Following the conference in Dax, France, ISIL VP Jim Elwood and I made a side trip to Warsaw to visit with our libertarian Polish members and friends before heading back home.

    We first met with Monika Lukasiewicz, who had received a scholarship from ISIL to attend the Dax conference, and her husband Stephen Browne, who took us out for dinner to the old town (and filled us in on the local happenings). Along the way we saw the monument to the Katyn forest massacre and the statue of the child soldier. Monika was expecting at the time. (We just received an e-mail message informing us that Jerzy Washington Browne had arrived on the scene on September 26th).

     Lukasz Latomski (who attended Dax) and his friend Krzysztof Oledzki, took us on a tour of Warsaw, which ended up at the art and war museum (the latter featuring a remarkable collection of medieval armor, chain mail, crossbows, weapons, etc.) In the grounds surrounding the museum there was a sizable collection of larger, more modern Warsaw Pact armament, like Soviet MIGs, armored vehicles, artillery pieces, etc.

     In the morning Jim Elwood and I were interviewed over coffee at a sidewalk cafe by journalist Bartek Kachniarz at Najwyzszy Czas! magazine. We were told the two-page article extolling the virtues of libertarianism was excellent (scanned copies of the article were sent to us by Jacek Sierpinski). Immediately after that we headed off to address a group of between 30 and 40 (mostly young) libertarians at a palace in the "Old Town." From there the group walked to a park area near the river where we were able to enjoy considerable dialogue, beer and good camaraderie.

     Later we assembled at a local college where we sat in on a planning session with about a dozen Polish libertarians who had come in from across the country. There, over the obligatory beer and pizza, plans were discussed regarding establishing a special info-website about Poland in English (with libertarian comments) and the possibility of holding a European libertarian meeting in Poland in 2002 (probably in conjunction with our sister organization in Europe, the Libertarian International).

     We also discussed with Lukasz Latomski the possibility of ISIL providing funds for legal fees to cover incorporation of the Polish Society for Individual Liberty (as a non-profit foundation). Progress was reportedly stalled until the 1000 zlotys could be raised. A good cause.

     In the evening we were the dinner guests of Janusz Korwin-Mikke and his lovely wife at his country home. Korwin-Mikke was a member of the Polish Parliament in the Real Politik Union party, of which he is leader. We had first met Korwin-Mikke when he attended the ISIL conference in Poprad, (then) Czechoslovakia back in 1992. He has been described as the "founding father" of the Polish libertarian movement). That evening he picked us up at the Grand Hotel and gave us a whirlwind tour of Warsaw on the way to his place. Along the way, he pointed out the Real Politik Union headquarters – and the monument commemorating the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. We had a most enjoyable evening discussing Polish politics and some of the contentious issues that made politics troublesome. We were shown a wonderful oil painting of Korwin-Mikke escorting Karl Marx out the door. A nice symbolic touch.

    We found the Poles to be a well-organized and highly-idealistic group. They also have an excellent website with most ISIL materials translated into Polish (thanks to Wlodzimierz Gogloza).

     We expect to see significant progress in this area of the world because of this dynamic young group.