Wojciech Jaruzelski

Wojciech Witold Jaruzelski
Photograph of Wojciech Jaruzelski taken in 1968, around the time he became the Defence Minister of Poland.
President of the Republic of Poland 1st President of the Third Republic
In office December 31, 1989 – December 21, 1990
Prime Minister	Tadeusz Mazowiecki
Preceded by	(Was President of the People's Republic of Poland)
Succeeded by	Lech Wałęsa
President of the People's Republic of Poland
In office July 19, 1989 – December 31, 1989
Prime Minister	Mieczysław Rakowski, Czesław Kiszczak, Tadeusz Mazowiecki
Preceded by	Council of State
Succeeded by	(Became President of the Republic of Poland)
6th Chairman of the Council of State
In office November 6, 1985 – July 19, 1989
Prime Minister	Zbigniew Messner, Mieczysław Rakowski
Preceded by	Henryk Jabłoński
Succeeded by	(Became President of the People's Republic of Poland)
8th Prime Minister of the People's Republic of Poland
In office February 11, 1981 – November 6, 1985
President	Henryk Jabłoński (Chairman of the Council of State)
Preceded by	Józef Pińkowski
Succeeded by	Zbigniew Messner
6th First Secretary of the Central Committe of the PUWP
In office October 18, 1981 – July 29, 1989
Preceded by	Stanisław Kania
Succeeded by	Mieczysław Rakowski
4th Minister of the National Defence of the People's Republic of Poland
In office 1969 – 1985
Prime Minister	Józef Cyrankiewicz, Piotr Jaroszewicz, Edward Babiuch, Józef Pińkowski, Wojciech Jaruzelski
Preceded by	Marian Spychalski
Succeeded by	Florian Siwicki
General of the Army
In office 1981 – 1991
Born	July 6, 1923 (1923-07-06) (age 86) Kurów, Second Polish Republic
Political party	Polish United Workers' Party
Spouse	Barbara Jaruzelska
Profession	Military
Religion	Atheist
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	Poland
Battles/wars	Soviet-German War Battle of Berlin
Awards	Virtuti Militari, Polonia Restituta, Cross of Valor

Wojciech Witold Jaruzelski (pronounced: /'vɔjʨɛx jaru'zɛlskʲi/) (born July 6, 1923 in Kurów) is a Polish statesman, former communist political and military leader. He served as Prime Minister from 1981 to 1985, head of the Polish Council of State from 1985 to 1989, and President from 1989 to 1990.

Early life and military career

Wojciech Witold Jaruzelski was born on July 6, 1923,^[1] into a family of gentry.^[1][2] He was raised on the family estate near Wysokie (in the vicinity of Białystok). He was educated in a Catholic school during the 1930s.^[1]

On September 1 1939, the September Campaign started when Poland was invaded by Germany, with the latter country aided by another invasion begun sixteen days later by the Soviet Union. The invasions resulted in the defeat of Poland by the following month, and its partition between Soviet and German control. During the campaign, Jaruzelski and his family were captured by the army of the Soviet Union, and deported to that country.^[1] In 1940 at the age of sixteen,^[3] Jaruzelski was sent to the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic,^[1]-the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic was the immediate predecessor to the Republic of Kazakhstan-where he performed forced labour in the Karaganda coal mines. During his labour work, he became an orphan, and developed permanent damage to his eyes and back.^[2] He was later selected for enrollment into the Soviet Officer Training School by the Soviet authorities.^[1] During his time in the Kazakh Republic, Jaruzelski wanted to join the non-Soviet controlled Polish exile army led by Władysław Anders,^[3] but in 1943,^[4] by which time the Soviet Union was fighting in Europe against Germany in the Soviet-German War, he joined the Polish army units being formed under Soviet command.^[2] He served in the Soviet-sponsored First Polish Army during the war.^[1] He participated in the Soviet military takeover of Warsaw and the Battle of Berlin,^[1] both of which occured in 1945. By the time the war ended that year, he had gained the rank of lieutenant.^[2] He "further credited himself in Soviet eyes"^[1] by engaging in combat with the Polish Home Army, an anti-communist organisation, from 1945 to 1947.^[1]

After the end of the war, Jaruzelski graduated from the Polish Higher Infantry School, an event which was followed by a graduation from the General Staff Academy.^[4] He joined Poland's communist party, the Polish United Workers Party, in 1948.^[4] In the first post-war years, he was among the military fighting the Polish anti-communist guerrillas ("cursed soldiers") in the Świętokrzyskie region. A BBC News profile of Jaruzelski says that his career "took off after the departure [from Poland] in 1956 of the Soviet Field Marshal, Konstantin Rokossovsky"^[2], who had been Poland's Commander in Chief and Minister of Defence.^[2] Jaruzelski became the chief political officer of the Polish armed forces in 1960, its chief of staff in 1964; and he became the Polish Minister of Defense in 1968,^[2] four years after he was elected to be a member of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers Party.^[4]

Jaruzelski (right, in uniform) with Fidel Castro in Poland, May 1972

In 1970, he was involved in the plot against Władysław Gomułka, which led to the appointment of Edward Gierek as Communist Party General Secretary. He took part in organizing the suppression of striking workers, which led to massacres in the coastal cities of Gdańsk, Gdynia, Elbląg and Szczecin. In December 1970, Jaruzelski became a candidate member for the Politburo of the Polish United Workers Party, the chief executive body of the communist administration of Poland, obtaining full membership the following year.^[1]

