Reagans Give Lech Walesa Library Tour : Appeal: President of Poland uses visit to California to urge Polish-Americans to invest in his country’s economy.

Under cloudy skies and tight security, Polish President Lech Walesa toured the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in the hills above Simi Valley Saturday and playfully pretended to try to topple a chunk of the Berlin Wall.

Former President Reagan and his wife, Nancy, greeted Walesa and his wife, Danuta, outside the entrance of the sprawling Spanish-style building just before noon and escorted them through the library on a short tour.

Afterward, Reagan and Walesa appeared outside the library again to pose next to the 12-foot-high slab of the Berlin Wall that is on permanent display there. Walesa got a laugh from Reagan by playfully trying to push the wall over.

The symbolism of the gesture was not lost on Reagan, who immediately joined Walesa. During his presidency, Reagan had called for the removal of the Berlin Wall. The wall’s opening in 1989 was part of a movement toward democracy in Eastern Europe that began in Poland in the early 1980s.

“California is a beautiful land,” Walesa said through an interpreter. “I hope everything will be done to keep it as it is.”

Walesa then praised America’s leaders and expressed hope for the future of Poland.

“You have great leaders,” Walesa said. “We have had some problems, but I think that fate will give us more luck.”

Walesa was the second world figure to receive a guided tour of the uncompleted library from Reagan in the last two months. On Feb. 4, Reagan took former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher on a similar tour.

Before traveling to the Reagan library and later departing for Chicago, Walesa appealed to California’s Polish-American community to invest in Poland, telling an audience at a Beverly Hills brunch:

“Many Poles came to America. I’m expecting, I’m hoping, they will now bring their money in the other direction.”

The Polish president, on his first visit to Southern California, was repeatedly applauded and twice serenaded with the song “Sto Lat” (“May He Live 100 Years”) as he delivered a speech that was largely an appeal for investment in his economically stricken country.

He does not expect any Americans, of Polish origin or not, to invest for sentimental reasons, Walesa said. “Come to Poland and make money,” he urged, adding that if the Polish and other Eastern European economies do not turn around, there is a danger of a massive emigration to the rich countries of the West and possibly of a return of communism.

More than 1,000 members of California branches of the Polish-American Congress--some of whom came from as far away as the San Francisco Bay Area--paid $100 each to honor Walesa at the event at the Regent Beverly Wilshire, with half the money going to Polish charities.

They were rewarded with a speech delivered entirely in Polish with no translation from the podium. Walesa leaned over the lectern and gestured vigorously as he spoke, a delivery reminiscent of his days as a labor organizer. A translator at the side of the room quietly told newspeople the English-language equivalent.

While there were no Polish-American crowds on hand to greet Walesa in Ventura County, his earlier appearance in Beverly Hills was clearly an occasion that Polish-Americans had long awaited.

“This is very gratifying,” said Jan Wojciechowski of Van Nuys as he waited for Walesa to appear. “It’s great for us to see a man of his stature in person and to realize that he comes from a free Poland.”

In the introductions, Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley paid tribute to Walesa for having proved that “with courage and determination” one person can make a difference in the world. “You gave new meaning to the word solidarity ,” Bradley said. “That word came to symbolize a determination to come together and to realize worthy goals.”

Walesa said the political leaders have given him far too much credit for the democratization of Poland, which he characterized as a great collective effort.

“I’m convinced this generation will lead Poland to a civilization similar to American democracy,” he said, going on to say that by lifting all visa requirements for Americans visiting Poland he hopes to encourage economic participation in the effort.