Solidarity Manifesto Immortalized By UNESCO

Exactly twenty 23 after the groundbreaking Solidarity trade union first burst into global consciousness at the height of the Cold War, the movement's daring manifesto has now been identified by an international advisory committee as a "documentary heritage property of enduring importance." The decision places the manifesto in the ranks of the Gutenberg Bible and Beethoven's "Fifth Symphony" for historically significant documents.

Led by Lech Walesa, Solidarity emerged in 1980 during disturbances at the Lenin shipyard in Gdansk. A 17-day strike organized by the Inter-factory Strike Committee (MKS), which represented some 400,000 workers, met with broad support from foreign trade unions.

Spurred on by sympathetic media coverage, the MKS laid out its "21 postulates" during August 1980. The demands included the freedom for trade unions to organize, free speech, the right to strike, the release of political prisoners, an end to censorship and religious freedom.

The demands were handwritten, stuck to two wooden boards and attached to the shipyard gates -- where they've remained ever since.

The debt to Solidarity

Ignoring rumblings from the Soviets, the regime bowed to pressure and agreed to a watered down version of the demands on Aug. 31, 1980. Soon after, Solidarity tried to expand its charter. As the world watched, General Wojciech Jaruzelski responded swiftly, imposing Martial Law in 1981 and outlawing the movement. Thousands of Solidarity's activists, including Walesa, landed in jail.

But in 1989, after round-table talks between Solidarity, the Communists and the church, Poland became the first of the East-Bloc countries to overthrow Communist rule. Solidarity found widespread support in the ensuing, partially free elections and helped form a coalition government. In retrospect, the 1980 movement caused the initial tremors that eventually led to the collapse of communism almost a decade later.

In a general ballot held in December 1990, former shipyard electrician Lech Walesa was elected president of the Republic of Poland. He served until defeated in another election in November 1995.

The risk of collective amnesia

Today, the rights laid out in the "21 postulates" are taken for granted in Poland. It would be easy to forget their significance. But back in 1980, they represented a dangerous challenge to the legitimacy of communist rule.

This weekend's decision came as a surprise for Walesa, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983 for his role in the movement. "I didn't foresee this. I fought for success but I certainly did not think so far ahead."

The UNESCO Memory of the World Programme, launched in 1992, is designed to guard against "collective amnesia" -- as well as the more mundane damage incurred by floods, fires or even rotting paper -- and preserve the endangered world of documentary heritage, which it describes as "the mirror of the world and its memory."

The prestigious "Memory of the World" catalog includes the Declaration of Human Rights, documents from the French Revolution, manuscript scores by Brahms, Chopin and Beethoven, the Gutenberg Bible and Warsaw Ghetto archives.