Report from the first day of the conference

Home | Report from the first day of the conference

12.10.2009

The conference opened on Monday morning. Danuta Kobzdej, Chairperson of the Solidarity Centre Foundation, welcomed the guests among which were i.a. Bertel Haarder (Danish Minister of Education), Katarzyna Hall (Polish Minister of Education), Ole Løvig Simonsen (Chairman of the partner organization the Baltic Initiative and Network), Natalia Gorbanievska, Bogdan Borusewicz, Lech Wałęsa, Wolfgang Templin.

Her speech was followed by the greetings of the Misters of Education of Denmark and Poland. Several times had Bertel Haarder stressed the importance of preserving the memory of the Cold War period in Denamrk. Due to the fact that his country has never been directly experienced by the totalitarian system, the historical events of that period should not be forgotten. Both Minster Haarder and Minister Hall have emphasised the role of education which should respond to the today's challenges. With regard to that, recent history should be presented in an interesting and possibly most complex way. Minister Hall stated that year 2010 will be taken under the special patronage of the Ministry of Education and it will be called the Year of the Recent History. Ole Løvig Simonsen contributed to that with a precious remark that it is youth that education programmes are directed to. Therefore, the educational efforts aimed to young people should be attractive for that particular group. He reminded that especially those who do not have any recollection of the Cold War times ought to be well aware of the places as hard labour camps, prisons and bunkers that remain as the visible sign of the fight with communism. In order to be successful, he proposes a close cooperation of the Baltic states and gathering our efforts around the effective educational campaign that will join not only the authorities but also non governmental organisations.

The following part of the conference concerned the historical background of the Cold War period. This part was led by professor Eisler who was accompanied by historians from Denmark, Germany and Poland - Thomas Wegener Friis, Marion Brandt and Marcin Zaremba. They discussed about the phenomenon of the Cold War in Central and Eastern Europe drawing the attention to the factors in favour and against consolidating and weakening the communist system. The historians sought also for the answer of the “Solidarity's” role in the transition process on the roads to democracy of the other states from the Baltic region.

The meeting with the eyewitnesses of the history was hosted by Dariusz Bugalski and started immediately after the lunch break. The participants from the legendary opposition movements from the Eastern block conveyed in panel discussion their experience of the fight with the totalitarian system in FRG, USRR and communist Poland.

A great round of applause was given to Natalia Gorbanievska for a personal comment on her stay in a mental institution she was imprisoned in for her dissident activities. After the debate the eyewitnesses of the history were inquired by the young participants of the conference who asked them about the motives that had inspired and given them strength to pursue the fight against the regime which seemed too difficult to defeat. Since the conference took place few days after awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to Barack Obama, the former Nobel Peace Prize winner, Lech Wałęsa, was asked for a comment. He highlighted the particular character of decision of the Swedish Royal Academy that had granted Obama for his promises, plans and visions of reality, not for concrete and decided actions to rid the world of nuclear weapon. He pointed a particular trend the Academy has been consequently following since several years. Even the dinner break would not discourage young people from asking questions, so they kept inquiring the conference's guests individually. The dinner ended the first part of the conference.

The afternoon programme was organised by the Solidarity Centre Foundation and started with a gathering of all young participants on Gradowa Gora next to the bus station in Gdańsk. Despite heavy rain and torrential wind youth turned out to be determined to explore Main and Old Town solving the puzzles and looking for traces of history on the Gdańsk's buildings and among its inhabitants.

The final of the game took place under the historic gate of the Gdansk Shipyard. During their wandering around the town, young people were given T-shirts, each one with one letter on it. The letters put together gave a password that was figured out promptly. Once the participants stood in the line in a proper order, everyone could read the sentence. It said: Make use of freedom-share it!

The evening could not have finished but on the shipyard itself. Empty and dark shipyard's hall was turned into a cafeteria. All participants were invited to dinner. The place and music were a perfect occasion to integrate young people. The empty dance floor was soon crowded with youth. Neither the country of origin nor age limited the party. The meeting could have surely lasted longer, but the next day of conference was coming.

Report from the second day of the conference

See the gallery