Lech Walesa — "I have never been a communist. I have always been a Catholic and a patriot."
I have never been a communist. I have always been a Catholic and a patriot.
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More from Lech Walesa
"My strength comes from the people."
"I am not a man of great words, but a man of great deeds."
"Democracy is when people can spit in my face, and I have to wipe it off."
"When you strike a match, you can light a fire, but you can also burn yourself."
"My life has been a struggle, but it has been worth it."
About Lech Walesa (born 1943)
Polish electrician who founded Solidarity in 1980, won the 1983 Nobel Peace Prize, and became the first post-communist president of Poland (1990-1995). Closely associated with Václav Havel (fellow Eastern-bloc dissident-turned-president) and Pope John Paul II (the Polish pope whose 1979 visit catalyzed Solidarity). For an intellectual contrast, see Wojciech Jaruzelski, Polish general and Communist leader — Jaruzelski imposed martial law in 1981, banned Solidarity, and interned Wałęsa. He represented the Soviet-backed institutional power Solidarity's nonviolent labor movement was organized to displace — they ultimately signed the 1989 Round Table Talks together that ended Polish communism.