Word: brzezinski
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...Brzezinski, back in his native country after a 19 year absence, the single most striking sentiment evident among the Poles was a strong hate and contempt for everything Russian. In Warsaw, for example, people would not enter the new Palace of Justice simply because it was Stalin-built. And when a person on the street was asked the direction of a certain street or square, renamed by the Communists, he would invariably desist from answering. Or he might say that if so and so street was meant (the original name), it was right over there...
...despite this hatred which the people so outwardly express, and the new found autonomy which they love, their leaders maintain the realistic stand that given Poland's geographical position, they cannot break with Russia. They feel, Brzezinski says, that a complete break would lead to one of two possibilities. One, the Russians would fight to regain complete power, as they did in Hungary, with the West offering no aid. Or two, if the break were successful, and Poland became a member of the Western block, it would then have no support against the danger of Germany swallowing it up again...
...Brzezinski was in Poland from the beginning of June to mid-July on a Social Science Research Council grant to study the pattern of Polish politics, particularly Gomulka's rise to power. He has already written one article, to be published soon, and will incorporate his findings into a larger study he is pursuing on Soviet-Satellite relations...
...rule is certainly still authoritarian, but rests firmly on the popular support which Gomulka commands. "Gomulka gained his standing by becoming a symbol of national rejection of Soviet domination," Brzezinski said...
Another symbol of this nationalistic hate for the Russians is the church, Brzezinski stated. He related a story currently popular among the Poles. "During the consecration service in a church, the entire congregation save one is religiously kneeling. Others around him ask why he too is not kneeling. 'I am an atheist,' the man replies. 'Why are you here, then?' they ask. 'I am a Pole and I hate the Russians," he replies...