The "Solidarity of Nations" conference began in Ostrog, dedicated to Anna Walentynowicz and Polish-Ukrainian relations.

"For us in Poland, Anna Walentynowicz is a symbol of +Solidarity+. Mrs. Anna was also a Ukrainian who played an important historical role in Poland. It is about her, as our Polish heroine, that we are discussing here, during the conference in Ostrog, Ukraine," she explained to PAP Magdalena Lenart-Zalewska from the "W Caring for the Homeland" Association. Anna Walentynowicz, who organized the meeting.

The first day of the conference, which began with an ecumenical prayer, was devoted to Anna Walentynowicz. Then the panelists appeared, including: Anna Walentynowicz's son, Janusz - he talked about his mother's memories and the dramatic circumstances of death in the Smolensk crash.

The speakers also included: Jan Karandziej, an oppositionist during the communist era and an activist of the Free Trade Unions of the Coast, who was a collaborator and friend of Anna Walentynowicz, the historian and diplomat Krzysztof Jabłonka and the journalist Andrzej Gelberg.

Anna Walentynowicz: A Symbol of Solidarity in Poland and Ukraine

The Ukrainian side was represented by, among others, Dmytro Shevchuk, philosopher and vice-rector of the "Ostrog Academy", deputy of the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) of Ukraine Mykola Kniazhytsky and Serhiy Hembereh, deputy head of the Rivne Military Administration.

In the afternoon, the "Legend of Solidarity" exhibition dedicated to the life and opposition activities of Anna Walentynowicz was opened in Ostrog.

Magdalena Lenart-Zalewska informed PAP that the plans of the "W Caring for the Homeland" Association include the creation of a Polish-Ukrainian Center in Rivne. Anna Walentynowicz. Its task will be to support the construction of civil society in Ukraine and to share the experiences of Polish transformation.

"Ms. Ania came from here, from the Rivne region"

she emphasized.

Remembering the Legacy of Anna Walentynowicz at the Ostrog Conference

Walentynowicz was born on August 15, 1929 in Rivne; died on April 10, 2010 in the Smolensk crash. She was one of the key and symbolic figures of "Solidarity" emerging at the turn of the 1970s and 1980s. It was because of her that the famous strike broke out in the Gdańsk Shipyard.

Anna Walentynowicz became involved in the activities of the Free Trade Unions of the Coast in 1978. On August 7, 1980, she was illegally dismissed from the Gdańsk Shipyard, which contributed to the start of a strike in the shipyard on August 14, 1980, which led to the establishment of the Independent Self-Governing Trade Union “Solidarity”.

Walentynowicz became a member of the Inter-Enterprise Strike Committee and the Presidium of the Inter-Enterprise Founding Committee of NSZZ. Interned during martial law, then arrested several times. In 1981, she was under surveillance by over 100 officers and secret collaborators of the Security Service.

The conference in Ostrog was organized by the “In care of the homeland” Association. Anna Walentynowicz as part of a public task financed by the Chancellery of the Prime Minister as part of a public task regarding assistance to the Polish diaspora and Poles abroad 2023.