Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Moscow wanted Wojtyla dead

The Holy See’s newspaper, “L’Osservatore Romano” has published a long report on the 30th anniversary of the coup d’état in Poland during the night of December 12 13, 1981.

In this detailed reconstruction of historical events, it is also stated that in August 1980, “when Solidarnosc (Solidarity) started publicly rising to power, a commission was created in Moscow; its members included Suslov, Andropov, Gromyko and Ustinov who was entrusted the task of keeping an eye on the situation in Poland.”

In spring 1981, the KGB launched the Cold War’s second biggest intelligence operation, “a nuclear missile attack that deliberately coincided with the failed attempt on the Pope’s life on 13 May.”

Observations were also made with regard to the progress of Poland’s military action to stop the processes of change and reform: “The great speed, the immediate success of the coup d’état in Poland and the little news that came from the Country, all contributed to increasing the Western public’s concern.”

“Public concern – L’Osservatore Romano” explained – grew even further as a result of the presence of twenty five whole divisions of the Red Army on the Polish border and by the perplexing silence of the USSR. A silence which only seemingly contrasted with the incredibly harsh political opinions expressed in the final months by the Soviet press.”

“One need only recall – the article continued – that in the autumn of 1981, the first congress held by Solidarnosc was imprudently defined as an anti-Socialist orgy. And that the very the morning of 12 December, the Soviet news agency Tass, had accused Solidarnosc of planning a coup d’état. However, in a worrying communiqué, Tass warned: “patriotic forces in Polish society are making increasingly stronger demands for the enemies of Socialism to be driven back because of their criminal activities.”

The Holy See’s newspaper went on to say that it was “in this surreal climate, where the rhetoric of State ideology habitually masked and justified the most brutal decisions taken by Communist regimes, that the military action led by General Jaruzelski took place.”

The article then stated that “Rhetorical formulas aside, the events which took place in Poland in 1981, were destined to become a watershed in Twentieth Century history. A crossroads which was to have decisive consequences for the fate of the division between East and West and the unstoppable decline of Soviet power. At that moment, however, the greatest worry for those who were well acquainted with this phase of polish history, was the risk of a bloodbath.”

Reference was therefore made to active role played by the Polish Pope: “indeed, during the Angelus on 13 December, John Paul II gave a synopsis of the emotions and personal anguish he felt as he reflected on those tragic moments and stated that after the dreadful catastrophe of the Second World War, no more Polish blood should be spilt.”
 
Before the Polish pilgrims who had gathered in St. Peter’s Square that Advent Sunday, the Pope stressed that people needed to “ do everything in their power to build a future for the Country, peacefully, in view also of the upcoming Jubilee of Our Lady of Czestochowa,” in defence of the Nation.”
 
The article casts readers’ minds back to “John Paul II’s triumphant pilgrimage to Poland in June 1979 showed, on the one hand that the efforts made in previous years by Cardinal Wyszynski had been very fruitful and on the other hand, that Polish society was demonstrating a great capacity for to self-organisation. As many analysts noted, that visit had a liberating effect on the mood of the Nation. It gave impetus to the creation of crucial private and public steps towards freedom, which would bring about political change.”