When the Polish army moved in to crush Solidarity and suppress the country's hard-won new freedoms on Dec. 13, the choice of Solidarity Union Leader Lech Wa lesa as TIME'S Man of the Year had already been made, and the complex process of planning and reporting the sto ry was well under way. East European Bureau Chief Rich ard Hornik, who has visited Poland eight times since last January, had been stationed there since late November. He not only called upon his numerous sources in the party and government, but also had an exclusive 1 1/2-hour conversation with Walesa, the last substantive interview given by the labor chief. This was only one of several sessions between Walesa and TIME this year, including a question-and-answer breakfast for the TIME Newstour in October at Charles de Gaulle Airport outside Paris.

With Hornik in Poland for the Man of the Year story was Washington Correspondent Gregory Wierzynski, whose father Casimir was one of the country's leading poets, and who still has strong ties there. Meanwhile, in New York, Associate Editor Thomas A. Sancton, the writer of the cover story, and Reporter-Researcher Val Castronovo, who have worked on more than two dozen Poland stories through 1981, were brought together as a special Man of the Year team under the supervision of World Senior Edi tor James Atwater. They were all set to portray Solidarity's heroic leader and chronicle his union's remarkable achievements. Then came the events of a fortnight ago, and suddenly the drama of their story was much enhanced:

Lech Walesa had become TIME'S first imprisoned Man of the Year since 1930, when India's Mahatma Gandhi appeared on our cover while jailed, also for seeking freedom for his people. "We were stunned," said Sancton. "Walesa is remarkable at arranging surprising compromises and last-ditch solutions. I was sure that this time, once again, Walesa would find a way out of the Communist maze." Says Castronovo: "We rejoiced with the Poles as they won their new freedoms. Now we share their sense of shock and loss."

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