Czesław Jan Kiszczak (19 October 1925 – 5 November 2015) was a Polish general, communist-era interior minister (1981–1990) and prime minister (1989). The Ministry of Internal Affairs, together with the Ministry of National Defense, were among the biggest and most powerful administrations in Poland, responsible for the police force, the secret police, government protection, confidential communications, supervision of local governments, correctional facilities and fire services.

In that position, Kiszczak participated in the preparation and implementation of the martial law that was declared in Poland on 13 December 1981. He became a member of the Military Council of National Salvation, a quasi-government administering Poland during the martial law (1981–83). In 1982 he became a deputy member of the Politburo of the Polish United Workers' Party and a full member in 1986. From December 1981 until June 1989 Kiszczak was the second most important person in Poland, after General Wojciech Jaruzelski, the nation's top leader. Martial law included the mass roundup and internment of Solidarity activists, curfews and other harsh measures.

Generals Kiszczak and Jaruzelski later insisted that they were imposing martial law to stave off a possible Soviet-led invasion in response to the Solidarity uprising, as it happened after a reform movement in Czechoslovakia in 1968 (the Prague Spring). But critics claimed Jaruzelski and Kiszczak were doing Moscow's bidding in a brutal crackdown that included the shooting deaths of nine protesting miners by the police during the Pacification of Wujek operation. The court files of the case preserved his handwritten note ordering the prosecution to "only stick to one version of the investigation - the paramedics", which resulted in a doctor and a paramedic falsely convicted and imprisoned for over a year as part of the cover-up as part of a show trial. In 1984 Kiszczak granted financial awards to the policemen who coordinated the cover-up. During the trial in postcommunist Poland in 1997, one of the officers, who had participated in the beating, was eventually brought to justice, another acquitted, but Kiszczak was not on trial and avoided any punishment for his role in masterminding the coverup of the crime.

At the end of the 1980s, with the huge geopolitical changes brought by four years of Gorbachev's perestroika in the Soviet Union and with Polish economy deteriorating, Kiszczak negotiated the Polish Round Table Agreement with the opposition that led to the renewed recognition of Solidarity and the terms for the 1989 elections. His critics hate him for the communist-era repressions that caused the suffering of many Poles and have accused him of acting in the interests of Moscow. Kiszczak was acquitted in these killings and was handed only a two-year suspended sentence for his role in imposing martial law.

Kiszczak died in Warsaw on 5 November 2015 at the age 90, due to heart problems.

Kiszczak was survived by his wife Maria, economist and university professor, and children Ewa and Jarosław.

Legacy

Kiszczak's influence has continued long after his passing due to a political scandal arising from secret documents found in the possession of his wife. In February 2016 the couple's home was subjected to a search warrant which uncovered documents supporting the accusations of collaboration with the secret services by Lech Wałęsa. Apparently Kiszczak had kept secret dossiers in his personal possession containing evidence of Wałęsa's alleged collaboration, including signed documents using his purported codename Bolek. Maria Kiszczak was accused of attempting to sell these documents. Wałęsa has been dogged by such accusations for decades but has consistently claimed innocence and has never been formally found guilty of wrongdoing.

Honours

  • 60px Order of the Builders of People's Poland (1984)
  • 60px Order of the Banner of Labour, I class
  • 60px Commander's Cross of Order of Polonia Restituta (1972)
  • 60px Knight's Cross of Order of Polonia Restituta
  • 60px Order of the Cross of Grunwald, III class
  • 60px Medal of the 10th Anniversary of People's Poland (1954)
  • 60px Medal of the 30th Anniversary of People's Poland (1974)
  • 60px Medal of the 40th Anniversary of People's Poland (1984)
  • 60px Gold Medal of the Armed Forces in the Service of the Fatherland
  • 60px Silver Medal of the Armed Forces in the Service of the Fatherland
  • 60px Bronze Medal of the Armed Forces in the Service of the Fatherland
  • 60px Gold Medal of Merit for National Defence
  • 60px Silver Medal of Merit for National Defence
  • 60px Bronze Medal of Merit for National Defence
  • Grunwald Badge
  • 60px Silver Badge of Merit for Law Enforcement
  • 60px Bronze Badge of Merit for Law Enforcement
  • 60px Bronze Badge of Merit for Border Protection of PRL
  • 60px Order of the Patriotic War, I class (USSR)
  • 60px Medal "For Strengthening of Brotherhood in Arms" (USSR)

Bibliography

See also

Kiszczak archives - a batch of historical documents, including the Security Service file on secret informant Bolek, which was discovered in Kiszczak's house after his death

References