Can you tell the story without overwhelming us with pictures?  There are so many pictures that they actually take away from the narrative.

Sorry I cant. I specialise in photo stories here and in every forum I take part. <tt><tt>I must say that your request is a bit surprising. You are probably one of few who prefer text to pictures. Unfortunately, the majority prefers the opposite. Dont you know the saying: a picture is worth a thousand words?There were more victims of the martial law. Altogether - about 100. Grzegorz Przemyk, a 19 yo high school student, beaten up to death at the police station in 1983.http://homepage.mac.com/zbigniew/past_present/1983_stan_wojenny/a2_zmarl_Grzegorz_Przemyk.jpgFuneralhttp://homepage.mac.com/zbigniew/past_present/1983_stan_wojenny/a_grzegorz_przemyk_pogrzeb.jpghttp://homepage.mac.com/zbigniew/past_present/1983_stan_wojenny/a_grzegorz_przemyk_grob.jpgPrzemyks grave<tt>http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Grzegorz_Przemyk_Grob.JPG<tt><tt>One more death which shocked Poles. Solidarity priest Jerzy Popiełuszko was assassinated by the communist secret police. The murder was so blatant that the regime was forced to react. The murderers were arrested and received due punishment.<tt><tt><i>On October 19, 1984, a frail, young priest was savagely beaten and drowned by government security agents in the woods of rural Poland. The brutal death of this holy priest, carried out in the dark of night, captured the attention of the world, and his martyrdom is increasingly seen as a sacrifice leading not only to the resurrection of his own country as a free and independent nation of Christian people, but a bloody sacrifice redeeming all enslaved European peoples from the Baltic to the Urals.</i><tt><tt><tt><tt><tt><img class="bbcode_img" src="http://www.popieluszko.net.pl/xJerzy/images/cialo2.jpg" alt="cialo2.jpg" /><tt><tt><tt><tt>Funeral<tt><tt><tt><img class="bbcode_img" src="http://homepage.mac.com/zbigniew/past_present/1984_stan_wojenny/1apogrzeb_popieluszko_nov_84.jpg" alt="1apogrzeb_popieluszko_nov_84.jpg" /><tt><tt>Clandestine Christmas szopka display in a car.<tt><img class="bbcode_img" src="http://homepage.mac.com/zbigniew/past_present/1985_stan_wojenny/popieluszko_kalinaa.jpg" alt="popieluszko_kalinaa.jpg" /><tt><tt>The nations answer: But they can`t kill the soul.Bogdan Włosik, shot during a demonstration in 1983.MonumentA film in tribute to victims of martial law with a list of victims..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlkyefZWbo0&feature=relatedThis man was lucky. Though he was deliberately run over by the police truck during a protest demonstration, he survived. Today he is a middle aged manThis man was beaten by the police in 1982.

