The widow of general Czesław Kiszczak, the head of the communist repression apparatus and minister of the Interior (1981-90), disclosed the stolen from the archives and hidden by her husband documents which prove that the legendary leader of “Solidarity” movement had been a paid informant for the Polish communist secret police from 1970 till 1976.

“May you live in interesting times”, goes the Chinese curse. Wałęsa lived through dramatic times. He was an organizer of the illegal 1970 strikes at the Gdańsk Shipyard when workers protested the government’s decree raising food prices. The protest was brutally suppressed and ended with a bloodbath (at least 40 killed). Wałęsa was 27 years old, freshly married with a new born child. Wałęsa, as he later admitted, harassed by the secret police signed a document in which he pledged to cooperate, but never turned in anybody, never harmed anybody and never took any money for his unperformed services. The disclosed documents, whose authenticity is under scrutiny, deny these assertions.

Nobody who knows the reality of the communist Poland may hold the pledge against Wałęsa. His possible active cooperation should be at least understood, if not excused. The communist secret police stopped at nothing. Black-mail and beating-up were standard procedures. They would resort to brutal murder, if needed. The problem is that Wałęsa’s explanations are not convincing and rather contradicting. Moreover, Wałęsa as the president of Poland (1990-95) borrowed his dossier from the secret police archives and returned it with some documents missing.

Nobody in his right mind would deny his unquestionable merits as the leader of “Solidarity” and his decisive role in deposing the communist regime (1980-89). But the disclosed documents raise the important question: Did the people in their possession use this dossier to black-mail Wałęsa during the negotiations between communists and “Solidarity” in 1989 r., and later on during his presidency? Many Poles who believe in this conspiracy theory point out that nobody, including gen. Kiszczak, was punished for the numerous communist crimes and many communists, secret service officers in particular, overnight turned into very successful capitalists. On the other hand, the equally valid question is: Was it possible to accomplish this bloodless revolution and to seize power from the communists in any other way? Wasn’t it a necessary price to pay?

The dismal situation is not helped by recent bizarre Wałęsa’s explanations, his obstinacy, aggressive tone and megalomania. But the worst thing of all is that the politicians of the ruling party, the opposition, as well as their supporters and media, are trying to use the conflict to further their own aims. The former claim that 27 years ago the conciliatory, if not corrupted “Solidarity” elite with Wałęsa on top struck a deal with communists and divided Poland among themselves. The opposition and their followers maintain that the disclosure of the documents was a well-planned provocation serving the people who are now in power.

Lech Wałęsa, with Karol Wojtyła the best known and liked Pole in the world, is being discredited in his own country as a communist secret police informant. Regardless what the truth about Wałęsa is, 27 years after overthrowing the communist regime, general Kiszczak, an unpunished communist criminal, turned out the winner and is laughing in his grave. And this is the sour defeat of Poland and the collective defeat of all the Poles. Wałęsa including.

La vedova del capo dell’apparato di repressione comunista, il generale Czeslaw Kiszczak (ministro degli interni della Polonia negli anni 1981-90), ha reso noto il contenuto di alcuni documenti trafugati dal marito dagli archivi, dai quali risulterebbe che Lech Walesa, leggendario leader del sindacato polacco Solidarnosc, dal 1970 al 1976 fosse un informatore retribuito dei servizi segreti della Polonia comunista.

“Che tu possa vivere in tempi interessanti”, dice una maledizione cinese. Walesa ha vissuto in tempi drammatici. Come uno dei promotori dello sciopero nei cantieri di Danzica prese parte alla cosiddetta rivolta sul mar Baltico del 1970, repressa nel sangue. All’epoca aveva 27 anni e una moglie con un figlio piccolissimo. Vessato da agenti segreti, come egli stesso più tardi affermò, firmò una dichiarazione di collaborazione con la polizia. Walesa oggi assicura che mai ha collaborato realmente, mai ha fatto il delatore e non ha mai fatto del male a chicchessia. Quell’episodio della vita di Walesa è noto ai polacchi da anni. I nuovi documenti però, anche se il loro esame è ancora in corso, comproverebbero che la collaborazione di Walesa con i servizi abbia avuto carattere attivo.

