ABSTRACT
T hough I knew that the famous underground leader, Zbigniew Bujak, had placed himself on the margin of Polish political life, I somehow still expected to see a metaphorical guiding star over his political stables. As we climbed the maze of stairs looking for his office on Grojecka Street in March 1992 my interpreter asked the way. 'Are you looking for that guy who was running from the cops for all those years?' was the amused and irreverent response from a passing young man. I was taken aback by the casual dismissal of Bujak's four and a half years as the unofficial leader of Solidarity's underground movement. He had after all been regarded by many as the only significant rival to Walesa for the leadership of the union. Though there was no great depth to the remark itself, it simply reflected how remote the heroic tales of underground resistance were from the reality of life in post -Balcerowicz Poland. It reminded me once again how quirky and complicated people's memories could be. With so many questions left unanswered in Poland's recent history it is almost as if people are embarrassed by the period even though it paved the way for Michnik's 'evolutionary revolution.' And with so many people dissatisfied with the outcome of that revolution it is not surprising that its heroes are not always revered as outsiders might expect them to be. Given the Polish tendency to pour scorn on authority, neither is it surprising that many have already rejected yesterday's heroes as a new 'nomenklatura'.
