Bradley County Genealogy Society Hears Speaker From Poland

Members and guest of the Bradley County Genealogy Society listened to a fascinating presentation Sunday afternoon, January 25th, from Waclaw Sikora, a native of Poland who now lives in the United States and works as an electrical consultant.  Mr. Sikora is a native of Poland and was educated there as an electrical technician.  He served as President of the Solidarity Union in the early 1980's in the Cracow region of Poland and was a personnel friend and colleague of Lech Walesa, the head of the Solidarity Union and later President of Poland after the fall of communism.

Mr. Sikora talked about his own personal history, how he became involved with the Solidarity movement and how he eventually migrated to America with his family and became an American and began a new career.  He spoke of the time he and others spent in prison and the assistance provided by the Catholic Church.  He talked about the role played by Pope John-Paul, II in helping to overthrow communism in Poland and the events that occurred in the Soviet Union that lead to the many changes that have taken place over the last 30 years in eastern Europe.  Mr. Sikora gave a lot of credit to President Ronald Reagan for the positive events that took place in Poland and other countries under communist control.

He stated that one of the primary reasons that the Soviet Union lost control was the collapse of their economy.He further stated that while he was in prison, the Union and the Church took care of his family.

Mr. Sikora was invited to speak to the meeting by Stuart Rowell who has worked with him.