Polish Residents Used to Grim News from Warsaw

For many, the weekend news of the imposition of martial law in Poland suggested an increased possibility of bloody, perhaps apocalyptic strife. For the men at 747 Cambridge St.--the home of the Polish American Citizens Association--the word from Warsaw, though painful, was not shocking.

Most of the members of the club, which serves as a barroom during the week and a social hall on weekends, left Poland and members of their families soon after the Communist takeover 30 years ago. For the past year, they have come to expect dismal reports of threatening oppression against the rising Solidarity union and worsening economic times for the Polish people.

They say the most recent word is no graver than before, though equally as tense. So, yesterday, as on any other day, a handful of members of the Cambridge club sipped their afternoon beers watched. "The Streets of San Francisco and talked proudly and fearfully of their native land's troubles.

"There's always going to be Poland. They're going to survive," Leon Ramosiewicz said, arguing that the heightened tensions between the government and the people would dissipate. "I hope they're going to settle among themselves--I know them well."

Talk

"Nobody here likes it, and we talk about it everyday," one man said, adding, hopefully, "I think [the Polish people] will all stick together."

Despite the clear absence of panic over the recent crackdown, members nevertheless viewed the future gloomily. "All of my family is over there and things are going to happen," a Somerville man who immigrated in 1963 said, adding, "I fear the soldiers are somewhere down the line going to shoot people."

But the Somerville man, like many, spoke--and hoped--guardedly.

Though he fears that anything might shatter Poland's fragile state, severing him permanently from his family and homeland, he wishes to vacation in Poland again soon. But one friend warned, between beers and commercials. "If you go back, [the government] will scoop you up."