This museum was the best of the tour. It was all late 20th century history that I remembered. The museum was so incredibly well done, from the architecture to the individual displays.
If I revisit Poland in the future, Gdansk will be at the top of my list and this museum will be a must.
I remember Lech Walesa. The young man driven to create an independent trade union for the Lenin Shipyard. But the museum showed so many other facets and people that the movement brought together to accomplish something the world could only stand stood and watch. Walesa was the face I put to the movement, probably everyone did. But the story is so much richer than one man, and with so much more of an impact than one trade union.
It has been several months since my visit and I can still remember many displays. That is a testament to the museum curators that brought the story to life. They couldn’t have told a more powerful story in a more powerful way!
We had a wonderful guide the afternoon after spending the morning in the museum. I asked so many questions. The shipyards are mostly silent now, as the main customer, Russia, shops elsewhere. In the 1980 before the strike, the shipyards employed 20,000 people, today it is only about 2,200 work there. But the unemployment rate in Poland is low as many have left Poland under the EU to seek employment elsewhere. I told her my daughter, Julianna had a Polish contractor redo her bathroom in London. She laughed, and agreed that many tradesmen have found work outside Poland.
The inside of the building
reminds you of a ship
The museum was rich with details.
The ceilings were covered with shipyard workers hats…
Gate 2
The 21 demands – posted above Gate 2.
Gate 2 was symbolic to the movement.
It was there that the 1970 workers were killed or wounded. And it was here that the first impromptu memorial to those workers was initiated.
RIGHT: The workers lockers, now the home of monitors depicting the unions struggle.
LEFT: The time clock and time cards.
The original Round Table is on display in Warsaw, this is a representation of the table where the talks took place.