Chi conosce o sa com’era la realtà della Polonia comunista non può biasimare Walesa per aver firmato l’accordo con i servizi. Anche una sua collaborazione attiva con i servizi merita, se non di essere perdonata, almeno di essere umanamente compresa. I servizi segreti comunisti erano noti per essere pronti a tutto, anche all’omicidio, e molto abili nell’arte del ricatto e nel piegare le persone inermi. Da anni però Walesa, spesso cambiando le versioni, fermamente respinge ogni accusa di collaborazione con i servizi e ripete che “loro [i servizi] non sono mai riusciti a piegarmi, non mi sono mai arreso”. E questo oggi è un problema poiché fa nascere dei dubbi. I sospetti vengono aggravati anche dal fatto che Walesa, mentre era presidente della Polonia (dopo la vittoria di Solidarnosc, dal 1990 al 1995), si fece portare dagli archivi i faldoni che lo riguardavano. E una parte di quella documentazione andò perduta.

Con ogni ragionevolezza e buon senso, a Walesa non si possono negare grandi meriti quando era a capo di Solidarnosc, lottando contro il regime comunista. I documenti che spuntano adesso però fanno nascere una domanda: Walesa, negoziando l’abbandono del potere da parte dei comunisti, e dopo come presidente, non agì sotto ricatto? I fautori di quell’ipotesi rilevano che nessuno, nemmeno il generale Kiszczak, sia mai condannato per i crimini comunisti, mentre numerosi partigiani del comunismo in Polonia, dopo la sua caduta, da un giorno all’altro si metamorfizzarono in bravi capitalisti. Altrettanto lecita sembra però la domanda se in un altro modo si sarebbe potuta realizzare in Polonia la rivoluzione senza spargimento di sangue. Non era proprio questo il prezzo da pagare per il cambiamento?

Le spiegazioni che Walesa oggi fornisce, assai sconclusionate a dir la verità, la sua cocciutaggine e la mania di grandezza non aiutano a capirlo e nemmeno spiegano le iniziative di quando era capo dello Stato. La confusione cresce anche perché i politici al governo e all’opposizione, le élite intellettuali polacche e i media, divisi tra loro sul giudizio da dare a Walesa, cinicamente sfruttano tutta la situazione a proprio vantaggio. I sostenitori del governo cercano di convincere l’opinione pubblica che 27 anni fa Solidarnosc, con a capo Walesa, si spartì la Polonia con i comunisti. L’opposizione sostiene invece che la pubblicazione dei documenti sia una provocazione, molto utile all’attuale compagine governativa.

Lech Walesa, che insieme a Karol Wojtyla è forse il polacco più conosciuto e stimato al mondo, è oggi screditato nel proprio Paese come informatore dei servizi segreti comunisti. A prescindere da come andarono davvero le cose, 27 anni dopo la caduta del regime comunista il generale Kiszczak, un criminale comunista che ha eluso la punizione, se la ride dalla sua tomba. E questa è una sconfitta della Polonia e di tutti i polacchi. Anche di Lech Walesa.

To understand the reasons for the construction of the wall separating in two parts the ancient capital city of the Reich, we must go back to the beginning of 1945. The war is not over yet, but Nazi Germany is on the verge of capitulation. February 4 through 11, 1945, the Yalta Conference is held. For a whole week, at the edge of the Black Sea, Churchill, Stalin, and Roosevelt confer on the future of Germany and Japan whose defeat is no longer in doubt.

What future for Germany?

When the conference begins, Stalin’s Red Army had already reached East Germany. Allied troops, however, have not yet crossed the Rhine. Hence the confidence shown by Stalin to his Western allies. Such confidence is even increased by the fact that Roosevelt is ill (he will die three months later) and Churchill is physically worn.

The three Allied leaders plan to demilitarize Germany and cut it into three occupation zones, which eventually become four; Churchill, in fact, soon obtained an area to be given to France.

In this discussion on sharing out, there is of course no question of challenging the territories that the USSR has already annexed or is about to annex. Thus it retains the Baltic States, Moldova, Karelia, Eastern Poland, and Eastern Prussia.

At the capitulation of the Reich, Germany finds itself split into two parts: the Federal Republic of Germany on the west side and the German Democratic Republic, on the east side, under the control of the USSR. Berlin, the capital city of the Reich, is divided into four zones.

Europe split into two parts

On the night of August 12 to 13, 1961, in an attempt to stop the growing exodus of people to West Germany and to other democratic countries of Europe, the pro-Soviet authorities of the German Democratic Republic erected a 150 km wall – which will be called very soon the “Berlin Wall” – and physically separated the city into East Berlin and West Berlin. In one night, German families find themselves separated. They will remain separated for 28 years!

