Poles are able to forgive their enemies - how noble.

Lech Walesa

=hague1cmaeron]Taketh they camera
maketh sure that thy taketh a photograth,
to showeth to the rest of the world
Be sure to stroketh thy vanity once in a while
So that the world seeth what a good person you are.
Vanity of Vanities.

A beautiful gesture, we want a consent within the nation and some forgiveness; life is too short and we have only this one. Thank you, Mr. President! This is a dignified Christian gesture.

Fine! Lech is like wine - the older he gets the better he becomes.

A beautiful gesture, worthy of a statesman! Congratulation. My esteem even though I was not your aficionado before.

I did not like Walesa once, but now I have more sympathy towards him. He knows how to behave.

=boletus]About 50% comments did not surprise me at all - cheap, idiotic, and making me regret of going through the process of reading them: calling Wałęsa a buddy of Jaruzelski, naming him an old commie, secret agent and so on. Well, this is a contemporary Poland - I am sorry to say this but - in my opinion - this is a country of logical illiterates - empowered by tools of Internet, having nothing to contribute, yet still loving to talk nonsense.

Quite noble of Wałęsa. Or not? After all, he is a devout Catholic.

So that the world seeth what a good person you are.

But I don`t think he tried to win the public with that gesture at hospital.

On the other hand, there were quite a few samples supporting the Wałęsa visit:

About 50% comments did not surprise me at all - cheap, idiotic, and making me regret of going through the process of reading them

Giving a good example to other politicians is not vanity.

However a true Christian gesture would be to reconcile with him and not tell anyone about it.

=hague1cmaeron]Well I suppose it is not, and well done to him for doing so. However a true Christian gesture would be to reconcile with him and not tell anyone about it.

=aphrodisiac]yep, I agree with that 100%. No pictures.

=boletus]About 50% comments did not surprise me at all - cheap, idiotic, and making me regret of going through the process of reading them: calling Wałęsa a buddy of Jaruzelski, naming him an old commie, secret agent and so on. Well, this is a contemporary Poland - I am sorry to say this but - in my opinion - this is a country of logical illiterates - empowered by tools of Internet, having nothing to contribute, yet still loving to talk nonsense. The mob is replacing the Cartesian "Cogito ergo sum" by "I shout therefore I exist." I would not mind if they just disagreed with him and criticized him on some rational grounds. What I hate is this level of primitivism, worthy only of the behaviour of "football kibols".

Not exactly, guys. Walęsa, allowing the photos to be taken and published, won as much support as he lost at the same time.

I still claim that Wałęsa tried to agree with his adversary while they are still both available in this world.

(by the way, Poles - why is it General Jaruzelski and not President Jaruzelski? Is it just because he's better known as the General and his Presidency was brief?

In the past it was Jaruzelski who put Wałęsa in a detention center

won as much support as he lost at the same time.

I would say vast majority of Poles don't really give a damn about it.

I've got a feeling that you foreigners way too often base your views of Polish affairs on opinion of your few Polish buddies

=boletus]Did you really mean to quote me again? I said nothing to contrary of what you had said. :-)

=delphiandomine] Is it just because he's better known as the General and his Presidency was brief?

The youngest in communist Polish army.

According to Italian press, a gesture of Lech Walesa, who visited seriously ill Wojciech Jaruzelski in hospital is a sign of a high political culture prevailing in Poland.

"Small gestures, but it says a lot about the culture of this great European country" - assesses the La Repubblica.. "They were enemies, then partners in the democratic transformation. One was the head of the military junta, the second the leader of the revolution. Now that the General is gravely ill, his former opponent stays by his bedside to wish him - smiling - speedy recovery," - says Roman newspaper.

Recalling the events from twenty years ago, initiated by "opening of Jaruzelski and his generals of a dialogue with former enemies," the daily concludes: "Today a new Poland, born of that agreement, has one of the most dynamic economies in the world."

"A beautiful balance - Walesa certainly must have thought about it when visiting his former enemy in an hospital" - says La Repubblica.

In an extensive article, Corriere della Sera, recalls that on several occasions in recent years Jaruzelski's health was the cause of interruption of the trial instituted against him. Pointing out that the General has always considered the martial law as a "lesser evil", the largest Italian newspaper notes that until now the Poles have "ambivalent feelings towards their last communist leader, which" - adds the paper - "devoted the recent years to writing memoirs - trying to explain and understand the collapse of communism. "

According to Italian press, a gesture of Lech Walesa, who visited seriously ill Wojciech Jaruzelski in hospital is a sign of a high political culture prevailing in Poland.

"Small gestures, but it says a lot about the culture of this great European country" - assesses the La Repubblica.. "They were enemies, then partners in the democratic transformation. One was the head of the military junta, the second the leader of the revolution. Now that the General is gravely ill, his former opponent stays by his bedside to wish him - smiling - speedy recovery," - says Roman newspaper.

Recalling the events from twenty years ago, initiated by "opening of Jaruzelski and his generals of a dialogue with former enemies," the daily concludes: "Today a new Poland, born of that agreement, has one of the most dynamic economies in the world."

"A beautiful balance - Walesa certainly must have thought about it when visiting his former enemy in an hospital" - says La Repubblica.

In an extensive article, Corriere della Sera, recalls that on several occasions in recent years Jaruzelski's health was the cause of interruption of the trial instituted against him. Pointing out that the General has always considered the martial law as a "lesser evil", the largest Italian newspaper notes that until now the Poles have "ambivalent feelings towards their last communist leader, which" - adds the paper - "devoted the recent years to writing memoirs - trying to explain and understand the collapse of communism. "

Poles are able to forgive their enemies - how noble.

=Grzegorz_]
For being a great Polish patriot of course...

Just like thousands of others (Yes Delphi, don't forget to mention that Jaro was not among them) they were never really such deadly enemies, If they had been, Wałęsa would have been dead long time ago... Jaruzelski became a President largely thanks to Wałęsa and vice versa.

I get the picture that as a General this guy was honoured ect among Poles.

I've got a feeling that you foreigners way too often base your views of Polish affairs on opinion of your few Polish buddies.

Also, for his alleged role of an informer for communist secret services in 1940s.

for displaying eager support for Soviet rule in Poland

=delphiandomine]The army was also one of the most trusted institutions in the country pre December 1981.

=delphiandomine]Quite clearly, he was Moscow's man all along.

Many Poles haven't forgiven the Germans or Russians