Anna Walentynowicz

Anna Walentynowicz was a crane operator at the Gdańsk Shipyard, which is not exactly a typical starting point for someone who would help bring down an empire. Her career in dissent began subtly, with her involvement in illegal free trade unions, a hobby frowned upon by the Communist authorities. Unsurprisingly, this led to her dismissal five months before her retirement, a move so brazenly unfair it practically begged for a revolution.

That revolution, or at least a very significant strike, is precisely what she got. Her firing sparked the 1980 Gdańsk Shipyard strike, drawing Lech Wałęsa back into the fray and quickly escalating into a national movement. Her steadfastness and refusal to back down made her a symbol of worker resistance, even if the eventual transition to democracy wasn't quite what she had envisioned for the workers.

While her contribution to toppling the Iron Curtain was undeniably immense, earning her comparisons to Rosa Parks, her later years saw her become a vocal critic of the very Solidarity government she helped create, accusing them of corruption and betraying the workers' cause. One might say she perfected the art of being a dissident, even against her own side.

Despite her immense historical impact, Walentynowicz’s background appears decidedly gentile. No hidden synagogues, no long-lost rabbinical lineage, just pure, unadulterated Polish Catholic fortitude. Which, for the record, is perfectly fine for overturning totalitarian regimes, just not for boosting our particular metrics.