern Lithuania belonged
on May 3, 1791, a date that subsequently be-
to the Eastern (Orthodox) Church, though some
came the Polish national day. It was for its time
ding to Polish legend, the
ed by the direct intervention
belonged to the compromise Uniate Church,
a liberal document. The legislative process was
Orthodox in ritual and organization but under the
defined; the liberum veto, the source of so much
the so-called Black Madon
authority of the papacy.
in the monastery. In any
inaction in the past, was abolished; a strong
The Partitions of Poland. The dissolution of the
artened by what they consider
executive was established; and the kingship was
d forced the Swedes back tof
Polish state was precipitated by these religious
made hereditary.
differences. The Roman Catholic szlachta had
dragged on for almost five mt
Yet there still remained some Poles, chiefly in
never been well disposed toward their Orthodox
with the Peace of Oliva (1660
the steppe region of the southeast, who clung to
peasantry. By the mid-18th century, however,
I lost territory to both Swed
their ideals of szlachta power and "golden an-
the latter had found a champion in the Russian
1. Poland was devastated 0
archy." In 1792 they revolted against the new
czar. Under Russian pressure, the Sejm took
t it had at least survived.
order and were supported by the Russian empress
steps to protect the Orthodox subjects of the
the steppe, however, was
Catherine. The Russian Army advanced on
Polish state. The Catholic gentry of southeastern
use the Russian czar had eve
Warsaw, and, as Catherine prepared to annex a
Poland, inspired by religious fanaticism, hatred
m stirring up the Cossacks U
substantial area of Poland, the king of Prussia
of the Russians, and fear that their control over
hastened to ensure that he was not omitted from
he Poles. Muscovy began
their own peasants might be restricted, broke
any division of the spoils.
against the Polish-Lithuan
into revolt in 1768. The rebellion was suppressed
37 su eded in annexing
In the second partition (1793), Russia claimed
the
by a Russian army, while Turks, Austrians, and
a vast tract of land from northern Lithuania to
east the Turks join
Prussians watched from the sidelines, each eager
the Ukraine, while Prussia took western Poland
st R
They were held
to be in the forefront in case of any general. dis-
r Kin ohn III, the last he
(Wielkopolska, renamed South Prussia) with the
memberment of the Polish-Lithuanian state.
ho ultimately drove them b
cities of Poznań and Gdańsk. The Sejm was
315
SEA
LIVONIA
BALTIC
ERMLAND
1805
Gdansk (1793)
RUSSIAN
POMERANIA
PRUSSIA
THE PARTITIONS
EMPIRE
OF POLAND
SILESIA
POLICE
First Partition (1772)
CARICA
RAINE
NEW SILESIA
Second Partition (1793)
Vienna
Third Partition (1795)
HUNGARY
TURKISH EMPIRE
powerless to resist the Russian Army and un-
Adam Mickiewicz and Juliusz Słowacki, for ex-
willingly accepted the demands made. Not so
ample-of the highest literary quality. In 1863
the more patriotic elements among the gentry.
another ill-planned and disastrous rising was
These were led by Tadeusz Kościuszko and sup-
ruthlessly suppressed by the Russians. The failure
ported by some of the small middle class and
of the 1863 rising and its savage aftermath
even by some peasants. They turned against the
marked the end of the period of direct action
king and seized Warsaw in 1794, but they
against Russian rule.
were quickly overcome by the superior Russian
In Austrian and Prussian Poland, events fol.
Army.
lowed a similar course. Risings, especially in
Catherine the Great was determined to solve
1848, were suppressed. In Galicia, the Austrians
the Polish question by destroying Poland. What
succeeded in diverting the peasants' wrath from
was left of the state was divided in 1795 (the
themselves to the peasants' own Polish landlords.
final settlement was not completed until 1797)
Austrian rule, however, was easygoing, and
among Russia, which took the lion's share, Prus-
Austria provided a safe haven for those who
sia, and Austria.
conspired against Russian and Prussian rule.
A Polish state, the so-called grand duchy of
Prussia's rule over its Polish lands was in some
Warsaw, was revived by Napoleon in 1807. It
ways the most reactionary of the three, though its
was never more than a puppet state of the French.
economic policies were generally progressive.
Russian, Prussian, and Austrian Poland. The
In all parts of historic Poland, the second
Congress of Vienna in 1815 constituted the so-
half of the 19th century was marked by social
called Congress kingdom of Poland. It included
and economic progress rather than by direct
the greater part of Napoleon's grand duchy of
political action. In Russian Poland the serfs were
Warsaw, and its kings were to be the Romanov
freed in 1864, a step designed more to injure the
emperors of Russia.
landowning gentry than to conciliate the peasants.
The 19th century was marked on the one
Its effect, however, was to give the latter a
hand by continued Polish resistance to foreign, in
greater stake in the land and to lead to their
particular Russian, rule, and on the other by
more active participation in the national move-
considerable economic progress. In 1830, Polish
ment. Though no significant revolution was
discontent broke out in a rising against Russian
effected in agriculture, manufacturing made
rule. It was undertaken with enthusiasm, but
considerable advances. Ironworking was ex-
conducted without military or political skill, and
panded in Russian Silesia, and the great textile
was savagely suppressed. A stream of refugees,
center of Lódź grew from a village to one of the
including the cream of Polish intelligentsia, went
foremost industrial cities in eastern Europe. At
into exile, chiefly to France. The Russians replied
the same time a railway network spread over
by suppressing the limited autonomy the Con-
Poland, a' rudimentary educational system was
gress kingdom possessed and, after incorporating
established, and the nation prepared itself for
the kingdom into the Russian Empire, ruled the
ultimate independence.
territory firmly and autocratically. Anti-Russian
It is impossible to overestimate the role of the
feeling, however, continued to build up, fanned
Roman Catholic Church and clergy in keeping
by the writings of Polish exiles, some of them-by
Polish nationalism alive during this period. The
316
POLAND: 7. History
317
Russians were Catholic Orthodox and the Prussians Lu-,
republic, which had recently been formed from
To be was a way of expressing
Russian territory. Wilno (Lithuanian, Vilnius)
theran. to both, and the church became and has
the traditional capital of Lithuania, was included
Intility irmained a very important symbol of Polish
in the new republic. But Wilno was also of
great significance in Polish history and culture.
government attempted to de-
It was seized by the Poles in 1922 and incorpo-
by restricting the use of
rated into Poland. The Lithuanians, without
any language and attacking the role of the
allies and unable to resist, closed their borders
AN
Catholic the Church in protecting Polish culture. The
with Poland and broke off all diplomatic relations
were Catholic like the Poles,
for nearly 20 years.
was impossible to use religion
The western boundaries of Poland were not
" rallying for Polish nationalism.
free from trouble. The plebiscite regarding the
Establishment of the Polish Republic. World War
border with East Prussia went in favor of Ger-
THE PARTITIONS
marked a turning point in the history of
many. The regime established for Gdańsk worked
IRE
OF POLAND
Poland. I All three partitioning powers were in-
far from smoothly. The city's German population
valved in the struggle, and it seemed to most
was accused, with reason, of working against the
First Partition (177)
Poles that they had to back either the Russians
interests of the Polish state. Poland began the
Germany and Austria and extract what conces-
construction of the port of Gdynia to the north of
of they could. The two sides found protago-
Gdańsk on a virgin site that it could control.
nists nons respectively in Józef Pitsudski and Roman
Gdynia inevitably detracted from the business of
Dmowski. The former was fanatically anti-
Gdańsk, and this further antagonized its Ger-
Russian. He organized a brigade that fought for
manophile population.
Second Partition(1)
the Central Powers against Russia. Dmowski, on
The industrialized region of Upper Silesia
the other hand, regarded Germany as the chief
contained a mixed population through which it
enemy of the Poles and argued for the unity of
was extremely difficult to draw a boundary. The
all Slavic peoples, including the Russians, to
line finally approved by the Allied Powers in
Third Partition (179
resist German pretensions.
1921 awarded to Poland that part of the region
Events, however, settled the issue. The Rus-
that contained most of the coal mines, the coal
man Revolution and the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
reserves, the iron-ore deposits, and the industrial
March 1918) removed Russia from Polish affairs.
enterprises.
Pilsudski now turned against the Central Powers
There was, lastly, a bitter dispute with
25 the only force preventing the revival of the
Czechoslovakia regarding the duchy of Teschen
Polish state and thus joined with Dmowski. In
on Poland's southern border. For much of its
the meantime, the Polish question had assumed a
history this small territory had been included
and Juliusz Słowacki, for
new dimension. Powers not directly involved in
thest
ary quality. In
the partitions regarded the revival of the Polish
ed
isastrous rising
state as important, and U.S. President Woodrow
A cartoon that appeared at the time of the partitioning
ed
Russians. The fails
Wilson declared this to be one of the conditions
of Poland shows Stanislav II, king of Poland, trying to
ng and its savage afterm
of a peaceful and stable Europe.
hold on to his crown as the rulers of Russia, Austria,
of the period of direct actio
The Western allies meeting in Paris could
and Prussia select parts of his kingdom to annex.
ile.
determine in part the territorial shape of the new
THE BETTMANN ARCHIVE
d Prussian Poland, events
Poland and could impose their decisions on
course. Risings, especially
Germany and Austria. A boundary was traced
ssed. In Galicia, the Austria
between Poland and Germany, giving the former
ting the peasants' wrathifron
the so-called Polish Corridor, South Prussia, in-
beasants' own Polish landlord
cluding the German province of Posen (Poznan),
wever, was easygoing, 10
and a substantial part of the Upper Silesian coal
a safe haven for those
basin. The boundaries with East Prussia, which
Russian and Prussian, all
remained part of Germany, and in Upper Silesia
its Polish lands was in SO
were subject to plebiscites. Gdańsk (Danzig),
ionary of the three, though
which was heavily German in language and sym-
vere generally progressive
pathy but nevertheless served as the chief com-
historic Poland, the secon
mercial outlet of Poland, was established as a
entury was marked by SOC
separate free city under the protection of the
gress rather than by fdire
League of Nations.
Russian Poland the serfsiwa
The Western allies had no authority to impose
0 designed more to injurest
à boundary between Poland and the new Bolshe-
han to conciliate the peasanti
vik Russian republic. The Poles made ambitious
was to give the latter
claims. In response, the Red Army forces pushed
land and to lead to the
the Polish Army back on Warsaw in July 1920.
ation in the national mov
At the Battle of the Vistula (August 1920), the
significant revolution
Poles, led by Piłsudski, checked the Russian
!ture, manufacturing mad
advance, then attacked and invaded Russia. The
ces. Ironworking was C.
Western allies had urged caution on Pilsudski
Silesia, and the great textil
and had suggested a boundary, the so-called
from a village to one of the
Curzon Line, that was too restricted for Pilsudski's
:ities in eastern Europe.
ambitions. When the Russo-Polish war was ended
ilway network spread ove
by the Treaty of Riga (March 18, 1921), the
Try educational system
Poles found themselves in possession of a sub-
POLOGRE
nation prepared itself 15
stantial area of White Russian and Ukrainian
ce.
territory, well to the east of the Curzon Line.
ov
ate the role of th
In much of it, no ethnic Poles were to be found.
irch
clergy in keepin
The advance into Russia álso raised the ques-
ive during this period.
tion of the Polish boundary with the Lithuanian
318
POLAND: 7. History
within Bohemia and the Habsburg lands. But
Their declared objectives were land reform and
the Poles claimed that it was ethnically Polish.
the improvement of the lot of the peasantry.
The real issue, however, was control of its coal
But their effectiveness in these areas was limited,
mines and iron and steel works. In the end, the
and they tended to become a conservative force
territory was partitioned, the Czechs retaining its.
in Polish politics.
valuable economic assets.
Strictly political issues were complicated and
The Pitsudski Era. The republic of Poland had
to some extent obscured by the personalities of
an unhappy history during its independent exis-
the political leaders. From the first, the dom-
tence between the two world wars. The country
inant person was Piłsudski, appointed chief of
was, in the first place, pieced together from
state and commander of the armed forces in
fragments of territory taken from Prussia, Austria,
1918. Attitudes toward him, however, were am-
and Russia. These were in varying stages of
bivalent. He was respected for his great achieve-
economic development. Almost every feature,
ments during and after the war, and feared for
even the gauge of the railroad tracks, had to be
his political ambitions and autocratic tendencies.
reconciled.
Indeed, the constitution of 1921 was so framed
A multiplicity of political parties developed,
that the powers of the presidency, to which it
and these tended to cluster around three groups.
was assumed he aspired, would be limited. In
The first included nationalists and conservatives,
fact, he withdrew from public life in 1923.
led by men such as Dmowski and the pianist Ig-
The first representative government was
nacy Paderewski. They supported free enterprise
formed by Paderewski in 1919. It lasted only a
and a strong central government; they were also
short time and was followed by a succession of
in varying degrees anti-Semitic. Next came the
governments, each representing an unstable CO-
parties of the left, including the Polish Socialist
alition of mainly center and rightist parties. Such
party, which derived its strength in part from the
governments were incapable of curing the ills of
fact that Pissudski had been one of its earliest
the country. The mark was depreciating, and its
leaders. These were to some extent Marxist.
replacement by a new currency, the złoty, in 1924
However, the Communist party itself remained
was followed by a sharp fall in the value of the
very small because it was so closely identified
latter. Unemployment was high, and the govern-
with Russia's Bolshevik regime. Between these
ment was unable to raise foreign loans sufficient
extremes came the agrarian parties, including
to carry through its reconstruction programs.
the Polish Peasant party led by Wincenty Witos.
The breakdown of parliamentary government
and the failure of the political parties to cope
with the economic situation led to Pilsudski's
Marshal Józef Klemens Pitsudski was the chief architect
seizure of power in May 1926. Large elements
of Poland's independence in the 20th century. From 1926
within the army supported him, and the Polish
to his death in 1935 he was virtual dictator of Poland.
Socialist party came to his help. There were,
CULVER PICTURES
nevertheless, three days of heavy fighting before
the resistance of the government forces could be
overcome.
From the first, Pilsudski enjoyed a large mea-
sure of popular support, and there was never any
significant opposition to his rule. On the other
hand, he and his supporters never developed a
coherent policy, assuming that all that was needed
was the smooth functioning of government. He
was a military man who had come to power by
force of arms, and under his rule Poland was ex-
cessively militarized. Officers were placed in ex-
ecutive positions for which they were ill suited,
while at the same time the exclusion from au-
thority of those who had supported the govern-
ment during the coup of 1926 weakened the
army and contributed to its poor performance
during the German invasion of 1939.
The political opposition to Pilsudski was
weak. He became increasingly conservative in
his outlook and did nothing to advance the land
reform that was urgently needed by the peasantry.
During his last years he helped to formulate a
new constitution, which greatly restricted the
powers of the elected Sejm and increased the
authority of the president and government. He
did not, however, live to assume the autocratic
position that was thus prepared for him. He
died on May 12, 1935.
The Clique of "Colonels." The death of Marshal
Pilsudski left a vacuum in Polish politics. The
leadership of Poland fell to a clique of "colonels,"
led by Edward Smigly-Rydz, who had neither the
ability nor the popular appeal to play his role.
Factions developed among the followers of the
late leader, further weakening the government.
The powers of the Sejm were reduced, and gov-
ernment became increasingly unresponsive to the
POLAND: 7. History
319
ob
were land reform
Poland did not become a truly totali-
nt
lot of the peasantry
ivene. these areas was limited
people. !arian state, but it contained strong totalitarian
d to become a conservative
dements. same time, Polish foreign policy suf-
CS.
tical issues were complicated
a with which it lacked
from of Polish history. Poland
obscured by the personalities
political astute-
aders. From the first, the adom.
BALTIC SEA
as Piłsudski, appointed chief
to This was shown in the contin-
Gdansk
Niemen
any of the old feuds with Czechoslovakia and
mander of the armed forces
nance Lathuania and in a certain coolness toward France,
Wilno
toward him, however, were
IS respected for his great achieve
Poland's traditional ally. Polish leaders, notably
nd after the war, and feared
the foreign minister Józef Beck, seemed to think
Szczecin
bitions and autocratic tendenci
that they could deal with Germany on almost
istitution of 1921 was so framed
equal terms at a time when Hitler was rearming
Berlin
S of the presidency, to which
and preparing for war. At the same time, Polish
e aspired, would be limited.
leaders clung to Piłsudski's view of Poland's role
Poznań
Pinsk
Warsaw
Brzes
W from public life in 1923
the protector of Western values against East-
Pripel
that is Russian, barbarism. The result was
representative government
that cru. Poland was not prepared either militarily or
Wrocta
rewski in 1919. It lasted only
was followed by a succession
fusedically for the conflict that lay ahead and
too late, to recognize the reality of
:ch representing an unstable
N
Germany's threat to all eastern Europe.
Prague
center and rightist parties.
wakrakow
The Destruction and Revival of Poland. World
Lwow
re incapable of curing the ills
e mark was depreciating, and
War II had as its immediate cause Germany's
a new currency, the złoty, in 1994
macceptable demands for changes in Poland's
a sharp fall in the value of the
boundaries. Germany claimed Gdańsk, the "Cor-
yment was high, and the govern.
ador," and Upper Silesia. But its overriding pur-
Pre-World War II boundaries
e to raise foreign loans sufficient
pose was to eliminate Poland from the path of its
Post-World War II boundaries
eastward expansion. The Poles mistakenly be-
its reconstruction programs,
wn of parliamentary governme
lieved that the fundamental hostility between
200 Mi
Germany and the Soviet Union would prevent
of the political parties: to Con
any collaboration between them. A people as
0
200 Km.
mic situation led to Pilsudshi
devoted to its own history should have known
in May 1926. Large elemen
better, for the partitions had been brought about
supported him, and the
his help. There WGT
by just such a combination. The war was pre-
came
reded by an agreement between Germany and
never succeeded in enlisting the support of a sin-
ee
heavy fighting before
the Soviet Union to partition Poland. With Rus-
gle Polish leader of significance.
the
nment forces could
an neutrality secured, Germany invaded Poland
On the other hand, the Russians sacrificed the
ill) Sept. 1, 1939. The campaign was short. But
goodwill that they might have fallen heir to. They
t, Pisudski enjoyed a large-mer
before it had been completed, the Russians in-
suspected the intentions of all Poles except Com-
upport, and there was never a
vaded Poland from the east and advanced to a
munist party members who had been schooled in
ition to his rule. On the other
prearranged line of partition.
Moscow. When Poles in Warsaw rose against
is supporters never developed
Part of German-occupied Poland was incor-
the Germans in August 1944 in support of the
assuming that all that was needed
porated into Germany. The rest became the
advancing Russians, the latter allowed them to
functioning of government. 00
General Government, a puppet state to which
be destroyed by the Germans.
an who had come to power
unwanted Poles could be driven and where slave
Elements of the Polish government-in-exile in
d under his rule Poland was
labor could be recruited for German factories.
London were regarded by the Soviet Union's
:ed. Officers were placed
Poles were a minority in the Russian-occupied
leader, Joseph Stalin, as completely under the
for which they were ill suite
sector. Most of the population was Ukranian,
control of the West. A rival government, the Po-
e time the exclusion from DE
Belorussian, or Lithuanian. The northern part,
lish Committee of National Liberation, commonly
who had supported the govern
with the city of Wilno (Vilnius), was incorpo-
known as the Lublin Committee, was formed in
coup of 1926 weakened C
cated into Lithuania, which in turn was annexed
the Soviet Union, its membership drawn from
buted to its poor performant
to the Soviet Union in 1940. The rest of Russian-
Poles who had been indoctrinated with Moscow's
in invasion of 1939.
deupied Poland was divided between the Belo-
brand of Marxism. It followed westward in the
opposition to Pilsudski
russian and Ukrainian republics of the USSR.
wake of the Red Army, suppressing or eliminat-
ne increasingly conservative
In June 1941, German forces crossed the par-
ing elements that were supposed to be more na-
.id nothing to advance the land
ntion line and invaded the Soviet Union. From
tionalist than Marxist.
rgently needed by the peasanting
that time until early in 1944 the whole of Poland
Well before the end of hostilities the Polish
'ears he helped to formulate
3.15 under German rule. The native population
question became one of the more divisive issues
which greatly restricted
ads reduced to starvation. The Warsaw rising of
confronting the Allied leaders. Both Poland's
ected Sejm and increased D
the Jews against the Germans in April 1943 was
boundaries and the composition of the future
president and government.
suppressed, and the Jewish suburb of Muranów
government of Poland were matters of dispute.
live to assume the autocrso
in Warsaw was leveled and its inhabitants taken
The Soviet Union made it clear that, although
thus prepared for him. W3
" concentration camps. The Jewish population
minor boundary changes would be permitted,
1935.
3.15 almost eliminated, and a large part of the
Soviet-occupied Poland would not be restored.
Colonels." The death of Mars
Polish population, including many of the intel-
Stalin encouraged the Poles to occupy the West-
acuum in Polish politics. TM
retuals, suffered similarly. On the other hand,
ern Territories, those lands to the west that had
nd fell to a clique of "coloned"
many members of the government, together with
once been Polish but had been retained by Ger-
higły-Rydz, who had neither
4 significant part of the army, escaped to the
many after World War I. The Oder-Neisse
pular appeal to play his
West, where it formed the nucleus of a Polish
(Odra-Nysa) boundary between Germany and
d
an
the followers of
corps. Within the country there was intense un-
Poland, which placed the Western Territories
er
ing the governme
derground activity, and the Home Army (Armia
within Poland, came to be recognized by the
e Se
reduced, and
Krajowa) performed invaluable services to the
Soviet Union's Western allies and even by West
ncreas gly unresponsive.to
Allied cause. It is noteworthy that the Germans
Germany.
320
POLAND
The composition of the future Polish govern-
ment was a more difficult issue to resolve. The
an economic specialist and leader of the powerful
local Communist party in Silesia. Gierek com-
government-in-exile, headed by Stanisław Miko-
łajczyk, was in London, whereas a government
mitted the government to programs that would
meet the workers' grievances.
made up of Soviet nominees, headed by Bolesław
Bierut and Edward Osóbka-Morawski, was in
Virtually the same pattern of events was re-
Warsaw. The Western powers had obtained from
peated in the next decade, culminating in country.
Stalin an undertaking that the new government
wide strikes in the summer of 1980. Workers
should be a coalition drawn from both groups.
struck the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk on Aug. 13
In fact, only two members of the London govern-
1980, and by the end of the month strikes had
idled industries throughout the country. On Au-
ment, including Mikołajezyk, joined the first post-
war administration of Poland.
gust 31 the government granted the workers the
right to strike and to form independent, self.
