Vatican City, Jun 27, 2006 / 22:00 pm
Pope Benedict XVI recalled today the 50th anniversary of the revolt of the Polish city of Poznan, inspiration for the “Solidarity” movement, which was decisive in the fall of the Iron Curtain.
“The blood spilled by the workers, the women, and children of Poznan was not spilled in vain, it was the seed of liberty by which fruit would come the fall of the Stalinist system and the sovereignty of a nation years later,” the Holy Father wrote in his message, which he sent today to the Bishop of Poznan, Archbishop Stansislaw Gadecki.
The Polish President, Lech Kaczynski, on his part, recalled the significance of the workers revolt as the first against a communist dictator in what is today Eastern Europe.
On June 28, 1956, 100,000 workers of Poznan went to the streets for the first time, demanding “bread and liberty.” The violent reaction from the army and police, ordered by Moscow, resulted in 58 deaths and hundreds of injuries, in addition to 700 arrests.
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