KOR: ETHICS OF A MOVEMENT

...The members of this team had been trained in a variety of professions...

...This principle, which could be called the principle of genuine autonomy of action, influenced the formation of the ethos of KOR and was also directly connected with one of KOR's most important strategic ideas: that the long-range goal of KOR was to stimulate new centers of autonomous activity in a variety of areas and among a variety of social groups independent of KOR...

...Renunciation of the use of force was a steadfast ideological principle of KOR...

...KOR IMPOSED no work discipline as such...

...We print here a few passages from an especially interesting chapter, "The Ethos of the Workers' Defense Committee [KOR]," with the kind permission of the University of California Press — Ens...

...There was no question of ordering someone by command of the organization to do something he did not want to do...

...It was obvious that under these circumstances KOR could never have become a political party, but its conscious antitotalitarian attitude, together with its program in defense of moral and humanitarian values, created a broad base of understanding and an opportunity to gain public support...

...or that Peter denied Christ three times out of fear...

...These problems and approaches were formulated with particular clarity by Jacek Kuron, who gained full approval for his position...

...or that Saul, the oppressor of Christians, was rightly forgiven when he came to join them...

...It was easier to subject oneself to the often bothersome rigors of silence about the specifics of KOR work in apartments suspected of being bugged (and, basically, all the apartments of known KOR associates were suspected), or of writing on a piece of paper that would be destroyed immediately, or discussing delicate matters during walks, far from possible listeners...

...One must add that KOR was against giving false testimony, both on ethical grounds and because of the harsh criminal sanctions that could then be invoked...

...From a small social-help group, KOR soon developed into a significant network of people extending far beyond intellectual groups...

...Lipski's book offers rich detail on how KOR worked, and on its problems and limitations...

...THIS HAS BEEN AN ATTEMPT to describe the general principles of action accepted within KOR, together with its moral atmosphere, which meant that we were not worse than we actually were and, what is more, we had the ambition and the good intention of becoming better...

...What had to be fought especially hard was the conceited idea that there was nothing to fear because an intelligent dissident would always be able to lead a stupid "cop" around by the nose...

...There was agreement that in a movement such as KOR, an atmosphere in which everyone suspected everyone else would ultimately be more dangerous than the possibility of overlooking a few agents...

...Above all, it meant that KOR's primary interest was in real people who needed help: money, advice, legal or medical aid, a job, or sometimes simply moral support...

...But by whom...

...Why should you...

...Some of its leaders became important participants and advisers in Solidarity...

...it devoted itself to helping victims of persecution, documenting violations of democratic rights, and enabling a freer public life in Poland...

...The evaluation of one's own guilt is often accompanied by the conviction, ex post facto but honest and justified, that the whole truth could be discovered only by revealing all the motives in all their ramifications, and that any other truth would be unfair to the person who is doing the accounting...

...This was a complicated tangle of good intentions and self-deception, of knowledge and ignorance, of moral and intellectual madness and of a certain self-control over this madness...

...If the milieu was indeed fundamentally conditioned by Christian ethics, then there was probably some shared memory of the joy of finding one's lost sheep...

...and this varied...

...The charges by the official press and television that KOR was telling lies would remain without effect for only so long as the readers of KOR statements and communiques could not themselves detect any lies or misrepresentations on the part of KOR...

...After only a few weeks, not to mention several years, such behavior would become automatic, but it was always annoying and, worse, it reaffirmed the sense that one was living under abnormal, crazy conditions...

...Obviously, people often added that forgiveness can be offered only under certain conditions...

...One important ethical principle adopted by KOR was that KOR did not lie...

...The rule of overtness could not be extended to the addresses of print shops and storage places, or to the files of those receiving help...

...This detail was singled out in the official media for repetition ad nauseam, while the invasion as a whole yielded two concussions, one heart attack, and several severe beatings...

...In some dissident circles—in the Confederation of Independent Poland, for example—KOR members were sneered at as "social workers...

...What did this mean...

...KOR's doctrine was to trust everyone within the bounds of common sense...