Communist Poland. The sovietization of Poland
began as soon as the Germans had been driven
governing trade unions. Within less than a
out. Mikołajczyk and the other non-Communist
month a nationwide union, Solidarity, had come
into being, with Lech Wałęsa at its head. At the
members of the government were exposed to in-
timidation and pressure. The Peasant party, the
same time the Roman Catholic Church won new
only effective democratic party, was consistently
rights from the government, and on September 6
vilified. The promised land reform consisted of
the Communist party itself faced change within
forced collectivization. All industrial and com-
its own organization when Gierek was replaced
as party secretary by Stanislaw Kania.
mercial undertakings, except the very smallest,
Kania's relatively conciliatory policies
were nationalized. After two years, Mikołajczyk
as
was forced to leave the country, and all opposi-
party chief were aimed at preventing the Soviet
tion to the Communists ended.
Union from invading the country and at the same
There was, however, dissension within the
time keeping Poland's economy from foundering
Communist party. Most Poles were nationalists,
altogether by placating the workers and farmers
with new concessions. But continuing strikes
and many Communists sought to reconcile na-
paralyzed the economy, and Solidarity's de-
tionalism with Marxist beliefs. This was anathema
mands for greater democratization of the govern-
to Stalin, who was determined to reduce Poland
mental process became increasingly insistent.
to complete dependence on himself, using the
On Oct. 18, 1981, Kania, who seemed unable
Red Army should this be necessary. By 1949 a
Stalinist terror had engulfed the country. Wład-
to curb dissent, was replaced as party secretary
by the premier, Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski, who
yslaw Gomułka, foremost among the nationalist
imposed martial law on December 13. Lech
members of the party, was forced out of office in
1948-1949 and narrowly escaped death. The
Walęsa and other Solidarity leaders were among
thousands arrested. In response to the martial-
country was controlled by Soviet-trained Bierut,
law restrictions, the United States imposed eco-
and every aspect of life was under the scrutiny
nomic sanctions against Poland.
of the secret police of Stanislaw Radkiewicz.
Martial law was suspended one year later, but
Stalin died in March 1953. In the following
not before the parliament had dissolved all
autumn an increase in consumer goods was prom-
unions, including Solidarity, on Oct. 8, 1982.
ised. There was a flurry of literary activity, in
When a general strike, called for November 10 to
which Polish writers attacked the regime and
protest the dissolution decree, failed to get wide-
called for greater personal freedom. In June,
spread popular backing, Walesa was released
workers in Poznań rioted to express their de-
from prison, and other leaders were given their
mands for better living conditions. The govern-
freedom in late December. Martial law was for-
ment began to yield. Political prisoners were
mally lifted in July 1983, soon after the eight-day
released, among them Gomulka, and the demand
spread for the "democratization" of Poland.
visit of Pope John Paul II to Poland, but many of
Khrushchev, accompanied by members of the
its controls were preserved by incorporating
politburo, flew to Warsaw in an effort to restrain
them into the legal code. Moreover, the govern-
ment was granted the legal right to impose a state
the reformers. The Polish leaders, now joined by
Gomulka, Edward Ochab, and others, resisted
of emergency and assume extraordinary powers
in times of disorder and unrest.
the Soviet demands but promised to remain
within the Soviet bloc. Gomulka became first
NORMAN J. G. POUNDS*
secretary of the party, and the government was
Indiana University
filled with his supporters. The system of collec-
tive farms collapsed. The liberal Adam Rapacki
Bibliography
became foreign minister, and Poland began to
Benes, Vaclav L., and Pounds, Norman J. G., Poland (West-
look for close political and economic relations
view Press 1976).
with the non-Communist world. There was al-
Bielasiak, Jack, ed., Polish Politics: Edge of the Abyss
(Praeger 1984).
most complete freedom of the press, and Poles
Davies, Norman, God's Playground: A History of Poland, 2
were able to read Western newspapers.
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This "spring in October" was short-lived. Po-
crene Bks. 1985).
land remained a one-party state. Censorship was
Halecki, Oscar, A History of Poland (McKay 1976).
gradually reintroduced. Intellectual freedom was
Leslie, R. F., and others, The History of Poland since 1863
(Cambridge 1983).
restricted, and the government's relations with
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the Roman Catholic Church, which had been
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improving, worsened.
bridge 1985).
Mikolajezyk, Stanislaw, The Rape of Poland: The Pattern of
Gomulka, who had returned to power in 1956
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in 1970 as a result of renewed rioting by workers
Nelson, 1984). Harold D., Poland: A Country Study (USGPO
dissatisfied with high prices and shortages in
Reddaway, W. F., and others, eds., Cambridge History of
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VOLUME 28
Venice to Wilmot, John
THE ENCYCLOPEDIA
AMERICANA
INTERNATIONAL EDITION
COMPLETE IN THIRTY VOLUMES
FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1829
GROLIER INCORPORATED
International Headquarters: Danbury, Connecticut 06816
©PORTEFIELD-CHICKERING/PHOTO
View of Warsaw, Poland, looking northwest from the Palace of Culture across a complex of new apartment houses.
in-law of Richard Henry Lee and attorney gen-
eral of the United States in 1795-1801. The
WARS OF SUCCESSION. See SUCCESSION WARS.
town was incorporated in 1810 and named for
WARS OF THE ROSES. See ROSES, WARS OF
Gen. Joseph Warren of Bunker Hill fame. It
THE.
adopted the council-manager form of govern-
ment in 1920. Pop. 3,907.
WARSAW, wôr'sô, city, Indiana, Kosciusko County
seat, on the Tippecanoe River, 40 miles west-
WARRINGTON, Ing-ten, county borough, En-
northwest of Fort Wayne, at an altitude of 825
gland, in Cheshire, on the Mersey River and the
feet. It has a municipal airport. Located in an
Manchester Ship Canal, 16 miles (26 km) east of
agricultural area, it is an industrial, trade, and
Liverpool. Although its suburbs were located in
resort center. Its manufactures include orthope-
Cheshire, Warrington was not transferred from
dic and surgical equipment, metal products and
Lancashire to Cheshire until 1974. Warrington
machinery, furniture and other wood products,
grew up at the lowest convenient crossing of the
toys, and breakfast foods. Nearby Winona Lake,
Mersey, and there is evidence that such a cross-
the home of Grace College and Seminary, is a
ing has existed here since Roman times. A
religious and cultural center. Warsaw, named
bridge was first mentioned in 1305. Modern
for the capital of Poland, was settled in 1836,
Warrington is a busy industrial borough, with
incorporated as a town in 1854, and as a city in
wire manufactures, leather tanning, soapmaking,
1875. It is governed by a mayor and city council.
chemicals, engineering, and the manufacture of
Pop. 10,647.
iron, steel, and aluminum goods and electrical
A. JAMES SLOAN
products. One of its three breweries has for over
200 years been based on exceptionally pure
WARSAW (Pol. WARSZAWA), city and capital, Po-
water from wells in the Bunter sandstone.
land, on both sides of the Vistula River, at an alti-
Notable buildings include the municipal
tude of 240 feet. Its winters are cold and sum-
headquarters, housed in a beautiful 18th century
mers are warm, with an average temperature of
mansion; the Georgian building of Warrington
25.7° F. in January and 65.4 °F. in July. The
Academy, associated with Joseph Priestley, the
average annual rainfall is 22.2 inches.
discoverer of oxygen, and other notable men of
Warsaw is a major industrial center producing
the time; the parish church, dedicated to St.
automobiles, steel, pharmaceuticals, cement, ra-
Elfin, with a spire 280 feet high; and Bewsey
dio and television sets, electrical equipment, and
Hall, dating from 1600. There is a good museum
clothing. The city is also the transportation hub
and art gallery. Pop. (1981) 168,846.
of the country; seven railroad trunk lines connect
H. GORDON STOKES
it with the major cities of Poland, as well as with
Author of "English Place-Names"
Berlin, Kiev, Leningrad, Moscow, Prague, and
Vienna. The airport and Okęcie connects War-
WARRINGTON, village, Florida, in Escambia
saw with 14 European capitals. Zerań serves as
County, on Pensacola Bay, adjacent on the south-
the port of the city.
west to the city of Pensacola and on the north to
Located in Warsaw are the government min-
the U.S. Naval Air Station. Pop. 15,792.
istries, the economic planning agencies, the Par-
360
WARSAW
361
Hament, the National National Trade, the central
Bank of Poland, and the
with and import agency. It is the seat of the
export of Poland (Roman Catholic) and the met-
promite of Poland (Orthodox) as well as the
Frolitan the other religious bodies. The three
parties maintain their principal
and a THE THE
center the country, War-
of Sciences, the
absel research institutes throughout Poland.
⑇ scientific institution, with more than 74 af-
disted libraries of the city include the National
Maran.the Library of Warsaw, the Central Medi-
of the University of Warsaw,
al Library of Parliament.
Fourteen institutions of higher learning are in
including the University of Warsaw, the
the city School of Agriculture, the Warsaw Poly-
Central the Foreign Service College, the Central
and the Cath-
15 museums,
with a fine
allection or of ancient, medieval, and modern art.
Many of the major newspapers and magazines
in Warsaw. Its chief
Ludu, Glos Pracy, Ex-
Warszawy, and Slowo
pursechne. Among the major periodicals are
frund Swiat, Polityka, and Nowa Kultura. The
EDITORIAL PHOTOCOLOR ARCHIVES
any has three radio stations and one television
The 40-story Palace of Culture, a gift to Warsaw from the
tment
channel. The major theaters are the Teatr
USSR, is built in Soviet architectural style.
Polski, well known for its renditions of Polish
and foreign classics, and the National Theater,
SSIONA
which has a more contemporary repertoire. The
and the Palace of John III Sobieski in Wilanow.
National Philharmonic Hall in Warsaw is the
The 14th century Gothic Cathedral of St. John,
home of the outstanding symphony orchestra of
the Church of the Visitation Nuns, and the
Poland.
baroque-style Holy Cross Church are outstand-
The city contains many world-famous palaces
ing examples of Warsaw's ecclesiastical archi-
isko © C-
and churches. Lazienki Palace, home of Stanis-
tecture. Noted postwar buildings include the
miles
in II Augustus, the last king of Poland, is an out-
40-story Palace of Culture and Science and the
itude
C?
Handing example of Polish classicism. Other
Ten-Year Stadium, which seats more than 80,000
bcated
Antoric buildings are Namiestnikowski Palace,
people. Most of Warsaw was destroyed during
trade
sow the seat of the government; Staszic Palace,
World War II, but the old town, Stare Miasto,
ide orti
which houses part of the Academy of Sciences;
with its famous Sigismund III Column, has been
roducts
di proc
inonal
The late Renaissance and baroque buildings of the Old City were rebuilt after total destruction in World War II.
minary
EASTFOTO
saw, if
ed in
as ac
city CO
AMESSE
capital
er, at
d and
perati
July.
produ
cemen
pment
rtation
nes
vell
ragues
inects
in
nme
es,
theless, the Soviet and 1st Polish armies liberated
Praga on Sept. 14, 1944, and the entire
was retaken by Jan. 17, 1945. Population: (1978 city
est.) 1,552,300.
WARSAW, University of, a Polish institution
higher education founded in Warsaw in 1816 of
and opened in 1818. Closed by the Russians
after the failure of the Polish revolt of 1830-
1831, it was not reopened until 1869. From
1884 to 1916 it was completely Russianized
The university made substantial progress during
the interwar years. With other Polish educa-
tional institutions, it was closed by the Germans
after they captured Warsaw in 1939 and was
however, some instruction was given in secret.
not reopened until 1945. During this period,
Russian influence, dominant in the decade after
the war, lessened to some extent after 1956.
The university has faculties of biology and
geography, chemistry, journalism, political econ-
omy, philosophy, philology, geology, mathe-
matics and physics, history, law, and peda-
gogy.
WARSAW PACT, a military alliance between the
Soviet Union and its European satellites. The
Malo Darrat from Black Star
pact was conceived as an answer to the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and it was
A monument in the former Warsaw Ghetto honors Jewish
concluded soon after West Germany's rearmament
heroes of the 1943 revolt against the German forces.
and admission to NATO.
More formally known as the Warsaw Treaty of
fully restored to its original state, and the area
Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance,
appears today as it did centuries ago.
the treaty was signed in Warsaw, Poland, on May
History.-Warsaw first appears in the 12th
14, 1955. Its signatories were Albania, Bulgaria,
century as a village adjoining Ujazdów, a castle
Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland,
of the princes of Masovia. It became the capital
Romania, and the Soviet Union. Besides repre-
of Masovia in 1413. In the 16th century it was
sentatives of the signatory nations, an "observer"
the seat of the joint Polish-Lithuanian Sejm, and
from Communist China attended the Warsaw
the kings of Poland were elected at Wola, a
conference that led to the treaty and announced
nearby suburb. In 1596 Sigismund III moved
that his government would come to the aid of its
his court from Kraków to Warsaw, and from that
European partners in the event of a war with
time Warsaw assumed a central position in the
the West. The defense treaty was automatically
life and history of Poland. In the 17th and 18th
renewed in 1975 when its 20-year term expired.
centuries it was occupied at various times by
The joint command of the armed forces, with
the Swedes and the Russians; and when Poland
its headquarters in Moscow, was placed under
was finally partitioned in 1795, the city was given
Marshall Ivan Konev, a Soviet military hero of
to Prussia. Captured by Napoleon I in 1806, it
World War II. Soviet troops stationed in Hun-
became the center of the short-lived Grand
gary under the Warsaw Pact crushed the 1956
Duchy of Warsaw under Napoleon's protection,
revolution in that country. All the Warsaw sig-
but in 1813 it was taken again by the Russians,
natories with the exception of Albania and Ro-
to whom it was awarded by the Congress of
mania participated in the invasion of Czechoslo-
Vienna in 1815.
vakia in 1968 to end the liberalization policies of
During the 19th century, under Russian rule,
Alexander Dubček. Albania had supported China
Warsaw grew into a large industrial center. Its
in its split with the USSR and in 1961 boycotted
population increased from 127,000 in 1832 to
Warsaw Pact activities. In 1968 it formally with-
383,000 in 1882 and 884,000 in 1914. Despite
drew from the pact. Romania condemned the
bloody insurrections in 1830-1831 and 1863
invasion of Czechoslovakia and later, as an ex-
and serious rioting in 1905, Russia held the city
pression of its fundamental disagreement with the
until it was lost to Germany in August 1915.
Soviet Union on matters of policy, withheld its
In November 1918 Warsaw became the capi-
troops from maneuvers of Warsaw Pact forces.
tal of newly independent Poland, and by 1939
ROBERT D. WARTH, University of Kentucky
the city's population had grown to 1,289,000.
Attacked at the outbreak of World. War II, it
WARSHIPS, wôr'ships. Down through the ages
capitulated to Germany on Sept. 27, 1939. Dur-
warships have tended to fall into three major cat-
ing the next five years, more than 85 percent
egories. Capital ships, representing maximum
of the city was destroyed, and more than 600,000
strength, have ordinarily operated together in large
inhabitants of Warsaw lost their lives. On
fleets or in smaller squadrons. Cruisers, including
April 19, 1943, the Jews in the ghetto rose
frigates and similar earlier types, have generally
against the Germans, and after a few weeks of
emphasized speed rather than strength; they
fighting the entire area was razed and its people
have often acted singly in scouting, raiding or
annihilated. The city revolted against the Ger-
protecting commerce, or in carrying messages.
mans on Aug. 1, 1944, but after 62 days of
Finally, there have often been various lesser
bitter fighting the revolt ended in defeat. Never-
types of auxiliaries and specialized craft; a large
362
M.S. is E.- KAREN AVC39NG5A SE.
TO THE NORTH POLE 124
34
THE HARD WAY
86
SANTA FE TRAIL
ALONG THE
Cave Lechuguilla
98
THE GIANT OCTOPUS
THE SPLENDORS OF
EYE TO EYE WITH
CHARTING
09
MONTREAL
T
EASTERN EUROPE
SPATCHES FROM
Neo
GBEENG WORKS CO 540MM
HE MAY SUN is hot in the military
days Tomasz and I covered 30,000 miles, from
cemetery, deserted except for two
the Baltic of Poland to the Balkan Mountains
T
very young and very sunburned
of Bulgaria, from the Berlin Wall to the
Soviet Army privates. The sol-
Soviet-Czechoslovak border.
diers crouch in front of the tomb-
We met hundreds of people-students and
stones of comrades who fell in this
farmers, priests and factory workers-as they
southwest corner of Poland nearly 45 years
savored democracy for the first time in a half
ago, in the battle against Nazi armies at
century. We heard the hymns and wedding
Wrocław. Time and weather have dulled the
songs and poetry of hope-and, sadly, the
Cyrillic inscriptions on the graves, but the
shouted curses and the crack of bones, as new
troopers are remedying that, meticulously
freedom brought dissension and the age-old
applying fresh gold paint to each headstone.
specters of ethnic prejudice, racial hatred, and
It is a final act of decency, rite of farewell to
nationalism. All through the season, Tomasz
the tens of thousands who died here, for under
and I piled up these and other impressions of a
an accord with the new democratic govern-
remarkable moment in history. My journey
ment of Poland, the Soviets have agreed to
began at Easter because it symbolizes, well,
withdraw all troops in the early 1990s.
resurrection.
"When do you go?" I ask one of the young
BIAŁOWIEZA, POLAND, EASTER SUNDAY
soldiers.
"Oh, I'm not sure when we leave."
Cold rain falls outside, but we are warm
"What do you know about these graves?"
inside the home of Michał Bajko, an engineer
I inquire.
of the Orthodox faith who works at a nearby
"Nichevo," he says. "Nothing." He turns
factory. On the spur of the moment he and his
to his work again. I am startled by his re-
wife, Eugenja, a surgeon, have invited
sponse, but then I remember that
these soldiers were born more than
20 years after the war. I find myself
feeling a little sorry for them. Ig-
nored by Poles and cut off from
home, they face even worse condi-
tions when they return to the Soviet
Union, where their colleagues are
being housed in tents and aban-
doned factories. I sense their alien-
ation, recall their vacant stares, see
their rumpled uniforms, and won-
der: Is this the great Soviet Army we
so feared?
The sun fades, a breeze rustles the
shadowy oaks, and the moment is
gone. But I know that I have just
seen the end of an era. After four
SOVIET SOLDIERS, SOON TO DEPART POLAND, GILD HEADSTONES OF FALLEN WWII COMRADES.
decades on Polish soil, the Russians were
Tomasz and me to join the family for the
really going. All across this long-tormented
traditional Easter breakfast called Swięcone,
region, the spring of 1990 would be a time of
a feast of sausage, ham, smoked meat, fish,
reawakening.
eggs, and cakes. The meal had been blessed
I had come to Eastern Europe to witness,
the day before by a priest in black robes, black
with photographer Tomasz Tomaszewski, the
beard, and black, boxy headgear who wound
rebirth of freedom. Over a period of a hundred
his way through the neighborhood, saying a
few words of grace in each home.
Prize-winning American author TAD SZULC re-
With the Bajkos we clink tiny glasses of
turned to his native Poland to begin his journey
vodka to keep body and soul together, another
through Eastern Europe. With him was Polish pho-
tographer TOMASZ TOMASZEWSKI, whose most
Polish tradition, and we chat about the Soviet
recent GEOGRAPHIC assignment, "Discovering
government's admission, on Good Friday,
America," was published in January 1988.
that in 1940 Stalin's security forces had
10
National Geographic, March 1991
vered 30,000 miles, from
15°
0°
official permission from the police or the
to the Balkan Mountains
UNITED
the Berlin Wall to the
Baltic
Communist Party to hold religious proces-
KINGDOM
sions. We just do it. And lots of the old Reds
bor
U.S.S.R.
Berlin
now come openly to the church. We don't shun
p
students and
POLAND
of
Atlantic
GERMANY
them. They belong here."
factory workers-as they
Ocean
63ECHOSLOVAKIA
for the first time in a half
EUROPE
PRAGUE, CZECHOSLOVAKIA, APRIL 21
FRANCE
AUSTRIA
HUNGARY
the hymns and wedding
ROMANIA
I am waiting for the Pope in Hradčany
hope-and, sadly, the
VUGOSLAVIA
Black
Square, along with thousands of other people.
he crack of bones, as new
SPAIN
BULGARIA
Sea
This is his first visit to an Eastern European
ssension and the age-old
nation outside of Poland. Roman Catholicism
ejudice, racial hatred, and
is the largest faith here, and it was savagely
ough the season, Tomasz
persecuted by the communists. I know priests
and other impressions of a
AFRICA
500
CARTOGRAPHIC DIVISION
Sea
who had to be ordained in secret and who
3,0°
in history. My journey
worked underground until last year. So, even
it symbolizes, well,
though the Catholic Church is not the mono-
indeed executed as many as 15,000 Polish
lith here that it is in the Pope's native Poland,
Army officers in Katyń Forest and nearby sites
today's visit represents the rebirth of religious
EASTER SUNDAY
in Byelorussia.
freedom for millions of Czechoslovaks.
utside, but we are warm
It's no news to anyone, least of all Michal's
As I wait, mingling with the happy crowd, I
Michał Bajko, an engineer
father, Stefan, a lively octogenarian who
recall the last time I saw Prague, more than 21
who works at a nearby
remembers two World Wars fought across this
years ago, as a New York Times correspondent
of the moment he and his
stretch of eastern Poland. But it is clear that
covering the Soviet invasion. These same
surgeon, have invited
Stefan, who spent many years in Soviet labor
streets were thick with smoke and fear. Soviet
camps, takes solace in last week's confession.
tanks strafed the National Museum with
"Thank God for the truth!" he says. Michał
machine-gun fire and surrounded the Czecho-
raises a glass. "To the future!" We drink to
slovak radio and television building to silence
that, and I silently wish the Bajkos well. Over
the resistance broadcasts. Armored vehicles
the years they and other Orthodox believers in
chased students around Wenceslas Square,
this strongly Roman Catholic country were
and a few of the kids managed to stuff burning
seldom treated fairly or well. Perhaps they
newspapers up the tanks' exhaust pipes,
would fare better under democracy.
exploding the engines.
"Let's see if it really changes," Michał says.
Back then, in August 1968, the Soviets
"Until now we were second-class citizens."
wanted to crush the reforms of Communist
Nobody forgets the past here. Most of the
Party leader Alexander Dubček, whom they
Orthodox priests I meet are friendly enough,
considered a subversive. Moscow replaced
until I ask their names. "How do I know
him with a hard-line puppet more to their
you're not with the police?" one asks me.
liking, and the new regime expelled me for
The Bajkos leave for their first Easter Sun-
writing about the wave of repression.
day under democracy, while Tomasz and I
What I see now is a different country.
drive from Białowieża into the dank country-
Prague looks peaceful and golden, spreading
HEADSTONES OF FALLEN WW11 COMRADES.
side. We stop to chat with worried farmers
along both sides of the Vltava River, with the
to join the family for the
who cannot sell their potatoes, the region's
steeples and cupolas of a hundred churches
breakfast called Swięcone,
principal crop. The Soviet Union is broke and
caressed by sunlight. It is a city intoxicated
ham, smoked meat, fish,
can no longer import the spuds, and the Polish
with liberty. People walk around clutching
The meal had been blessed
government won't buy them. Under the old
bunches of spring flowers, and on Wenceslas
priest in black robes, black
system all the potatoes were sold.
