Who Deserves Credit for the 1989 Revolution?

An arrow -- painted in the red-and-white colors of both Poland and Solidarity -- points from the section of the shipyard wall toward the imported section of the Berlin Wall. A sign reads "Path of Freedom," and the message is clear: Without Lech Walesa and his comrades-in-arms, the Berlin Wall would have never fallen. Many Poles believe that the world has forgotten this fact, and it's something they are not happy about.

One of them is Dorota Arciszewska-Mielewczyk, 41. A member of the upper house of the Polish parliament, Dorata clearly remembers how, as a young girl, she and her grandmother brought sandwiches to the shipyard workers striking in 1980. At the time, Poland's communists were finally forced to negotiate and, eventually, to permit the first free trade union in the Eastern bloc.

What bothers Dorata is that no one seems to remember this crucial event. "Poland has lost the battle over memory," she says. "The whole world thinks that the collapse of the Eastern bloc began with the Wall." She is firm in her belief that it was Solidarity that triggered the sweeping changes. "You Germans simply marketed yourself more effectively," she adds.

It would seem that Germany's supposed marketing success is doubly offensive to the senator. In the course of her career, the former back-bencher from a rural district has grown to become one of Poland's best-known female politicians. And she's done it all by focusing on a single, overriding issue: the supposedly persistent threat emanating from Germany. "Some Germans spit on our history," she says, "and want us to pretend like it's raining."

Dorata is not motivated by nationalist hatred. In fact, she once even organized a memorial service for the German refugees who died in 1945 on board the "Wilhelm Gustloff," a passenger ship that was torpedoed by a Soviet submarine while evacuating German citizens from Gdansk. Instead, what drives her is an age-old inferiority complex, a feeling among Poles that their neighbors have not given them the respect they deserve. Likewise, many in the country feel that they haven't gotten any credit for standing on the front lines while fending off the Soviet push from the East.

"Poland has lost the battle over memory"
...
You Germans simply marketed yourself more effectively

That sounds soooooooo polish!!! Complaining...blaming..

...The Polish embassy in London has just complained against the advertisement of "Volkswagen Scirocco TDI" in Jeremy Clarkson's programm "Top Gear" on BBC2...

Bratwurst Boy:
That sounds soooooooo polish!!! Complaining...blaming..

No, soooooo Polish is blaming the British!

We had a few spats on the forum where Poles were blamed for the expulsions of Germans

BBoy, you went so far as telling us how you grandma could not even put her shoes on before being expelled.

Could you fill us all in on how that is Poles complaining?

Well...they did it, didn't they.

Oh please...Clarkson makes jokes about everybody

I mean your continuous comments about Poles complaining.

As for the credit for the fall of communism, I'd place East Germans somewhere at the end of the parade. They were the staunchest supporters and brown-nosers of the USSR and when the real wall was already down they put up a great show for the camera. Becuase by then cameras were already allowed in the good ole' DDR.

No, they were the beneficiaries of the expulsions imposed by the US, UK and USSR, and executed by the Soviet Army, of which Poles were a small fraction.

I actually meant the recurring theme about "Poland betrayed".

Now again, the "bad" Germans "stole" the glory from the polish freedom fighters....

Always somebody else to blame

It seems that we're moving into the times where Germans will be praised for their peaceful efforts to get hold of some corridor, only to save Poland some 50+ years later by abolishing communism.

Germans are masters of the universe in creating national myths.

How did Germany "steal" the glory from the Poles???

Germans tend to create myths which are hardly in line with historical truth.

Germans tend to create myths which are hardly in line with historical truth.

All I say is: Germans tend to create myths which are hardly in line with historical truth.

Who Deserves Credit for the 1989 Revolution?

Yes, another myth is that Silesia was German for nearly 800 years, while the province was grabbed from Austria only as late as in 1741.

History

Silesia has been inhabited from time immemorial by people of multiple ethnic groups. Germanic tribes were first recorded within Silesia in the 1st century....

...
In the Middle Ages, Silesia was divided among many independent duchies ruled by various Silesian dukes of the Piast dynasty.
During this time, cultural and ethnic German influence increased due to immigrants from the German-speaking components of the Holy Roman Empire....

...
Silesia subsequently became a possession of the Bohemian crown under the Holy Roman Empire in the 14th century, and passed with that crown to the Habsburg Monarchy of Austria in 1526.
The Duchy of Crossen was inherited by Margraviate of Brandenburg in 1476 and, with the renunciation by King Ferdinand I and estates of Bohemia in 1538, it became an integral part of Brandenburg...

How did Germany "steal" the glory from the Poles??

the province was grabbed from Austria only as late as in 1741.

I'm not referring to the "stolen glory" problem.

It has got exactly the same "Prussian tradition" like Poznan or Wielkopolska lol.

Bur recently I had a long discussion with some young Germans who were deeply convinced of the GDR-leadership in fighting communism.

If I'm honest I don't believe you anymore...

You are losing possibility to learn at least something about Alemania.

ou telling me at least how Alemania could "steal" the glory from Poland??

As you know everything about my fatherland it seems!

You are a typical Pole Borrka

Yes, I do.
Definitely.

You are a typical Pole Borrka