Blinking

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

The author was in country, observing Poland in 1986. He saw the Polish people's creative coping inventions to get what they needed, to exercise freedom and creativity in the underground, out of sight of their rulers. He was impressed by their "defiant spirit."

After the harsh government crackdown of 1981, they were "dodging and weaving around the restrictions in ways that almost defied imagination. Shortages of basic foodstuffs, double-digit inflation, and a powerful secret police did not deter them from creating thriving black markets and flourishing private institutions from radio to theaters to publishing houses and schools."

They independently and secretly published forbidden books, up to 200 per year in editions of up to 10,000. Underground universities operated in major cities, meeting in warehouses and churches.

The author shares a memory of that visit:

"My favorite story from my 1986 visit involves a very brave couple, Zbigniew and Sofia Romaszewski, who had only months before been released from prison for running an underground radio station. “How did you know when you were broadcasting if people were listening?” I asked. Sofia answered, “We could only broadcast 8 to 10 minutes at a time before going to another place to stay ahead of the police. One night we asked people to blink their lights if they believed in freedom for Poland. We then went to the window and for hours, all of Warsaw was blinking.”

(cont'd tomorrow)