Square I see that someone has scrawled a mes-
boxy headgear who wound
One big farmer with rough hands looks
sage on a wall: "IT'S OVER! CZECHS ARE
the neighborhood, saying a
exasperated: "Hey," he tells me, "we can't
FREE!" Smiling, stylish young women like to
in
each
home.
eat democracy."
pose for photographs beside the slogan, ren-
we clink tiny glasses of
A local priest who has been eavesdropping
dered in English.
and soul together, another
nods in sympathy. When I ask about his
Suddenly the Pope appears, flashing by in
and we chat about the Soviet
relations with the democratic government, he
Imission, on Good Friday,
brightens.
his white Popemobile to wild applause and
cheers, on his way to St. Vitus Cathedral to
security forces had
"You know, we priests no longer need
bless the sick and the disabled. For the crowds
phic, March 1991
Dispatches From Eastern Europe
11
in the square the moment is gone, but delight
hatreds boil over. Signs of anti-Semitism and
lingers. "So you see he finally came to see us
other ethnic prejudice have reappeared, and
too," an elderly gentleman in a black fedora
the neofascists called skinheads are persecut-
says to nobody in particular. Everybody
ing Vietnamese, Gypsies, Turks, and anyone
around him smiles, nodding in agreement:
who does not look "European."
"Ano!" they say in chorus. "Yes!" I notice that
the policemen and young soldiers are smiling
WARSAW, POLAND, MAY 1
and joking with the crowd. That hasn't hap-
It is easier to topple a dictatorship than to
pened for a long while.
start a democracy. In a democracy even people
But even in this joyous time, there is a hint of
with despicable ideas can have their say, and
trouble. The next day I listen to the Pope in the
sometimes the talk leads to action.
Moravian town of Velehrad, where he delivers
Today I visit a convention of the Polish right
blessings in Czech, Slovak, Polish, Hungar-
wing, a small political group that gathers,
ian, German, Ukrainian, Byelorussian, and a
of all places, in the Palace of Culture and
few other languages. It is a lesson in the diffi-
Science. The palace, the Soviet Union's gift to
culties of living in a part of Europe with dispa-
Warsaw in the 1950s, is the city's tallest, ugli-
rate populations, each with its own language
est, and most despised building, because the
and strong nationalist urges, and a long history
communists used to meet there.
of wars and shifting borders.
I am frisked at the door by muscular young
The people of Czechoslovakia, for instance,
men searching for weapons. Inside, I am
proudly insist on their own identities as Bohe-
invited to buy an anti-Semitic tract called
mians, Moravians, and Slovaks, even though
"Protocol of the Elders of Zion," which
all live under one flag. Chatting with farmers
depicts, among other things, a communist,
and townsfolk in Velehrad, I learn that they
presumably a Jew, shooting at the heart of a
would like more autonomy, and I
hear about a disturbing price one
pays for freedom of movement as
ethnic tensions rise. A teacher, con-
versing in Polish, tells me that Poles
are resented here.
"They come like locusts across
the border, buy up all the inexpen-
sive Czech food, and go home."
Poles, for their part, don't like the
Czechs-who, in the Polish view,
act too superior. Relations get more
complicated. The Slovaks resent
Prague for granting equal rights
to the large Hungarian minority and
to Gypsies. Hungary has problems
with the Slovak and German minor-
ities on its soil. Romania has prob-
COMMUNION CHALICE COVERED, A PRIEST AWAITS THE POPE IN PRAGUE.
lems with Gypsies and with its long-settled
Roman Catholic priest. One wonders why the
Hungarian and German minorities. The Bul-
anti-Semites even bother. Only about 6,000
garians still harass their ethnic Turkish minor-
Jews remain among Poland's 38 million
ity. In the north, Poles and Germans quarrel
people, down from the nearly three million
across the Oder-Neisse frontier, drawn at the
Jews who lived here before the war.
end of World War II when Germany lost
In the hall we are subjected to a tedious
important territories to Poland.
speech by a politician who drones on and on
These animosities have been bubbling just
about the death of communism, the beauties of
beneath the surface through years of commu-
the free market, and the Jewish peril. When
nist rule, but as long as the communists were in
his talk finally ends, the muscular men who
charge, there was a lid of "socialist solidarity"
had frisked me earlier join up with a score of
on the kettle. Now that people can speak their
skinheads to attack another group of young
minds, the racial prejudices and regional
people who have been outside, protesting the
14
National Geographic, March 1991
Signs of anti-Semitism and
right-wing gathering. The skinheads, carry-
of new authorities. Until those records are
dice have reappeared, and
ing heavy clubs, seem to have the upper hand.
opened, no one will know the details of the
ds are persecut-
Some even wear swastika armbands. I watch
state's collective crimes. But blackmail, mur-
ypsie
rks, and anyone
the fists flying and see the ambulances arrive.
der, and torture existed on so vast a scale thati
European."
They load rightists and leftists into the vehi-
would be almost impossible to exact punish-
cles, gun their engines, and disappear into
ment. In most of Eastern Europe the new gov-
MAY 1
the warm spring evening. The pavement is
ernments won't even attempt to pursue former
ople a dictatorship than to
splotched with blood.
agents, now that the nightmare has ended.
In a democracy even people
"It would be unfair to deprive them of their
eas can have their say, and
WARSAW, POLAND, MAY 4
retirement," says Jacek Kuroń, Poland's min-
leads to action.
With the collapse of the police state, law and
ister of labor and social policy. A former dissi-
invention of the Polish right
order have broken down. Cops are seldom
dent and a veteran of several UB prisons,
litical group that gathers,
seen, except halfheartedly directing traffic,
Kuroń believes in the rule of law-even for the
he Palace of Culture and
and clearly they would just as soon not inter-
secret-police agents who once abused him.
e, the Soviet Union's gift to
fere in the lives of fellow citizens. As a result, a
"Only if they are convicted of specific crimes
Os, is the city's tallest, ugli-
wave of burglaries, stickups, muggings, and
in a court of law should they be denied their
bised building, because the
murders is sweeping Eastern Europe.
benefits," he says.
meet there.
"Business is fantastic," says the young man
In Czechoslovakia I meet another former
he door by muscular young
running the gas gun store. He is about 40, well
prisoner of the communist regime who is now
weapons. Inside, I am
dressed, has impeccable manners-and he
the country's interior minister. He refuses to
anti-Semitic tract called
sells all kinds of gas weapons. Imported from
publish lists of former informers, fearful that
Elders of Zion," which
West Germany, these pistols fire gas pellets:
vengeful citizens would "hunt them down."
ther things, a communist,
tear gas, temporarily paralyzing gas, asphyxi-
Some countries, lacking a pool of experienced
shooting at the heart of a
ating gas, and skin-burning gas, all perfectly
talent, are forced to hire former agents for
legal now, and perhaps of some comfort to
security and intelligence jobs. "We must do
those who fear the crime wave. The most pop-
the best we can," says a Polish friend who is a
ular gun, at least among younger customers, is
senior security officer. "Sometimes we look
a heavy black model known as the "Miami,"
the other way when it comes to hiring." Some-
after the Miami Vice television program, a
times, in fact, the new regimes are embar-
favorite in Poland.
rassed to learn that they have inadvertently
The irony is that this gun merchant is a for-
hired former agents. In East Germany, for
mer agent of Urząd Bezpieczeństwa, Poland's
instance, three new cabinet ministers and 68
disbanded secret-police force-UB for short.
new parliament members were accused of
Hundreds of former communist UB have gone
having worked for the Stasi.
into business for themselves, using their net-
works and party assets to open gun boutiques,
LWÓWEK ŚLASKI, POLAND, MAY 8
consulting firms, and travel agencies, often in
This is the 45th anniversary of the Third
partnership with Western businessmen.
Reich's fall, an event that changed the map of
"So," says the gun salesman, "what do you
Europe. I drive along the Neisse River, which
think is going to happen to the three and a half
divides Poland and Germany, and I am re-
million members of the Communist Party?
minded of the extensive German territories
ITS THE POPE IN PRAGUE.
You think they'll just vanish into thin air?"
ceded to Poland after the war.
riest. One wonders why the
He smiles. He knows that I know he's a former
On the Polish side you see towns and vil-
bother. Only about 6,000
UB agent and no explanations are necessary.
lages that look tidy and prosperous, unmistak-
hong Poland's 38 million
But his question makes me wonder: What
ably German to this day, but there are almost
m the nearly three million
happens to the hundreds of thousands of
no Germans here. Millions of them were
ere before the war.
secret-police agents and informers in Eastern
expelled to the west after 1945 to make room
are subjected to a tedious
Europe? Will they find a place in the new
for millions of Poles who settled in this wheat-
cian who drones on and on
democratic order? The most extensive net-
farming country after the Soviets expelled
communism, the beauties of
work, in East Germany, was the dreaded
them from territories Stalin had seized.
and the Jewish peril. When
Staatssicherheitdienst, the State Security
Late in the morning we reach the Polish
ds, the muscular men who
Ministry. Known as the Stasi, this agency kept
town of Lwówek Slaski, where elderly men in
arlier join up with a score of
files on four million East Germans and two
sport shirts sit around enjoying the first beer of
ck another group of young,
million West Germans.
the day and the warm sun. They play chess on
been protesting the
The files still exist, presumably in the hands
the sidewalk with giant knights and pawns
nal Geographic, March 1991
Dispatches From Eastern Europe
15
and queens. The chess champion of the town is
peddlers, Romanians, and Gypsies. Those
Antoni Dubicki, a 59-year-old Pole who looks
fresh from the railroad stations congregate
much older, perhaps because he spent the war
around the fountains of Alexanderplatz.
in a Siberian labor camp. The Soviets sent him
They've heard that this is the best place to find
here, with other settlers, to start a new life
help or friendship.
after the war. He pauses from his chess.
Then there are Asian and African laborers
"This is ancient Polish land," he says, "and
imported by the communist regimes as virtual
I'm not worried that the Germans will try to
slaves-Vietnamese, Angolans, and Mozam-
take it from us." (Editorial writers in Warsaw
bicans. I hear that some 60,000 Vietnamese
do worry about such things.) Dubicki is more
were sent here for menial labor, another
concerned about Soviets, perhaps because of
30,000 to Czechoslovakia. I don't give it much
his Siberian experience.
credence until I meet a Vietnamese named
"I fear them a lot," he says. He grips my
Nguyen Huy Thanh in a suburb of Prague.
hand, and his faded blue eyes fill with tears.
Thanh, a highly educated engineer, moved
"Say hello to your President Bush from an
to Zličín some years ago, after the Hanoi gov-
old Siberian prisoner," he whispers. "Tell
ernment promised him he could work abroad
him we count on him."
to improve his professional skills, earn some
Driving from village to village, we finally
money, and see the world. In fact, Hanoi was
chance upon Erwin Wusman, one of the few
scheming to pay its war debts in Eastern
Germans still living in this part of Poland. He
Europe and to earn hard currency by export-
refused to leave Sulików, now a shabby farm
ing the best of its technical talent. Thanh
community of huts and lean-tos not far from
signed a five-year contract, leaving his wife
the river. At 95 he is frail and slow but still
and three children in Hanoi. But when he got
holding his ground.
to Czechoslovakia, he found himself washing
"No, I never agreed to be evacuated.
floors in an iron factory. Because Hanoi kept
This is where I belong," Wusman told me
most of Thanh's salary, his cut amounted to
in squeaky German, as we sat among the
less than a hundred dollars a month.
chickens on his back porch. As far as he is con-
cerned, this is still Germany, with borders as
they were before 1945. He can be cranky at
times, but I am told that Wusman's neighbors
have developed a grudging affection for him.
"Three times the Poles threw him out, and
three times he came back," says a Ukrainian
a
neighbor. "So let old Erwin die here."
=
BERLIN, EAST GERMANY, MAY 10
Just north of the Brandenburg Gate, which
towers over the former Berlin Wall, I find chil-
dren playing in the rubble, boys chasing other
boys with plastic pistols. I know it's just a
game, but it gives me the willies. An endless
queue of West Germans flows through the
majestic gate. They come across to visit rela-
a
tives, to stare at the once forbidden city, and
ENGELS
to buy everything in sight.
An East German friend tells me that West
p
German investors are spending hundreds of
millions of marks to purchase the imposing,
и
modern apartment buildings the communist
0
regime built for its top officials-just before
SI
the government changed.
a
Other buildings in the neighborhood are fill-
a:
ing up with refugees nobody else wants-eth-
nic Germans who fled the Soviet Union, Polish
SKATEBOARDERS PLAY ON A MONUMENT TO THE FATHERS OF COMMUNISM.
18
National Geographic, March 1991
and Gypsies. Those
"There is no way out," he tells me as we sit
3
stations congregate
in the tiny room he shares with another Viet-
Gdansk
of
inderplatz.
namese worker. "I cannot afford transporta-
the
blace to find
tion home, and the government here no longer
Bialowieza
needs me. The Vietnamese Embassy in Prague
Berlin
Poznan
and African laborers
will not permit me to go ahead of time." I meet
Neisse
Warsaw
River
others in a similar fix.
POLAND
regimes as virtual
Lwówek Slaski-
Legnica
agolans, and Mozam-
To make matters worse, Thanh says, the
Sulików
Wroctaw
Kozłówka
60,000 Vietnamese
Vietnamese who remain in Eastern Europe
Liberec
are often chased and beaten by skinheads, who
Prague
Milovice
labor, another
Kutna Nora
Kraków
I don't give it much
waylay Asians headed for work in nearby fac-
Pizen
CZECHOSDOVAKIA
Vietnamese named
tories. And on at least one occasion the thugs
Velehrad
suburb of Prague.
barged into Vietnamese barracks and assault-
Bratislava
engineer, moved
ed them at home.
Morava R:
Hortobagy
after the Hanoi gov-
Thanh is a gentle man of quiet charm who is
Budapest
Berettyóújfalu
HUNGARY
could work abroad
obviously pained to discuss his troubles. "Per-
0
100 km
Artand
Danube
skills, earn some
haps," he tells me, "democracy will come to
o
R.
Izsak
100 mi
In fact, Hanoi was
help us."
debts in Eastern
currency by export-
BRATISLAVA, CZECHOSLOVAKIA, MAY 27
paddles across the Morava River, from
talent. Thanh
Just north of here the Morava River runs
Czechoslovakia to Austria, to pass the after-
leaving his wife
blue through green hills on a warm afternoon,
noon with friends and relatives on the other
But when he got
forming the border between Austria and
side. It looks so natural that I have to remind
himself washing
Czechoslovakia. Until recently, this bucolic
myself that this short trip might have been
Because Hanoi kept
stream was a piece of the Iron Curtain. From
fatal six months ago.
his cut amounted to
the Czechoslovak side a person could cross
a
month.
the Morava only after negotiating minefields,
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY, JUNE 4
eluding border guards, wriggling through
By 5:30 a.m., 3,000 or 4,000 workers of the
barbed wire strung between tall concrete
first shift are pouring through the gates of the
pylons, and swimming 300 or 400 yards in
iron and steel works on the Danube River
the dark.
island of Csepel. Expanded by ardent commu-
At one of the most famous river crossings,
nists in the 1950s, it became Hungary's largest
near the village of Devínska Nová Ves, there is
industrial site. But now the workers worry
a stone bridge, framed by weeping willows
about the future. Most of the complex, they tell
with branches that sweep the waters. This
me, is obsolete, and the government is looking
bridge, once the passageway to freedom for
for private buyers. But there are no takers, for-
thousands of Jews crossing into Austria from
eign or domestic. Serious unemployment is
Eastern Europe, was closed for years after the
suddenly menacing.
Iron Curtain descended, but it is open again.
Today's worker wants to become part of
Young lovers hold hands, and families push
the middle class, to own a car and a weekend
babies in prams on the pathways where guards
cottage in the country. "That's what I want,"
watched over the bridge with machine guns.
says Gábor Szabó, a young welder, "to
Tomasz and I wave to the lovers and parents,
become a European."
and the smiling people wave back.
Elsewhere on the Danube I see that the
The concrete pylons still stand along the
headquarters of the Communist Party Central
river at hundred-yard intervals, like ugly sign-
Committee is padlocked and that boys on
posts. I wonder idly what the local people
skateboards are zipping around in front of it,
make of these remnants of the old frontier,
using the pedestal of a Marx and Engels
when the answer comes. I spy a fat stork nest
monument as a runway. All the years of com-
on one of the pylons, with the mother sitting
munism seem forgotten in this country.
snugly on it. The father, flying back and forth
across the old border, brings food and straw
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY, JUNE 6
and branches. They are free to come and go as
You don't see many Csepel workers on Váci
they please, as is the white-haired man I watch
Utca, the pedestrian shopping district in Pest,
getting into a rowboat down below. He calmly
the section
(Continued on page 24)
TO
THE
OF COMMUNISM.
ograpi
March 1991
Dispatches From Eastern Europe
19
of the capital lying along the Danube's left
drink beer from mugs, I gradually learn how
the go
bank. This part of Budapest is full of fine res-
this black market works.
from a
taurants and elegant women and well-tailored
"The Poles specialize in smuggling coffee,"
erative
men who pass the evening dining on goose and
one of the beer drinkers says, explaining how
own e:
listening to the discreet musical charm of
the coffee is hidden in car fenders and resold
feather
strolling violinists. Across the river at the
to smugglers who pop up from Romania for
effect,
grand old Gellért Hotel (named for the 11th-
the day. Romanians sneak over here to sell
Gyula
century bishop whom pagans are said to have
cheap shoes. Gypsies sell rock audiotapes. The
works
rolled into the river inside a barrel spiked with
competition is nasty, and tensions run high.
Acrc
nails), couples in skimpy swimsuits sun them-
A corpulent Hungarian woman points to a
this ca
selves among the statues in manicured gar-
neighbor's stall. "Ah," she says, "the Gypsy
pride.
dens. Most of these fashionable people are
thieves."
awfull
foreign tourists-and erstwhile members of
I'll ma.
the Communist Party who have recently dis-
HORTOBÁGY, HUNGARY, JUNE 8
Ever
covered the joys of capitalism.
Many Hungarians are farmers who let oth-
the wir
Meanwhile the Soviets are withdrawing
ers worry about refugees and economic plans
Gábor
from this nation, usually by train. "If they
while they themselves concentrate on the age-
Kemén
depart at once," a cab driver tells me, "we
old concerns of the Great Hungarian Plain-
is Izsál
have offered to take them to the border for
shoeing horses, planting wheat, and fattening
owns E
free." And while few Hungarians would com-
animals.
Bárány
plain of the Soviet pullout, the leave-taking
I meet about 7,000 geese at sunset outside
the loc:
will carry a big price tag. Hungary has a for-
town. They march along in regimental forma-
champa
eign debt of 20 billion dollars, the highest
tion, led by other geese, a noisy, honking sea of
erative.
per capita in Eastern Europe. And in 1991 the
white feathers advancing from field to barn.
empire,
Soviets will make them (and all oth-
cated by
ers in the region) pay for oil in hard
its origi
currency.
After
ÁRTÁND, HUNGARY, JUNE 7
see that
wave ai
"We are a transit country," sighs
think, b
Capt. Miklós Halmos, a deeply
all along
tanned man with white hair, who
long as
has guarded the Hungarian border
yet he r.
for 27 years. Halmos, now com-
labor lea
mander of this crossing, points to
ist rebell
a long line of cars with Romanian
"Iam
license plates.
Black SI
"Our orders are to let them come
and go freely," he says-and they
BUCHAR
do. More than 500,000 travelers
The p
passed through the month before.
Czechos]
Ethnic Hungarian and German
A REGIMENT OF HUNGARIAN GEESE, 7,000 STRONG, MARCHES TO THE BARN.
describe
refugees flee here from Romania, as do Roma-
The amazing thing is that this complex logisti-
like a fa-
nians and Bulgarians seeking a better life
cal operation is directed by only two men and
Romania
in Hungary or points west. As a fresh-born
one woman.
slashing
democracy Hungary is reluctant to impose
One of the men, Gáspár Gyula, stands at the
traffic, t
obstacles to free travel, so the refugees keep
barn gate and simply calls the geese home.
by army
coming, and so do the problems.
"Gyertek! Gyertek!" he shouts in a rich bari-
The ne
A half hour's drive from the Ártánd border
tone, using the Hungarian phrase for "come
its libera
crossing is the grim and sooty town of Beret-
here." The geese obey, conditioned by habit
once a to
tyóújfalu; where smuggled goods reach open-
and by the tapes Gyula broadcasts through
an army
air markets operated by Gypsies, Romanians,
loudspeakers.
rout the S'
and Hungarians who try outshouting one
Hungarian agriculture was largely collec-
him. "En
another to attract customers. Hanging around
tivized under the communist regime, and
Drivin
an outdoor bar where tough, sinister men
Gyula has now worked out a compromise with
charging
24
National Geographic, March 1991
Dispatch
dually learn how
the government. He leases his barn and fields
from a cooperative, buys geese from the coop-
mug
offee,"
erative for cash or credit, fattens them at his
ex
g how
own expense, and sells the meat and plucked
ROMANIA
enders and resold
feathers to the cooperative for a profit. In
rom Romania for
effect, this is a market economy, although
over here to sell
Gyula has to pay only one farmhand. His wife
Timispara
Snago
audiotapes. The
works for free.
Bucharest
ensions run high.
Across a ditch in one of his fields I watch
Varna
man points to a
this capitalist tending his geese with obvious
says, "the Gypsy
pride. He shouts back: "Raising geese is
Spfia
BULGARIA
awfully hard work-but think of the money
Marin
I'll make!"
o
100 km
NE 8
Even old Reds talk that way nowadays. In
o
100 mi
mers who let oth-
the wine country south of Budapest, I meet
d economic plans
Gábor Kemény in the little town of Izsák.
Wielding clubs and crowbars, they grab a
ntrate on the age-
Kemény, a former Communist Party member,
young woman in a red dress from the side-
ungarian Plain-
is Izsák's most successful entrepreneur. He
walk, slap her in the face, hit her with their
eat, and fattening
owns a pleasant restaurant named Fekete
weapons. She cries and falls. A miner kicks
Bárány (Black Sheep), the general store, and
her. We see other miners beat two young men
at sunset outside
the local gas station. He makes wine and
with long hair. They beat a teenager. They
egimental forma-
champagne on land leased from the local coop-
beat an old woman.
sy, honking sea of
erative. He would like to expand his financial
There are no police in sight, and now we see
om field to barn.
empire, and he believes that all the land confis-
a knot of miners in the road, blocking our taxi.
cated by the communists should be returned to
We stop. They gather around, rough men in
its original owners.
tattered clothes. Their faces, black with soot,
After a few hours in Kemény's town I can
look menacing in the yellow glow of their hel-
see that he is well liked. Neighbors smile and
met lamps, and I notice that they carry pipes
wave at him. He fits into the new scheme, I
and clubs. Our driver is trembling with fear.
think, because he has been absolutely honest
He opens the trunk to show that he is not trans-
all along. He tried to be a good communist ("so
porting weapons. I hear the trunk slam. The
long as I believed in it," he says and laughs),
miners wave us on.
yet he maintained a close friendship with a
At the hotel we find more miners patrolling
labor leader jailed after the 1956 anticommun-
the lobby. Their eyes reveal nothing, but all of
ist rebellion.
them exude power and importance, probably
"I am what I am, he says over coffee at the
for the first time in their lives. Throughout the
Black Sheep, "and people know it."
night they exercise their newfound influence
with raw fury, as if to settle long years of
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA, JUNE 14
resentment and frustration.
