Mikhail Gorbachev in Szczecin – July 13, 1988

The visit of the Soviet leader to Szczecin coincided with a particularly turbulent time. Following another price hike on February 1, 1988, strikes broke out constantly across the country—including in Szczecin. This was the twilight period of the Polish People’s Republic, when the system of real socialism on the Vistula was already crumbling to its foundations, and the changes championed by Gorbachev in the USSR served as a kind of “wind from the east,” inspiring the search for new solutions on the Vistula as well. However, the backdrop of the visit was also the border conflict between the Polish People’s Republic and the GDR in the Pomeranian Bay, which had been ongoing for several years. Meanwhile, the authorities in Warsaw attached special importance to Gorbachev’s presence specifically in Szczecin—the goal was to confirm the Polish identity of the city, whose final state affiliation had been the subject of various conjectures, fears, and doubts many years after the end of World War II.

Preparations for the visit of the leader of the Soviet Union to Poland had been underway since January 1988. At that time, it was decided that one of its most important points would be a “meeting with the working class in Szczecin.” The central-level officials responsible for preparing the Szczecin leg of Gorbachev’s visit to Poland were: Władysław Gwiazda (Minister of Foreign Economic Relations), Marek Hołdakowski (Head of the Socio-Economic Policy Department of the PZPR Central Committee and First Secretary of the PZPR Voivodeship Committee in Gdańsk), Zdzisław Kurowski (Deputy Minister of Foreign Economic Relations), and Zbigniew Szałajda (Chairman of the Committee for Science and Technical Progress at the Council of Ministers).

In May and June 1988, public transport workers in Szczecin went on strike once again that year. To calm public sentiment ahead of Gorbachev’s planned visit following the June strike, the authorities decided to fulfill the main demands of the strikers: to reinstate the dismissed leaders of the initial protest and to provide security guarantees for the strike participants. A former Security Service (SB) officer recounted to journalist Adam Zadworny years later: “Gorbachev’s visit was one of the largest operations of the Security Service in Szczecin. A massive event, several meetings, thousands of people. We were most afraid of the shipyard. We put everyone on high alert.”

In connection with Gorbachev’s planned visit, the local Security Service (SB) took actions aimed at “neutralizing” opposition initiatives that could disrupt it. At the beginning of July 1988, information was obtained regarding the activities of Stanisław Wądołowski—chairman of the Temporary Factory Commission of NSZZ “Solidarność” at the Szczecin Shipyard—who intended to prepare and distribute leaflets calling on shipyard workers and residents of Szczecin to boycott meetings with Gorbachev. According to information gathered by the SB, Wądołowski also intended to inform Radio Free Europe that, for the duration of Gorbachev’s visit to Szczecin, shipyard workers associated with “Solidarność” would be forcibly placed on leave (the shipyard was one of the main points of the Soviet leader’s planned visit). On the eve of Gorbachev’s arrival, a “preventive” talk was conducted at the Voivodeship Office of Internal Affairs (WUSW) building in Szczecin with Marian Jurczyk, who was accused of planning to disrupt the visit. Jurczyk denied the allegations and assured them that he viewed the leader of the Soviet Union positively and intended to follow the course of his stay in Szczecin at home in front of the television. According to information obtained by the SB, after his visit to the WUSW, he contacted Wądołowski, advising him to suspend the distribution of the aforementioned leaflets.

At the same time, the authorities sought to provide the visit with a grand propaganda setting. The program of Gorbachev’s stay was heavily publicized by state media. Two days before his arrival, a transmitter was even installed enabling Szczecin residents to receive the first program of Moscow Television. It is difficult to assess to what extent the residents of Szczecin were actually interested in this, but the gesture itself had symbolic significance. The authorities wanted to show that the visit was not just an ordinary diplomatic episode, but an event of special rank. Gorbachev, accompanied throughout the journey by his wife Raisa, landed in Goleniów at 11:30 AM. Waiting for him on the tarmac were Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski with his wife Barbara, along with a group of representatives of local state and party authorities, including the First Secretary of the PZPR Voivodeship Committee in Szczecin Stanisław Miśkiewicz, the Chairman of the Voivodeship National Council in Szczecin Stefan Rogalski, the Voivode of Szczecin Stanisław Malec, and the commander of the Pomeranian Military District, Gen. Zbigniew Blechman. The Poles were also accompanied by the Soviet Consul General in Szczecin, Yury Vasilyevich Ivanov.

