To capture the most captivating moments of the fall of communism in Poland, the Institute for Human Sciences emphasized the importance of the media in the United States and Poland at Boston University’s 808 Gallery Monday night.
“Poland on the Front Page: 1979-1989” consisted of 53 enlarged front-pages of American and Polish newspapers that showcased headlines from one of the most significant decades in the history of communism, Institute for Human Sciences Director Irena Gross said.
The crowd of about 60 people viewed the display of the blown-up articles stationed around the gallery, BU Polish Society President Lucjan Zaborowski said.
“It not only gives you visuals as seen from the American perspective,” the College of Arts and Sciences senior said, “but it gives you the perspective of the communists as well.”
Zaborowski stressed that students should be exposed to important cultural and historic time periods.
“It is about the end of communism and the beginning of capitalism in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s,” he said. “It’s this whole transition.”
Gross said the event was essential to showing the effect of the media in government in a changing society.
“It’s important because it shows the culture of a whole nation,” she said.
Although the event focused on the fall of communism, which occurred over 15 years ago, the articles still relate to today’s world in many ways, Gross’s assistant Elizabeth Amrien said.
“It’s very important simply because of what happened in Poland, in terms of the transition to democracy,” she said. “There are lessons that can be drawn from experiences in those 10 years that can be applied to other countries as they transition to democracy.”
Amrien said in addition to historical and political events, the media played a very large role in the shaping of Poland’s democratic government.
“This was focused specifically on the role of the media in that transition,” she said. “As the decade goes on, you have the same story in two different languages. You can really see the convergence of the media coverage in the United States about Poland, about the evolution of democracy.”
New York Times Associate Editor John Darnton said the event reminded him of his reporting days in Poland.
“For me, this is personally a walk back through a nostalgic time,” he said. “I was assigned to Poland in 1979, and through ’80 and ’81.”
In addition to his past, Darnton said the significance of the media-focused theme was one of the main reasons he spoke at the event.
“What attracted me to this event was the connection between freedom and the press,” he said. “If you can get a free press, even a dictator cannot survive.”
Boston College graduate students Tomasz Szatanek and Patryk Drozdzik said they attended the event because of their cultural and personal ties to Poland.
“I’m from Poland and I kind of lived through it somewhat,” Szatanek said. “So to me there’s a historical significance.”
Drozdzik, whose father was one of the coal miners in a famous strike at the Piast mine in Tychy, Poland, said the event highlighted the multitude of changes the country experienced.
“It’s something very positive, and very nice,” he said. “We’re giving thanks to the people who really did something to change and make communism fall.”
Amrien said it is important to understand other countries’ context in history.
“Many people think that the end of communism means the fall of the Berlin Wall,” she said, “but the fall of the Berlin Wall would not have happened without the free elections in Poland in June.”
Drozdzik said if students are not taught history, they’re “condemned to repeat it.”
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