This wall, a component of the inner-German border for more than twenty-eight years, is the most prominent symbol of Europe divided by the Iron Curtain. More than just a wall, it is a complex military system which includes two walls, each of them 3.6 meters high, walkways, 302 observation towers endowed with alarm devices, 14,000 guards, 600 dogs, and skyward barbed wire. An unknown number of people died while trying to cross the wall, because East German border guards and Soviet soldiers did not hesitate to shoot the fugitives.

A wind of freedom and renewal

But what happened on November 9, 1989? To understand this event which in our collective memory truly symbolizes the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, we must remember, first, the advent of Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985, who initiated reforms of the communist political and economic system, in the Soviet Union, which will return to be called Russia a few years later. We should also remember the creation of the free trade union “Solidarnosc” (Solidarity) in Poland, which opposed a peaceful but firm resistance to the communist regime in this country. It should also be recalled that in spring 1989, the wave of protest led to the opening of the “iron curtain” in Hungary, which will provide an opportunity for thousands of East Germans to flee abroad. A wind of freedom and renewal had begun to blow on the “Eastern bloc”, and nothing could stop it.

In the following months, street rallies are regularly organized, and they get increasingly important. The apex will be a giant rally on November 4, 1989, which brought more than a million people to East Berlin, in addition to hundreds of thousands protesters in other cities of East Germany. A few days later, on November 9, a senior official of the German communist regime announced during a press conference that private trips abroad are now allowed without conditions. Following this announcement, and under the pressure of thousands of East Berliners, many crossing points were opened in the “wall”, thus allowing a crowd of excited and incredulous people to embrace their separated siblings in West Berlin. The wall had fallen … Less than a year later, on October 3, 1990, the two halves of Germany were reunited.

The role of Christians

This page of history is well known, especially by those who, at the time, followed these events through radio and television throughout Europe. What is less known is that the Protestant Churches in East Germany played an important role in the fall of the Berlin Wall – in a way that recalls the resistance of Catholics in Soviet Poland. While some Lutheran bishops “collaborated” with the East German communist regime, many Christian faithful actively resisted it for decades. This movement eventually lead to the “Monday rallies” first inside and then around the “Nikolaikirche” (Church of St. Nicolas) in Leipzig. On October 9, 70,000 people gathered to pray and then march through the city in the light of candles. Neither the army nor the police stepped in: the totalitarian regime was undermined without blood being shed. These were the first street rallies, supported by an active movement for democratization, which would lead to the large rallies of November 1989.

Pour comprendre les raisons de la construction de ce mur séparant en deux l’ancienne capitale du Reich, il faut remonter au début de l’année 1945. La guerre n’est pas encore finie, mais l’Allemagne nazie est sur le point de capituler. Du 4 au 11 février 1945 se tient la conférence de Yalta. Pendant une semaine, au bord de la mer Noire, Churchill, Staline et Roosevelt se concertent sur le sort futur de l’Allemagne et du Japon dont la défaite ne fait plus de doute.

Quel avenir pour l’Allemagne?

Quand commence la conférence, l’Armée rouge de Staline a déjà atteint l’Allemagne orientale. Les troupes alliées, en revanche, n’ont pas encore franchi le Rhin. D’où l’assurance dont fait preuve Staline face à ses alliés occidentaux. Assurance d’autant plus grande que Roosevelt est malade (il mourra trois mois plus tard) et Churchill physiquement usé.

Les trois chefs alliés projettent de démilitariser l’Allemagne et de la découper en trois zones d’occupation, qui deviendront finalement quatre zones; Churchill ayant obtenu après coup qu’une zone soit accordée à la France.

Dans cette discussion sur le partage, il n’est bien entendu pas question de contester à l’URSS les territoires qu’elle a déjà annexés ou s’apprête à le faire. C’est ainsi qu’elle conserve les États baltes, la Moldavie, la Carélie, la Pologne orientale et même la Prusse orientale.

A la capitulation du Reich, l’Allemagne se retrouve donc coupée en deux: la République fédérale d’Allemagne du côté occidental et la République Démocratique d’Allemagne (RDA), du côté oriental, et sous contrôle de l’URSS. Berlin, la capitale du Reich est séparée en quatre zones.

