Jaruzelski imposes Martial Law in 1981.
UPDATE The last political leader in communist Poland, General Wojciech Jaruzelski, appealed for Russian support if the Polish military and police failed to suppress Solidarity protests in the country in late 1981.
Documents kept at Poland’s Institute of National Rememberance indicating such a line of events are soon to be released for the public.
Former president and Solidarity icon Lech Walesa expects that the investigation into the veracity of these allegations is pursued without involving politicians, saying that "a democratic country has diverse institutions for settling past events and securing the future. These institutions should do their job, whereas politicians should not interfere."
Historian Antoni Dudek has published in the institute’s bulletin a record of conversations between Jaruzelski and Soviet Marshall Viktor Kulikov. The documents are unequivocal proof of the Polish general’s intentions three days ahead of the imposition of martial law.
Dudek told Polish Radio "Jaruzelski said: "if Solidarity will confine its actions to strikes, then we will manage it, yet we may not rule out that they will take to the streets." He went on to give a specific example of Upper Silesia to show Kulikov the scale of the problem. Jaruzelski said "there are 4 million people living in the region and should the 4 million hold protests, I will not cope there with just one squadron stationed there and could I then count on your military assistance?"
The archive material runs counter to the line of defence of Wojciech Jaruzelski, who has so far claimed that imposing martial law on 13 December 1981 was an attempt at warding off the Soviet invasion. Meanwhile, the documents show that Russia had not planned any military intervention for fear of a reaction from the West. (aba/jb)