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Christmas 1981 Heralded the Collapse of Communism in Poland

Clockwise L-R: T-55A on the streets during Martial law in Poland. President Ronald Reagan with Pope John Paul II. ZOMO squads with police batons preparing to disperse and beat protesters.

COMMENTARY: Forty years ago, Soviet communists tried to turn out the lights. But like a candle in the White House window, Ronald Reagan and John Paul II and the people of Poland kept a flicker of hope alive.