...Since not all activities are equally attractive, there were occasions when volunteers had to be sought while there were too many volunteers for other kinds of work, or when it became necessary to appeal to a sense of responsibility...

...As an example we might cite one issue of the Information Bulletin that could be described as a social monograph on Ra20 dom...

...And this is why everything that was accomplished was done by people who were motivated by their own initiative and enthusiasm, and this produced the best results...

...Translated from the Polish by OLGA AMSTERDAMSKA...

...When two comrades-in-arms are being beaten, it is difficult to say that for one it is a penance, the payment of a debt, and at the same time a credit or merit to the other...

...Lipski, a distinguished historian and literary critic, was a leading figure in KOR, the committee of Polish intellectuals formed in 1976 to help Polish workers dismissed from their jobs because they had protested against the policies of the Communist dictatorship...

...this was a consequence of its initial assumptions, although they need not have been reflected in reality...

...This refusal to testify was one of the differences between KOR and many earlier movements (I am referring to the post-Stalinist period...

...Among the members and associates of KOR were some who held well-defined political opinions, others who were not particularly interested in politics and whose entire political program could be reduced to the desire for sovereignty and democracy for Poland, with no attempt to specify the means of achieving these goals...

...Then why does the Catholic church, wise in these matters, believe that this is an issue to be taken up between the individual and God, although with the mediation of God's representative...

...ALSO IMPORTANT for the atmosphere in the committee was its attitude toward the possibility that KOR might be infiltrated by the Security Service...

...This, however, makes understanding more difficult, since the plaintiffs are themselves among those who were treated unfairly, often pitilessly...

...This opinion was connected with the belief that if KOR had responded with hatred to beatings, arrests, provocations, and slanders, then it would have been doomed to failure, since hatred is selfdestructive...

...they were not only activists but also had a sociological outlook...

...If one came with references from some trustworthy people, so much the better, but references were not required...

...There was a principle that if what they wanted to do was not contrary to the principles of KOR, they should be allowed to pursue their own ideas...

...Not only did KOR agree to their independence but it also wanted them to be independent...

...First: to whom should this guilt be confessed...

...As a rule, when people came to the committee to offer their help, they were able to work within the committee and the movement on those things that they particularly enjoyed doing, even when these were seemingly minor matters...

...To everyone...

...The author believes that it was a good thing that KOR did not try to resolve these issues in a general fashion or to pass judgment...

...Discretion was the hardest thing to achieve, both because of the natural tendency against it shared by many, especially among the young (but not only among the young) associates, and also because KOR associates were supposed to spread the word about KOR and its activities to others, so that it was often difficult to draw a line between promoting the work of KOR and indiscretion...

...These principles of discretion, developed in the Home Army, were taught above all by Josef Rybicki, who explained that it was not a matter of mistrust or even of rationally applied caution but of something more: one had to instill in oneself and in one's closest associates a feeling of responsibility for everything and everybody...

...Moreover, those KOR activists who did hold political opinions represented a variety of orientations and viewpoints...

...Above all, KOR meant social and not political activity...

...The Workers' Defense Committee represented not only a specific idea of social action but also a certain style of action, which was refined gradually over the course of several years...

...KOR activists were aware that the committee's work in this area was sometimes better and sometimes worse, but even among KOR members the reputation of the committee was determined by its performance in this area...

...It was necessary to find the time and the means to provide such help, even if this interfered with other activities...

...It is only when an individual attitude toward a specific person is combined with a broader sociological perspective that one can achieve a fully mature style of social work...

...Generally, the evil in question has been done to society, so that each of its members should have a part in the process of forgiveness...

...Thus an agent who was uncovered risked nothing more than social ostracism...

...Thanks to this, what we accomplished as a group, despite all the faults and imperfections in our deeds, was better than most of us individually...

...before that, highly refined tortures had been used, so that the situations cannot be compared, although the history of KOR also notes cases in which beatings were used to extort testimony...

...A spy was safe in a dark alley where a trap could have been awaiting him...

...But whoever starts giving evidence will always say a few words too many, and very often does not know which information is 4nportant or new to the person conducting the interrogation...

