After 44 years of Communist rule, Poland re-emerged as an independent state once more. The fighting spirit of
the Polish people never died, even as the last remnants of the Home Army struggled to the very end to defend
Poland's freedom. Those who survived were conscripted into the Red Army.
At the end of the war, Poland had lost 20% of its population - over 6,000,000 people were murdered, half of them
Polish Jews. Warsaw's population was reduced to 25,000 people. Before the war, it was 1,289,000. Moreover,
Poland lost 38% of its national assets, while Britain lost only 0.8% and France 1.5%. The two great cities, Lwow
and Wilno, both centers of Polish culture for centuries, was now part of the Soviet Union. In a most revealing
and rare statement of clarity, Churchill confided, after the war, that " terrible and even humbling submissions must
at times be made to the general aim. " Poland suffered the most among all the warring nations in World War II,
and was treated as an enemy by her Allies, England, and the United States. Polish soldiers suddenly found
themselves stateless. Those who dared to return home were immediately arrested by the NKVD, and executed
or sent to the gulag. With Poland's economy in complete ruin, Stalin did not allow Poland to have any portion of
aid from the Marshall Plan.
In January 1945, the Soviets arrested 16 Polish resistance leaders on charges of subversion and espionage.
All but 3 were found guilty and sent to prison. Four died. Britain and the U.S. did not intervene.
January 19, 1947 The first elections were held but was anything but democratic. Through the application of
brutal intimidation, the police arrested and murdered scores of citizens in order to ensure that the Soviet-backed
Communist Peasant Party won. They received more than 70% of voter support. In the following year, over
100,000 Polish military and civilians were arrested and interned at abandoned concentration camps. More than
10,000 members of the Home Army were sent to Soviet prisons and labor camps. The Home Army was disbanded
after the war. Between 1945 and 1957, thousands more Poles disappeared. It is not known exactly how many.
The years of communist rule was one of gross fiscal mismanagement, and irresponsible use of Polands' natural
resources. Students and workers demonstrated in the streets to protest the Soviet imposition of higher prices on
consumer goods and on food. In 1956, workers in Poznan organized a rebellion against Soviet authorities, but it
was put down by the army. In 1968, Polish students in Warsaw, Poznan, Lublin, and Krakow demonstrated
against the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. In 1970, there were massive strikes and demonstrations by the
Polish people in protest over sharp increases in the price of food. In December of that year, strikes were also
organized at Gdansk, Gdnia, and Szczecin. Underground publications were being circulated encouraging workers
to organize independent trade unions. One of them was the leader of the Gdansk shipworkers - Lech Walesa.
By the 1970s, Poland's economy had surged upwards
and became one of the world's highest, thanks to the
substantial credits received from the West. But by 1979
the Soviets had squandered the money and increased
debt, making economic growth negative again. In
October 1978 Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, the Bishop of
Krakow became Pope John Paul II. Poland's destiny
was in sight.. In his first visit to Poland, Pope John Paul II
was met with an outpouring of emotion from the Polish
people. He inflamed hope and patriotism in the heart and
soul of every Polish compatriot. It was the Catholic Church
that sustained the courage and stamina of the Polish nation
through a brutal war, followed by severe repression under
Soviet dictatorship.
In July 1980, Poland's foreign debt reached more than 20 billion dollars. In response, the Soviet governemnt
increased meat prices yet again. A massive series of revolts took place against the communist regime. In
August, the workers at the Lenin shipyard at Gdansk, led by Lech Walesa, agreed to a 21 point agreement with
the government that ended their strike. It was a pivotal moment - the workers were given the right to organize
independent trade unions and the right to strike. Solidarnosc began to gain momentum and power with every
charge of corruption and mismanagement hurled against the Polish state. Lech Walesa had the support of
more than 10 million people, 25 % of the population.
In December 1980, Jaruzelski, the Defense Minister, Prime Minister and First Secretary of Poland, ordered a
massive buildup of troops along Polands borders, in order to demonstrate Soviet authority. Martial law was
declared, followed by arrests of Solidarity leaders and intellectuals. Despite the Soviet crackdown, Solidarnosc
went underground in order to avoid invasion by the Red Army. The U.S. and the West responded quickly with the
imposition of economic sanctions against Poland and the Soviet Union. In September to October 1981, the First
Solidarity National Congress was held. Lech Walesa was elected National Chairman of the Union.
It was not until 1982 that marshall law was suspended, but only a small number of political prisoners were
released. A year later, the Soviet government declared general amnesty, but still there were hundreds of
political prisoners in prison. In 1984 another general amnesty was declared and finally two years later, almost
all the political prisoners were released. Irregardless, the Soviets continued to harass the Solidarity activists, solidarity
publications were still banned, and other publications of similar nature were censored.