Lech Walesa — "Poland needs a strong hand."
Poland needs a strong hand.
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More from Lech Walesa
"My job is to represent the people, not to be popular."
"I only fear God, and my wife – sometimes."
"The greatest enemy of communism is not capitalism but freedom."
"I can only say that I am not a homosexual. I am a normal man."
"I am a simple electrician, but I have a big heart."
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.