Let Poland Be Poland

In December 1981 martial law was declared in Poland due to the threat of a possible Soviet invasion.

The Amercian Government put together this  television gala in support of Solidarity and the Polish people and it was aimed to be broadcast for free in those countries wishing to air it.

Björn and Benny filmed a message of solidarity to Poland. Their message was ended with ABBA's PROMO to 'When All Is Said And Done" (the first US single release from "The Visitors"). The intention was that this message would be broadcast in the USA along with similar messages from artists and personalities protesting against the Sovet Union's domination of Poland. However, their message was pulled from the broadcast at the last minute with those responsible claiming that broadcasting time had been miscalculated. Many believe that it was due to the references by Björn and Benny to other nations where human rights had been violated "Chile, El Salvador, Afghanistan and Iran" that their segment was withdrawn. 

Björn and Benny's message was therefore never broadcast in the US (the other messages were broadcast in March 1982).  It was broadcast in Sweden in the programme Rapport along with the "When All Is Said And Done" PROMO.

Prior to the US broadcast where the message was supposed to be shown, Soviet criticism had been voiced about ABBA's participation (in the form of Benny and Björn). This all died down when their message was pulled from the US broadcast meaning that the recently opened "ABBA - The Movie" would continue to play and was never actually banned in the USSR.

B&B's message starts at 3 minutes 51 seconds

Benny: "Our thoughts are with Poland with all the rallies taking place in so many parts of the world this weekend in support of the Polish people. But I think this should also be a reminder that there are many other countries around the world for example: Chile, El Salvador, Afghanistan and Iran where people are not able to express themselves openly and freely like we're doing now."
Björn: "Human rights, things that we take for granted. And yet we are surrounded by so many examples of how easily they can be crushed and wiped out. I hope that this show can be something to help us keep up the constant vigil necessary to help us realise how very delicate and vulnerable democracy is."