33 Facts About Wojciech Jaruzelski

Wojciech Witold Jaruzelski was a Polish military general, politician and de facto leader of the Polish People's Republic from 1981 until 1989.

Wojciech Jaruzelski was the First Secretary of the Polish United Workers' Party between 1981 and 1989, making him the last leader of the Polish People's Republic.

Wojciech Jaruzelski was the last commander-in-chief of the Polish People's Army, which in 1990 became the Polish Armed Forces.

In 1943, Wojciech Jaruzelski joined the newly created First Polish Army and fought alongside the Soviets against Nazi Germany in the Eastern Front, most notably in the liberation of Warsaw and in the Battle of Berlin.

Kania's predecessor, Edward Gierek, left Poland severely indebted by accepting loans from foreign creditors and the country's economy almost collapsed by the time Wojciech Jaruzelski became head of state.

Wojciech Jaruzelski remains a controversial figure in Poland today; he was praised for allowing the peaceful transition into democracy.

Wojciech Witold Jaruzelski was born on 6 July 1923 in Kurow, into a family of Polish gentry.

At the railway station, Wojciech Jaruzelski was separated from his father, who was sent directly to a gulag.

Wojciech Jaruzelski's father died on 4 June 1942 from dysentery; his mother and sister survived the war.

Wojciech Jaruzelski was selected by the Soviet authorities for enrollment into the Soviet Officer Training School.

Wojciech Jaruzelski served in this Soviet-controlled First Polish Army during the war.

Wojciech Jaruzelski participated in the 1945 Soviet military takeover of Warsaw and the Battle of Berlin.

Wojciech Jaruzelski "further credited himself in Soviet eyes" by engaging in combat against the non-Communist Polish Home Army, from 1945 to 1947.

Wojciech Jaruzelski joined Poland's Communist party, the Polish United Workers' Party, in 1948 and became an informant for the Soviet supervised Main Directorate of Information of the Polish Army using the cover name Wolski.

Wojciech Jaruzelski became a candidate member for the Politburo of the Polish United Workers' Party, the chief executive body of the party, obtaining full membership the following year.

On 11 February 1981, Wojciech Jaruzelski was named Chairman of the Council of Ministers.

Wojciech Jaruzelski was elected his successor, becoming the only professional soldier to become the leader of a ruling European Communist party.

Wojciech Jaruzelski was chiefly responsible for the imposition of martial law in Poland on 13 December 1981 in an attempt to crush the pro-democracy movements, which included Solidarity, the first non-Communist trade union in Warsaw Pact history.

Wojciech Jaruzelski actually tried to persuade the Soviets to invade in order to support martial law, only to be sternly turned down.

Wojciech Jaruzelski justified cracking down by alleging that the threat of Soviet intervention was quite likely had he not dealt with Solidarity internally.

In 1982, Wojciech Jaruzelski helped reorganise the Front of National Unity, the organisation the Communists used to manage their satellite parties, as the Patriotic Movement for National Rebirth.

In 1985, Wojciech Jaruzelski resigned as prime minister and defence minister and became the Chairman of the Polish Council of State, a post equivalent to that of the head of state of Poland.

Wojciech Jaruzelski was elected by parliament to the position of president.

Wojciech Jaruzelski resigned as first secretary of the PZPR on 29 July 1989.

In October 1994, while attending a book-selling activity in Wroclaw, Wojciech Jaruzelski was attacked by a male pensioner with a stone; his jaw was injured, requiring surgery.

Wojciech Jaruzelski announced his support for President Aleksander Kwasniewski and Leszek Miller, later Prime Minister.

In May 2005, Russian President Vladimir Putin awarded a medal commemorating the 60th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany to Jaruzelski and other former leaders, including former Romanian King Michael I Czech President Vaclav Klaus criticised this step, saying that Jaruzelski was a symbol of the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968.

Wojciech Jaruzelski said that he had apologised and that the decision on the August 1968 invasion had been a great "political and moral mistake".

On 28 March 2006, Wojciech Jaruzelski was awarded a Siberian Exiles Cross by Polish President Lech Kaczynski.

In December 2010, Wojciech Jaruzelski suffered from severe pneumonia and, in March 2011, he was diagnosed with lymphoma.

Wojciech Jaruzelski died on 25 May 2014 in a Warsaw hospital after suffering a stroke earlier that month.

Wojciech Jaruzelski had reportedly requested last rites by a Catholic priest.

Available documents indicate that Wojciech Jaruzelski actually lobbied for Soviet intervention.