Over 30 former political dissidents in Poland, including Lech Wałęsa, have written a letter to President Trump expressing their “horror and disgust” at his treatment of Volodymyr Zelensky last week at the White House. In it, they note President Ronald Reagan’s support of Solidarity and his role in bringing about the collapse of the Soviet Union.
I was in Warsaw in December, 1981, when martial law was declared – on orders, everyone believed, sent from Moscow – and most of the signers of that letter were rounded up and interned. That Christmas, Reagan asked Americans to put candles in their windows in solidarity with Poland, a gesture that touched Poles deeply. Schools had been closed, to prevent people from congregating, but we still had our annual Christmas party at the English Language College where I taught. “President Reagan says he supports the Polish people and the Polish nation,” one of the teachers said to me, “but not the present government. Isn’t that beautiful?”
I had not voted for Reagan, and yet I had never felt so proud to be an American.