Leader of the Polish military government

On February 11, 1981, Jaruzelski was elected to be the Prime Minister of Poland, and became the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers Party on October 18 the same year.^[4]

On December 13 1981, Jaruzelski imposed martial law in Poland. He was the member of the Military Council of National Salvation. According to his explanation, this action was intended to prevent a threat of Soviet invasion. A BBC News profile of Jaruzelski contends that the establishment of martial law was "an attempt to suppress the Solidarity movement."^[2] Most former opposition members argue that it was merely an action by the Polish communist regime to retain power and strangle the newly born and developing civil society. Some even hold that the circumstances of the martial law were even in violation of the communist constitution.

Moreover, historical evidence released under Russian President Boris Yeltsin has been brought to light indicating that the Soviet Union did not plan to invade Poland; in fact, the Soviets strictly rejected Jaruzelski's request for military help in 1981, leaving the Solidarity "problem" to be sorted out by the Polish government. This question, as well as many other facts about Poland in the years 1945-1989, are presently under the investigation of government historians at the Institute of National Remembrance (Instytut Pamięci Narodowej, IPN), whose publications reveal facts from the communist-era archives.

In 1982 he co-founded the Patriotic Movement for National Rebirth.

Political reforms and presidency

The policies of Mikhail Gorbachev also stimulated political reform in Poland. By the close of the tenth plenary session in December 1988, the Communist Party was forced, after strikes, to approach leaders of Solidarity for talks.

From February 6 to April 15, 1989, negotiations were held between 13 working groups during 94 sessions of the roundtable talks.^[1] These negotiations "radically altered the shape of the Polish government and society"^[1], and resulted in an agreement which stated that a great degree of political power would be given to a newly created bicameral legislature, and that the president would act as the chief executive.^[1] Solidarity was also declared a legal organisation.^[1] During the following Polish elections the Communists won 65 percent of the seats in the Sejm, though the seats won were guaranteed and the Communists were unable to gain a majority, whilst 99 out of the 100 seats in the Senate freely contested were won by Solidarity-backed candidates.^[1] Jaruzelski won the presidential ballot by one vote.^[1]

Jaruzelski was unsuccessful in convicing Wałęsa to include Solidarity in a "grand coalition"^[1] with the Communists, and Jaruzelski resigned his position of general secretary of the Polish Communist Party.^[1] A government was formed by Solidarity, and Jaruzelski resigned as Poland's leader in 1990.^[1] He was succeeded by Wałęsa in December. Subsequently, Jaruzelski faced charges for a number of actions such as murder that he committed while he was Defense Minister during the Communist period.

On January 31, 1991, General Jaruzelski retired from the army service.

After retirement

In an interview conducted in 2001, Jaruzelski said that he believes communism failed, that he is a social democrat, and that he backed Aleksander Kwaśniewski, who at that time was the President of Poland, as well as Leszek Miller, who would later become the Prime Minister of Poland.^[3]

Wojciech Jaruzelski in 2006

In May 2005, Russian President Vladimir Putin awarded a medal commemorating 60th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany to Jaruzelski. Other former leaders awarded the medal include Romania's former King Michael I.^[5] Czech President Václav Klaus criticized this step, claiming that Jaruzelski is a symbol of the Warsaw Pact troops' invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. Jaruzelski said that he had apologised and that the decision on the August 1968 invasion had been a great "political and moral mistake".^[6]

On March 28, 2006, Jaruzelski was awarded a Siberian Exiles Cross by Polish President Lech Kaczyński. However, after making this fact public Kaczyński claimed that this was a mistake and blamed the bureaucracy for giving him a document containing 1293 names without notifying him of Jaruzelski's presence within it. After this statement Jaruzelski returned the cross.

On March 31, 2006, the IPN charged him with committing communist crimes, mainly the creation of a criminal military organisation with the aim of conducting crimes (mostly concerned with the illegal imprisonment of people). The second charge involves the incitement of state ministers to commit acts beyond their competence. Jaruzelski has avoided most court appearances citing poor health.

The Polish Ministry of Defence is currently engaged in a process that would allow it to deny Jaruzelski any military pension he currently receives.^[7]

Legacy

Jaruzelski is a controversial person in Poland. Some people, many of them a part of the "Solidarity generation", have a highly negative opinion of him, believing that Jaruzelski "is little short of a traitor".^[2] Opinion polls, as of May 15 2001, suggest that a majority of the Polish people are open to agreeing with his explanation that martial law was implemented to prevent a Soviet invasion.^[2]

Written works

Jaruzelski, Wojciech (1999). Różnić się mądrze (English translation: To Differ Wisely).^[4]

References

External links

• Jaruzelski's official website

[show] Chairmen of the Polish Council of State Bolesław Bierut · Aleksander Zawadzki · Edward Ochab · Marian Spychalski · Józef Cyrankiewicz · Henryk Jabłoński · Wojciech Jaruzelski

[show] First Secretaries of the Central Committee of the PUWP Bolesław Bierut · Edward Ochab · Władysław Gomułka · Edward Gierek · Stanisław Kania · Wojciech Jaruzelski · Mieczysław Rakowski