BALTIMORE, Maryland March 27, 2014 - When somebody writes the story of the Polish nation's long and profoundly difficult journey from the bitter and smothering control of despotic governments to those that wear democracy and freedom as monikers, one name that must never be forgotten is Zbigniew Romaszewski. For decases he moved about at the ground level, perpetually fighting to keep alive the dream of a free Poland. For Zbigniew Romaszewski, it was always a determined and fearless fight. It was a relentless fight. And he made it to the promised land. He lived to be elected to the Senate of a free Poland. No one deserved that honor more. Now, Zbigniew Romaszewski has died. He was 74.
In that seminal year of 1982, when Solidarity was in the fight of its life and the Communists were determined to purge it from Polish society, Zbigniew Romaszewski carried transmitters and other radio equipment that were kept hidden in car trunks up long flights of stairs to rooftops, first one and then another, so that Radio Solidarity could broadcast, if only for a few minutes. The minute the broadcast ended the equipment was packed up and hidden again. A few days later, everything was repeated. With each precious broadcast the people knew Solidarity was alive and kicking. After a while the broadcasts stopped. Romaszewski and his wife, Zofia, were arrested. Zofia was freed in 1984, Zbigniew in 1985.
Zbigniew Romaszewski died on February 13, 2014. Word of that death is only now reaching the west, for whatever reason. He had been kept in an induced coma for a week prior to succumbing. There is an excellent obituary in yesterday's (3/26/2014) New York Times, written by William Yarkley. The web address for the piece is http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/27/world/zbigniew-romaszewski-physicist-who-resisted-polands-communists-dies-at-74.html?partner=rss&emc=rss. Wikipedia also has information and more at this address: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zbigniew_Romaszewski
Zbigniew Romaszewski literally grew up in the belly of the beast and learned how to fight for freedom and, really, his right just to survive, beginning in his infancy. When he was born on January 2, 1940, the Nazis had already invaded Poland. His father was a sympathizer with the Polish resistance, and because of that resistance, his father was put to death in a concentration camp in Sachsenhausen, Germany. His grandmother, mother and him were then incarcerated in another concentration camp at Ravensbrück. His grandmother died there. He and his mother survived, and she and an aunt raised him. He grew up hearing stories about resistance movements and executions. He met his wife when they were both teens studying physics at Warsaw University. He quickly learned that her parents and grandparents were also Nazi resisters. He received a degree from Warsaw University in 1964 and a doctorate from the Polish Academy of Science in 1980. During, in between and after he continued to fight for freedom in Poland. Both he and Zofia became active in the workers movements that would become Solidarity. He traveled to Moscow to meet with Andrei Sakharov in 1979. He formed a Polish branch of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights. He was the author of a widely disseminated paper openly critical of the Communist Government. One of his lesser known accomplishments was helping to put together material for a "Prints and History" Exhibition that was displayed in Cuba in 2000 until the Castro Regime figured out that it was not supportive of his government, but in fact was highly critical of it. When Castro did find out he became extremely angry, even violent.
After Poland broke free of Soviet domination, he was elected to the Polish Senate and was still in office at the time of his death. He role cannot be minimized. He was one of the people who would not let the dream of freedom die. He was relentless. When a key person's hope faded, Zbigniew Romaszewski wouldn't let them go. He pushed. He schemed. He was relentless.
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