The peaceful death of communism-which
Looking down on Nicolae Bălcescu Boule-
Czechoslovakia's President Václav Havel
vard from my hotel balcony, I see a Dantesque
THE BARN.
described as the "velvet revolution" seems
scene of darkness occasionally broken by the
S complex logisti-
like a faded memory on the night we land in
flash of automobile lights and by what seems
only two men and
Romania. The sky is black with clouds and
like thousands of tiny lightning bugs crawling
slashing rain, the streets are dark and empty of
and running on the ground. The scene is gar-
vula, stands at the
traffic, the government palace is surrounded
ish, intensely alive. I flick on the television to
e geese home.
by army tanks.
discover that a government channel is show-
outs in a rich bari-
The new government is ruthlessly smashing
ing a wartime movie with Nazi SS troopers
bhrase for "come
its liberal opposition. President Ion Iliescu,
beating people.
litioned by habit
once a top communist leader, has assembled
By midnight, drained from viewing the sav-
badcasts through
an army of several thousand coal miners to
agery, I go to the hotel's rooftop restaurant in
rout the students and intellectuals who oppose
search of food. There I find a few happy cou-
as largely collec-
him. "Enemies of democracy," he calls them.
ples dancing in an air-conditioned room. The
ist regime, and
Driving from the airport, we see miners
band is playing a tango.
compre ise with
charging after fleeing, screaming people.
(Continued on page 30)
phic,
1991
Dispatches From Eastern Europe
25
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA, JUNE 15
Interior Ministry; then they are transferred to
cretin
I wake to see the miners still in control, sur-
prison for two months until tens of thousands
with
rounding the hotel and patrolling University
of demonstrators finally secure their release
is for
Square across the street. The toll from last
through protests.
Altho
night: at least one dead, hundreds injured.
from I
President Iliescu makes a speech, thanking the
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA, JUNE 18
istrati
miners for "saving democracy" and warning
It is impossible to understand the brutality
cholog
them a bit late, I think-against excess.
of this springtime in Romania, but it helps to
A kinc
Meanwhile, I notice something odd on the
know what came before. First the Romanians
staff o
streets. While some miners lounge around,
were forced to fight, successively, on both
best th
relaxing and enjoying the spring sun, others
sides during World War II. Then came com-
except
rush about grabbing fellow citizens, cracking
munism and the megalomaniacal regime of
Whe
more skulls. Almost every group of miners is
Nicolae Ceauşescu, which ended only with his
more 1
led by a civilian I assume to be a former agent
execution on Christmas Day 1989.
looks i:
of Securitate, the dreaded secret police who
Romanians had no rights of any kind, barely
to wall
were the muscle behind Nicolae Ceauşescu's
enough food to survive, a few hours of electric-
ity a day, no heat in the harsh winters, no con-
SOLCA.
brutal dictatorship. Are they still running
the place?
tact with the outside world. To increase the
Ever
country's population, contraceptives were
instinc:
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA, JUNE 16
banned and abortions were virtually forbid-
davia,
A thousand students have been arrested,
den, which spawned a generation of aban-
Tomas
and more citizens beaten since yesterday. On a
doned children-all of which must have left
walkin;
hunch, Tomasz and I drive to the Bucharest
deep scars in the national psyche.
The
Emergency Hospital to find the 28-year-old
"What Ceauşescu had undertaken," a
suit, sm
friend with long diplomatic experience
Both ca
in Romania told me, "was to turn 23
It is the
million Romanians into zombies with
tured CC
the sole purpose of producing for the
to phot
state-and for the pharaonic life-style
waves f
of the ruling family."
"You
To get an idea of Ceauşescu's values,
Of CC
you need only visit his newly con-
Scotch
structed-but never occupied-House
station
of the Republic. One of the largest
They pi
buildings in the world, it is boxy and
miles to
outlandish, dwarfing any human who
We jc
stands before it. With more than a
meats, p
thousand rooms and a hundred public
specialti
reception halls, it is fitted out with fine
me I am
furniture, gold-leaf walls, and thick
vian wec
slabs of marble. This communist pal-
powerfu
ROMANIAN FARMER ARISTIDE COSMIUC OFFERS A GIFT OF POETRY.
ace supposedly cost a billion dollars to
Georgets
leader of the Students' League, Marian
build, perhaps more.
States! S
Munteanu, with his foot in a cast and his
Twenty miles to the west in the vil-
accordio
hand smashed.
lage of Grădinari, I see the other side of
women
"I guess we had better change our strat-
Ceauşescu's legacy. Here, in a decaying man-
amazeme
egy," he says, smiling feebly.
sion called the Home for Non-recuperable
earthy la:
His brother, Bogdan, also active in Roma-
Children, the government sent severely dis-
It is a:
nia's prodemocracy movement, is propped in
abled patients to be forgotten, rather than
wonder i
an adjoining bed. Somebody had taken a
waste official funds on remedial programs.
before, 1
crowbar to him, cracking his ribs and piercing
I see a hundred children wandering the halls
much sca
a lung.
or sitting outside, sleeping, screaming, defe-
delighted
The next day police come to the same room,
cating, sometimes fighting. Mosquitoes and
Makin
armed with arrest warrants, to remove the
flies buzz at their open sores. I see autistic,
switchba
brothers. They recuperate in a hospital of the
spastic, and retarded children, children with
an old ma
30
National Geographic, March 1991
Dispatch
they are transferred to
cretinism. I am told that some could be helped
he carries a scythe, the very image of Father
is until tens of thousands
with training or teaching, but little money
Time. He flags us down.
secure their release
is forthcoming from Iliescu's government.
"I am Aristide Cosmiuc," he says with a
Although one physician commutes here daily
flourish, "a poet and a philosopher." He begs
from Bucharest, her duties are largely admin-
to recite a few verses. His voice is soft but
JU
istrative; otherwise, no trained nurses, psy-
strong, rising and falling through the poetry,
understand the brutality
chologists, or instructors care for the children.
and I catch only the drift of his Romanian,
Romania, but it helps to
A kindly woman named Joana Dodoiv and a
enough to know he's saying something about
First the Romanians
staff of 13 others provide for these patients as
love and faith and wisdom. When he is fin-
successively, on both
best they can, but there is little at Grădinari
ished, he tips his hat and resumes his solitary
War II. Then came com-
except empty time, day in, day out.
progress up the mountain, stepping lightly.
galomaniacal regime of
When one of the little patients, a boy no
which ended only with his
more than ten, takes my hand and silently
SOFIA, BULGARIA, JULY 4
Day
1989.
looks into my eyes, I can take no more. I have
After the turmoil of Romania, it is a pleasant
rights of any kind, barely
to walk away.
surprise to arrive in a country where the gov-
a few hours of electric-
ernment isn't trying to kill its citizens. Bul-
harsh winters, no con-
SOLCA, ROMANIA, JUNE 23
garia, which was the oldest communist police
world. To increase the
Even Ceauşescu could not snuff out certain
state in the region, seems highly civilized
contraceptives were
instincts. Driving along a country road in Mol-
by comparison. Students seeking democratic
is were virtually forbid-
davia, searching for a medieval monastery,
reforms argue with the new socialist govern-
a generation of aban-
Tomasz and I happen upon a wedding party
ment here, but the debate is good-natured and
of which must have left
walking in the opposite direction.
peaceful, which is extraordinary when you
psyche.
The groom, looking impeccable in a black
rememb that postwar Bulgaria has no demo-
had undertaken," a
suit, smiles, as does the bride. She wears red.
cratic traditions whatsoever.
diplomatic experience
Both carry flowers, and everybody is singing.
At Sofia University I find student strikers
me, "was to turn 23
It is the happiest thing I have seen in this tor-
dozing in the sun on the steps. Others strum
into zombies with
tured country. We stop and ask for permission
guitars, read newspapers, and chat pleas-
of producing for the
to photograph the couple, and the groom
antly. A professor with a white beard
the pharaonic life-style
waves for us to join them.
climbs out of a third-floor window, moves gin-
mily."
"You will be our guests!" he says.
gerly along the ledge to the next window, then
of
escu's values,
Of course, we accept. I find a bottle of
repeats this feat in reverse, disappearing into
VN
newly con-
Scotch stashed away in our battered red Dacia
the building. Nobody knows why. But the stu-
never occupied-House
station wagon and present it to the couple.
dents are mildly amused. ("He teaches Greek
lic. One of the largest
They pile into the car, and we drive several
history," one of them tells me.) Nobody is
world, it is boxy and
miles to the home of the bride's parents.
seeking confrontation, and no police show up.
varfing any human who
We join the other guests who gorge on
Looking around town, I pass the massive
it. With more than a
meats, pâtés, sausages, eggs, and Moldavian
building of the Central Committee of the Com-
hs and a hundred public
specialties I am unable to identify. They tell
munist Party, and on Ruski Street I find a huge
it is fitted out with fine
me I am the first American to attend a Molda-
statue of Lenin, a figure more tolerated than
d-leaf walls, and thick
vian wedding. We begin a round of toasts with
admired these days. "We let the statue of Tsar
e. This communist pal-
powerful Romanian vodka-To Dorin and
Alexander II stand during the communist
cost a billion dollars to
Georgets Gralis! To Romania! To the United
years, SO why not let Lenin stay?" a Bulgarian
States! Someone produces a violin and an
official asks, shrugging.
the west in the vil-
accordion, and the dancing begins, men and
The tolerance is surprising, given the sup-
see the other side of
women plunging into the hora and, to my
pression and enforced isolation Bulgaria has
fere, in a decaying man-
amazement, something very much like the
suffered, but I am relieved, here at the end of
for Non-recuperable
earthy lambada.
my journey, to find that spark of goodwill. All
ment sent severely dis-
It is all very festive and warming, and I
over Eastern Europe the days ahead will be
forgotten, rather than
wonder if it would have been this way a year
difficult, with mounting debt, rising unem-
remedial programs.
before, when food and foreigners were so
ployment, and civil unrest demanding much
ren wandering the halls
much scarcer. Tomasz and I quietly slip away,
of these already fatigued nations. But they
eping, screaming, defe-
delighted to have been part of it.
have been through worse, and I know how
thting. Mosquitoes and
Making our way back to the city, we round a
their immense reserves of courage, common
en sores. I see autistic,
switchback on a mountain road and encounter
sense, and humor sustained them. They will
children, children with
an old man walking. He has a white beard and
survive-of that I am certain.
feogr
March 1991
Dispatches From Eastern Europe
31
NO.61
NATIONAL
EAST EUROPE'S
DARK DAWN
36
WATER AND THE WEST 2
THE COLORADO: A RIVER DRAINED DRY 4
SECRETS OF ANIMAL NAVIGATION 70
THE WONDERLAND OF LEWIS CARROLL 100
BATS - THE CACTUS CONNECTION 131
OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY WASHINGTON, D.C.
While the world wasn't
looking, Eastern Europe's
regimes poisoned their
environment in the name of
progress. Now new leaders
must assess the damage and
set priorities for reversing it.
N THE FALL OF 1989 the communist gov-
ernments in Eastern Europe began to
crumble. As the Iron Curtain was torn
apart, journalists-nosing around in
Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia,
Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria with
a newfound freedom-were met by an out-
pouring of complaints about polluted air, con-
taminated water, and poisoned soil.
The headlines in the Western press-"Pol-
lution Chokes East-Bloc Nations," "Envi-
ronmental Catastrophe in Eastern Europe"
brought a crowd of questions to my mind: Why
all the fuss right now? How bad is it? How did
it happen? Is it affecting people's health, and
how are the new governments responding?
As a doctor by training and a scientist by
inclination, I was disturbed by what I read.
For two months in 1990 I traveled throughout
Eastern Europe, eager to discover the truth.
What I found was not nearly so simple as the
headlines had led me to believe. Eastern
Europe's industry is backward and outdated,
its workers are exposed to hazards no longer
accepted in the West, and little thought is
given to pollution control. The natural envi-
ronment is being destroyed, as in the West
capital of Poland, a city spared the ravages of
before antipollution and industrial health reg-
war and adorned with many old churches and
ulations were introduced. But the clamor
fine buildings. I took a walk along the grassy
announcing an environmental catastrophe
bank of the Wisła (Vistula) River. The air was
seemed out of proportion. It turns out that in
clean and fresh, and the river, dark and greeny
the late 1980s complaints about the environ-
brown. A lone fisherman sat by the water gaz-
ment became focused into a way of showing
ing at the reflected beauty of the town.
disapproval of communist rule. So pollution,
"How's the fishing?" I asked,
certainly a major problem, attracted intense
"We catch some carp, but it's been terrible
and sometimes exaggerated public interest.
until recently," he said. "It's all to do with the
My journey began in Kraków, the historic
poisons put out by the factory upstream."
JON THOMPSON, a physician formerly specializing
I was surprised at how much he knew.
in internal medicine, is now a writer living in Lon-
A local taxi driver showed an equally
don. He wrote "Inside the Kremlin" for the Janu-
remarkable interest in pollution by giving me a
ary 1990 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC.
rundown on how much sulfur dioxide was put
42
National Geographic, June 1991
spared the ravages of
out by the city's power stations and the nearby
ENERGY LIFELINE and environmental nightmare both
any old churches and
giant steel mill at Nowa Huta (New Foundry),
begin in the coal mines. These Polish miners dig
valk along the grassy
built in the early 1950s with a Soviet version of
high-grade black coal, some of which Poland will
River. The air was
1930s Pittsburgh technology.
export to raise cash. The nation keeps all of its dirtier,
dark and greeny
"Every day on TV there are discussions
high-sulfur brown coal for industry and home heating.
sat by the water gaz-
about the sulfur dioxide level in the air, the
of
the
town.
state of the rivers, and other pollution prob-
we realize how important these things are."
asked.
lems," he explained. "Kraków lies in a valley,
Jan Lach, head of a team making indepen-
but it's been terrible
and in the winter a blanket of foul air often
dent measurements of dust and gas emissions
all to do with the
covers the whole city. When it rains, the
from 19 factories around Kraków, soon con-
upstream."
smoke is dissolved and falls as acid. Our old
firmed what the taxi driver and fisherman had
much
he
knew.
stone buildings are just being eaten away.
told me. He was nervous and unused to foreign
showed an equally
"Everything was secret under the commu-
journalists and anxious to give facts rather
by giving me a
nists, and we spent all our energy simply stay-
than opinions.
ilfur dioxide was put
ing alive. Now we have some information, and
"On a yearly basis the maximum permitted
une 1991
East Europe's Dark Dawn
43
levels for sulfur dioxide are exceeded the whole
Pollution's
Bronchitis and eczem
reportedly affect half I
time," he said, "and only once did the fluorine
children in eastern
level fall to within the permitted range. We
Germany industriali.
have a long way to go to meet our targets." I
was intrigued to note that in 1989 the amount
long shadow
areas.
ERMANY
former
boundary
of dust falling on the city was less than in previ-
Whee
East
FROM THE BALTIC to the Black Sea, half a century
Germa
by
and
ous years. "During that year we had a lot of
Germany
Magd
of runaway Industrialization has left a smear of
:0
strikes, and many factories were not working
destruction through the heart of Eastern Europe.
Hall
properly," he explained. "It had nothing to do
Under orders from Moscow, factories appeared
Merseburg
with improvements in pollution control."
where only farms and markets had stood. The his-
Espenhain
Pollution in Kraków was nowhere to be
toric university city of Kraków was "given" the
Chomut
R.
seen, but appearances can be deceptive-it
huge Nowa Huta steelworks simply because
Ore
was summer after all. From the walls of an old
the Stalinist regime mistrusted the city's Intellec-
Mountains
fort on the outskirts of the city, I could see
tual elite. Now the city lies within the "dirty trian
Nowa Huta's forest of smoking chimneys
gle" formed by Poland, Czechoslovakia, and
looming in the distance. In winter with wind
eastern Germany- region of dense population
Satellite
blowing smoke toward the city, I could imag-
where pollution controls are often nonexistent.
image
below
ine quite a different picture-the dirty one my
Eastern Europe's network of rivers has become a
convenient method of disposal-especially the
taxi driver had painted earlier.
Danube, recipient of eight nations' waste.
The next day, I met Stanislaw Juchnowicz,
GERMANY
a distinguished-looking architect with specta-
AUSTRIA
cles and silver hair, president of the Polish
Ecology Club. "Why," I asked him, "was a
huge steelworks built next to a city of such his-
toric importance?"
He paused, weighing his answer. "You
must understand, it was a political decision.
There is no iron ore here, and we had very little
industry. According to the theory of our com-
munist masters, the wage-earning class was
supposed to have a leading role in society. In
the 1950s all the countries under communist
rule underwent massive industrialization.
Kraków was a university town with very few
wage earners. Putting the steelworks here was
a deliberate attempt to destroy the old order by
creating a class of wage earners where none
existed before."
Like Juchnowicz, other members of the Pol-
ish Ecology Club were highly qualified and
intelligent. They all showed deep concern,
speaking with passion about the horrors of pol-
lution. They told me about the uncontrolled
discharge of fluorine gas from an aluminum
plant, the escape of organic solvents from a
pharmaceutical factory, the fallout of
cadmium-laden dust onto the soil from smelt-
ing works, and the uptake of cadmium by
some vegetables eaten by humans. They also
reported that 170 tons of lead were released
into the air from Nowa Huta annually, and
that electrostatic precipitators fitted to factory
Dead and
chimneys to control the escape of dust were
dying conifer forests,
switched off at night to save electricity. Then
downwind from two blue-
there was the appalling state of Poland's
plumed Czechoslovak power plants, appear
orange at center in this false-color satellite Image.
Healthler stands appear black. Pollution affects some 173,000
44
acres in this region. Lines between the plumes are strip-mine scars.
Baltie Sea
POLLUTION SOURCES
Bronchitis and eczema
Gdansk
One-third of Poland's 38
reportedly affect half the
million people tive in
Leipzig Major center of
children in eastern
"ecological hazard" areas,
air pollution
Gelmany's industrialized
Szczecin
according to the Polish
Major industrial area
areas.
Academy of Science
OW
ERMANY
Bydgoszcz
Chemical plant
Metallurgical plant
Former boundary
Warta
tween East
Berlin
BUE
Oil refinery
Comany and
Poznań
Sea, half a century
many
Magdeburg
Oder
POLAND
Warsaw
Power station:
left a smear of
West G.
Hydroelectric
of Eastern Europe
Halle
@Łódź
Nuclear
actories appeared
Leipzig
Merseburg
Dresden
Wista
Nuclear (under construction)
bublin
Thermal
had stood. The his-
Espenhain
Pirna
Wroclaw
was "given" the
Chomutov.
Jelenia Gora
River pollution
Teblice
R.
Siles
Marine pollution
simply because
Most
Ore
the city's Intellec-
Zabrzee
Chamberlin Trimetric Projection
Mountains
Prague
Katowice
100 km
ithin the "dirty trian-
Ostrava
Krakow
Nowa Huta
Pizen
U.S.S.R.
100 ml
noslovakia, and
T
NGS CARTOGRAPHIC DIVISION
CZECHOSLOVAKIA
dense population
Romania largest city, Bucharest,
Satellite
Brno
2655
nonexistent.
image
has no sewage-treatment plant;
below
DAM
elsewhere most of the country's
has become a
Ziar nad x
Kosice
sewage plants do not work properly.
Vienna
Trhava
Fronom
l-especially the
Ozd
waste.
alf of Czechoslovakia's
Bratilaval
Miskolc
GERMANY
drinking water falls to
Dunakiliti
Nagimaros
prut
AUSTRIA
Gabelkove
A:
meet the country's own
Tatabanya
garian
Debrecen
Baia Mare
health standards.
Budapest
AUSTRIA
Great
laşi
ROMANIA
Ketskemet
Lake
OsCluj-Napoca
KISKONSAG
One in ten Hungarians
Balaton
NATIONAL PARK
lacks access to safe
HUNGARY
Copsa
Tirnava
Danube
Pécs
Mica
Mare R.
Delta
drinking water.
Galati
Timisoara
2543 m
8
Lake Razelma
Ploiesti
Trianly
Lake Since
Bucharest
Belgrage
Constanţa
Giurgiu
YUGOS
Danub
Ruse
Pleven
BULGARIA
Varna
Gabrovo
Black
Sofia
Balkan Mountains
Burgas
Industrial waste pollutes
nearly 70 percent of
Pernik
Stara Zagoras
Bulgaria farmland and
Maritsa
Dimitrova
percent of its river water
2925 m
Plovdiv
9596 ft
Dobromices
TURKEY
GREECE
ACID RAIN
15°
20°
NORWAY
Rain acidity
Already choking on its own
Atlantic
SWEDEN
1988
waste, Eastern Europe is also
Ocean
Narth
DENMARK
High
the acid-rain dumping ground
Higher
for the West, thanks to winds
IRELAND
Highest
BOLAND
UNITED
that bring pollutants from as
NETH
KINGDOM
GERMAN
U.S.S.R.
far away as Britain. In Poland
BELGIUM
more than 600,000 acres of
CZECHOSLOVA
Prevailing
LUX.
woodland have been dam
AUSTRIA
wind
FRANCE
HUNGARY
SWITZ.
aged; in Czechoslovakia,
ROMANIA
close to one million acres
OSLAVIAVIA
BULGARIA
ITALY
PORTUGAL
ANDORRA
SPAIN
ALBANIA
GREECE TURKEY
B. N. ROCK, J. E. VOGELMANN, UNIVERSITY
400 km
Mediterranean
OF NEW HAMPSHIRE; H. KADRO, UNIVERSITY
affects some 173,000
OF FREIBURG; AND D. ZLOTEK, CIRRUS
400 ml Albers Conic Projection
Sea
35°
TECHNOLOGY, NASHUA, N.H.
lumes are strip-mine scars.
MIST CARRIES a deadly payload to the remains of a
Czechoslovak forest. Sulfur from coal-burning indus-
tries combines with moisture to create airborne acids
that kill and denude woodlands. The acid rain that
created this timber graveyard in the Ore Mountains
could have risen from any neighboring country.
Further damage is done to surviving woodlands by
insects like the larch bud moth. Thriving under condi-
tions other forest animals cannot withstand, the moth
has devastated a large area in Poland.
rivers, polluted by untreated sewage, indus-
trial effluent, and brine pumped out of coal
mines. The picture that club members pre-
sented was one of unrelieved mismanagement
and disaster.
