Poland: The Ideals of Solidarity Remain

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As in most Polish families, Eugeniusz's wife Grazyna, 30, also works. The 7,500 zlotys ($87 at the official rate) she earns each month as a supervisor in a warehouse, together with the 9,500 zlotys ($110) he brings home from his job as a foreman at the textile plant, barely enable them to make ends meet. Because of the price increases that followed the imposition of martial law, Grazyna says, "it is very hard to get from the first of the month to the first of the next one. We have not bought any clothes at all this year, and to live we must dip into our savings."

Eugeniusz and Grazyna live with their son Mariusz, 10, in a one-room apartment in a 50-year-old building. They must share the bathroom, which is down the hall, with other tenants on their floor. Yet they consider themselves fortunate. Says Grazyna: "In the '70s, when we got married, it was still possible to buy furniture and appliances. I really admire any young couple starting off now. They have nothing, and no hope of any improvement."

Grazyna usually leaves work at 3:30 p.m. She spends the next three hours standing in lines for everything from meat to fresh bread and sweets for her son. The family is entitled to about 16 lbs. of meat a month, and much of that is low-quality cuts or sausage. During the week, dinner consists of soup or eggs. Says Grazyna: "We save the real meat for the weekend."

Although the government continually proclaims that the country has produced 30 million tons more coal under martial law than during the period that Solidarity existed, Eugeniusz's family has yet to receive any for this winter. With temperatures already dropping below freezing, the only warmth in the high-ceilinged apartment comes from a small electric heater. Neither Eugeniusz nor Grazyna have much hope that the situation will improve. "Things might be better when our son is our age," says Grazyna, "but I do not see how."