Politician and journalist, Tadeusz Mazowiecki was an unusual, kind man who changed the history of Poland and Europe. Not only was he the first non-communist prime minister in Central and Eastern Europe after World War II, but the Co-founder and leader of the Democracy Union, the Freedom Union party, and a Member of Parliament.
In 1989, in his first parliamentary speech in Sejm, Mazowiecki talked about a “thick line” (gruba linia): “We draw a thick line on what has happened in the past. We will answer for only what we have done to help Poland to rescue her from this crisis from now on“. Originally, as Mazowiecki explains, it meant non-liability of his government for damages done to the national economy by previous communist governments.
Since 2010 Tadeusz Mazowiecki has served as the President’s advisor for national and international policies. He was the Knight of the Order of the White Eagle.
Photo © Artur Klose