Polish intellectuals were clearly the driving
force behind the surprising awareness of pollu-
tion I had noticed earlier. In Nowa Huta,
where a gray-black dust cakes everything, I
found another point of view. There I met a
50-year-old smelter, round, grimy, toothless,
and proud. "They're always on TV and radio
going on about this place," he told me, point-
ing his callused finger in the direction of Kra-
ków. "Why don't they campaign for a modern
plant here instead of trying to close us down?"
ATOWICE, an old industrial center
K
where miners have been digging zinc,
lead, and silver for more than 300
years; sits on rich deposits of coal.
This coal belt extends in a broad band through
southern Poland into eastern Germany and
northern Czechoslovakia, where Eastern
Europe's chemical, metallurgical, and other
heavy industry is concentrated. Katowice and
the surrounding area consist of a huge urban-
industrial development with a dozen or so sat-
ellite centers crisscrossed with roads and
lurching tramlines bent out of shape by subsi-
dence of the mines. Fetid lakes, massive spoil
heaps, rows of grubby houses, shops, schools,
factories, hospitals, and mines are all jumbled
industrial Midlands of my English childhood.
together in haphazard confusion.
A retired joiner invited me to his home in
ai
The air has a distinctive sulfurous smell. To
one of the tenement buildings. The rooms were
provide the power and heat for industry and
spotless. His wife said she had to wash the cur-
p
homes, great quantities of poor-quality coal-
tains every two weeks and found it almost a
te
mainly brown coal, or lignite-are burned,
full-time job cleaning the apartment. From
while the more expensive low-sulfur coals are
their living room window I could see the
exported for precious foreign currency. Gray
nearby smelting works and right into the fur-
lu
skies and dirty cobbled streets add gloom
naces, which glowed orange and shimmered in
m
to an already dismal city. People live amid
the intense heat. I asked what it was like living
E
poverty and squalor, cramped in blackened
amid all the foul air and dust.
ai
tenement buildings. I felt as if the clock had
The joiner lit a cigarette: "This is my life,"
ai
stopped 40 years ago: I was back in the
he said, "I've worked here for 45 years. It was
46
National Geographic, June 1991
English childhood.
hard, but we had enough to raise our family,
"dirty triangle" formed by the coal belt of
me to his home in
and we have somewhere to live. If they close
northern Czechoslovakia, eastern Germany,
The rooms were'
the works, there will be no jobs. What will
and the Silesian district of southern Poland.
to wash the cur-
people do then?" His view - a dirty job is bet-
Highly acidic rain falls in the same area and
found it almost a
ter than no job at all - I heard echoed time and
extends in a streak to the east, where the pre-
apartment. From
again by working people in all the countries.
vailing wind carries the acid-forming smoke.
I could see the
My focus at this point was on air and soil pol-
Here the forests are dying. Some people
right into the fur-
lution caused by the burning of coal. The enor-
believe the trees are being killed by fluorides
and shimmered in
mity of the problem was exposed in a map of
washed out of the smoke; others blame acidifi-
it was like living
Europe I was given in Wrocław, showing the
cation of the soil and the reduced availability
amount of sulfur falling on the ground in dust
of trace elements, already depleted by the
"This is my life,'
and in precipitation. The highest fallout,
practice of growing only one type of tree on the
for 45 years. It was
marked as a great gray blotch, covered the
same land all the time. Whatever the exact
he 1991
East Europe's Dark Dawn
47
how beautiful the forest used to be. He
Link
couldn't believe how it has been destroyed."
ment
A RENAISSANCE SCULPTURE on Kraków's Cloth Hall
We turned off the road onto a rough track.
Cc
melts away, its porous limestone vulnerable to air-
"Climb up there," he said. "Then you'll
borne sulfuric acid from the smokestacks of the Nowa
a city
understand what acid rain is all about." On
Huta steel mill, just miles away. Western companies
meta
are lining up to sell scrubbers and other antipollution
the way up. I nearly fell into a deep gully
the I
devices to the region's governments, which are at last
gouged out of the mountainside by water rush-
areas
trying to halt industry's destructive march against art
ing down the treeless slopes. From a high ridge
out I
and nature. But leaders are walking a tightrope
I saw a forest of stark, gray, dead tree trunks
hous
between spending money to clean up the environment
extending as far as the eye could see. The feel-
facili
and keeping their foundering economies afloat.
ing of desolation was overpowering. If the
mucl
chimney smoke has had this
being
effect on trees, what could it
wher
be doing to human health, I
bette
wondered?
imm
expe
VERYWHERE I WENT, I
newl
E
tried to find out, but
I
garbled and fanciful
wher
stories led me to sev-
viror
eral dead ends. Someone in
Hall
Bratislava told me about a
I wa
village in Slovakia where the
offic-
people were moved because
"(
they were dying of cancer
up ir
caused by fumes from a near-
said,
by aluminum factory. I went
sions
there to find that they had
mea
been moved because the fac-
ly tl
tory wanted to expand and
how
cause, forests all over Europe are in trouble.
have a new road built straight through the vil-
appl
Nowhere is this more apparent than in
lage-hardly a democratic decision, but with
publ
Jelenia Góra, a resort town in southwest
the communist command system such things
H
Poland near the Czechoslovak border, once a
are possible. And it was the factory workers
with
German-speaking region. Most of the Ger-
exposed to tar fumes released during the elec-
out.
mans left when Poland's boundaries were
trolytic process who were getting the cancers,
wen:
redrawn at the end of World War II. My guide
not the villagers. I looked into a report of an
tivef
at Jelenia Góra was bilingual and much in
alarming infant-mortality rate in a highly pol-
natio
demand by Germans returning to the haunts of
luted East German city. The rate, in fact,
inve
their childhood. As we drove out of the valley,
turned out to be comparable to those of West-
the p
winding slowly through densely forested hills,
ern Europe. I listened to frightening tales of
com]
he pointed out that many of the trees were
malformed babies being born, a theme that
awa'
losing their needles.
came up so often I asked a psychologist in
"A
"It's the first sign of ill health," he said.
Hungary to explain.
the f
"The needles get fewer and fewer, and even-
"You've hit on an interesting question,"
enor
tually the tree gives up and dies." We climbed
she said. "There could be poisonous chemicals
and
through the forest, which gave way to irregu-
in your drinking water, heavy metals in your
plair
lar treeless spaces covered with scrub and
vegetables, cancer-forming gases in the air,
expl:
small birch trees and finally opened out into
or radioactivity in your home, but they' re all
even
what could have been rolling grasslands were
invisible. Fear of the unknown is the problem.
In
it not for the tree stumps.
Our most deep-seated fears are connected with
pollt
"Last year so many trees died that the army
ill health, death, and the safety of our unborn
als и
was called in to fell them," he said. "I brought
children. That is why we always hear about
regir
an elderly German couple up here, and the old
cancers and birth defects when people are wor-
the I
man broke down and cried. He kept saying
ried about harmful things in the environment.
"I
48
National Geographic, June 1991
Easi
used to be. He
bee
Linking a defect or cancer to a single environ-
as
estroyed."
mental hazard is extraordinarily difficult."
onto
h track.
Common sense says it is unhealthy to live in
TROUBLE IS IN THE AIR for an unmasked worker in
n you'll
a city with air contaminated with smoke and
Magdeburg, Germany, who opens bags of asbestos,
is
all
about.
On
metal-laden dust, but it is unrealistic to blame
then feeds them into a hopper to make reinforced-
into a deep gully
the poor health of people living in polluted
cement water pipes. Prolonged breathing of asbestos
by water rush-
multiplies the risk of cancer of the lining of the lung
areas entirely on the fumes and chemicals put
From a high ridge
ten times. Compounding the peril: Smoking, epidemic
out by industry. The effect of overcrowded
dead tree trunks
in Eastern Europe, increases an asbestos worker's
housing, unhealthy food, inadequate medical
could see. The feel-
cancer risk 50-fold. Such exposure to multiple cancer-
facilities, smoking, and alcohol are probably
erpowering. If the
causing agents hampers experts seeking to isolate
much more harmful. Why was everything
smoke has had this
the effects of individual pollutants.
being blamed on pollution
what could it
when it was obvious that
to
human
health,
I
better medical care would
immediately improve the life
expectancy of adults and
WHERE
I
WENT,
I
newborns?
to
find
out,
but
I began to understand
and fanciful
when I visited the State En-
led me to sev-
ends.
vironmental Inspectorate in
Someone
in
told
Halle, East Germany, where
me
about
a
lovakia where the
I was greeted by their press
officer, Manfred Klima.
moved
because
"Our organization was set
dying of cancer
up in 1985 to set norms," he
umes from a near-
said, "and to measure emis-
m factory. I went
that
sions and control them by
they
had
means of fines. Until recent-
beca
he fac-
ly the results were secret;
to
H and
however, the West Germans
throug
the
vil-
applied heavy pressure to have them made
ecision, but with
Germany," Klima told me, "people's con-
public, and now we publish them."
stem such things
cerns have turned to matters of money, family,
He showed me his files of 1987 and 1988
factory workers
employment, and so on, which are much more
with the words "Secret Confidential" crossed
during the elec-
important to them than pollution. Actually the
out. "By keeping the local figures secret,' he
the cancers,
true level of awareness of environmental prob-
went on, "it was possible to present only selec-
lems in East Germany is very low, and we
to a report of an
tive figures as national totals given out at inter-
in a highly pol-
must try to raise it by education."
national conferences. It is also our job to
e rate, in fact,
Now things began to make sense. To pre-
O those of West-
investigate complaints made by members of
serve the illusion that everything in the com-
the public about pollution. We did have a few
htening tales of
munist paradise was just fine, the true figures
complaints, but the level of interest and
a theme that
were kept secret. Because those in power were
awareness was rather low.
psychologist in
quick to stamp out any dissent or opposition, it
"Around the time of the political changes in
was extremely difficult for people to make
ting question,"
the fall of 1989, the number of complaints rose
their feelings known without risk of punish-
enormously. When the communist regime fell
nous chemicals
ment. I remembered Professor Juchnowicz
and the Berlin Wall came down, the com-
metals in your
telling me that when all forms of political
plaints came down too." He went on to
ises in the air,
opposition were banned in Poland during the
but they're all
explain how the level then settled to a figure
period of martial law, the Polish Ecology Club
is the problem.
even lower than before the political changes.
was spared. The government considered it
In his view the increase in complaints about
connected with
acceptable for citizens to complain about pol-
of our unborn
pollution and health risks during the upheav-
lution but not about the current regime, so
als was linked to opposition to the communist
ys hear about
with the ecology club as a rallying point, envi-
regime. It was the only means then available to
eople are wor-
ronmental matters became an important focus
envir
the people. Open opposition was impossible.
of anticommunist activity.
nt.
"With the coming union of East and West
I remembered seeing in the lovely Gothic
june
1991
East Europe's Dark Dawn
49
church in Pirna, East Germany, a notice board
a rubbish-free environment for their children?
F ONE RI
with the title: "Protecting the Creation." On it
As the communist regimes with all their
ate the
were photographs of rubbish dumps, factory
characteristic secrecy and paranoia fell apart,
clearer
chimneys, and other unnatural and ugly
the people who were politically active, mainly
popula
things. The message was that humans are part
intellectuals, did their best to tell the outside
braved th
of God's creation and therefore responsible for
world about the poor state of the environment.
Ministry o
it. The Protestant Church was, in its own quiet
Air and water pollution and declining life
Czechoslo
way, acting as a channel for protest against the
expectancy in Eastern Europe were pointed
pollution a
regime in East Germany, where the ever pres-
out as evidence of the unsatisfactory perfor-
for sulfur (
ent secret police made any open opposition
mance of the communist system. In place of
in the extre
extremely difficult. Concern for the environ-
the old message "Look how good our statistics
Germany.
ment was a perfect way of registering protest
are; everything in our communist paradise is
overall mc
without alarm bells ringing in police head-
wonderful" was the new message: "Look how
cancer, an
quarters. After all, what could be wrong with
bad everything is; communist rule is a disaster,
therefore,
people wanting pure water, clean air, and
please help us."
country. S
52
National Geographic, June 1991
East Euro
FROM CRADLE TO GRAVE, East Europeans pay a
lethal price for forced industrialization. Alexi
Dermendjiev, 48, worked 25 years amid heavy-metal
dust at a Bulgarian copper smelter. A lung-cancer
victim, he breathes with an oxygen mask as a doctor
removes fluid from his chest. In southern Poland, a
premature baby battles respiratory problems at Kra-
ków's Institute for Pediatrics. Experts suspect, though
they have yet to prove, that pollution contributes to
the region's high infant-mortality rate.
children?
F ONE REASON for people's wish to exagger-
effect of poor living conditions and lack of
all
their
ate the horrors of pollution had become
medical facilities is unknown.
fell
apart,
clearer, its real effect on the health of the
The region is blessed with a spectacular roll-
mainly
population had not. To get some facts, I
ing landscape studded with wooded hills rising
the
outside
braved the cheerless corridors of Prague's
steeply to the mountains. Passing bleak stands
vironment.
Ministry of Health to study statistical maps of
of dead conifers, I climbed to a spot overlook-
eclining
life
Czechoslovakia, looking for the link between
ing the valley, where many chemical factories
pointed
pollution and disease. The most polluted area
and coal-burning industries are strung out
tory
perfor-
for sulfur dioxide emissions and dust fallout is
between Chomutov, Most, and Teplice. I
In place of
in the extreme northwest, near the border with
counted seven major industrial complexes and
statistics
Germany. This same area has the highest
could see open-pit mines and an odd-looking
paradise
is
overall mortality, the highest mortality from
green lake. Here I met Miloš, a truck driver in
"Look how
cancer, and the lowest life expectancy and is,
his 30s, who had constructed a special aerial at
a
disaster
therefore, also the most unhealthy part of the
home and was making good money by selling
country. So the link seems to exist, though the
videos illegally recorded from West German
June
1991
East Europe's Dark Dawn
53
mental retardation in children; and organic
solvents have various effects, including dull-
YEARNING TO BREATHE FREELY, many East Europe-
ing of the brain and severe liver damage. The
ans become refugees from the air. At Primary School
difficulty is in trying to establish the effect of
10 in Most, Czechoslovakia, children practice donning
small quantities taken over a long period of
face masks issued by the town council for use on
sulfur dioxide alert days.
time. What, for instance, is the effect on bones
Shrouded in steam mist (facing page), a Hungarian
if cadmium and fluoride are taken together?
respiratory patient finds relief from Budapest's pol-
The truth is that research is continuing and
luted air in an "inhalatorium" booth. Some days the
nobody really knows, though many sub-
smog is SO bad that residents of Buda can barely see
stances, in particular some chlorinated com-
their companion city, Pest, just across the Danube.
pounds and heavy metals, seem to make
people susceptible to cancer.
In the hope of getting
more specific information, I
returned to the city of Prague
to call on Vladimír Bencko, a
tall, dignified doctor interna-
tionally known as an envi-
ronmental health specialist.
"Now that people here are
smoking more, how is it pos-
sible to tell whether their dis-
eases are caused by smoking
or pollution?" I asked.
"This is extremely diffi-
cult," he said, "but there are
effects on health that can be
linked to specific pollutants.
There was a power station in
Slovakia burning coal with
television. I asked him what it was like living
a high arsenic
content. It was depositing
in the most polluted and unhealthy part of
between a half and one ton of arsenic a day
Czechoslovakia.
onto the countryside for 20 miles around. The
He looked vacant, shrugged, and started to
first we knew was a report of bees dying out.
tell me his plans to buy a restaurant. When I
Then we learned from music teachers of many
pressed him, he told me how cool, smoke-
partly deaf schoolchildren. We investigated
laden air trapped between the mountains
the problem and found that children in the
causes the frequent buildup of smog in the
area had a high level of arsenic in their hair,
valley. "Sometimes they announce an emer-
blood, and urine, compared with a control
gency on the radio," he said. "Old people and
group. At the power station we found people
children are not supposed to go out, so I keep
were dying from cancer at a younger age than
my two daughters at home away from school.
workers at other power stations. People living
I've had both of them in the hospital with
near the power station have an increased risk
bronchitis. I suppose it must be the bad air,"
of developing skin cancer too. We have also
he added, as if these were things in life that just
studied exposure to nickel, cobalt, and beryl-
have to be accepted.
lium. These metals all seem to promote the
But what does this smoke laden with cad-
development of cancers."
mium, fluorides, lead, organic solvents, and
I asked him what can be done to remove
other pollutants I had heard about actually
harmful substances from smoke.
do to people? I questioned every specialist I
"Electrostatic precipitators can remove 98
came across to try to find out. The effect of
percent of particulates," he said, "but the
absorbing fairly large quantities, I was told,
most harmful part, if inhaled, is the remaining
is well-known. For example, cadmium causes
2 percent. To clean that residue, the emissions
thinning of the bones; fluoride causes thick-
must be put through a scrubber, which uses a
ening of the bones; lead causes anemia and
limestone slurry to rinse out the remaining
54
National Geographic, June 1991
substances. But that creates another prob-
through shallow water dappled with leafy
lem-how to dispose of the toxic rinse water?
shadows. The partly submerged forest was a
I believe we must consider very seriously the
sublime world of peace and silence broken
possibility of expanding nuclear power."
only by the soft plop of frogs and toads
in retreat. "They talk about flood con-
HE PROSPECT of Czechoslovakia turn-
trol.
T
This is nature's way," said Juraj
ing from coal to nuclear power is hotly
with a defiant wave.
debated. I discussed it with Dušan
In a rented car Juraj and I followed the
Obernauer and his colleague Igor Pin-
course of the huge canal to Gabčíkovo. The
ter, partners in a company making geophysi-
sun beat down, swallowtail butterflies danced
cal instruments in Bratislava.
before us, and the dead-flat, empty farmland
Dušan smiled scornfully: "Ten nuclear
seemed menaced by the canal's massive banks
power plants were originally planned, but
as they rose above the plain.
only two are working, one near Trnava. How
"The canal is impervious," Juraj said, "so
it came to be built there is typical of the system.
the water table on the plain will fall. Then
Some party official probably looked at a map
they'll have to irrigate-that's just stupid."
and said: "This is an underdeveloped region.
At Gabčíkovo, a building site in the middle
This river can be a source of water, so we will
of the plain, controversy over the project had
place it just here.'
brought work to a halt. Cranes and compres-
"Nobody asked a geologist for advice
sors lay idle, and the site was deserted except
because if they had, anyone could have told
for a few curious sightseers. We clambered
them that it is situated in the most active earth-
around, overawed by the huge scale of the
quake zone in Slovakia, on a classic tectonic
canal, shipping locks, and power plant. Will
fault line. Earthquakes could also be a prob-
this ill-conceived scheme ever be put to work, I
lem when they fill the dam at Dunakiliti."
wondered, and if not, how will the Austrians
The dam, itself highly controversial, is part
get their money back?
EXHAUST
of a hydroelectric project being built with
That evening I was discussing the impor-
Mare, Ro
Austrian finance on the Danube near the
tance of industrialization in communist think-
containin
Czechoslovak-Hungarian border. It is a
ing with a group of environmentalists when
gigantic undertaking of the "man conquers
someone pulled some bills out of his pocket.
nature" variety. Though proposed in the early
Pointing to a picture of belching smokestacks
1950s, when vast engineering constructions
on the hundred-crown note, he said: "Look at
were in fashion, work began only in 1978. It is
this, our proudest achievement, symbol of the
an odd enterprise because the turbines are on
A®
bright future! And how much longer can they
the Danube floodplain (at Gabčíkovo) where
go on advertising this disgrace?" he mocked,
environ
there is very little slope to the ground. To
waving another bank note bearing a picture of
In Bu
achieve sufficient flow for generating electric-
the Slovnaft oil refinery.
Jolánka
ity, the Danube will be diverted into a concrete
"In 1972," he continued, "oil appeared in
quick-fi
canal 15 miles long, with a large artificial lake
Bratislava's water supply, and for months
main pr
at Dunakiliti, the upper end of the canal; there
half the city had no central water." Only then
"Niti
the water will be held until it is needed at times
did it become known that oil and oil products
tilizers,
of peak electric demand. To regulate the
were escaping from the Slovnaft refinery. The
importa
outrush of water, a second dam is needed
point is that beneath the soil, extending over
"They
downstream in Hungary at Nagymaros.
70 miles from here right into Hungary, is a
ground
"Absolutely Stalinist," was how Juraj, a
huge basin about a quarter of a mile deep filled
in river:
student I met in Bratislava, described it.
with gravel and water. The refinery had for
Dr. J
Juraj, a blond and fiery 20-year-old, -was a
years been leaking oil into the groundwater at
map acr
Green, as Europe's environmental activists
the edge of what is perhaps the largest reserve
major to
are known.
of drinking water in Europe. When the danger
has bee
"They've already destroyed a major area of
was realized, wells were sunk around the
water q
the floodplain forest, and there's more to go,"
refinery in a protective ring and then pumped
about it
he observed. "It's a unique habitat." When
continuously to try to limit the spread of oil.
treating
we went to see the forest near Dunakiliti, the
"The refinery should never have been built
agricult
Danube was in flood. I removed my shoes and
there in the first place," the environmentalist
because
socks, rolled up my trousers, and waded
said. "The only thing to do is to close it."
will rele
58
National Geographic, June 1991
East En
ppled with leafy
forest was a
silence broken
fro
d toads
d con-
said
Juraj
I followed the
Gabčíkovo. The
utterflies danced
empty farmland
massive
banks
Juraj said, "so
will fall. Then
just
stupid."
in the middle
the project had
and compres-
deserted except
We clambered
scale of the
plant. Will
be put to work, I
the Austrians
the impor-
EXHAUSTED FROM PUSHING a rail cart loaded with lead ore, this worker at the IMN Firiza factory near Baia
mmunist
think-
Mare, Romania, sits motionless, head in hands, for long minutes. Factory employees work amid thick dust
containing lead, which even in trace amounts is known to damage the brain, kidneys, and red blood cells.
nentalists when
of
his
pocket.
sn
acks
I TRAVELED SOUTH AND EAST away
Anyone traveling through Hungary will
said
ok at
longer can they
A
from the coal belt along the course of
soon notice long, seesaw poles with a rope and
symbol of the
the Danube, water quality overtook
bucket on one end, which are used for drawing
air pollution as the most talked about
water. Wells are everywhere; in a large area of
he
mocked,
environmental issue.
the country the water table lies only about ten
a
picture
of
In Budapest's Institute of Hydrology, Géza
feet below the surface. To have such easy
Jolánkai, a bearded man who spoke faultless
access to the groundwater supply is conve-
appeared in
quick-fire English, ran through some of the
nient, but it means that nitrate fertilizers get
for
months
main problems.
there quickly too.
