Adam Ringer

Adam Ringer: My name is Adam Ringer.

Moderator: What do you do?

Adam Ringer: You can say I’m a businessman.

Moderator: Where do you currently live?

Adam Ringer: Warsaw, Poland.

Moderator: Was leaving Poland a chance or a necessity?

Adam Ringer: Both. You need to see a chance in every necessity.

Moderator: When and why did you live Poland?

Adam Ringer: I left in December of ‘68. These repercussions of an entire wave of antisemitism that washed through Poland back then. In this, the final decision to leave was the invasion of Czechoslovakia, this future looked terribly bleak.

Moderator: How do you remember the events of March 1968?

Adam Ringer: Of course I remember, 8 March 1968. Krakowskie Przedmieście, 400 metres from here. A student demonstration in defence of two expelled students, I was there. And then the charge that scattered us. Some of us hid in a church, the Police stormed it. I remember everything clearly. And everything that came later. Another moment? 20 August 1968. Same year. I’m going on holiday. Bory Tucholskie. Suddenly, they take the train off to the siding and Soviet military transports pass us for hours. With tanks, ambulances. For hours. I think we stood there for 6-7 hours and they just kept going. And we didn’t even know their destination. It was 2 days later that we realised where they were going, that they were going to Czechoslovakia.

Moderator: How did your experiences in Sweden influence your professional success?

Adam Ringer: Very much, very much. I’m not talking about the contact network, because it is sort of derivative. I think that it is an approach to quality.

Moderator: How did it look for a Polish emigrant to construct his professional position in Sweden?

Adam Ringer: Well, It was quite simple. Higher education. Afterwards, I started work in insurance; I held various jobs. It was easy. I had a lot of offers on the job market, but in times of the “Solidarność”, i.e. 12 years later, I decided that I have to write a book. Solidarność ‘80 – ‘81

Moderator: What characteristics help emigrating Poles and which hinder them?

Adam Ringer: Sort of closing off community-wise, sticking with your own. Picking at old scabs. Even though they should not be there. They can come here. Insularity and suspicion.

Moderator: What barriers did you encounter as an emigrant?

Adam Ringer: Language barriers, but that was kind of quick. When you’re 19, you learn quick. Then, in a sense, I thought that these barriers are non-existent. From the perspective of years, I see that they are sort of there. And this stems from this network that we didn’t have. It’s because my Swedish colleagues had circles of friends which I didn’t have. They went to schools which made it easier later. They knew people. But it was still open.

Moderator: What would you say to young people who want to leave?

Adam Ringer: Leave and come back. They make great trips.

Moderator: What tastes and smells of Poland did you miss?

Adam Ringer: Uuh. Bread. Traditional pork chops. Sauerkraut.

Moderator: Were you planning to stay in Sweden for long?

Adam Ringer: I mean, I emigrated. It was like, that if you wanted to leave in ‘68, you had to do two things. Declare that you are a Jew. And I’ve never done this, because there was no such awareness. But this was the condition. And the second thing was this mandatory renunciation of citizenship. When I left, I had this, it wasn’t a Polish passport. It was called a “travel document” and authorised you only to leave Poland and prohibited you from coming back. That means, when I left Poland, I knew that it’s for good.

Moderator: Who helped you to succeed after you emigrated?

Adam Ringer: When I started working for Swedish companies in Poland, it was interesting, I was approached by small and later, bigger companies and there was a problem with invoicing them. What is the value of what I’m doing. I had no idea, I was dealing with macro-economics, not micro-economics. And then, I met an acquaintance, a gentleman who was very advanced in years. Who was a great authority in the field of business. I got an audience with him, so to speak. I told him what I was doing, and he listened. He was very sick, his hands were all twisted. And he said: remember one thing. Never invoice for hours worked. Because then you’re just a peon. Invoice for a specific task. For stuff you did. And it was sort of, a dramatic outlook. The second dramatic change was the development of the Stena-Line company. Stena-Line means ferries. And he called me that Stena wants to operate a ferry from Sweden to Poland. It was big for them, Stena is the biggest international ferry operator. And he called, that they need a partner in Poland. Because they want a Polish crew on that vessel, because someone needs to set it up and sell. And then the company employed three people, our company. And to find some partners for him. I looked for them back then in ‘95. Everything I showed them, they didn’t like. And he says: no, we need to open, let’s meet. We set up a meeting at the Gdynia hotel, I remember as if it was yesterday, for breakfast. We met for breakfast, he arrived in the evening a day before, I came in. And he goes: I don’t like any of those partners you presented. And maybe you, a three person company, could be the partner. At that point I already knew that the costs of operating a ferry like that, daily, was around $ 30,000. Doesn’t matter if the passengers are there or not. The cost is the same. And I told him: listen, I don’t have $ 30,000 a day. If there is a good project, good people, then the money will... don’t worry about the money.

Moderator: How did you adjust to the new environment?

Adam Ringer: I remember a year later, when my fiancée came to visit, she had a tourist visa. And I remember, we went to this lady who took care of me. I had this guardian from the immigration office. And we went to her, told her that we’re very much in love and would like her to stay. But of course, they had everything done in like 2 minutes, she got this piece of paper, so she could go to a store and get some clothes. We were about to leave and the lady said: wait a minute, you’re living in student room, how will you guys manage? She made some calls, and before we left, she got us a two-room apartment. Also a student flat, but her care was amazing.

Moderator: Do you remember any anecdotes connected with emigration?

Adam Ringer: I remember living in a student dorm, and I was learning the language and always said thank you for everything. And everybody laughed, I didn’t know why, and they told me that people talked like that during funeral soliloquies.

Moderator: What should people who emigrate remember?

Adam Ringer: That they can come back.