Word: popieluszko
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...high-level West German diplomat since martial law was declared in December 1981. But only hours before takeoff last week, a testy Genscher canceled his visit. One major reason: a Polish government suggestion that it would be inappropriate for Genscher to visit the grave of Father Jerzy Popieluszko, the Solidarity supporter who was murdered last month. In addition, the Warsaw regime vetoed Genscher's request to lay a wreath at the grave of a German soldier killed in World War II and refused to grant a visa for the visit to the correspondent of Bonn's conservative daily...
Thousands of Poles waited in long lines last week to file past the wreath-banked grave of Father Jerzy Popieluszko, 37, the outspoken Solidarity supporter who was murdered by the secret police. Church officials who viewed the martyred priest's body reported that he had been savagely beaten. A rope had been tied around his neck, wrists and ankles so that he would strangle himself if he struggled to get free. Three fingers of Popieluszko's left hand were sliced through to the bone, and there were deep gouges on his arms. His lungs contained enough water...
...Popieluszko murder is only one in a series of unexplained acts of violence during the past three years. According to the New York City-based U.S. Helsinki Watch Committee, about 55 Poles, many of them former Solidarity activists or supporters, have died under mysterious circumstances since martial law was imposed. In the city of Wroclaw last week, a group of workers and intellectuals announced the creation of a committee to monitor human rights abuses. Members said they had taken the unusual step because "the police forces have slipped out of social control and even out of the control...
...Popieluszko's abductors may have arrogantly assumed that the fragmented opposition would be too weak to forcefully respond to his death. Instead, the tragedy had provided the nation with a new symbol of courage. In their shock and grief, many Poles recalled some of the last words spoken by their martyred priest. "A Christian's duty is to stand by the truth, even if truth carries with it a high price," Popieluszko had told parishioners from the city of Bydgoszcz who had gathered to recite the rosary. "Please God, let us retain our dignity throughout each...
...shyly introduced himself as Father Jerzy and asked if he could be of help. I had been wandering around the ground floor of the rectory of St. Stanislaw Kostka in Warsaw attempting to interview recipients of Western aid distributed by the Catholic Church. Jerzy Popieluszko, painfully frail and thin, introduced me to his parishioners, calming their fears about talking to a Western journalist. It was only a few months after the imposition of martial law, and the national spirit that had soared during the heyday of Solidarity had been crushed by Polish soldiers and police...