On 13 December 1981 General Jaruzelski, backed by the communist police, secret police, the army and party leaders and members, introduced the martial law in order to suppress Solidarity and crush the nations aspirations for more soveignty and independence in the communist block.<tt><tt>The martial law had been prepared for months. The date of 13 December wasnt chosen by pure accident. Firstly, the regime was ready to strike. Secondly, on 15 December, a lot of drafted soldiers were to go home after a 2 year service in the army. The leave of experienced soldiers would substantially diminish the armys capacity to introduce the martial law. Thirdly, desperate Solidarity planned mass demonstrations and strikes on 17 December. Solidarity leaders had been getting impatient with the regimes reluctance to reach a serious compromise, thats why some of them became radical hawks and openly called for showdown with the regime. The regime seemed weak in comparison with powerful Solidarity which boasted of having 10 million members, while the party had 2 million, continually abandoning the ship. Solidarity leaders and common people thought it was enough to press harder and the regime would collapse. Events soon proved how wrong they were.<tt><tt>The regime managed to keep their plans secret. There were a few leaks from befriended policemen but nobody knew anything for sure at lower levels of the forces, that is why their vague warnings were ignored. Some people reported the discreet movement of troops in the country, but that was ignored too.<tt><tt>The regime attacked on many fronts on the night of 13 December. The most important actions and regulations:<tt><tt>1. They cut off phone lines in the whole country to reduce the possibility of Solidarity members warning each other. Phones didnt wirk for about two months (?). Nobody estimated how many seriously ill people died because the ambulance service didnt get to them on time.<tt><tt>2. All radio and TV programmmes stopped. At 6 am there was a speech by General Jaruzelski, repeated for many hours, intertwined with classical music and war marches. Of course, there was the news in the evening, the speakers were wearing military uniforms without ranks.<tt><tt>3. About 3 thousand people were arrested and sent to detention centers. It was called the internment. They were dragged out of their beds by police teams, often after breaking the door. Altogether about 10 thousand people were interned during the martial law. Not only Solidarity leaders, also celebrity people who where suspected of being in opposition to the regime, e.g., artists and writers. Most of the latter ones were soon released but interning them was a very bad publicity for the regime anyway.<tt><tt>4. Heavy armoured vehicles appeared on the streets of major cities. Tanks, personnel carriers and trucks, next to them armed soldiers and militiamen. They blocked the roads, checked peoples papers, ransacked cars.5. Military commissars i.e. army officers, were appointed as directors or managers to factories, ministries, offices, organizations etc.6. All independent trade unions, both worker and peasant, were made illegal. Some organizations, e.g. The Union of Polish Journalists (it had gotten too independent before) and PenClub were dissolved. Only two government papers were allowed for publication.7. Factories had to adopt the military style of work - heavy punishments awaited those who committed the slightest offence. Going on strike and showing disobedience to martial law regulations was a major offence.8. Travels to other cities or countries were halted, all those waiting at Ok?cie Airport were turned back. To travel to another city you had to have a pass.9. Schools broke up for two months.10. The censorship was imposed on mail. Envelopes were opened and letters were looked through.The declaration of martial law:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IG4SbX26G60Broadcast of Wojciech Jaruzelski declaring martial law (December 13, 1981)Probably the most famous photo of the martial law, full of symbolic messages. The armoured vehicle is standing in front of the "Moscow" cinema. The film on is "Apocalypse Now" by Francis Coppola. The photo was taken by a foreign reporter.Those men introduced the martial law. WRON - The Military Council of National Rescue.The TV news presenters wore military uniforms.General Jaruzelski pays a visit to soldiers on a patrol.Streets looked like in a sieged city[img]http://www.ofertaforum.onyx.pl/324pm2vx/powiekszenia/11967FF.JPG[/img][img]http://www.ofertaforum.onyx.pl/324pm2vx/powiekszenia/NICH_291106_113.JPG[/img]The raid on one of Solidarity headquarters.DetentionIf you are interested in history, you will see a striking similarity to scenes from Czech and Slovakian cities in 1968 when Warsaw Pact troops, including Polish, invaded Czechoslovakia to stop the peaceful revolution there.The setting and decorations are the same, the emotions too.The question "Why are you doing this to us???" resonates both in Prague and Warsaw.Prague 1968Poland 1981Flowers in barrelsWorkers decided to barricade themselves in their mines, factories and steel plants. One by one they were taken by the regime forces. The army sent tanks to break through defences, the police beat and arrested workers.A truck barricading the entrance to a factory.Pacification tank unitBlockadeBefore the attackWorkers forged primitive weapons.The greatest tragedy happened in Wujek coal mine in the industrial region od Silesia. Workers got very determined, they decided to defend at all cost. They armed themselves with metal bars, clubs, stones and bricks, slings and metal bolts. After the tanks crushed the gate, a regular battle started. It was a hand-to-hand fight lasting for a few hours, during which miners overpowered a tank and defended themselves very gallantly. Eventually, the special police unit started shooting, 7 defenders were killed on the spot, two died in hospital, about 20 were injured. The defence was stopped. The policemen and soldiers were so brutal they initially didnt allow ambulances to take the wounded to hospitals.<tt><tt>The massacre at Wujek mine has always been seen as the symbol of workers sacrifice for freedom and the shocking brutality of the communist regime who fought against its own peoples and was ready to kill in order to defend socialism. Defend socialism against workers.Coal wagon as a barricade.Desperate brick throwerFirst woundedTear gas attack. Miners are trying to barricade the hole in the fence after it has been crushed by a tank.A miner is drinking to an overpowered tank.The tragedyToday`s monumentMemoryIn the film Śmierć jak kromka chleba you can see the strike, the battle and the massacre in Wujek mine.Diorama visualisation of miners overpowering a tank.Comic story

This is an interesting chronicle of events.  But I must ask - what do the golden aliens have to do with it?

;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;DIt is an artistic happening. Here is an article from Polish radioSpace travelers, or ET?s if you wish, in shimmering golden suits will fly from Warsaw to Brussels on June 4th on board a gold painted airplane. Their mission ? to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of communism.LOT Polish Airlines is painting a Boeing 737 plane gold specially for the mission codenamed ?Common Task.? This is the title of a project by a brilliant Polish artist Pawel Althamer, who turned his neighbors in a drab, working class Warsaw district of Brodno into extraterrestrial types.On June 4th they will descend on Brussels, wander around the city, visiting such key sights as the Atomium building, the European Parliament and the central Grand Place Square. They will also go on a picnic in the Royal gardens. The trip of the golden aliens is the idea of the National Centre of Culture, which decided to mark the anniversary of the fall of communism in on out-of-the-rut way. Katarzyna Mazurkiewicz says the motto is- it all began in Poland.Poles spoke overwhelmingly then in favor of free, democratic Poland and against the oppressive communist system in what were the first partially free parliamentary elections here after World War II, triggering an avalanche of changes in Central and Eastern Europe.Pawel Althamer says the space travelers bound for Brussels are a mixed group, not only people from his district. This project is about freedom, in the sense also that it is a grassroots initiative ? the participants themselves decide whether they want to join it or not.This will not be the first foreign tour of the space travelers? group rallied together by Pawel Althamer. Last year they visited the city of Brasilia. They also plan to go to Africa.