Silence

Today was a national day of mourning in Poland. This was declared after the death of Tadeusz Mazowiecki  (the 28^th of October), the first “non-Communist” prime minister in Central and Eastern Europe.

What is more, two days ago we had All Saints Day, therefore it just so happens that the mourning ‘celebrations’ came at a time when one (supposedly) should reflect upon whatever he/she deems as necessary to reflect upon.

During yesterday’s Legia’s home game against Zagłębie Lubin (2:0), the speaker announced that before the match starts, there will be a symbolic minute of silence for players, fans, and other figures related to Legia who have died in the past year (not to exclude this silence solely for the late prime minister). The silence was respected before the match, however I am very sure that it is because of the fans, players, et consortes, who had passed away in the past year, and not because of Mazowiecki. If the silence were to be just for him, then the supporters would not be so humble.

I bring this issue up, due to the fact that during today’s ‘friendly’ (in terms of fans, not the actual game, since it was a league one) match between Lechia Gdańsk and Śląsk Wrocław there was an ‘incident’. Before the match began, there was a minute of silence in commemoration of Mazowiecki and Gerard Cieślik (spent his entire career in Ruch Chorzów (1939-1959), playing in 237 matches, and scoring 168 goals (3^rd place in this general classification). Scored 2 goals against the Soviet Union on the 20^th of October, 1957. He is also the only person to be in the Klub Wybitnego Reprezentanta (Club of Eminent Representatives), even though he only played 45 matches for the Polish national team (a minimum of 60 is required). He died the night before.). During this silence, fans of both teams chanted “Precz z Komuną!” (“Down with Communism!”) and “A na drzewach zamiast liści, będą wisieć komuniści!” („Communists, not leaves, will hang from trees!”).

Of course, the TV commentators felt appalled that such a situation occurred. Not to mention other journalists for whom Mazowiecki was one of the most cherished ‘moral authorities’ in Poland. They somehow could not grasp and understand WHY fans with strong anti-Communist roots were displeased with this mourning-celebration. Gdańsk is the birthplace of “Solidarność”, and Lechia fans were engaged in fighting Communism in the 1970’s and 1980’s – both on and off the terraces. Nobody seems to care that Mazowiecki spoke (well, wrote about, in a book he co-authored, “Wróg pozostał ten sam” (1952)) very wrongly about the Żołnierze Wyklęci (Cursed Soldiers), that  he criticized those who emigrated to London and tried to help Poland in any way they could during those horrid times, or that he threatened people (Catholics) who did not accept the agreement which the Communist government  forced upon the Catholic Church in Poland, etc. Surely, everyone makes mistakes, but at least have the decency to apologize for your wrongs, especially if you are a ‘moral authority’. I will not dissect Mazowiecki’s words and actions during the 1980’s and 1990’s, since (firstly) this is not a historical blog, and (secondly) I for one do not have the time to elaborate on all of his doings. Right or wrong. Allow for me not to be the judge in this case.

In my opinion, what the fans did was nothing wrong. Just because there is a minute of silence for someone, that does not mean that it has to be respected. “But he was the first non-Communist PM…” you say? Well, first of all, he was first a prime minister of a PRL (People’s Republic of Poland) government. Secondly, just because somebody was ‘the first’ in a ‘democratic’ country, means diddly-squat. General Wojciech Jaruzelski was the first president of the III RP (Republic of Poland), does this mean that there will be a minute of silence in his commemoration on all the stadiums as well? If so, then the TV commentators, journalists, and all other ‘moral authorities’ (and their ‘oh-so-innocent’ supporters) better be prepared for a minute of hate, not silence.

On a side note, I thought that all of the ‘moral authoritative figures’, TV commentators, and the like, wished for football stadiums to be rid of politics? Unless, once again, as with those ‘tolerance-spewers’ (“there is no tolerance for the enemies of tolerance”), we are dealing with a “no-politics-unless-they-are-the-proper-politics” type of agenda? Whatever the weather, I will definitely not lose any sleep over the death of Mazowiecki, but that goes for the majority of the ‘brave’, ‘intelligent’, and ‘cunning’ fucks which partook any role in the infamous Round Table Agreement. Fate rest their souls.