Plans for Reorganizing Solidarity

Prior to the historic roundtable talks that took place between February and April 1989 in Poland, preparations took place on many levels. In this letter dated January 20, 1989, a couple of weeks before the beginning of the roundtable talks, Andrzej Stelmachowski, a Solidarity activist, provided suggestions to Solidarity leader Lech Walesa on how to prepare for the upcoming discussions. In October 1982, Communist Party officials had formally dissolved Solidarity, and for more than six years, the union had functioned underground illegally, leading to disorganization and disunity. With the legalization of Solidarity on the agenda for the roundtable talks, Stelmachowski stressed the importance of developing new statutes for the union and creating a united Solidarity that would incorporate representatives from old and new factions.