ACT 447 AND ITS REAL CONSEQUENCES
Witold Gadowski
Alliances have their real costs. When Poland was in a situation of compulsory dependence on the Soviet Union, we all had to bear the prevalence of the Soviets, financing their economy and indoctrination enforced to the youth’s minds. After the times of the ‘round table’ about which we know that it was simply a clever mystification of the theatre of authority, an average Pole hoped that now the absurd of the ideology would end and there would come an idyll of capitalism and freedom of speech. What happened later, cost nervousness and a feeling of much harm by Poles. The previous occupiers of Poland changed into leaders of free market and democracy. Till today their ghostly faces have been scaring on TVN and in ‘Gazeta Wyborcza’. After a short time there appeared a time of getting dependent on Germany and political projects of Berlin.
When, finally patriots made a mechanism which won election significantly in 2015, we felt a relief again. We expected that there would appear people in the government who are not embarrassed by Poland and who would not apologize for the fact of being Poles. Our alliances underwent reconfiguration and because of our dependence on Berlin and the European Union domineered by Germany, we began to move our political existence towards Washington and the United States. Even skeptical commentators towards the policy of the USA emphasized that the alliance with the powerful country situated by over 7 thousand km away and having its interests in completely different spheres of the world than Central Europe will surely be less troublesome than constant teasing from nearby Berlin.
In the beginning a lot of matters were going in the way we wished: the change of the language of the official propaganda, accents on excellent moment of our history, actions aimed at giving citizens an equal access to narrow streams of capital, and, finally the program ‘Family 500+’, as well as an announcement about punitive and political responsibility imposed on guilty people, that for many years Polish economy has been suffering for defects typical for the so-called countries of the Third World. All this gave optimism and hope.
Unfortunately, the governments of ‘good change’ were losing energy and zeal for reforms. At one moment many of us had a feeling that over our social life an invisible powerful hand appeared. Certainly, a few publicists – such as Stanisław Michalkiewicz – were making a lot of effort to explain the mechanism of growing infirmity, but they were not listened to, and in groups of the new authority their voices had been in vain from the very beginning. A lot of incidents humiliating Poland had to happen so that the national public opinion would understand that something in this idyllic picture is getting wrong, that those few publicists – warning us against consequences of phenomena spreading all over the world and concerning our country – were right.
A shocking pronouncement in Auschwitz given by the ambassador of Israel in Poland – Mrs. Azari was only a brutal awakening from unconscious sleep. Soon it turned out that in the world there is a growing campaign not respecting Polish sensitivity, nor the historic truth, a campaign which ascribes Poland and Poles participation in the crimes of the Second World War committed by German murderers. The action was thoroughly coordinated and attributed to many and influential voices. The crowning of the organized campaign against Poland and its history was the final scene in the popular spy serial ‘Homeland’ when the president of the USA, suddenly resigning from her post, gives a speech on TV. The speech concerns necessity of defending democracy from forces being a severe danger for it. Among countries which are mentioned in the film as examples of satrapy being a danger to the democratic world are: Iran, Turkey and….Hungary and Poland.
The campaign is going on and mourning of the Polish Diaspora in the world and rachitic actions of our diplomacy are in vain. Every sensible man knows, however, how expensive such campaigns are and require careful arrangement. So, they cannot be the expression of only emotional attitudes or a need of reacting to alleged stressful situations. So, it must entail a much higher interest than the costs of the campaign. And it is so indeed.
Solving this task was brought by determination with which the act called JUST 447 was enacted in the United States. Indeed, its initiators (lobbyists from influential groups of the American Jewish diaspora) express their concern in it about the possession of heirs of the Holocaust victims, but it entails a much more serious intention. Our politicians such as Jarosław Gowin and Jacek Czaputowicz, are assuring that the act 447 does not put Poland in danger as this is an American provision and in Poland Polish law is binding, but they do not add that till today – for 30 years – we have not had a reprivatisation act and probably it is not accidental. However, apart from this strange disability of other Polish governments and parliaments, one must admit that such a pragmatic country as the USA, does not create any legal acts which do not have a realistic usage.
So, how can JUST 447 touch today’s Poland and Poles? Well, for example, like the American embargo on the Iran oil is increasing petrol prices at Polish petrol stations drastically. Unfortunately, the danger reaches much further, as American tax authorities are holding the control on Polish budget. Here is the explanation: Poland has capital of 112 milliard dollars collected as the so-called currency reserve. 40 milliard of this amount is located in American treasury papers and is a loan which Poland – for over 20 years – has been lending other administrations populating the White House. This amount of money can requisitioned to Poland when the American parliament decides that Poland is a country and nation which was an accomplice of the Nazis during the massacre committed at the time of the Second World War.
Other 40 milliard of this amount of money is located in banks on which the United States can make a significant pressure. Only 11 milliard of our reserve are located in gold and kept in one of private banks in Great Britain. This amount of money may also be taken away from us. So, can we see now why was the act JUST 447 enacted?
This is not a platonic expression of solidarity with descendants of Holocaust victims. This is an action of business character, estimated for an easy getting tens of milliards of dollars which are not protected effectively. I have not mentioned about possibilities of backstage pressures on the Polish authorities which can be made by the United States. This is the whole palette of actions about which we have no idea.
Why am I writing about it? I want to make my Dear Readers aware of the fact that they cannot stay calm when looking at the development of the situation and be passive supporters hoping that everything will be all right. Today we must support Polish diaspora, make pressures on our politicians and MPs so that they would prepare a mechanism of defence of the Polish interest and Polish money as soon as possible. Otherwise the whole achievement of our nation, its ingenuity and fortitude will be wasted. We will return to the group of countries which are poor and deprived of their perspective of development.
The Act 447 is not an abstract illusion of suspicious people. This is a fact which will bring serious consequences. We must get defended from it.
Translated by Aneta Amrozik
Niedziela 21/2018 (27 V 2018)