Stefan Olszowski

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Stefan Olszowski (1981)

Stefan Michał Olszowski (* 28. August 1931 in Toruń ) is a former politician in the People's Republic of Poland , among others, from 1968 to 1971 and again from 1976 to 1982 Secretary of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers 'Party ( Polish United Workers' Party , PZPR) and was also a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee from 1970 to 1985. In addition, he held the post of Foreign Minister from 1971 to 1976 and again from 1982 to 1985 . In his first term as Foreign Minister he was responsible in particular for the implementation of the Warsaw Treaty and relations with the Federal Republic of Germany . After the August strikes in Poland in 1980 , he took a tough, anti-reform stance towards the Solidarność union, led by Lech Wałęsa , and was at times considered a possible candidate for the post of First Secretary of the PZPR Central Committee, but was defeated by Wojciech Jaruzelski in the internal power struggle . In 1986 he emigrated to the USA .

Life

University degree, party official and politburo member

After attending school, Olszowski completed a degree in Polish Philology at the University of Łódź and was involved in the Union of Polish Youth ( Związek Młodzieży Polskiej , ZMP) , the youth association of the PZPR, and in the Polish Students' Association ( Zrzeszenie Studentów Polskich , ZSP) . In 1952 he became a member of the Polish United Workers' Party PZPR ( Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza ) and after completing his studies initially worked as a teacher, before he was chairman of the Central Council of the Polish Student Union ZSP from 1956 to 1960. In March 1960 he took over the post of secretary of the PZPR Committee of the Poznan Voivodeship and subsequently became head of the press department of the PZPR Central Committee in 1963.

At the 4th party congress (June 15-20, 1964) Olszowski was elected a member of the PZPR Central Committee. After the Fifth Party Congress (November 11-16, 1968), he took over the post of Secretary of the Central Committee of the PZPR and initially held this position until December 1971. In December 1970 , he also became a supporter of the then new First Secretary of the Central Committee, Edward Gierek At that time the youngest member of the Politburo of the Central Committee and belonged to this highest body of the PZPR until 1985.

Foreign Minister 1971 to 1976 and German Ostpolitik

Olszowski at a speech on the 25th anniversary of the socio-political journal Głos Wielkopolski in Poznan (February 16, 1970)

On December 22, 1971, he succeeded Stefan Jędrychowski for the first time Foreign Minister (Minister spraw zagranicznych) and held this office until December 2, 1976, whereupon he was replaced by Emil Wojtaszek . His first term of office was marked by the implementation of the treaty between the Federal Republic of Germany and the People's Republic of Poland, signed on December 7, 1970 and ratified by the German Bundestag on May 17, 1972, on the basis of the normalization of their mutual relations . In this so-called "Warsaw Treaty", the Federal Republic assured the Oder-Neisse line agreed at the Potsdam Conference between the victorious powers as the western border of Poland, as both countries affirmed that their borders are inviolable. You undertake not to raise any territorial claims and are committed to nonviolence in the sense of the United Nations . Among other things, he received Federal Foreign Minister Walter Scheel in October 1973 . When Scheel urged the (repeatedly promised) emigration of people of German origin, Foreign Minister Stefan Olszowski painted the economic difficulties that would arise - especially in the Voivodships of Opole, Katowice and Allenstein - as a result of the departure of young workers. In order to avoid the failure of the negotiations, Scheel was satisfied with an informal promise. He himself made a return visit to the Federal Republic of Germany in December 1973. The social-liberal Federal Republic of Germany indicated that they were ready to make further financial contributions - for example, flat-rate compensation for pension claims of Polish citizens who were in German service during the occupation or as forced laborers. In addition, Bonn could vouch for the financing of large-scale projects in German industry in the People's Republic totaling seven billion marks.

At the same time, relations with the Holy See were harmonized . After he became Pope Paul VI in November 1973 . After paying a visit, the Chairman of the Council for Public Affairs of the Church Agostino Casaroli paid a visit to the People's Republic of Poland on February 4-6 , 1974.