Only then
"Nitrates and phosphates coming from fer-
When I visited a strawberry-growing area
oil products
tilizers, human sewage, and pig farms are
in the north, I noticed the sign "Not for drink-
refinery. The
important concerns of ours," he declared.
ing" on a hand-operated water pump. I asked
xtending over
"They cause long-term contamination of the
a woman, whose red head scarf and dark fea-
Hungary, is a
groundwater and promote the growth of algae
tures led me to believe she was a Gypsy, why
deep filled
in rivers and lakes."
the sign was there. "I don't know," she said
finery had for
Dr. Jolánkai pushed a multicolored satellite
blankly, evidently unable to read. I asked her
oundwater
at
map across the table to me. "Lake Balaton is a
if she knew that some water was unsafe for
argest reserve
major tourist attraction. In recent years, there
infants. "We've never had any trouble," she
the danger
has been such a serious deterioration in the
said. "Everyone in our family always drinks
around the
water quality that we had to do something
from the wells because piped water stinks of
then pumped
about it. We have achieved some success by
chlorine."
spread of oil.
treating sewage and diverting runoff from
When infants drink contaminated well
been built
agriculture, but damage has been done
water, the nitrates prevent their blood from
ronmentalist
because the sludge on the bottom of the lake
efficiently transporting oxygen. They can turn
lose
it."
will release phosphates for years to come."
blue and may even die. Most cases occur in the
Ju
East Europe's Dark Dawn
59
poorest and least educated section of the com-
munity. To help offset the problem in Hun-
gary's 800 villages with high-nitrate water,
ABANDONED by their families and by a health-care
the government provides a free supply of safe
system already pushed past its limits, two girls share
a common fate in the Home for Children with Mental
drinking water in plastic bags to mothers with
Diseases in Dobromirtsi, Bulgaria (facing page). The
small children.
girl at right has deformed bones. Institutionalized
close to home in Teplice, Czechoslovakia, mentally
HE PROBLEM of groundwater contami-
T
disabled Martin Höfer (below) is able to visit his fami-
nation is intimately bound up with that
ly every few weeks. Pollution is not a certain villain
of toxic waste. At Budapest's Institute
in either case, but in both areas pollution-related
of Hydrology, I saw a map marking the
illnesses strain meager health resources.
location in 1970 of all the
waste dumps in Hungary.
Small points dotted the en-
tire country.
"If you added all the
dumps in use today, the map
would be almost black with
dots," I was told. "It would
need a different scale to show
them properly."
Others at the institute
joined in the conversation.
"We don't know what to do
with all the chemicals pro-
duced by modern industry,"
said one. "We can't even
keep track of them. People
don't understand that it's no
use burying hazardous sub-
stances or putting them down old mine shafts.
hazardous waste a year in this country. We
If they are allowed to contaminate the ground-
know of more than 2,000 illegal landfills-
water, they will be sources of micro-pollution
imagine how many there are that we don't
for centuries."
know about."
"Hazardous wastes," said another expert,
He told me about a recent discovery. Next to
"must be accessible and stored where we can
the Kiskunság National Park, which is also a
keep an eye on them until appropriate technol-
United Nations-designated biosphere reserve,
ogy is developed. The Greens don't like this
a state farm wanted to make extra money by
idea. They oppose every waste dump."
reprocessing waste from a paint factory in
He was right. My Green friend Juraj, for
Budapest. When their reprocessing equip-
example, had taken me to a waste dump near
ment failed and the waste-filled barrels kept
his home belonging to Bratislava's largest
coming, they dumped them illegally, 500 actu-
chemical factory. Though it was well thought
ally inside the park.
out and guarded by a resident caretaker, Juraj
"These," Illés told me, "were found by
had been passionately opposed to it and every
chance when their covering of sand was blown
other waste dump, however well designed. In
away by the wind; 2,000 barrels are still not
his opinion, there should be no such thing as
accounted for."
toxic waste.
Out in the countryside I learned that Illés's
"It's SO easy for hazardous chemicals to
concerns were well-founded. Visiting the state
soak into the soil,' said Zoltán Illés, an analyt-
farm on the Great Hungarian Plain near Kecs-
ical chemist who did postdoctoral work at
kemét, where attractive reed-thatched cot-
Yale and had recently become Hungary's
tages dot the landscape, I attempted to get into
deputy state secretary for the environment.
the bleak, wire-fenced enclosure where the
His brown eyes flashed as he spoke of his con-
remaining barrels are stored in the open.
cern. "We produce five to six million tons of
A broad-hipped, aproned, middle-aged lady
East Europe's Dark Dawn
61
its tributarie
According
number of fis
dropped disa
ments prever
submerged p
more and mo
"I once sav
choked with
serious prot
enrichment
Only a fractic
is assimilated
enters the wa
In enriche
grow very q'
add oxygen to
up. Eventua
low that fish
And when the
and rot, usin
the formation
which can ki
where the riv
"Under Ni
made to turi
farmland,' S
SWEET SPLASH OF SUCCESS, Hungary's Lake Balaton was heavily polluted by sewage and agricultural
was economi
runoff until the government launched a massive, continuing cleanup. The popular holiday spot provides at
to say anythi
least one happy ending for those trying to reclaim Eastern Europe's shattered environment.
He took n
artificially cu
water for ir
guarding the gate looked me over with distinct
beds, they are too rarely left alone. Dams are
water was br
lack of enthusiasm. After 20 minutes of hard
constructed to create reservoirs, water is
Passing throu
persuasion, she agreed to let me in. I counted
extracted for irrigation, and the river is con-
Sinoe, we su
more than 10,000 rusting barrels there, some
fined by embankments to control floods, aid
fishermen W
of them already leaking. It seemed only a mat-
navigation, or allow gravel extraction. Any
dragging a no
ter of time before the whole storage area would
single dam or project considered by itself
boat swerve
become an unmanageable nightmare.
might seem a good idea, but the effects of many
afraid; one,
added together can have far-reaching conse-
turned his ba
Y THOUGHTS WERE DIVERTED by a
M
quences, as I learned on a visit to the Danube
"They ar
call of nature. I found my way to a
Delta in Romania.
Dobrovici. "
little shack with two footprints and
Nicolae Bacalbaşa-Dobrovici, a wiry,
October, bu
a hole in the ground, where I made
weather-beaten professor, has devoted his
cannot be to
my personal nitrate contribution to Hungary's
working life to the Danube fisheries and
don't have el
groundwater. Lack of sewage treatment is an
knows every corner of the delta.
We walke
issue in all the countries I visited.
"In the past 25 years," he told me, "man's
saw the rot
About half Hungary's inhabitants simply
activities have caused enormous changes. The
Bacalbaşa-D
have no sewage system beyond the kind of
delta- is an incredibly rich habitat for birds,
"In the past
facilities I had been using, and only a quarter
fish, and other wildlife, but it is literally van-
the Black Se:
of Budapest's sewage has any form of treat-
ishing. When dams interrupt the flow of riv-
million to al
ment at all; the rest is just discharged into the
ers, their sediment settles, silting up reservoirs
the water qu
Danube. Though rivers have the power to
instead of building up the delta."
financially a
cleanse themselves if they are allowed to tum-
More than 30 dams now trap sediment along
Danube flow
ble naturally over little rapids and gravelly
the Danube itself, and dozens more block
million peop
62
National Geographic, June 1991
East Europe
its tributaries. Each diminishes the delta.
IS WORDS ECHOED IN MY MIND. I could
According to Bacalbaşa-Dobrovici, the
H
see that the Danube's decline, like the
number of fish in the Danube and its delta has
larger problem of environmental deg-
dropped disastrously. Flood-control embank-
radation I had witnessed across East-
ments prevent fish from spawning among the
ern Europe, was an international concern. So
submerged plants, and the water is becoming
what exactly is the "environmental catastro-
more and more polluted.
phe" of Eastern Europe?
"I once saw a 60-mile section of the Danube
Eastern Europe, it seems to me, was devas-
choked with dead fish," he told me. "A very
tated by what I often heard described as the
serious problem is eutrophication-water
"industrial megalomania" of the 1950s, when
enrichment with nitrates and phosphates.
communist governments were still trying to
Only a fraction of fertilizers used in agriculture
force into practice the hundred-year-old the-
is assimilated by plants. The rest eventually
ory based on Karl Marx's Communist Mani-
enters the water system."
festo. The industrial revolution in the West by
In enriched, sediment-free water, algae
this time was also more than a hundred years
grow very quickly. In the daytime the algae
old, and hard lessons were being learned about
add oxygen to the water, but at night they use it
pollution, waste, limited resources, and other
up. Eventually the oxygen level may fall so
matters Karl Marx had never considered. The
low that fish and other aquatic creatures die.
Eastern-bloc rulers, however, were blind to
And when the algae die, they fall to the bottom
these problems.
and rot, using up all the oxygen. This allows
A Czechoslovak friend described what it
the formation of poisonous hydrogen sulfide,
was like in the 1950s. "We had to live under
which can kill fish even out in the Black Sea
various five-year plans. The bright future lay
where the river discharges.
in industrializing as fast as possible. This way
"Under Nicolae Ceauşescu an attempt was
we would exploit all natural resources and
made to turn 250,000 acres of the delta into
gain mastery over nature. The technology was
farmland," said Bacalbaşa-Dobrovici. "This
often out of date, but we were after short-term
and
agricultural
was economic madness, but it was impossible
benefits-there was no thought of the future
rovides at
to say anything against it."
environmental consequences."
He took me by boat to see Lake Razelm,
Now that the Eastern bloc has opened up,
artificially cut off from the sea to provide fresh
the most outdated, inefficient, and uneconom-
water for irrigation and fish culture. The
ical factories-often the worst polluters-will
left alone. Dams are
water was bright green, as opaque as pea soup.
simply disappear, and thousands will find
reservoirs,
water
is
Passing through a lock into the brackish Lake
themselves out of work. With massive unem-
and
the
river
is
con-
Sinoe, we suddenly came across a group of
ployment and backward industry, it will be
to control floods, aid
fishermen wading up to their armpits and
almost impossible for any government to make
gravel
extraction.
Any
dragging a net through shallow water. As our
the environment a top priority.
considered
by
itself
boat swerved toward them, they looked
Because pollution was used by political
but the effects of many
afraid; one, trying to make himself invisible,
activists as a stick to beat the ruling commu-
far-reaching
conse-
turned his back to us.
nists and, as Manfred Klima observed,
a visit to the Danube
"They are poaching," said Bacalbaşa-
because money and jobs are far more impor-
Dobrovici. "Fishing is not allowed here until
tant to the man in the street, the pollution issue
a
wiry,
October, but these are difficult times-we
will likely fade from the headlines. The sewage
has
devoted
his
cannot be too hard on them. They probably
and sulfur dioxide, however, will still be there.
Danube fisheries and
don't have enough to eat."
To achieve the standards we take for granted,
the
delta.
We walked along the Black Sea coast and
huge sums of money will have to be spent. But
he
told
me,
"man's
saw the rotting remains of two dolphins.
whose money? How will Eastern Europe's
normous
changes.
The
Bacalbaşa-Dobrovici shook his head sadly.
struggling economies pay for these necessary
habitat
for
birds,
"In the past 50 years the number of dolphins in
improvements, let alone the clean téchnol-
but it is literally van-
the Black Sea has declined from an estimated
ogies we are now beginning to expect?
errupt
the
flow
of
riv-
million to about 200,000. We must improve
Enormous tasks lie ahead. To tackle them,
silting
up
reservoirs
the water quality, but how will it be possible
East and West must join together. But will
delta."
financially and administratively when the
Eastern Europe's new rulers find the environ-
trap
sediment
along
Danube flows through eight countries, and 70
ment as important now as they did when they
doze
more
block
million people live within its drainage area?"
were in the opposition?
June
1991
East Europe's Dark Dawn
63
64
HERE
ALL DAY LONG
NIGHT FALLS
a.commun
local work local work
stance for
nearby pla
snowfall o 0
Romania: -
Every shee shee
Every sheep is black in Copsa Mică,
home to home at dawn gathering
Romania, where a day-and-night
sheep and goats, then leads his flock
snowfall of carbon black is fed by a
to the hills, where they graze on
nearby plant that produces the sub-
carbon-coated grass. The wool will
stance for making tires. With most
be washed for sale - but only a dras-
local workers employed in factories,
tic cleanup will enable Copsa Mică to
a community shepherd goes from
emerge from its carbon shroud.
65
second skin of carbon camou-
policies disgraced, Copsa Micã's
flages a worker awaiting a
7,000 residents cannot dig out from
shower at Copsa Micã's
beneath Carbosin's never ending
Carbosin plant. Even work clothes
fallout. They depend on the plant -
give no relief from the all-permeating
and a nearby lead factory - for
powder - when the worker removed
their livelihood.
his trousers moments later, he was
No link has been shown between
black from head to toe.
carbon black and cancer, yet work-
Life in Copsa Mica revolves
ers at the Carbosin plant still try to
around the plant, part of dictator
protect themselves by coating their
Nicolae Ceausescu's drive to drag
insides with milk. At lunch, most will
pastoral Romania into a major indus-
down an entire bottle (above). Carbon
trial role. He was also responsible for
black can aggravate bronchitis and
draining huge areas of the environ-
asthma. Ironically, residents show
mentally delicate Danube Delta,
less concern for what is probably a
home to one of the world's largest
greater health risk: high soil levels
reedbeds, to create more farmland.
of lead, zinc, and cadmium from the
Although the despot is dead and his
local lead plant.
East Europe's Dark Dawn
67
he heaviest carbon snowfalls
home, now blackened, lies across
come at night, when the plant
the Tirnava Mare River from the fac-
gears up. Awakening to a fresh
tory, backdrop for Gypsy youngsters
coat, a man sweeps a street sign as
wading by a campfire (right).
distant stacks doom his efforts
Will Copsa Micã's darkness ever
(below). Still proud Copsa Micãns
be lifted? Romania's leaders have
often hose down their houses to
pledged massive investment in envi-
reveal blues and greens painted
ronmental cleanup. Meanwhile,
underneath. Grimy hands frame an
housewives will keep digging through
old woman's photo of her parents
carbon to plant gardens and hanging
posing by the house she lives in. Her
wash in the dirty breeze.
68
National Geographic, June 1991
466
SPRINGTIME
OF HOPE
IN POLAND
By PETER T. WHITE
Photographs by
JAMES P. BLAIR
BOTH NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC STAFF
PRING WAS WARMING the Polish
S
People's Republic. Larks sang high over
freshly sown fields of rye, and along the
country roads sprouted blue sprinklings
of forget-me-nots. Little girls brightened vil-
lages and towns in their white dresses for first
Communion, and everywhere young men's
fancies fiercely turned to bicycling-to the
international rally called the Peace Race.
Of all the 33 million Poles, some 15 million
would be watching this race on TV: Warsaw-
Berlin-Prague in 16 days, with competitors
from 17 countries.
"The theme is international understand-
ing," says my interpreter, "but the main thing
is that a Pole must win! Did you know that
Poland makes the world's best bicycles?"
I didn't, but I had heard how Poles love to
exaggerate, to go to extremes in word or deed.
Quite a few here in their bustling capital of
Warsaw told me so themselves.
"Take fashions," says a stylish lady editor.
"Where else do girls put on such enormous
sunglasses, or so much eye shadow?"
"Take eating," adds a youth from Warsaw
University. "On Christmas day about 10 or
11 o'clock it's fish, pâté, beef loin, sausages,
red beet soup, and pickled beets, cucumbers,
When food prices soared in 1970, Polish
workers like these steel-mill hands trig-
gered riots that put a new leader in power.
Economic reforms now point to a brighter
tomorrow, but many Poles, mindful of the
fate of past promises, remain skeptical.
467
National Gographic Magazine, April 1972
and onions. That's breakfast. At 2 or 3, lunch
SWEDEN ABOUT 1000
-the same. And again for dinner, about 6. It's
Battic Stra
Poland emerged as a
Baltic
LITHUANIANS
all repeated the next day. Can you imagine,
state in the late tenth
there were 40 ambulance calls at Christmas
KIEVAN RUS
century, when dukes of
DUCHY OF
the Polanie inhabitants
just to pump out stomachs!"
POLAND
of the Warta Piver basin
Easter means another two days of joyous
PATZINAKS
united neighboring Slavic
tribes under Mieszko,
overeating-not to mention one's name day.
HUNGARY
first recorded Polish ruler.
"Or take cars," says an engineer. "A car is
Black Sea
such a luxury that it's treated as the most
important part of the family. So on Sunday a
man can think only of washing and polishing
SWEDEN
BallicSed
1492
the thing-he'll drive 500 yards from home to
Successful wars, treaties,
the Vistula River and wash away, while his
and dynastic unions
POMERANIA
ballooned Poland's size.
wife and kids get mad and madder. In the
POLAND AND
By 1492 territories of
GRAND DUCHY OF
end he'll be so tired, or it'll be so late, that they
Lithuania, Hungary.
BOHEMIA
LITHUANIA
Prussia, Estiemia, and
drive straight home."
AUST
Pomerania came within
The lady editor: "That's a typical Polish
HUNGARY
its sphere of influence.
exaggeration! More likely, when they finally
Black Sea
get off on their excursion, the man drives so
fast and inexpertly that he has an accident."
SWEDEN
The engineer: "Now you are exaggerating!
BallicSea
1667
I haven't driven much, but I can safely go 90
Wars and civil strife
toppled the nation from
miles an hour
"
its 16th-century zenith
POLAND
MUSCOVY
of power. By 1667 Polands
size had been considerably
A
ND YET some things the first-time visitor
HISTRIA
reduced as expansionist
is likely to hear and find surprising are
neighbors nibbled away
OTTOMAN
not exaggerations at all.
EMPIRE
at the borderlands.
For instance, I had always thought of
Black Sea
Poland as being in eastern Europe. Not so,
say the Poles. We are the heart of the Conti-
SWEDEN
"BallicSed
1795
nent. Really? Draw a line on a globe from
The snack became a feast
easternmost Europe, in the central Urals,
Boundaryof
in the 18th century. In
Poland prior
to Lisbon in the extreme west; and another
to first partition
three partitions between
PRUSSIA
in 1772
1772 and 1795, Russia,
line from the northernmost point in Norway
ROSSIAN
Prussia, and Austria
to southernmost Greece. Those intersect
EMPIRE
completely devoured
AUSTRIA
Polanc, erasing the
near Warsaw.
from Europe's maps.
Or consider Poland's scenic variety. True,
Black Sea
90 percent of it stretches monotonously flat
or modestly hilly. But in the north sparkle
hundreds of lakes in Mazury and hundreds
SWEDEN
1815
Revival came in 1807
of miles of surf and sandy beaches on the
1809. when Napoleon
Baltic Sea. Mountains rise in the south, in the
conquered Prussia and
PRUSSIA
RUSSIA
High Tatra, as jagged and spectacular as the
Austria and reestable
KINGDOM
a Polish state. After
Alps (page 498). A truly untouched forest of
OF POLAND
defeat in 1815.
the plain stretches in the northeast, in Bia-
AUSTRIAN
the ? usian-ruled
łowieża National Park.
EMPIRE
Kingdom of Poland
was established.
I want to sample all this, of course, but first
Black Sea
I wander around Warsaw on a sunny Sunday.
In Lazienki Park, on a platform beneath a
three-times-life-size statue of Fryderyk Cho-
SWEDEN
ESTONIA
1939
After World War
Baltic
LATVIA
pin, a young woman at a Steinway plays the
LITHMANIA
Germany and Austria
Wilno
master's mazurkas and polonaises. Hundreds
Hungary defeated
U.S.S.R.
Russia weakened by
sit unfidgeting on stone benches, raptly, as if
POLAND
revolution. Poland
enjoying these gems for the first time.
4wow
emerged as a parlia
republic. It remained
In another greening enclave, next to the
AUST HUNGARY
until Nazi Germany
768-foot-high Palace of Culture and Science,
RUMANIA
invaded in 1939
YUGOSLAVIA
thousands crowd the annual outdoor book
Black Sea
468
Elevations in feet
Baltic Sea
Administrative regions of Poland bear the
same names as their capitals, shown thus
o
100
SLOWINSKI
Gulf
STATUTE MILES
NATIONAL PARK
Leba
Kaliningrad
Hel of
DRAWN BY ALFRED L. ZEBARTH
Gdańsk
COMPILED BY HAROLD A. HANSON
Gdynia
Stupsk
Sopot
Vistula
Frombork
Gdansk
Buy
Kołobrzeg
Koszalin
Gizycko
OUNSKI PARK
Malbork
Swinoujście
(istula)
Qisztyn
Szczecinek
MASURIA)
Szczecin
Wałcz
Wisto
Bialystok
Pita
Bydgoszcz
Ostrołeka
Ognica
Torun
BIALOWIEZA
S.
NATIONAL PARK
Gorzów-
Oard
Wielkopolski.
Gniezno
Ptock
Stubice
Poznan
WIELKOPOLSKI
Warszawa
S.
NATIONAL PARK
KAMPINOS
Warta
Kutno
NATIONAL PARK
(Warsaw)
Biata
Nysa
Podlaska
Zielona
Wieprz
Gora
Kalisz
Lódze
Krzna
(Neisse)
Canal
6ng
Deblin
R.
Polkowice
Radom
Lubling
Majdanek
Wroclaw
UNITED
SWIETY KRZYZ
Kielce
I
NATIONAL PARK
Zamość
Odra
Czestochowa
KARKONOSZE
NATIONAL PARKWING
Opole
Kiodzko
Gliwicki Canal
TRANSPORTATION
Glivice
Wista
OJCOW
Kozle
NATIONAL PARK
Lancut
(atowice
Jaroslaw
Krakow
Oświecim-Brzezinka
Tarnow
Rzeszów
(Auschwitz
E-22
BABIA GÓRA
NA TONAL PARK
659
MOUNTAINS
Sanok
STATE
PIENINY
NATIONAL
Komanca
Zakopane Bukowing
Polonina Carynska
Ustrzyki
JATRAY Tatrzanska
Gorne
ITLER'S JUGGERNAUT stormed into Poland
BIESZCZADY
Mountains
NATIONAL PARK
from the north, west, and south on September
1, 1939, meeting fierce but futile resistance. Six-
end, Russians and Poles had joined forces against
zen days later the Soviet Union-then a German
Hitler; the Nazis had killed an estimated 6,000,000
5)-invaded from the east, and subsequently
Poles-half of them Jews; industry and agricul-
einished thousands of Poles to Siberia. By war's
ture lay devastated; and 2,000,000 Poles had been
deported to Germany for
1000
15°
forced labor.
FINLAND
STATUTE MILES AT 45 N.
SWEDEN
Modern Poland, its
Leningrad
NORWAY
present borders estab-
SCOTLAND
EXCDOM
BalticSea
Sea
1972
UNITED
lished by the Allied Pow-
North
Sea DEN.
Moscow*
ers, occupies approxi-
a
IRELAND
mately the same territory
ENGLAND
POLAND
/
Benlin*
*
U.S.S.R.
it did at its birth more than a millennium ago.
London*
GERMANY
Warsaw
BELC)
Mantic
Bonn
*
Prague
AREA: 120,664 square miles. POPULATION: 33,000,000,
*
Ocean
Paris
Viepna
CZECH
UKRAINE
CAPITAL: Warsaw, population 1,300,000. GOVERN-
FRANCE AUST. HUNGARY
MENT: Actual power in the Polish People's Republic
Milans
RUMANIA
resides with the Politburo of the Polish United Workers'
YUGOSLAVIA
Black Sea.