L’Europe coupée en deux

Dans la nuit du 12 au 13 août 1961, les autorités pro-soviétiques de la République démocratique allemande (RDA)^, qui tentent de mettre fin à l’exode croissant de ses habitants vers l’Allemagne de l’Ouest et vers d’autres pays de l’Europe démocratique, érigent un mur long de 150 kilomètres – que l’on appellera très vite le “mur de Berlin” -, séparant physiquement la ville en Berlin-Est et Berlin-Ouest. En une nuit, des familles se trouvent séparées. Elles le resteront pendant 28 ans!

Ce mur, composante de la frontière intérieure allemande, pendant plus de vingt-huit ans, constitue le symbole le plus marquant d’une Europe divisée par le Rideau de fer. Plus qu’un simple mur, il s’agit d’un dispositif militaire complexe comportant deux murs de 3,6 mètres de haut^, avec chemin de ronde, 302 miradors et dispositifs d’alarme, 14.000 gardes, 600 chiens et des barbelés dressés vers le ciel. Un nombre indéterminé de personnes sont victimes des tentatives de franchissement du mur, car les gardes-frontière est-allemands et les soldats soviétiques n’hésitent pas à tirer sur les fugitifs.

Un vent de liberté et de renouveau

Mais que s’est-il passé ce 9 novembre 1989? Pour comprendre cet événement qui, dans notre mémoire collective, symbolise véritablement la chute du communisme en Europe de l’Est, il faut rappeler, d’abord, l’avènement de Mikhaïl Gorbatchev en URSS en 1985, qui initia des réformes du système politique et économique communiste, dans ce qui redeviendra la Russie quelques années plus tard. Il faut rappeler aussi la naissance du syndicat libre “Solidarnosc” en Pologne, qui opposa une résistance pacifique mais ferme au pouvoir communiste dans ce pays. Il faut rappeler enfin que, dès le printemps 1989, cette vague de contestation aboutit à l’ouverture du “rideau de fer” en Hongrie, ce qui fournira la possibilité à des milliers d’Allemands de l’Est de fuir vers l’extérieur. Un vent de liberté et de renouveau avait commencé à souffler sur le “bloc de l’Est”, et plus rien ne pourrait l’arrêter.

Dans les mois qui suivirent, des manifestations régulières, et de plus en plus importantes, commencèrent à s’organiser. Elles aboutiront à une démonstration monstre le 4 novembre 1989, rassemblant plus d’un million de personnes à Berlin-Est, et des centaines de milliers d’autres dans plusieurs villes d’Allemagne de l’Est. Quelques jours plus tard, le 9 novembre, un haut responsable du régime communiste annonça, lors d’une conférence de presse inédite, que les voyages privés vers l’étranger seraient désormais autorisés sans conditions. A la suite de cette annonce, et sous la pression de milliers de Berlinois de l’Est, plusieurs points de passage furent ouverts dans le “mur”, permettant à une foule de personnes, à la fois enthousiastes et incrédules, d’aller embrasser leurs frères et sœurs séparés de Berlin-Ouest. Le mur était tombé… Moins d’un an plus tard, le 3 octobre 1990, les deux Allemagnes étaient à nouveau réunies.

Le rôle des chrétiens

Cette page de l’Histoire est connue, surtout par ceux qui, à l’époque, ont suivi ces événements à travers la radio et la télévision, à travers toute l’Europe. Ce qui l’est moins, c’est que les Eglises protestantes d’Allemagne de l’Est jouèrent un rôle important dans la chute du mur de Berlin – d’une manière qui rappelle la résistance des catholiques dans la Pologne soviétique. Si certains évêques luthériens “collaborèrent” avec le régime communiste est-allemand, de nombreux chrétiens de la base lui résistèrent activement pendant plusieurs décennies. Ce mouvement aboutit, en 1989, aux “manifestations du lundi”, dans, puis autour de la “Nikolaikirche” de Leipzig. Le 9 octobre, 70.000 personnes se rassemblent pour prier puis défiler dans la ville à la lumière des bougies. Ni l’armée ni la police n’interviendront: le régime totalitaire sera ébranlé sans que le sang ne soit versé. Ce sont ces premières manifestations, sous-tendues par un mouvement actif de démocratisation, qui aboutiront aux grandes démonstrations du mois de novembre 1989.