Abstract
In 2023, Lech Walesa spoke at BSU. More than anything else that night, I remember the ovation. The cheering lasted so long that at one point Walesa slowly checked his watch, as if to ask How long will this go on? Walesa is probably one of the few human beings who merits such adulation. His stubborn defiance in organizing non-communist trade unions eventually forced his government to concede and recognize them in the Gdansk agreement of 1980. A Nobel Peace Prize followed in 1983, and he was elected Polish president in free elections in 1990.
Recommended Citation
Rubinson, Paul
(2025).
The Helsinki Accords Turned Fifty. How Should We Celebrate It?.
Bridgewater Review, 43(2), 1.
Available at: https://vc.bridgew.edu/br_rev/vol43/iss2/18
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