(Communist) Party; the elected 460-seat Sejm holds
STUGALS
Rome
Madrid
legislative authority. ECONOMY: Dominated by in-
i
ITALY
SPAIN
TURKEY
dustry-steel; coal and copper mining. RELIGION: Pre-
Mediterrannan
GREECE
dominantly Roman Catholic. CURRENCY: One złoty
AFRICA
Sea
(100 groszy) equals 5 cents U.S. at the official rate, and
15°
30°
half that much at the tourist rate.
VEIL OF TEARS identifies the happy
white-clad bride at this traditional
wedding celebration in the Tatra
Mountains. The party will last for
three days, fueled by countless
fruit and meat pies and toasts of
vodka flavored with honey or lemon.
471
fair: 57 publishers, from the Defense Ministry
week, big news! Higher pensions. Food prices
to the Social Committee Against Alcoholism,
rolled back to where they were, and frozen
are selling at 90 kiosks. Indefatigable authors
for two years."
are autographing.
And a new political style. Gomulka was
By now I have an inkling of what's in the
remote, Gierek is everywhere. Day after day I
back of everyone's mind, something that
see him in news photos, with youth activists,
makes this a very special spring. Poles call
with hard hats, with lady machinists.
it simply "the changes," meaning dramatic
"He knows what Poland needs to pick up
changes in the leadership and policies of the
steam," a Western diplomat tells me. "Look
PZPR, the Polish United Workers' Party-
at agriculture. Eighty-three percent is in
that is, the Communist Party; and because
private hands—12 acres is average, 120 is the
Poland is a Communist country, the signifi-
limit. But farmers had to deliver fixed quotas
cance of these changes cannot be exaggerated.
of pigs or steers, milk or grain. Gierek prom-
"You have come at an interesting time," a
ised to end the quotas. Overnight, the outlook
senior bureaucrat assures me as we browse
for Polish farmers became a lot brighter."
side by side. "This is the most hopeful moment
This much was certain: Never before in a
in Polish history since World War II."
Communist state had a wave of popular, non-
revolutionary demonstrations led to such a
W
HAT EXACTLY had happened? One
change in the whole tone of political life so
of those indefatigable authors takes me
fast as here in Poland. What it would lead to
to dinner. He says it's a long story, but
in the long run was, alas, far -from certain.
he'll try to make it brief.
Poland has a 770-mile border with the
"We had a party leader named Gomułka;
U.S.S.R. (map, page 469). Would the Russians
he was extremely well liked. But over the
send tanks, as they did to Czechoslovakia
years he became less and less popular. Why
after the Czech leadership changed course
was this so? He asked people to work harder,
"That was in people's minds, and in the
but they found their standard of living not
minds of our politicians too," a Polish journal-
rising, but going down. They felt frustrated
ist recalls. "The new leadership convinced
and helpless.
Moscow they were still loyal Communists
"Now switch to December 12, 1970. The
So far, the Soviets were providing credit, and
government announces new prices: Lower for
feed grain to help Poland produce more meat
razor blades, TV sets, refrigérators-fine, but
so that Gierek could keep his promises.
higher for food! Meat up 17 percent, lard 33
But would he? "That's what people asked
percent! Incredible, raising food prices just
Gierek in all those meetings. 'How do we keep:
before Christmas! It's the last straw. Ship-
things fróm turning sour again?' He told them;
yard workers in Gdańsk go on strike. They
'It's up to you; you must keep pressing to con-1
march on provincial party headquarters, ask-
trol the leadership from below.' Sounds great,
ing to be heard. The demonstration turns into
but how to do it, that's the big question."
a riot, party headquarters burns, there's
That week there is another of those blithely
bloodshed. More strikes, in Gdynia and in
skeptical Polish political jokes. What's the
Szczecin, more blood.
real difference between Gomutka and Gierekis
"Gomulka and some others in the Politburo
There isn't any-but Gierek doesn't yet know
want to call out more troops, but still others
that we are aware of this.
say no, dozens are dead already, we don't
I drive south for the most vigorous fun
want to kill thousands. The moderate faction
making in Poland, the Juwenalia in venerable
prevails and makes one of their number the
Kraków, a 2½-day pre-exam carnival of studio
new leader-Edward Gierek, an ex-miner,
dents at Kraków's 608-year-old university.
the party chief from our most prosperous
Fifteen minutes from Warsaw's center I'm
region, Silesia. Gierek calls off the troops.
in the country. Orchards in. white bloom,
He meets with the workers, he promises im-
green meadows with black-and-white cows.
provements for everybody. Since then, every
(Continued on page 478)
Risen from World War II devastation, Warsaw stands as a monument to Polish
and determination. Germany's troops punished an insurrection by methodically level
ing almost the entire city. Modern structures replace the old in most areas, but
Town, in the foreground, has been restored to its 17th-century Baroque elegan
472
Martyr's memorial reminds fellow
workers of the price Stefan Masiewicz
paid for his part in a drama that prom-
ises to better the lives of all Poles.
"Died 14 December 1970," the hand-
scratched lettering says, "killed by the
M.O."-the national police.
Riots flared after a pre-Christmas
announcement of higher food prices
dealt a staggering blow to working-
men already beset by low wages, a
housing shortage, and an unresponsive
ZM 44XH. 1970:-
subity
prez
MU
STEFAN
MÁSIEWICZ
rice
1990,
474
bureaucracy. Masiewicz and others at the
weathered "the events of December," he al-
Lenin Shipyards in Gdańsk were the first to
ready benefits from changes they brought.
ke to, the streets in protest; the unrest
His salary has risen more than 10 percent,
spread to other cities. At least 45 died
and working conditions have measurably
the ensuing disorders, which ended
improved. But his daily routine remains
Władysław Gomulka's predominance after
much the same: After welding plates on a
14 years and brought to power Edward
bulb-nosed freighter ordered by Colombia
Gierek, a more sympathetic leader.
(below), he cleans up (center left), then
returns to his small but comfortable apart-
Daughter's hug greets Henryk Stoliński
ment for supper and, often, the delight of
as he arrives home from his job at the
watching a favorite team prevail in a tele-
Gdańsk shipyards. Like others who
vised soccer game (bottom left).
475
-
S
-
Pity the poor postman! All
beach (right) at Sopot, one
the mail for this 2,000-foot-
of three cities comprising
long apartment building in
the metropolis of Gdańsk-
Gdansk (above) comes to
Sopot-Gdynia.
the same address, No. 10 Lu-
Still rebuilding the 55 per-
mumba Street. The new 11-
cent of the city destroyed
story structure is part of a
by World War II, Gdańsk
complex housing 40,000 peo-
-which the Germans called
ple. It offers tenants a shop-
Danzig-hastens housing
ping center, orchestra, club-
construction at the urging
rooms, and restaurants.
of party leader Gierek.
Apartment residents need
travel only four miles to
mingle with foreign tourists
on the popular Baltic Sea
476
11.
477
478
National Geographic, April 1972
Brown fields and an occasional tractor, but
he delivers lectures himself because he likes
most of the plowing is horse-powered and the
to be in regular contact with the young.
sowing is by hand, mostly by women.
"They differ from the youth in America,
In passing, I glimpse the industrial towns
and even in Western Europe, because of our
of Radom and Kielce, three ruined towers of
historical and geographical position, which
a castle, a new motel. I am frequently de-
has brought us so, many rounds of invasion
layed at railroad crossings, but I don't mind.
and destruction. So often we have had to start
To see such magnificent steam locomotives
anew, to rebuild and rebuild again, which is
at home in Washington, I'd have to visit the
a task of the youth. Now Poland is changing
Smithsonian Institution. People sidle up to
its economic structure, from being primarily
inspect the waiting autos. Ah, a Volvo! A
agricultural to being primarily industrial.
Ford Capri!
Already 52 percent of our population is urban.
My car gets short shrift; it's only a Polski
This change stimulates the young. They want
Fiat, made near Warsaw, but, oh, it has
to be in the forefront of it."
power-assisted disk brakes on all four wheels.
Rector Klimaszewski also presides over the
I need them. There's no speed limit outside
Polonia Society, created to keep in touch with
the towns, and I cannot help getting into the
people of Polish origin abroad. "There are at
swing of the Polish highways: speed up, then
least six million in the United States, perhaps
slow down fast-there's a child, or a rubber-
ten million," he says. "We send them books
wheeled horse wagon full of coal or manure.
and urge them to visit Poland. Many are
Hitting a chicken is no crime, says my inter-
young and speak no Polish at all. But we are
preter, but hitting a goose can cost you money.
particularly interested in them because we
I assure him of my nonaggressive attitude
know that there are people in the United
toward everything Polish, including geese.
States who do not speak well of Poland, who
After four hours we're in the heart of
think of us as a nation without history, with-
Kraków, in the Main Market surrounding the
out culture. That is why we are so glad when
16th-century Cloth Hall. It's bedlam. Pirates
such young Americans come for special
and cavemen, Batman and Zorro, a red-haired
courses here in Kraków. We want them to be
Cleopatra. A skeleton in a top hat misdirects
loyal to the United States, but we also want
traffic. The police don't interfere. At Juwenalia
them to be proud of their Polish origins."
time the students own the town (pages 482-3).
And what a history! It speaks to the visi-
Whistles! Horns! Bells! Youths hop in a
tor on Kraków's Wawel Hill, from the royal
circle and sing, "The dean is our best friend!"
tombs in the Wawel's Gothic cathedral, from
to the tune of "Battle Hymn of the Republic."
its lofty Renaissance palace. Of a kingdom
Then, instead of the dean, it's Mao. Then
that arose a millennium ago, that triumphed
Nixon. Finally, "Władysław was our best
over the Tatars and the Teutonic Knights
friend!" Who? Władysław Gomulka.
until by 1492, after Poland had for a century
Decorum reigns briefly in a sports hall for
been united with Lithuania, the Jagiellonian
the selection of the girl student who is najmil-
dynasty held sway from the Baltic to the
sza-the sweetest. All the candidates look lus-
Black Sea, over Prussia and the Ukraine, and
cious, but I am informed that what counted
eastward to within 100 miles of Moscow.
most heavily in the preliminaries was ready
Then, torn by Turks and Cossacks and
wit. Really?
Swedes, Poland weakened and shrank. By
"You see Ela there? She was given two min-
the end of the 18th century it was carved up
utes to do a striptease. She said, 'Oh, that
by Russia, Prussia, and Austria. Poland re
means to present myself naked. Very well, I
emerged only at the end of World War
I
shall bare myself, I shall bare my soul.' She
(maps, pages 468-9): But in those 120 years of
just talked and talked
bondage, what fiery uprisings, what heroes
Down in the market I see an engraved
T
HE- RECTOR of the university, Profes-
granite slab where Tadeusz Kościuszko mus-
sor Dr. Mieczysław Klimaszewski, is a
tered the insurgents of 1794. He had fought
geographer. He also is a vice president
in the American Revolution, he helped fortify
of the Council of State, thus ranking as a
West Point. George Washington asked that he
vice president of Poland. I met him at the
be made a general. Congress voted him tracts
university's Geographical Institute, where
of land. Could his gallant Poles-half of them
Springtime of Hope in Poland
479
only with scythes fashioned into pikes
grandson married one of the Radziwills.
ail in their own country?
Last year 300,000 visitors came, says the
They nearly did, liberating much of the
curator. "It is good for the children to learn
country. Then they were overwhelmed, and
the vocabulary of art. It is good for everyone
Kościuszko, severely wounded, was captured
to see the richness of the life of the magnates,
by the Russians. He died an exile in Switzer-
who were one of the main forces in our his-
land, asking in a will that his American
tory. Lancut is evidence of the highest level
investments be liquidated to buy Negro
of European culture."
slaves and set them free. He remains Poland's
I find myself much taken with the Princess
most revered patriot to this day.
Izabella Elzbieta Z Czartoryskich Lubomir-
More uprisings, more repressions, through
ska, an 18th-century magnate. Not only be-
the 19th century. Hoping to gain support
cause she owned 14 towns and 365 villages,
for their homeland's liberation, Polish exiles
and river ports, factories, and breweries—
formed legions and fought for Napoleon in
plus palaces in Lwów, Warsaw, and Vienna,
Spain and Santo Domingo, for Garibaldi in
and a wing of the Palais Royal in Paris. She
Italy. "Poland is not lost forever," they sang,
knew Voltaire and Marie Antoinette, Goethe
"while our lives remain The song would
and Jefferson. "She was not tall," wrote a
become the Polish national anthem.
contemporary, "but full of charm." A great
Again in World War II, Poles fought the
lady of the Enlightenment.
Germans, not only at home but also at Narvik
"A great scandalmonger too," adds the
in Norway, at Tobruk in North Africa, in
curator. "It is difficult to be proud of every
Russia, France, and Italy. On the critical day
one of these magnates. Many did absolutely
of the Battle of Britain, 26 out of 56 Luftwaffe
nothing for the people."
planes shot down were credited to Poles
The last aristocratic owner of Lancut,
flying with the RAF. One of the saddest songs
Alfred Potocki, departed for Austria as the
I heard in Poland recalls the Polish infantry-
Soviet Army closed in toward the end of World
men who died in the taking of Monte Cassino.
War II, and took the most valuable art with
him. The Germans gave him a special train
EAST to Lancut-fast, so as not to
because he had been friendly. But he was an
ITHUS the last of the May chamber-music
exception, says the curator; most Polish aris-
concerts in the palace there. Highway E-22
tocrats fought in the resistance.
rolls through lush country, through Tarnów,
There are still quite a few of them left in
noted for a fertilizer plant and thundering
Poland, and they still marry one another.
folk dancers. The car radio reports the Peace
In Lancut's main square a sign proclaims
Race, and my interpreter is annoyed. A Bel-
"Socialism is charting the course for world
gian won yesterday's lap; today it's a German.
development." Four dozen stores reflect what
What's going on? Are these umpires blind?
can be found in any Polish town of 10,000.
After Rzeszów-a provincial capital full
Three dozen of the shops-food, clothes, yard
of machine shops, office buildings, and mini-
goods, hardware, appliances-belong to
skirts-I nearly run afoul of a meandering
MHD, a state-owned trading enterprise, or
truck full of cardboard and rags. "The truck
PSS, a nationwide cooperative. A custom shoe
goes from village to village to buy this stuff,"
store belongs to an invalids' cooperative.
says the interpreter. "We need it to make
But a dozen shops are private: a hairdresser
paper; we don't have enough wood." I need
and a baker; G. Wasylewicz, ladies' hats; and
the chamber music; it helps me to unwind.
Jan Paczka, selling paints, glue, and soap
Next morning the palace at Lancut swarms
powder, all privately produced.
with sight-seeing groups from factories and
I ask a saleslady in the MHD food shop if
schools, Scouts, kids with guitars, handi-
she has better lettuce than the private com-
capped kids with crutches. Brisk ladies point
petition. She says no, it's the same.
out cannon and stag heads, dark portraits
The saleslady in the private shop agrees.
and gilded Louis XVI furniture, the trappings
"The prices are the same too, set by the gov-
of the Polish aristocracy. Lancut was one of
ernment. But sometimes I can sell a little
their showplaces, built by a Lubomirski,
cheaper, because I grow things myself. The
whose grandson married one of the Czar-
government sets only maximum prices."
tory
who left it to a Potocki, whose
(Continued on page 486)
480
BOTTE ECOSTS
Half a million strong, festive Poles
parade through Warsaw on May Day, a
holiday honoring the country's laboring
class. Factory and shop workers arrive
singly or in organized groups to partici-
pate in the annual event.
In previous years, their route through
BUDUJACE
KOMUNIZM
the city was lined with posters of former
Communist Party chief Gomulka. But
in 1971 the well-dressed throng (left,
lower) followed new party leader Gie-
rek through the streets, past posters on
the Eastern Wall" (upper left) featur-
ing slogans and symbols celebrating Po-
land's technological and industrial
progress. An impressive row of modern
office buildings, stores, and apartment
houses, the Eastern Wall extends along
a main Warsaw thoroughfare. Across
the avenue, Gierek (above) addresses
the multitude from a rostrum in front of
the Palace of Culture and Science, the
tallest building in Warsaw.
481
Living canvas for whimsy's brush,
a student in Kraków (below) turns
paint into fashion for Juwenalia, a
zany festival that preserves medieval
student high jinks. Street dancing
(right) helps erase the cares of school
life during the May celebration.
Less than thrilled by the
goings-on of Juwenalia cel-
ebrators, a police officer
dons a scowl. Most adults
view the merrymaking with
amused tolerance.
Undaunted by nightfall, Juwe-
Situated at the crossing
nalia revelers swarm to the lighted
several international trade
Main Market (right) and cluster
Kraków-a populous settleme
around a statue of Romantic poet
since the eighth century
Adam Mickiewicz. Cloth Hall's
veloped early as a major men
16th-century facade looms beyond.
tile center. Poland's capital
The building, now housing a branch
1320 to 1609, Kraków establish
of the National Museum, once drew
its Jagiellonian University
merchants from all over the world
1364. Still edu ion orien
to this old town square, one of the
the city today has 11 instituti
largest in medieval Europe.
of higher learning.
482
STATE
200
483
INDUSTRY'S UGLY PALL
roils above a farmer
and son cultivating
open land beside a
coke plant at Katowice,
in Poland's coal and
steel region. Designed to
reduce pollution effects
through oxygenation, such
strips of vegetation are
scattered throughout
the industrial area.
484
X
In M. Jachowica's notions shop I see a tiny
privately employed, and these official figures
plastic Model-T Ford. Private workshops
do not cover the six million in the overwhelm-
turning out plastic items like this-or watch-
ingly private agricultural sector.
bands, or little things for hardware stores-
As we head for the Bieszczady, the Carpa-
can make fortunes. So can private growers of
thian Mountains in Poland's southeast cor-
strawberries, flowers, and vegetables. The
ner, our car radio flashes the Peace Race
most fortunate few drive expensive German
finish. The final winner is-SZURKOWSKI!
sports cars.
Justice has been done. There'll be records set
Before leaving Lancut, I stop at a gas sta-
tonight-in vodka.
tion. It's a hybrid: The state owns it and
From the road I see brick houses going up
grants a franchise to a private operator; the
in the hilly farmland, replacing the old wood-
more he sells, the more profit he makes.
en ones. The finest of these, with thatch roofs,
The general rule is that no private enter-
open central fireplaces, and se] ate but
prise may employ more than 50. Out of ten
equal-sections for cows, have been taken to
million working Poles, half a million are
an outdoor museum in Sanok, as showpieces
486
Hulking headquarters of the Teutonic
Knights, Malbork Castle rose beside the
Nogat River in 1276, after the German cru-
sading order conquered Prussia. Poland ac-
quired the fortress in 1457 and transformed
it into a favorite hideaway for royalty.
a smell of paint. "Adding two rooms upstairs,"
he says, "for vacationists. Some city people
like to sleep in the hay; they think it's roman-
tic. But others like their comfort."
In May it dawns early. There's light shortly
after three a.m., and a little after four an edge
of fire rises over the hazy Bieszczady skyline;
five minutes later there's the sun, in a red-
gold haze. The air is soft.
From Ustrzyki Górne, in the very south-
eastern tip of Poland, I walk up through a
beechwood and needle forest, up along little
streams, up past the tree line, where the wind
makes silvery waves in the grass.
Up another 600 feet along a wind-whipped
ridge and I am on top of Polonina Caryńska,
surrounded by the majesty of the Bieszczady.
I can see nothing man-made: to the horizon,
green mountains and green valleys.
Three miles south lies the Soviet border.
The Czech border is five miles to the south-
west. But from here, at this moment, all is
unbounded. It is an indescribable joy.
P
ERHAPS I stayed up there too long. Per-
haps it was the haunting wind. It struck
me then, as it must sooner or later come
to most visitors, how much this verdant Po-
land-so various, so beguiling, so alive-is
impelled by memories of indescribable horror.
Thousands of plaques and monuments at-
test to places of torture and execution, on city
streets, in forests, in vast concentration camps
of folk architecture. I especially admire one
(following pages). Here 50 were hanged, or
that had belonged to the Dołżycki family. I
3,000 burned alive; 80,000 were harried and
visit Tymoteusz Dołżycki because I've never
starved to death there, or 800,000 gassed. The
met a man whose birthplace went to a museum.
memorials do not accuse Germans; it was the
He is tall, blue-eyed, white-haired, with a
hitlerowcy, the Hitlerites.
creased face, strong teeth, and a black cap,
Of the victims, hundreds of thousands were
every inch the sołtys, or chief, of the village of
Soviet prisoners of war. Millions were Jews
Komańcza. He has been chief for 25 years.
from Poland and all Europe. But millions
How does one get to be soltys?
were Poles who were not Jews. And so, for a
"By being the best man of all," he says. He
third of the country's population-for anyone
has been reelected every 3 years. He has 27
over 39 now, who was at least a teen-ager then
acres, 2 cows and 3 calves, 2 horses and 4
-the slaughterhouse that was Poland is more
sheep. He grows potatoes and barley. His son
than a matter of history and impersonal num-
just became a doctor of medicine.
bers. It is a matter of one's own vivid recol-
's a noise of sawing in the house, and
lections, one's own grief.
487
1
"There is only one way out,
through the chimney." Hitler's ex-
ecutioners killed more than 360,000
Jews at Majdanek (abové), one
of the dozens of crematorium-
equipped extermination camps es-
tablished in Poland in World War
II. At the largest, Oświęcim-Brze-
zinka-the infamous Auschwitz-
Nazis systematically muro d an
average of more than 2,200 persons
a day for 4½ years.
Thousands of suitcases, like that
of the infant Thomas Fischer (left),
remain at Auschwitz as gruesome
reminders of the Europeans of 28
124805
nationalities brought here to die
after being told they were moving
to resettlement areas. Poles main-
tain the camps as museum- in the
belief that preserving the
mory
of such horrors will keep them from
ever happening again.
488
Those who are younger are constantly con-
I sample the delicious result, I learn that soon
fronted with the Hitlerite years in plays and
the Krakowska won't be smoked for five
movies, in novels and comic books and on TV.
hours anymore. "We'll add a powder to give
Back in Warsaw the director of PTTK, the
it the smoked taste," says the director, "we
national tourist organization, tells me that
must do this to expand production."
young people are especially encouraged to see
But will it still taste as good?
the places of "martyrology." For each visit,
The director whistles through his teeth.
children get points toward special badges.
"We all realize that development brings dis-
Why is such a nightmare kept so strenu-
advantages. Isn't it true that more Americans
ously alive? "Because we don't want it to be
have died in-car crashes than in wars?" Then
repeated. Nigdy więcej! Never again!"
it comes: "Well, it's better to die in a.car crash
I find this thought expressed many times;
than in a war! Nigdy więcej!"
