Apart from buildings, structures, and other shipyard relics, the greatest heritage of the post-shipyard area concerns the stories of people: shipyard workers who did things that seemed impossible. Anna Walentynowicz is one of these iconic figures inherent to the Solidarność movement.
From 1950, Anna Walentynowicz worked in the Gdańsk Shipyard as a welder and later as an overhead crane operator among others in hall 42A, located on our site on Narzędziowców street.
She was a social activist, opposition activist, and one of the co-founders of Free Trade Unions in 1978. Her disciplinary dismissal on August 7th 1980, sparked employee protests that led to a strike on August 14th. The Inter-Enterprise Strike Committee formed during the strike formulated 21 postulates and paved the way for the creation of NSZZ Solidarność. Anna Walentynowicz was arrested many times for opposition activities and interned during martial law. She died on April 10th 2010 in the Smolensk catastrophe.
On the occasion of the Anna Walentynowicz year announced by the Sejm of the Republic of Poland and her 90th birthday falling this year, we decided to honor the legendary overhead crane operator by opening hall 42A to the public and enable access to the overhead crane she operated.
The building contains an exhibition about the life of Anna Walentynowicz, prepared by the Gdańsk branch of the Institute of National Remembrance, as well as numerous publications and photos.
You can visit the exhibition daily from August 20th to 31st between 12:00 and 19:00.
Employees of the Maritime Historical Foundation will be available to gladly answer your questions.
Enjoy the exhibition!