The Enduring Spirit of Solidarity: A Story Still Being Written | The American Spectator

The Solidarity Movement was born in Poland 45 years ago and paved the way for the end of communism in Europe. In August 1980, workers laid down their tools and raised their voices. They were demanding dignity and freedom. They called their movement “Solidarność” — Solidarity. The movement began with thousands of striking workers in the Gdańsk Shipyard and expended rapidly to nearly 10 million members across Poland by early 1981. This growth made it the largest voluntary civic movement in history.
Today, our nations face different challenges — not tanks and censors, but political polarization, misinformation, and social fragmentation.
Solidarity was never just a moment in history. It’s a mindset. We had no weapons. We had courage, faith, and unity. For us, freedom wasn’t an abstract ideal. It meant bread on the table, the right to speak without looking over your shoulder, and the hope of building a country worthy of our children.
The story didn’t end with the fall of communism in 1989. The spirit of Solidarity paved our road to full independence. It was that spirit that led Poland to join NATO, securing our sovereignty, and later the European Union, cementing our place in a united Europe. Solidarity’s journey is the modern journey of Poland itself: from Soviet occupation to independence.
This spirit is not a relic of the past; it is the living heart of the Polish character. We see it in the immense national effort to welcome millions of Ukrainians fleeing the war, opening not just our borders but our homes. It is the same spirit that sends our rescue teams to pull survivors from the rubble of earthquakes, from Haiti to Turkey, and our firefighters to battle devastating blazes across Europe. Time and again, when crisis strikes, Poles respond.
Our movement’s patron, Blessed Father Jerzy Popiełuszko, once said, “People are won over by an open heart, not by a closed fist.” While many know his famous call to “overcome evil with good,” it’s this quieter wisdom that best ca…