...Only once, as Jacek Kuron's apartment was being invaded by a goon squad of karate experts and other thugs from the Academy of Physical Education and the Union of Polish Students, one of those present was unable to restrain himself and returned a blow...

...At the same time, the work involved broader social interests that went beyond a readiness to offer help to individuals...

...This meant that the interrogated person had refused to answer questions...

...AT LEAST THEORETICALLY, KOR adopted a general principle that not only mistakes but even evil done to another person should be forgiven...

...It seems, however, that the very fact of 22 cooperation with KOR regulated this issue at least in part...

...Often the new people came with their own notions of what should be done...

...Obviously, some members of KOR (such as Jacek Kurofi, Adam Michnik, and Antoni Macierewicz) were political activists above all, both in their temperament and interests...

...The technique of not participating in any conversation at all during interrogations was not always easy to accept psychologically, especially for a novice, so that associates were constantly being drilled in its use...

...Penance was not difficult to find in KOR, although it is likely that neither those involved nor their colleagues would be willing to accept this term and this presentation of the problem...

...Thus entirely independent institutions were formed—a publishing house, the Student Solidarity committees, and others—which were not in conflict with one another...

...a provocateur knew that his blow would not be returned...

...From the practice described above came the formula used in the KOR Communiques: "Attempted interrogation...

...The general opinion was that the principle of nonviolence was not just a tactical rule, not just an expression of concern for the safety of KOR itself or an attempt to prevent further retaliation, but the deliberate reflection of a conscious attitude...

...Usually this approach was successful, and it became something more than a rule in an unwritten code: loyalty toward the committee and toward one's colleagues was a matter of honor and good form...

...The Radom team not only rendered actual help to specific individuals but also observed their lives, tried to understand them, and to draw conclusions about the living conditions and needs of the people in the city of Radom...

...Conversely, resistance to such demands is also easy to understand: contrite repentance (if not before God) is generally not viewed with favor, and a moral compulsion to repent is difficult to accept, especially since the evil done to society by the Stalinists often seemed to be the result of a certain kind of madness, an illness that did not exclude good intentions...

...The principles of discretion mentioned above also involved the directive: "Don't wag your tongue," do not tell stories about actual KOR work, even among people you trust...

...The condition of compensation for one's past is clear, but a person engaged in a struggle with evil is meeting this condition...

...The most complicated problem was that of an honest admission of guilt...

...Thus a certain degree of selection was necessary for those granted access to this kind of work...

...Perhaps on no other issue did KOR exhibit so deeply the influence of Christian ethics...

...or that only those who are themselves without sin have the right to cast the first stone...

...The reality was rather that the dissident was not always so intelligent, and the interrogator was usually not an idiot...

...although there did occur several clashes that were in some sense unavoidable and reflected problems pervasive in the society (and known to all societies that have endured a true totalitarianism, that is, one in which an ideology is truly alive...

...As a result it became necessary for them to distinguish their activities in KOR from their own political writings, for which they alone were responsible...

...Earlier, people inexperienced and untrained had given evidence under interrogation, bringing harm to themselves and others, even when they did not break down and 21 were able to maintain a dignified posture, which involved above all the principle of not implicating one's colleagues...

...But basically KOR had a different recruitment policy...

...Anyone could present himself as ready to work...

...Within KOR, such a designation by one's colleagues was regarded as an honor...

...KOR's dominant role was in the area of social work...

...The conscious recognition of someone's honest decision to reform is a matter of trust...

...This principle also had a pragmatic basis and justification, to a greater extent even than the principle of renouncing violence and hatred: in a struggle with authorities that had especially compromised themselves when it came to telling the truth, it was better to renounce falsehood completely and gain confidence in this manner than to lay oneself open to the possibility that every departure from the truth could be blown up by the mass media...

...Accordingly, it was more difficult to gain access to some kinds of work than to others...

...Then again, public admissions of guilt are frequently demanded, and these demands are easy to understand...

...Apart from those instances of house searches and arrests in which the hand of an agent could clearly be discerned, any consideration of possible links between a KOR associate and the Security Service was inadmissible...