After the official welcome, the guests and hosts set off in a motorcade of limousines for Szczecin (with a short stop for a conversation with residents on a street in Goleniów). The first point of Gorbachev’s visit to Szczecin was the Adolf Warski Szczecin Shipyard. On site, the guest was welcomed by the shipyard director Stanisław Ozimek, along with the First Secretary of the PZPR Factory Committee, Zenon Pyda. The shipyard workers gathered for the welcome held banners prepared in two languages (Polish and Russian). “Polish renewal, Soviet perestroika – a common path of socialist development,” “We are in solidarity with our Soviet friends in their great work of perestroika”—read some of the slogans on the banners.

Gorbachev tried to build the image of a leader close to the people and willingly talked with them. A workers’ delegation consisting of Romuald Czaplicki, Mieczysław Cichoń, and Leszek Grzybowski was designated for this purpose at the shipyard. Gorbachev invited them to visit Moscow (according to Ryszard Rotkiewicz, the then-president of Szczecin, the trip actually took place in September 1988). After a brief tour of part of the facility, a rally was held in the hall of the K-2 Department. Many observers noted the fact that, after a brief moment of thought, Gorbachev put aside the paper with the speech prepared for reading and spoke spontaneously, although it could just as well have been a previously planned and directed maneuver. The Soviet leader said, among other things: “The program of my visit to Poland has brought me to you, to Szczecin, to your Shipyard, to this meeting, which I am sincerely glad to attend. […] I would like to sincerely thank you, dear comrades, from this podium for what you are doing for the Soviet Union, what your crew has been doing for our country for many years. I want to assure you that what you manufacture has a very high reputation in the Soviet Union […]”.

Gorbachev also referred to the slogan of perestroika (reconstruction), which brought him popularity and permanently entered the pages of history. “Now,” he spoke, “as we are engaged in reconstruction, we see much that is useful in your experience. We desire—and we know that the Polish leadership also desires this—that at such sharp turns of history, greater competence, better skills in organizing actions, and the avoidance of serious errors, especially political ones, are demonstrated.” At the end of the rally, an exchange of gifts took place. Gorbachev was presented with a model of the passenger ferry “Georg Ost,” built at the Szczecin Shipyard for the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow. Six years later, during the US-Soviet summit in Reykjavik, the Soviet delegation led by Gorbachev was accommodated on this ferry. Presenting the gift, welder Franciszek Olczak stated: “This is a testimony to the craftsmanship of our engineers and workers. This ship is a symbol of our creative Polish-Soviet cooperation.” In turn, the shipyard workers received a painting from Gorbachev depicting a panorama of Red Square in Moscow.

After finishing their visit to the shipyard, the delegation with Gorbachev headed to the center of Szczecin – to Grunwaldzki Square. There, the guests were welcomed by Karol Ossowski, Chairman of the Szczecin City National Council, accompanied by Edward Wołowski, First Secretary of the Polish United Workers’ Party (PZPR) Factory Committee at the Cable Factory in Załom. Ossowski’s official welcoming words ended with an invitation for “a short walk.” The gathered crowd then moved towards Lotników Square along the Fountain Avenue (Aleja Fontann), where, according to official press reporters’ estimates, around 4,000–5,000 people had gathered. Although attempts were made to set the tone of the meeting and create an impression of spontaneity, the composition of the attendees, later listed by the press, rather indicated strict choreography. Among those present were employees of the “Załom” Cable Factory, the “Warski”, “Gryfia”, and “Parnica” shipyards, as well as the “Dana” and “Odra” clothing plants. Gorbachev shook hands with the gathered crowd, talked with some of them, and signed copies of his book titled *Perestroika and New Thinking*. Szczecin journalist Adam Zadworny managed to reach an account from a former police officer who was present in the crowd “in plainclothes” at the time. He claimed that apart from him, many other Citizens’ Militia (MO) and Security Service (SB) officers were present at the meeting with Gorbachev, and all of them were supposed to present themselves as shipyard workers. After about a half-hour walk, Gorbachev got into a limousine at Lotników Square and drove off to the next official point of his visit, scheduled at the Pomeranian Dukes’ Castle.

