Sir Elton John will be honoured with a Medal of Gratitude from Poland for his contribution to bringing down the Communist regime, it has emerged.

By Hannah Furness

11:23AM BST 05 Jul 2012

Sir Elton, who travelled to the country for a concert in 1984, will be presented with his award on Sunday in the seaside resort of Sopot, Poland, it has been reported.

The songwriter is due to perform in the country this weekend as part of his latest tour.

He will be presented with the medal by former president and trade union leader Lech Walesa, whom he visited in 1984.

The singer is believed to have shared a “morale-boosting” bottle of champagne in Mr Walesa’s flat, with Sir Elton opening praising his union Solidarity during a show.

Magdalena Charkin-Jaszcza, of the European Solidarity Centre (ESC) in Gdansk, told a newspaper Sir Elton gave Polish people help in a difficult time.

She said: “We award this to foreigners who helped Poland during its long struggle for freedom.

“Elton John came here and gave us the support we needed when we were living in a police state where people were getting beaten up and killed like in George Orwell’s 1984.”

Sir Elton travelled to Poland for a concert in 1984, when Communist army chief General Jaruzelski was ruling. A protest movement was led by trade union Solidarity, which was founded in 1980.

The idea of giving Sir Elton the award came from Damian Domski, 32, a Polish immigrant living in the UK.

Mr Domski, who works at Age UK and has campaiged against homophobia, told the Daily Mail: “If I meet Sir Elton on Sunday all I want to do is shake his hand and say thanks.

“He used his fame and influence at a very important moment for us in Poland. Solidarity activists were effectively being criminalized and he renewed their courage to keep going.”

By 1989, a new non-Communist government was formed in Poland, overturning a ruling regime which had been in place since the end of the Second World War.

Miss Charkin-Jaszcza said the ESC was looking for more nominees for the Medal of Gratitude.

That stupid hat would have blatantly invalidated that passport. For this reason, this vid is entirely unrealistic and I therefore hate it.

Ab Origine wrote:
Ab, would you kindly stop making serious threads humourous ffs!



But yes you are not allowed to have hats in passport pics I agree lol

That stupid hat would have blatantly invalidated that passport. For this reason, this vid is entirely unrealistic and I therefore hate it.

Ab Origine wrote:
Hat wearing was compulsory in the communist bloc, that's why fascists opted for skinheads, it's an extreme anti-hat stance.

Possibly.

Ab Origine wrote:
I know, it is a daft law, for instance, if you were on holiday and happen to be involved in an incident that required the police to interview you whilst being on the beach wearing a sun hat then it helps their investigations to prove who you are.