Andrzej Butkiewicz

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February 16th, 2008

1970's-1980's?

Andrzej Butkiewicz was an activist in the democratic opposition in Poland in the 1970s and 80s, a political prisoner, and an honorable man devoted to the idea of a free and just Poland. In 1977 as a student of economy at the University of Gdansk, Andrzej co-founded the Student Solidarity Committee (Studencki Komitet Solidarności)^[1], a student organization opposing the communist regime. His activities led to his expulsion from the university, and despite the political pressures from the secret police, Andrzej continued his activism and help found a forerunner to the independent trade union Solidarity.

He was active in distributing underground news and literature and held underground meetings and classes of the "Flying University" at his apartment in Gdansk^[2]. During this period, he was interrogated and arrested several times by the police. In March, 1980 he lost his job at the Gdansk port because of his anti-government activities.

During the famous strikes in August of 1980 Andrzej headed the printing office in the Gdynia Shipyard.^[3] The flyers and press releases from that printing office kept Gdansk and the whole nation informed about the goals of the strike and its progress. This was the birth of the independent trade union Solidarity. From the beginning, Andrzej was an active organizer and head of the union's printing office.^[4] He worked with trade unions from the West to establish free press offices throughout Poland.

On December 13, 1981 Martial Law was declared by the communist authorities in Poland and Andrzej along with other Solidarity activists was imprisoned. Poland's current president Lech Kaczynski was his cell mate in prison. When he was released from prison in 1982, he was forced to leave Poland with his wife and two young children; his third child was born in Boston. He settled in the Boston area, worked in printing, and raised his family, but never cut off his ties with Poland.

Andrzej died on Friday, March 7, 2008^[5]. On March 9, 2008 the President of Poland Lech Kaczynski posthumously awarded Andrzej Butkiewicz the Knight's Cross of Poland's Resurrection^[6] (Polonia Restituta).