Bremen Coordination Office of Solidarność

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The Bremen coordination office of Solidarność was established with the declaration of martial law in Poland in 1981 . When it was proclaimed on the night of December 13, 1981, leading figures of the Solidarność union were interned and the union itself was banned. A seven-member Solidarność delegation from the Gdańsk Lenin Shipyard , which set out for Bremen on December 12, 1981 , was surprised by the state of war there. Members of this delegation were: Kazimierz Kunikowski(Head of the office), Gerard Bobrowski, Adam Dębowski, Bogdan Felski, Henryk Jagielski and Marek Mikołajczuk. Another member and the interpreter returned to Poland after a few weeks.

The political circumstances then led to a public, political debate in Bremen about how the delegation could be helped by the German trade unions and politicians, because they could not return to Poland at first. The delegation asked for an office in order to be able to be unionized in Germany, and finally got this with the material and immaterial support of the Bremen Senate , the German Trade Union Federation (DGB) and the DGB regional association Bremen. On April 19, 1982 it was opened with the words “Solidarność is not lost yet”. Previously, a dispute over the seat of the office determined the political dispute. In the end, an agreement was reached on a former consular institution of the United States of America , which was ceremoniously handed over to the Solidarność members on the opening day.

Initially, the office's activities were limited to relief operations, and in particular to deliveries of medicines and food to northern Poland. In addition, the members of the office were invited to various events and congresses across Germany. One of the highlights of these trips was the participation of Kazimierz Kunikowski at the DGB Congress 1982 in Berlin including a lecture. Active participation in the development of the foreign Solidarność structures and the leading role within them in Germany also belonged to the activity. The coordination office and a project to establish the research center for Eastern European literature at the University of Bremen were even supposed to put the relations between the twin cities of Bremen and Gdansk , which were already tense due to the state of war in Poland , to the test.

After numerous reports from the Polish media about the office and discussions at the middle government level, the Polish secret services and the Ministry for State Security (MfS) also began to show an interest in the members of the Bremen coordination office. Four members of the bureau were on the list of “people in whom the Polish secret services were most interested”, including Kazimierz Kunikowski . Meanwhile, after the then President of the USA Ronald Reagan emphasized the importance of the Bremen office in a letter, employees of the CIA also sought direct contact with Bremen, which was intensified with several meetings and talks until the office was closed.

After the situation in Poland had improved and the two families Bobrowski and Kunikowski were allowed to leave Poland after a year of negotiations with the Polish authorities and with the support of the German Foreign Ministry in February 1983, the office slowly became superfluous and closed in the summer of 1983.

literature

Newspaper articles:

  • Bremer Nachrichten (1982): domicile in Villa Rutenberg ? In: Bremer Nachrichten of January 16, 1982
  • Bremer Nachrichten (1982): Koschnick wanted to appease. In: Bremer Nachrichten of January 21, 1982
  • Bremer Nachrichten (1982): Writer Grass: Bremen no longer grieves. In: Bremer Nachrichten of May 3, 1982
  • Bremer Nachrichten (1982): Günter Grass: Reconciled with Bremen. In: Bremer Nachrichten of May 3, 1982
  • Der Tagesspiegel (1982): Reports about underground fighters in Poland denied. In: Der Tagesspiegel from July 27, 1982
  • Die Welt (2002): Underground Army in Poland? In: Die Welt of July 24, 1982
  • Dietrich, S. (1982): Seven Danziger in Bremen. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of July 31, 1982
  • Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (1982): Germany office of "Solidarity" in Bremen. In: FAZ from April 20, 1982
  • District newspaper Syke (1982): Dispute over Danzig Poland. DGB rejects criticism. In: District newspaper Syke from January 16, 1982
  • District newspaper Syke (1982): "Solidarnosc" inaugurates its coordination center. In: District newspaper Syke from April 20, 1982
  • Löwer, H.-J. (1982): "Better to die upright than fall on your knees". In: Stern 53/1981
  • Weser Kurier (1982): End of isolation not in sight. The Greens provided an office to the Polish delegation. In: Weser Kurier from January 6, 1982
  • Weser Kurier (1982): Dispute over the accommodation of the Poles. In: Weser Kurier from January 15, 1982
  • Weser Kurier (1982): Polish guests feel abandoned in Bremen. In: Weser Kurier of January 17, 1982
  • Weser Kurier (1982E): " Keep the Poles free". Parties in parliament agree on support for the Solidarnosc delegation. In: Weser Kurier v. January 21, 1982
  • Weser Kurier (1982): Koschnick cleared up Poland about misunderstandings . In: Weser Kurier of January 21, 1982
  • Weser Kurier (1982): "Solidarity" now with its own office. In: Weser Kurier from April 20, 1982
  • Weser Kurier (1982H): Criticism from Warsaw on the solidarity office. In: Weser Kurier of April 21, 1982
  • Weser Kurier (1982K): Criticism of the university institute and Bremen “Solidarnosc” office. In: Weser Kurier of July 14, 1982

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Idesbald Goddeeris: Ministerstwo Spraw Zagranicznych "Solidarności". Biuro Koordynacyjne NSZZ “Solidarność”, 1982–1989. P. 323