Reuters
Wojciech Moskwa & Dorota Bartyzel, Bloomberg: Walesa Legend Now a Spy Story as Polish History Is Rewritten
* Government sees itself as Poland's savior from corrupt elites
* Walesa denies accusations he was paid communist-era informant
In the new Poland, yesterday’s heroes are being turned into today’s villains.
It means that Lech Walesa, the country’s most famous politician and freedom fighter, is a traitor and the 1989 uprising that ushered in democracy and a market economy was little more than a conspiracy. At least, that’s the new Polish government’s narrative after documents were released this week that purport to show the former Solidarity leader was a paid agent working for the communist authorities.
“Walesa may have been a puppet -- we have to sort this out,” Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski told TVN24 on Friday. “This casts a shadow over the creation of an independent Poland and its political elites.”
The government in Warsaw has spent its less than four months in power on a collision course with adversaries in the European Union, the nation’s banks and even credit rating companies. As it tries to remold Poland’s relationship with the world, it’s also setting out to rewrite the history of its fight with communism.
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WNU editor: I expected this revision of history to be done only after Lech Walesa has passed away .... I guess some people cannot wait. As to the question .... is he a traitor .... absolutely not. His role in bringing down the Communist regime in Poland is what he should (and will be) remembered for .... not some allegation that he was in cahoots with the people that were eventually kicked-out.