Bolesław Bierut
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| In office February 5, 1947 – November 21, 1952 |
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| Preceded by | State National Council |
| Succeeded by | Aleksander Zawadzki (Chairman of the Council of State) |
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| In office 1948 – 1956 |
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| Preceded by | Władysław Gomułka |
| Succeeded by | Edward Ochab |
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| Born | April 18, 1892 Rury Jezuickie near Lublin |
| Died | March 12, 1956 Moscow, USSR |
| Political party | Polish United Workers' Party |
| Spouse | Wanda Górska |
Bolesław Bierut (real name Bolesław Biernacki, April 18, 1892–March 12, 1956) was a Polish born Communist leader, a Stalinist, and a Soviet ally, who led Poland in the aftermath of World War II.
Bierut was born near Lublin as a son of a village teacher and his wife born Rutkowska, hence his later adopted name "Bie(r)-rut". In 1925 he went to Moscow to be trained at the school of the Communist International. When the Communist Party of Poland was dissolved by Joseph Stalin in 1938, he was lucky, having been sentenced to 10 years in a Polish prison for his political activity, to have survived the ensuing Great Purge, which involved a purge of the Polish communists. After the amnesty of 1938 he settled down in Warsaw, where he worked as a bookkeeper in a cooperative organization. After the outbreak of WWII Bierut fled to Eastern Poland (soon occupied by the Red Army) in order to avoid military service. Recalled to head the new Polish Workers' Party in 1943, he functioned as head of the Polish provisional quasi-parliament (State National Council, Krajowa Rada Narodowa), created by Soviet adherents, from 1944 to 1947. Bierut was instrumental in the Soviet takeover of Poland by the Communists. From 1947 to 1952, the year the People's Republic of Poland was formally created, he was President of Poland and after the abolishment of the Presidency he became Prime Minister.
Although Bierut did impose Stalinist Communism on Poland, he refused to stage show trials of Communist politicians in 1948, sparing his eventual successor Władysław Gomułka. He did, however, sanction the trials of World War II military leaders such as General Stanisław Tatar, 40 members of the WiN (Freedom and Independence) organisation and church leaders. Many more opponents of the regime, such as "the hero of Auschwitz", Witold Pilecki, were sentenced to death in secret trials. Bierut died in Moscow during a political visit to the Soviet Union.
[edit] See also
| Preceded by: Władysław Raczkiewicz (President of the Polish Republic in Exile) |
Chairman of the State National Council 1944 (or 1945)–1947 |
Succeeded by: became President |
| Preceded by: State National Council |
President of Poland 1947–1952 |
Succeeded by: Aleksander Zawadzki (Chairman of the Council of State) |
| Preceded by: Władysław Gomułka |
General Secretary of the Polish United Workers' Party 1948–1956 |
Succeeded by: Edward Ochab |
| Preceded by: Józef Cyrankiewicz |
Prime Minister of Poland 1952–1954 |
Succeeded by: Józef Cyrankiewicz |
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| Chairmen of the Polish Council of State |
| Bolesław Bierut • Aleksander Zawadzki • Edward Ochab • Marian Spychalski • Józef Cyrankiewicz • Henryk Jabłoński • Wojciech Jaruzelski |
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| First Secretaries of the Central Committee of the PUWP |
| Bolesław Bierut • Edward Ochab • Władysław Gomułka • Edward Gierek • Stanisław Kania • Wojciech Jaruzelski • Mieczysław Rakowski |
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| Republic of Poland | Gabriel Narutowicz • Maciej Rataj (acting) • Stanisław Wojciechowski • Maciej Rataj (acting) • Ignacy Mościcki |
| Government in Exile | Bolesław Wieniawa-Długoszowski • Władysław Raczkiewicz • August Zaleski • Council of Three • Stanisław Ostrowski • Edward Raczyński • Kazimierz Sabbat • Ryszard Kaczorowski |
| People's Republic of Poland | Bolesław Bierut • office superseded • Wojciech Jaruzelski |
| Republic of Poland | Wojciech Jaruzelski • Lech Wałęsa • Aleksander Kwaśniewski • Lech Kaczyński |
