euro|topics - Poland confronts its past

Main focus of Friday, January 12, 2007

Poland confronts its past

Up to now, Poland has confronted its communist past only hesitantly. But the withdrawal of Warsaw Archbishop Stanislaw Wielgus from his post has fanned the flames of debate about the workings of Poland's former Security Service. Critics fear that this compromising legacy will be used for political purposes.

Wprost Online - Poland

The Polish government wants to enact a law that would reduce the pensions of former employees of the communist Secret Service. As president of the right-conservative party, PiS [Law and Justice Party], Jaroslaw Kaczynski published the statement, 'Remembrance and Responsibility'. Jan Pinski considers it "an excellent idea to eliminate special privileges for former functionaries of communist Poland's repressive apparatus. But the enactment of Prime Minister Kaczynski's recommendations depends upon a victorious legal campaign... There is no doubt that every functionary who faced a reduction in pension would complain about it to the Polish and European courts. And more: According to the Polish system of justice, they could count on enforcement of their claims... The only way to make any progress in this direction is to recognize the Security Service as a criminal organization, and thus eliminate its privileges." (12/01/2007)

Die Welt - Germany

Zdzislaw Krasnodebski challenges the notion that the current focus on the enmeshment in the secret service in Poland was set into motion "from above and on the orders of the Kaczynski brothers". Rather, it is a societal necessity, he suggests: "First of all, it is about a sense of justice, which, when damaged, erodes the state's legitimacy and leads to cynicism. After 1989, many Solidarity activists were living in poverty and oblivion. Their tormentors had it easy. Only now are many everyday heroes receiving high accolades from the president. Secondly, it is about telling the truth. We want to know how the mechanisms of power and force in the People's Republic of Poland functioned, and what led to the decision for transformation in 1989. Thirdly, it is about transparency in public life. There is evidence that many persons after 1989 were exposed to pressure and blackmail. Fear and dependency influenced politics and the economy." (12/01/2007)

L'Hebdo - Switzerland

The chronicler Jacques Pilet considers that "the 'old' Europeans do not appreciate how difficult it is for former Communists to untangle themselves from their past. The Polish example is caricatural. Under pressure from the media, the archbishop nominated by the Vatican [Stanislaw Wielgus] as successor of the powerful Jozef Glemp, had to confess a few hours before his consecration that he had been an active agent of the secret police. The revelations are devastating: the priest spied on his peers, apologised to his superiors when he did not gather sufficient information. ... Obviously, the whole affair has shed a disagreeable light on the idealised image of a Catholic Church committed to the struggle against dictatorship. ... The stepping-down of the prelate has been applauded by most Poles, but it irritates the ultra-Catholic far-right for whom the Pope remains the infallible beacon. It is also creating discomfort among the centre-left -apparent in the columns of the famous newspaper 'Gazeta Wyborcza'- which is concerned that the red witch hunt might get out of control." (11/01/2007)

Népszabadság - Hungary

After news reports about his contacts with the communist Secret Service, another man of the Polish Catholic Church - Janusz Bielanski, prelate of the Krakow Wawel Cathedral - withdrew from his post on Monday. László Kasza urges the Hungarian Cardinals to follow the example of their Polish colleagues: "All the heads of the Hungarian Bishops Conference – Czapik, Grősz, Ijjas, Lékai, Paskai, Seregély – and most of the Bishops themselves have worked with the Hungarian Secret Service. Unlike their Polish counterparts, they don't say a word about it publicly. ... They refuse to withdraw, and the Vatican has not dismissed them.... Archbishop Wielgus said in announcing his withdrawal: 'I know that I have done considerable damage to my church.' Such admission of guilt is never heard in Hungary. And there is not a single conservative newspaper in Hungary that would reveal Cardinals as former spies of the communist Secret Service, the way Gazeta Polska did." (12/01/2007)

» To the complete press review of Friday, January 12, 2007

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