If is a deep Polish feeling. It surfaces unex-
As deep, though more complicated, is
pectedly, even during my visit to a plant that
Polish feeling toward the Russians-so often
suppliés half of Warsaw with meat, most of it
enemies in the past, now allies, and under no
in the form of 21 varieties of sausage.
circumstances to be criticized in public.
In a borrowed white coat I follow the mak-
Every Pole knows that only through bitter
ing of the plant's top sausage, the four-inch-
fighting and luck did their resurrected country
thick rakowska: mixing of meat and spices,
survive its clash with the Soviets after World
o' skins, smoking over oak fires. As
War I. And in 1939, 16 days after Hitler's
489
490
National Geographic, April 1972
onslaught came from the west, Stalin's armies
Prussia made it Danzig again, after the
rolled in from the east. They occupied much
partition of Poland in 1793. Those archi-
of Poland and dragged off hundreds of
tectural treasures crumbled in the fires of
thousands of Polish citizens to Siberia, until
World War II. Today they stand splendidly
Hitler turned on the Soviet Union too. After
restored. Impressive, too, for sheer size, is a
Hitler's defeat, moreover, Stalin took over
cooperative apartment project (pages 476-7)
a great slice of what until World War II had
where the 12,000th family has just moved in.
been eastern Poland, including the cities of
A 2,500-foot-long block is nearly finished.
Wilno and Lwów.
I see plots of grass with signs: Teddy Bears.
The Poles regained slices of prewar eastern
Bisons. "These are groups of children," I am
Germany; Poland thus shifted about 130
told, "each assigned to care for a plot, to teach
miles to the west, so that the present borders
social responsibility. If the buildings are well
roughly outline the area of the first Polish
kept, and everybody makes his payments on
kingdom of a thousand years ago (maps, pages
time for a year, the payments drop. If not,
468 and 469). But the memory of lost home-
they go up."
lands still tugs on Polish heartstrings. One
Beautiful Baltic beaches beckon. Sopot
night, in private, I heard people sing songs of
(page 477). Hel. Leba, where wind and sea
Lwów. They had smiles on their faces, but in
constantly add sand to wild dunes up to 150
their eyes were tears. Yet even they did not
feet high, protected in a national park lest
question the Soviet alliance. "Who else would
150,000 annual visitors stomp them down
help us against the Germans?"
One must stay on staked paths.
May I now pass along a few hints on
E
N ROUTE NORTH to the Baltic, I savor
Polish pronunciation?
spring in western Mazury: green meadows
For "ck," as in Branicki or Potocki, say
with lupine blooming blue, languid mag-
"tsk," as in-ahem-Trotski That's right,
pies, red brick castles built and lost by the
Pototski. When it comes to all those "cz's," be
Teutonic Knights (pages 486-7). On Vistula
fearless. The city and province of Bydgoszcz
Bay, within the walls of the fortified cathe-
is simply Bydgosh-tsh. And when coming to
dral of Frombork, a new museum makes
the great Baltic port of Szczecin, as I am now,
ready for 1973: the 500th birthday of Mikołaj
take your time and try to say: Sh-tsh-e-tsin
Kopernik, or Nicolaus Copernicus, the Pole
OK? Please say tak, meaning "yes." Or do-
who revolutionized astronomy.
brze, pronounced dobzhe-"good," or "OK"
He studied at Kraków, Bologna, and Rome,
Szczecin, near the mouth of the Odra River,
and became a physician, theologian, and com-
hums with the goings and comings of freight-
mander against the Teutonic Order. The
ers of many flags. Mainly it's Polish coal
last half of his life he spent in Frombork, ad-
going to Denmark, France, Italy; iron ore
ministering the cathedral, observing the skies,
coming from the U.S.S.R., Sweden, Brazil:
and writing a six-part work, De revolutioni-
Also grain. At a 50,000-ton storage tower, the
bus orbium coelestium. It established that the
Komiles from Leningrad discharges wheat
earth is not the center of the universe but
Szczecin's shipyards build freighters and
revolves, along with the other planets, around
trawlers for Britain, India, Kuwait. "They pay
the sun. It built the foundation for man's
cash," I am told, "in hard currencies." That's
flight into space.
what Poland wants to import most of all.
Off the port and shipbuilding center of
On the docks, among black-headed gulls
Gdańsk, guns boom and missile boats speed
and heavy hoists, I see soldiers with sub-
by-the Polish Navy on maneuvers where
machine guns. They watch, lest a Pole with
Polish men-of-war plied in the Middle Ages.
out a passport jump onto a foreign ship. I
The Teutonic Knights took Gdańsk in 1308
follow ore barges south along the Odra,
and called it Danzig, but by 1466 Polish
which forms the border with the German
kings were sovereign here once more. Their
Democratic Republic; Germans call it the
portraits mark the ducats struck in the city's
Oder. Near Ognica I stop and sit on the grass,
golden age, when Poland included the Ukraine
to enjoy a restful scene: the river, gentle
and was the granary of Europe and Gdańsk
green hills, great-crowned trees, a distant cow.
its trading port, rich in Renaissance and
Oh, oh, here's a soldier with a submachine
Baroque architecture.
gun. He politely asks for my documents
Springtime of Hope in Poland
491
tay ánd finish my picnic. The amiable
in Poland might, on closer inspection, turn
er keeps standing by.
out to be flawed? It's a nagging feeling I've
Strange that this border should be so
had all along-under the surface, what's the
closely guarded. Who'd want to sneak out
reality? And so I've asked all kinds of people,
into East Germany? It's not that, I learn; the
What's it like to live here?
danger is Western agents sneaking in.
"Terrible," says a pretty blonde in Kraków.
The soldier says he's 20 and was born here.
"Wonderful," says a pretty brunette. Both
His parents came from central Poland, after
are from upstate New York, studying at the
the Germans who used to live here left. Those
university.
who didn't flee with the retreating Nazis were
Says the blonde: "Every month you've got
deported after World War II. It's the same
to stand in line six hours, to buy your meal
story in Frombork, Gdańsk, and Szczecin.
tickets!" The brunette: "I never wait more
Germans coming to visit their former farms
than ten minutes. You've got to know when
used to say that one day they'd be back for
to go, or you send a friend. You've got to
good. But they haven't said that lately. The
know how to operate
"
Bonn Government has recognized Poland's
Blonde: "Those rules in the dorm-boys
western frontier, in a treaty signed in De-
can visit only twice a week, and have to be
cember 1970. This makes Poles breathe a
out by 10!" Brunette: "Come on, guys sneak
little easier-it's another reason why this is
in all the time
I wish I could stay five
such a hopeful spring.
years." The blonde can't wait to go home.
A Polish-born real-estate man from Los
FOLLOW the Odra through Stubice, Wro-
Angeles has been driving all over in his big
claw, and Opole to Koźle, the inland port
red car. He says the country is in a mess.
connected by a canal with Gliwice, in the
"Look at these glum faces of the people wait-
Upper Silesian Industrial District. Imagine 13
ing for a bus. No wonder, they don't have any
townships bunched much like Los Angeles.
incentive! But they won't tell you the truth
Downtown is Katowice, with brand-new
because you go around with a government
of glass and concrete and a huge park.
interpreter."
district boasts Poland's highest stan-
Sometimes, though, I go alone. I speak
of living; here hard hats are king,
German, and so do many Poles over 40-it's
especially miners. On festive occasions they
a legacy of the occupation, or of forced labor
wear black uniforms with gold embroidery,
in Germany. What I hear and see leaves me
medals, and feathered hats. I witness a Sile-
leery of simple answers.
sian rite of spring: the awarding of swords to
In a. village I meet a couple about to visit
outstanding mining-school graduates.
their daughter in the factory town of Polk-
Billboards proclaim Poland tenth in the
owice, and I give them a lift. The daughter
world in industrial production, ninth in cop-
teaches school, her husband is an electrician
per and steel, fifth in coal. A quarter of all
in a copper mine. Eighteen months ago they
this comes from right here, and I find it
put down money for a cooperative apartment
depressing to be hardly ever out of sight of
in a five-story building.
mine towers, slag heaps, blast furnaces, and
Father notices a shaky railing in the stair-
smokestacks producing smog (pages 484-5).
way, a badly fitting door. "This'll have to be
It is a relief to come upon extensive woods,
fixed," he says. Mother is wide-eyed. Electric
carefully maintained to help purify the
refrigerator, gas hot-water heater, and a
atmosphere. I walk in this forest and breathe
bath! Her own home is a big comfortable
deeply. It just stopped raining, and the air is
farmhouse, but to her these tiny rooms are
clear and invigorating.
pure luxury-veneered furniture, Persian-
Back in Katowice I had brushed my hand
style carpets!
against a wall and found it streaked with
For all this, the young husband works
brown-black grime. Now in the forest I take
extra hard. He gets a month's vacation, in a
a shiny leaf, still pearly with water, and look
resort belonging to the mine; the rest of the
at it closely. I see black specks on it. I brush
year he takes only two Sundays off each
the leaf against my notebook. It's the same
month. He seems full of incentive to me.
brown-black grime.
Another fine interpreter-less day I hear a
I
wonder. How many attractive things
(Continued on page 496)
ANY
A
MARCH OF FAITH: Each August more than a
million people journey to Częstochowa to
honor the Virgin of Jasna Góra Monastery.
This group of some 8,000 pilgrims walked 130
miles from Warsaw. Tenaciously Catholic since
966, Poles for 300 years have hailed the
Blessed Virgin as "Queen of Poland." 493
CAN
494
JASNA GORA MONASTERY
Catholicism's voice in an overwhelmingly
Catholic nation, Stefan Cardinal Wyszyński
welcomes pilgrims arriving at Częstochowa.
Among the country's most formidable public
figures, Cardinal Wyszyński has never ceased
his struggle against government restriction of
church activities, even though his opposition
resulted in a three-year prison term in the
1950's. Poland's new political leadership ap-
pears eager to ease strained relations between
church and state.
Beyond the cardinal, within the Jasna Góra
basilica, resides the object of the pilgrims' ven-
eration, Our Lady of Częstochowa (above).
She never appears this way in public; always
she wears one of her "gowns"-overlays of
gem-encrusted gold and silver. Poles credit her
with saving the country in 1655. The presence
of the icon at the monastery, Poland's only un-
conquered fortification, gave 230 defenders the
strength to repel 4,000 Swedish invaders. Leg-
end also tells that a would-be thief slashed the
Madonna's face-then fell dead.
495
496
National Geographic, April 1972
rotund, middle-aged Pole speak his mind on
six years' wages for an unskilled worker; or
the beach at Sopot. I say it's beautiful here,
four years' for a miner or policeman. O:- two
the sand, the sun
years' salary for a director.
"Yes, but life is not beautiful for Poles. One
On the other hand, workers get bonuses,
works hard all day and has nothing. There
and contributions toward buying apartments.
isn't even enough sausage.
" (He reaches
Higher education is free for those who quali-
into a bag, brings out a sausage sandwich,
fy. Vacations are extremely cheap.
and eats. He has six more sandwiches.)
I told a Pole what I spent to have a tooth
"Now take the directors of all the enter-
fixed, and he was astounded-that in a civi-
prises, they're party people, they don't work
lized country like America dental work isn't
hard, but they have everything. They steal!
free. American hospital bills sound as far-
Why, the party isn't even run by Poles; they're
fetched to Poles as the idea of six years' sal-
all Jews! Some of these Politburo types can't
ary for a car sounds to us.
even read and write!" (Stupendous exag-
But the harsh fact is that an hour's pay of
gerations! Fewer than 10,000 Jews are left in
the average Polish factory worker buys only
Poland, none in the Politburo. Poland's
half a pound of meat. And so in most city
literacy rate is 98 percent; the Politburo's can
families both husbands and wives hold jobs.
safely be put at 100 percent.)
Nearly everybody looks for ways to save
I point to new apartments facing the sea
money and to earn extra income-just to
and say it must be nice to have such a view.
make ends meet, or to save for something, for
"Nie, everybody's too tired to look out.
a washing machine or a hi-fi.
What can you expect from a system like this?"
Women, by the way, are commonly found
Others told me the problem is not the sys-
in the full range of occupations-street sweep-
tem, it's certain attitudes.
ers, crane operators, doctors, administrators.
An engineer said in Gdańsk: "In our fac-
Most of them do not expect their men to share
tory a man had five children and very little
the shopping, cooking, or housework. But
money. I was on the Workers' Council and we
they do expect to be made much of as ladies,
had funds to help people, so the council gave
and they are, as I saw reflected in Poland's
him some money. One morning I thought I'd
high rate of hand-kissing.
watch this fellow. He came in late and smoked
Even traffic policemen are said to do it
a cigarette. Then he made tea. Then he went
occasionally, when relieving traffic police-
to chat with other workers. Then he made
women. I walked up to one of those pretty
some private thing on a factory machine, and
girls in white jacket and black mini-skirt, a
then he went to the factory store and stole
tanned, blue-eyed blonde with lots of eye
some sheets of tin.
shadow. A silvery Polish eagle flashed from
"Could we fire him? Oh, no! We gave him
her cap. I asked her, Is it true?
a warning, and he behaved better. But this
"It's not in the regulations," she said. "Reg-
kind of attitude is met in Poland. There's a lot
ulations call only for a salute. But it's very
of waste, because there's not enough respect
nice, don't you think?"
for public property."
Later that day I noticed a news photo:
A retired manager of a state enterprise an-
Comrade Gierek, First Secretary of the Party's
swered me simply: "What's wrong in Poland?
Central Committee, kissing the hand of a
People-from top to bottom!"
lady worker in a helicopter plant near Lublin
Back in Warsaw, a lady tourist from New
York wants to know what things cost in Po-
land. It's a question of what and for whom.
In Warsaw she can pick up bargains in sil-
I'
-
T IS THE MORNING of the Thursday
after Trinity Sunday, the Feast of Corpus
Christi, a holiday in the Polish People's Re-
ver or leather or linens. She can get a very
public, where the overwhelming majority are
good meal in any Polish town for the złotys
Roman Catholic. After the traditional pro-
she gets for $1.50; or take the waters in a
cession in Warsaw, His Eminence Stefan Car-
Polish spa for $3.25 a day, including bed, food,
dinal Wyszyński will speak, undoubtedly
and medical services. She can buy a Polski
about the changes. What will he say?
Fiat-like my zippy four-door sedan-for
By now I realize how powerfully the
as little as $1,330.
Church speaks to Poles. One Sunday in Sa
But for Poles that car would cost roughly
nok, among a congregation overflowing onto
Springtime of Hope in Poland
497
arch steps, I heard the amplified voice
exhibits. In the U.S. pavilion the American
of the priest ring across the square:
Ambassador waits. This will be his first
"Our real mother must die, her heart which
chance to talk with the man who for six
beats only for her children's happiness must
months has been the leader of Poland.
stop. But our Heavenly Mother remains for-
Here he comes, with a swarm of Politburo
ever. We can always count on her; the love of
members, ministers, and security men in
all the mothers in the world is as nothing to the
black raincoats. During the ensuing chat, I
love of Mary for us all
A tall man next to
stand four feet away.
me swallowed hard, a young woman with a
Prime Minister Piotr Jaroszewicz stresses
baby carriage fumbled for a handkerchief.
that Poland would like more licenses for
The priest's terminology is significant too:
American industrial processes, saying, "We
Most Sainted Lady Mary, Queen of Poland. It
hope
" Gierek breaks in: "In Poland we
has been that way since the 1650's, when with
say hope is only half the matter. We hold
the help of a miraculous icon the monastery
talks and talks, but apparently some ears
at Częstochowa was the only Polish strong-
cannot hear
"
hold to withstand the Protestant Swedes.
No doubt about it, this stocky man with
Every year the Virgin of Częstochowa is the
the gray crew cut is tough. Two months after
focus of a vast pilgrimage (pages 492-5).
this encounter, the U.S. Government at last
In thousands of Polish churches, banners
grants a license the Poles want badly: an oil-
mix the letter M for Mary with Polish eagles
cracking process for their refinery at Płock,
-a reminder of all those years of foreign op-
which converts crude oil from the U.S.S.R.
pression when the Church provided the sole
public outlet for nationalist emotion, when in
O
N MY LAST SWING through Poland I
a way the Church was Poland.
stop at the state museum of Oświęcim-
And here's a joke of Gomułka days: The
Brzezinka, the place the world knows as
congregation kneels, but one man remains
Auschwitz. By 9 a.m., 18 buses are in the
sto
Whispers: Why don't you kneel?
parking lot. The exhibits are detailed and
B
I'm an atheist. Then why are you in
heartrending, a monument to cold-blooded
chn
Because I'm against the government.
human bestiality on a scale unparalleled in
Now tens of thousands crowd before St.
modern Europe. This inferno alone murdered
Anne's in Warsaw as the silver-haired car-
four million people in less than five years.
dinal speaks with quiet passion, his gold-and-
That night, at the Hotel Giewont in Zako-
ivory staff in his left hand, his golden ring
pane, in the Tatra Mountains, vacationists
flashing from his right. "We are waiting for
from Warsaw are dancing. Visiting Ameri-
the promises recently made to be fulfilled
cans are dancing, too. Watching them, I feel
In Warsaw we need 50 more churches.
that America can be everlastingly proud to
In the whole of. Poland, after 17 years of
have helped put an end to Auschwitz.
restraints on church construction, we need
Driving through foothills of the jagged
thousands
we wait for deeds, not words!"
Tatras, I notice new brick houses with stone
I saw a tiny makeshift church trying to
foundations and wooden gables. This used to
serve thousands-with 16 masses each Sun-
be the poorest part of Poland, whence many
day. "It is to cry," said a parishioner. The
emigrated to America. A mountaineer in a
problem isn't money; to build a proper
battered black felt hat tells me at Bukowina
church requires a construction permit, and
Tatrzańska: "Nearly everybody here has
a permit for materials. Would Gierek grant
relatives in America. If they send an invita-
enough to reconcile crusty old Cardinal
tion, and if you can get an American visa, the
Wyszyński?
government may let you go for a visit. My
What kind of man is Edward Gierek, on
neighbor just came back after a year and a
whom so much depends? I was eager for a
half in Chicago. He worked as a butcher, two
close-up impression; I got it, at the 40th
shifts a day. His young wife stayed behind,
international trade fair in Poznań.
she was very sad. Now she is so happy! They
Exhibiting or just shopping here are busi-
bought land, they're building a house, they
pessmen neer from Düsseldorf and Milan, engi-
have a car. You should see her new clothes!
of
Irkutsk and the People's Republic
In Poland you could work all your life and
Edward Gierek is touring the major
never have all that
"
1
498
Sheep hush their bleating
when a góral, or mountain
man. plays on his goat-headed
kobza (above), a Polish coun-
terpart of Scotland's bagpipes.
In their storybook land, a
father and son take a Sunday
stroll (left). At home in the High
Tatra of southern Poland, the
gorals cling to traditional attire
and customs.
Elsewhere in the swiftly
modernizing People's Republic,
old habits and costumes emerge
only for special events. During
the harvest festival at Opole,
in southwestern Poland, stu-
dents relive the past through
the graceful dances. of their
forebears (right).
School is out, and I pick up a teen-age
A
NOTHER LONG DRIVE induces long
couple with rucksacks. The official hitch-
thoughts. Will the Polish harvest be
hiking season has begun.
sufficient? Can Gierek stay the course?
Anyone over 17 can buy a green hitch-
One of his aides tells me: "Before, the
hiking booklet; it provides accident insur-
leadership thought of doctrine. Gierek thinks
ance, and contains sheets of coupons. The
along pragmatic lines; he is a pragmatic
hitchhiker holds up his booklet and, after
patriot. Of course there are thousands of
he is picked up, he gives the driver a coupon
people-especially in small places, small
for every 25 kilometers; drivers turn in these
kings-who are not happy about the changes.
coupons for a lottery; first prize is a Polski
But millions support Gierek, especially the
Fiat. Should a hitchhiker misbehave-well,
youth. This makes him very strong."
there's his number on the coupon.
In the primeval forest of Białowieża Na-
This was mentioned to me by the police
tional Park, on the northeastern border with
colonel in charge of crime prevention and
the U.S.S.R., I lose myself among the giants.
traffic safety for all Poland. "Those little
Oaks and lindens up to 130 feet. A 156-foot
booklets introduced order into hitchhiking."
spruce. It's a green and awesome day.
He also told me why young people wear
I get to the lodge so late that again I've
the number of their school on their sleeves:
missed Poland's favorite TV program, "Bo-
"So they'll be easy to identify. If they behave
nanza." It runs on Sunday afternoons, with
improperly, we send special postcards to their
a spoken Polish translation. But I'm in time
parents. It works very well."
for the daily "Goodnight to Children," at
Such devices, plus 380,000 auxiliary police,
7:20. It's a cartoon about a boy who helps
may explain why I could see people walking
birds. He has a magic pencil-whatever he
in the parks even after midnight.
draws begins to exist. A cat attacks some
In eastern Mazury, where the beautiful
birds' nests, so he draws a fire engine and
lakes are, I go sailing with students vaca-
hoses the cat away. Then he draws bird-
tioning at the International Yachting Center
houses with refrigerators and bathrooms
at Giżycko. The biggest lake measures only
with all the marks of a high standard of living.
ten miles across, but there are many of them,
The birds in their beautiful homes sing in
connected by canals. Blue water, green
gratitude. The boy draws himself a piano
meadows, and woods for camping.
and plays a cheerful accompaniment. I wish
But what a pity about the beautiful trees
I had such a pencil, so I could draw for Poles
lining the roads. They'll have to go, a traffic
the things they want, and protect them from
engineer tells me, because trees are stronger
all the marauding cats of the world.
than cars and the number of crashes is ap-
Next morning I see the famous European
palling. A bus has just hit a tree, trying to
bison, once nearly extinct but now bred
avoid a driver who didn't stick to his side of
back to a herd of 230. From a stockade wall,
the road; 71 children are hurt.
the veterinarian who looks after them points
The annual death rate from motor acci-
to a charming bison bull calf, 15 days old. His
dents has reached 13 per 10,000 vehicles.
parents are Poleszuk and Polarna. Would
I
That's almost three times as many as in the
care to name the baby? The name, like that of
U.S., and so, in a way, it seems fortunate that
all purebred bison in Białowieża, must start
Poland has only one vehicle for every 12 in-
with the letters PO.
habitants. (In the U.S. it's three for every
I think and think and say-Pontuk!
five.) But Gierek promises "universal motor-
The veterinarian asks what it means.
ization," through a cheap small car. Roads
say it sounds Polish to me, and strong. May
must be widened, or at least made safe from
he grow up to be a brave Polish bison.
trees. When a driver sets out on a journey,
And I think of all the charming Poles
one tells him "Szerokiej drogi," meaning "I
met. On their journey toward a better life,
wish you a wide road."
I wish them all a wide road.
Stalwarts of the national economy, independent farmers like wheat grower
Kazimerz Steinborn share their city cousins' cautiously hopeful view of the
future. Recognizing the importance of privately owned farms-which com-
prise 83 percent of Poland's croplands-the government has now extended to
them many of the incentives formerly granted only to state-owned cooperatives
500