Upon arrival, he was greeted by Professor Piotr Zaremba, the first post-war mayor of Szczecin; Ryszard Rotkiewicz, who held the function at the time; and Adam Wójcik, the First Secretary of the City Committee of the PZPR. The program of the meeting at the Castle included a tour of an exhibition of archival materials documenting Szczecin’s ties to Poland, with Zaremba acting as the guide. Gorbachev was presented with a replica of the Pomeranian dukes’ seal as a gift. An official lunch took place on-site, and Gorbachev and his wife also had a short time to rest in a specially prepared room.

The next point of the visit was Jasne Błonia and the laying of flowers at the Monument to the Deed of Poles. A crowd of about 3,500 people gathered at the site. It is hard not to make a comparison here to another visit from over a year earlier—that of John Paul II, when several hundred thousand people gathered on Jasne Błonia. Speaking at the monument, Gorbachev wished those gathered “new successes on this primordial Polish land” and declared allegiance to “the brotherhood in arms and [Polish-Soviet] friendship forged in struggle.”

Next, the delegation with Gorbachev headed to the Central Cemetery—to the war graves sector where the ashes of over 3,000 Soviet soldiers and several hundred Polish soldiers rest. On-site, Gorbachev met with veterans: Col. Hubert Terlecki, Warrant Officer Władysław Kossowski, Staff Sgt. Czesław Szczuka, Platoon Sgt. Maria Wrzesień, Cpl. Tadeusz Pruszyński (former Red Army soldiers), as well as Col. Zbigniew Biernat, Maj. Tadeusz Żurawski, and Maj. Bolesław Dańko (former soldiers of the Polish People’s Army). At the end of the visit to the Cemetery, Gorbachev signed an entry in the commemorative book stating: “To the courageous companions-in-arms who fell in the fight against Hitlerite fascism for your freedom and ours.”

From the cemetery, Gorbachev went to the State Horticultural Farm Complex in Gumieńce. On-site, the guest was welcomed by Director Piotr Ostrowski, First Secretary of the Factory Committee of the PZPR Bogdan Nowosad, and the Secretary of the Commune Committee of the PZPR in Kołbaskowo, Jerzy Słowik. Gorbachev was given a tour of the greenhouses and an exhibition of flowers and vegetables produced by the enterprise. Symptomatic were the words spoken by Gorbachev as he was leaving, through the open car window: “Looking at you, it’s hard to think there are any problems.”

On the return route to the Goleniów airport, Gorbachev’s limousine stopped for yet another visit—this time to the private farm of Franciszek Bakan in the village of Modrzewie. Although according to the plan the Soviet leader was supposed to spend only 30 minutes there, the visit extended to a full hour. Gorbachev was interested in everything, inquiring about how to run an individual farm with evident sympathy. This had a significant meaning, given that only a few years earlier individual farming in the language of communist propaganda was considered the hotbed of the “class enemy.”

Overall, Gorbachev’s visit to Szczecin was extended by three hours compared to the original schedule. Despite the authorities’ hopes (in the context of the Pomeranian Bay conflict with the GDR), no official declaration regarding the permanence of Poland’s western border was made by the guest during the visit. Nevertheless, the mere presence of the top leader of the bloc specifically in Szczecin held symbolic significance. While awaiting a political breakthrough, the visit also constituted one of the last major political spectacles of the Polish People’s Republic that the residents of Szczecin could witness.

More:

Paweł Knap, „Wśród nas i z nami”. Michaił Gorbaczow w Szczecinie (13 lipca 1988 r.) [w:] Zarejestrujcie nam „Solidarność”! Strajk sierpniowy 1988 r. w Szczecinie, red. Artur Kubaj, Maciej Maciejowski, Szczecin: Instytut Pamięci Narodowej, Oddział w Szczecinie 2009.

Ryszard Rotkiewicz, Szczecińskie wydarzenia polityczne 1988 r. [w:] Kronika Miasta Szczecina 1988, red. Kazimierz Kozłowski, Szczecin: Wydawnictwo Glob 1990.

Adam Zadworny, Jeszcze raz zobaczyć Miszkę [w:] Z archiwum Sz. Śladem szczecińskich historii niezwykłych XX wieku, red. Piotr Szyliński, Poznań: Dom Wydawniczy Rebis 2005.

Michał Siedziako