It took me a while to understand this quip from the movie "Clue," but this story about Lech Walesa being accused of aiding Poland's Communist rulers illustrates the point. Most Poles, or at least ones younger than American Baby Boomers, have now completely moved on from obsessing over the crimes committed in Communist Poland, and in fact view this effort to out former collaborators as a witch hunt. While it does indeed seem as if Walesa was involved in assisting Communist authorities to a certain degree -- his quote in the story asking whether historians' efforts to tarnish his image "serves Poland" does seem suspect -- he was still undeniably the figurehead for the Solidarity movement that ended the repressive Jaruzelski regime.
As a History major I do agree that historically important individuals' lives must be shown completely, warts and all. Certainly, there is no tasteful way for Walesa to own up to this charge -- referring to the act of putting fellow citizens' lives at risk as a "youthful indiscretion" probably wouldn't work. But at the end of the day, it's the big picture that counts, and Poland would not be where it is today without the work of Lech Walesa.
Walesa is not the only prominent critic of Communism to have been accused of having collaborating with Communist authorities early in their careers. The Czech author Milan Kundera has also recently come under suspicion for having revealed the identity of a Western spy in his youth. The evidence here appears to be even flimsier, and a phalanx of renowned writers have come to his defense.
These countries will continue to struggle with their Communist pasts for at least another generation, but most of the populace will be content to simply note that the incident occurred and move on with their lives. In the cases of Walesa and Kundera, one could even ponder whether living with the guilt of their alleged actions led to their later roles as resistance fighters and reformers.
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