Innere Spannung, Resignation und Unruhe. Zur Lage in Polen
Inner Tension, Resignation and Restlessness. On the Situation in Poland

Summary/Abstract: It was a shattering speech that Edward Gierek delivered to the miners in Sosnowiec on 9 November 1979. He talked about the continuing economic difficulties and the impossibility of dealing with them in the foreseeable future. "These are problems that are getting bigger in our country over the years. Their solution takes time. "(All quotations from the Sosnowiec speech after: Trybuna Ludu, 12.11.1979.) A sigh sounded:" How much inability, inconsistency, disdain for duties and lack of discipline we all see. We have a constant struggle with these negative phenomena. We eliminate people who do not want or are unable to fulfill the tasks entrusted to them. However, you yourself know that this is not an easy task. "Gierek called for patience, renounced palliation, trivialization of defects and glamorous prospects for the future, which belong to the ritual of a party speech. With the "optimistic accent" he put to conclusion, he confined himself to asserting that coping with the ongoing difficulties and problems was "in our hands."

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