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Tadeusz Mazowiecki (born 1927), Polish author, journalist and politician. In the second half of 1970s joined the group of opposition of communist government. In August 1980, he took control over the Board of Experts, which aimed at supporting the workers from Gdańsk who were negotiating with the authorities ", from 1981 he was the editor-in-chief of Tygodnik Solidarność (Solidarity) weekly magazine ". 1981-1982, after martial law came into force he was arrested and imprisoned. He became the first non-communist prime minister in Central and Eastern Europe after World War II
Lech Wałęsa • (born 1943), Polish politician, trade union and human rights activist, leader of democratic opposition in Poland in the1980s. In August 1980 Wałęsa became the leader of the occupational strike in the Lenin Shipyard of Gdańsk, • The Communist government signed an agreement with the Strike Coordination Committee to allow legal organization, but not actual free trade unions. The Strike Coordination Committee legalized itself into National Coordination Committee of Solidarność Free Trade Union, and Wałęsa was chosen as a chairman of this Committee (1980-1981). • In 1983 Wałęsa was awarded The Nobel Peace Prize. • He served as the President of Poland from 1990 to 1995.
Karol Modzelewski • (born 1937), Polish historian, any-communist opposition activist. 1980-1981he was one of Solidarity press contacts people, and a member or Solidarity region in Silesia region. • Interned during the martial law. • During the 1980 strikes he came up with the name of 'Solidarity’- ‘Solidarność’
Jacek Kuroń • (1934-2004), Polish politician and journalist. • 1964-1967 and 1968-1971 imprisoned for being engaged in social movements making attempts to introduce more rights for the workers. • 1976 co-founder of Workers Defense Committee. • 1980-1981 he became an advisor for the Founding Committee of the Solidarność- Solidarity) • 1980 and1981-1984 arrested and imprisoned. • 1989- active participant of Polish Round Table Talks which led to political transformation and introduction of democracy to Poland • In 1989-1990 and 1992-1993 Kuroń was a Minister of Labor and Social Policy
AndrzejGwiazda • (born 1935), Polish engineer and prominent trade union leader. • Active opposition leader from 1976. • 1978 one of the founders of Free Trade Unions, member of the Presiding Committee of the Strike at Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk in August 1980, Vice president of the Founding Committee of Solidarność, then Vice President of Solidarność in 1980 and 1981; in December 1981 interned and next imprisoned.
Anna Walentynowicz • (born 1919), Polish trade union activist, worker of the Gdańsk Shipyard. • Her firing in August 1980 was the event that led to the strike in the Gdansk Shipyard that paralyzed the Baltic coast and led to the giant wave of strikes in Poland and eventually the creation of Solidarity, of which she became a prominent member.
Ryszard Siwiec • (1909-1968) a Polish accountant and teacher. • He was the first person to commit a suicide by self-immolation in protest against the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia. He set himself ablaze in Warsaw during a national harvest festival on September 8, 1968 at the Dziesięciolecia Stadium
Witold Pilecki • ( 1901-1948) Polish cavalry-platoon commander • During the Second World War the founder of Secret Polish Army, he became the only known person to volunteer to be imprisoned at Auschwitz concentration camp. While there, he organized the resistance movement in the camp. • Executed by the communist secret police. • After Poland regained its independence, he was rehabilitated and in 2006 he received the Order of the White Eagle the highest Polish decoration.
Martin Luther King • (1929-1968), American clergyman, activist and prominent leader in the African-American civil rights movement. • 1955- 1956 he started his public activity leading boycott of public buses in Montgomery aimed at ending racial segregation. • Soon became the leader of the African-American civil rights movement. King's efforts led to the 1963 March on Washington, where King delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. There, he raised public consciousness of the civil rights movement and established himself as one of the greatest orators in U.S. history. • In 1964, King became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end racial segregation and racial discrimination through civil disobedience and other non-violent means.
Hu Jie Chinese independent documentary film maker, not widely known, the author of an amazing film about miners working in the Qinhai mountains at the height of 300 meters, about the first victim of Cultural Revolution. The author of another film “Looking for Lin Zhao’s Soul”
