History of Solidarity History of Solidarity The history of Solidarity (, pronounced ), a Polish non-governmental trade union, began on August 14, 1980, at the Lenin Shipyards (now Gdańsk Shipyards) at its founding by Lech Wałęsa and others. In the early 1980s, it became the first independent labor union in a Soviet-bloc country. Solidarity gave rise to a broad, non-violent, anti-communist social movement that, at its height, claimed some 9.4 million members. It is considered to have contributed greatly to the fall of communism. Poland's communist government attempted to destroy the union by instituting martial law in 1981, followed by several years of
Mass of the Children Mass of the Children Mass of the Children is a major work of English composer John Rutter. It is a non-liturgical Missa brevis, with the traditional Latin and Greek Mass text interwoven with several English poems. "Mass of the Children" consists of five movements: The Finale uses additional text from the Agnus Dei which was not used in the preceding movement, as well as two prayer adaptations by Rutter and a poem by Bishop Thomas Ken ("An Evening Hymn"). Another of Ken's poems was incorporated into the Kyrie ("A Morning Hymn"), and a poem by William Blake ("The Lamb", from