To have or to be? To go with the flow or against the grain? Magda Potorska in conversation with Barbara Nowakowska-Drozdek

In your view, is the belief in politics today rational or irrational?

Well, that depends on whether you regard yourself as being a rationalist or an idealist...
 

We all have one thing in common: at an unconscious level, we all want to be witness to important historical events. Could it be that this is the reason why we are tempted to give too much credence to baseless facts?

The only mass movement with which I fully identified was the Solidarność movement. I was even one of the founders of Solidarność at the university in Łódź. Anyone who experienced the events in Poland in 1980 and 1981 will still remember this extraordinary mood, which was based on a rational euphoria. Time has revealed that the events in which I myself participated during that time in Poland, and later with my husband in West Berlin, have taken on a historical importance. For the first time in our lives, we had the feeling of being at the centre of a vital process of change. But we never felt like ‘veterans’.
 

The profession of politician is one of the greatest myths of all. What kind of people decide to pursue a career in politics? Does it come down to the ability to enter into compromises with oneself in the battle for power and to sacrifice one’s former ideals?

We don’t know why politicians do what they do, although I assume that their motivations differ widely. Politics implies the fight for power. In turn, being in power changes people. Experiences lead them to adjust their ideals. An idealist can quickly turn into a realist. We were not professional politicians, but looking back, I would like to mention that even the quasi-political activities and their institutionalisation led to a split in the ‘AG Solidarność’ movement in Berlin. If you work to promote democracy, it is hard, and sometimes even impossible, to remain true to your ideals. That’s why I believe that anyone who succeeds in this ‘tightrope walk’ deserves our particular respect.
 

What do you think, is it possible to survive without politics?

From where we stand in terms of our civilisation, certainly not, since to date, politics has been a platform for disparate, often conflicting ideals and aspirations. 

Magda Potorska, March 2021