The payment of severance payments worth millions to Jewish victims of the German National Socialist regime in turn led to tensions in relations with the FRG. The Poles could not understand that their country, which had to make terrible sacrifices under Hitler's occupation, has so far only received around 100 million marks in reparation from Bonn for human experiments in Nazi concentration camps , while Israel and those Jews who were able to escape Hitler's gas stoves and other victims of Nazi persecution in the west received around 50 billion marks. After Warsaw did not even allow 8,000 Germans to leave the country against its promises in 1974, the operation practically came to a standstill in January 1975. With their tough stance, the Polish leadership has at least managed to split Bonn's top politicians into two camps. Federal Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher was ready to allow himself to be discussed about compensation payments, but he made the condition that the Poles must comply with what Foreign Minister Olszowski had advised in 1973: within three years, according to the AA interpretation, 150,000 people of German origin should be allowed leave. During the negotiations for the signing of the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) on August 1, 1975, Genscher and Olszowski met in the residence of the Polish Ambassador in Helsinki Bonn to negotiate further. Two hours later, in the embassy garden, Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmidt and the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the PZPR Edward Gierek, after introductory meditations on the export of Polish fattened geese, also came across the emigrant problem. Then the German and the Pole parted ways. The Chancellor was relieved to announce the formula: Warsaw will receive, as planned, a financial loan of one billion marks and 1.3 billion lump-sum pensions for only 120,000 to 125,000 emigrants who will come to the Federal Republic in the next four years. After that, new exit applications may be submitted. The conclusion of the treaties with Poland was particularly controversial among the CDU / CSU parliamentary group .

Central Committee secretary and criticism of party leader Gierek

After completing his first term as Foreign Minister, Olszowski was then again Secretary of the PZPR Central Committee in December 1976 and held this position until March 1980. In this capacity he went on a trip to the Soviet Union in May 1977 , where he met with the CPSU General Secretary Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev and reported on the domestic political crisis in Poland. Moscow, which had previously relied on its confidant Prime Minister Piotr Jaroszewicz in the Warsaw party leadership , seemed to be looking for new faces: Jaroszewicz had made himself impossible as the person responsible for the price increases in June, party leader Gierek had largely lost his popularity. In addition, in Moscow - according to Western Communists - it is no longer certain that Gierek will still be able to silently resolve his domestic political crisis before the Belgrade conference. In the period that followed, internal party criticism of Gierek grew, for example at a ZK plenum in December 1978 as the First Secretary of the PZPR Committee of the Voivodeship Konin Tadeusz Grabski , who criticized the intolerable economic difficulties. In Warsaw party circles, Olszowski was named as the mastermind behind the criticism. He had been trying for some time to distinguish himself as a liberal opponent of the party chairman.

August strikes 1980

Between March and November 1980, Olszowski was briefly ambassador to the GDR and after his return was again secretary of the Central Committee. At times, Olszowski was seen as the new First Secretary of the PZPR Central Committee and thus Gierek's successor. However, after the August 1980 strike in Poland in the Politburo together with Tadeusz Grabski , he spoke out in favor of a tougher course. At a commemoration of the December 1970 uprising in Poland , he received Holy Mass through Cardinal Franciszek Macharski , Archbishop of Kraków, in December 1980 in Gdansk, together with the chairman of the Solidarność Lech Wałęsa trade union . As the leading representative of the hard line in the PZPR, he had wanted to steer a confrontational course since the beginning of December 1980 and, for example, brought about the ban on a public screening of the strike film Arbeiter 80 . Since then, his speeches had become even more uncompromising, while the new First Secretary of the Central Committee of the PZPR Stanisław Kania , who was considered willing to compromise, even admitted the party's mistakes on the hot question of non-working Saturdays. Olszowski was primarily responsible for the propaganda campaign against reduced working hours. As a member of the Politburo, he assumed responsibility for the media, which led to a significant restriction in reporting. In the following years he and Grabski had been open opponents of the new trade unions and the socio-political arrangements for a long time.

In the primaries for IX. At the extraordinary party congress (July 14-20, 1981), Olszowski, chosen by the reform enemies as the new party leader, found a narrow majority in Warsaw. Unlike the coarse Grabski, he had adjusted to the changed climate in the party. During the candidate selection, he spoke of the need to restore peace and order in the country, but at the same time also spoke of the need for economic reforms. Afterwards, Olszowski, up to now a staunch opponent of reforms and enemy of the Solidarność trade union, spoke in a statesmanlike and moderate television speech in September 1981 for a “united front of all patriotic forces to save the fatherland” - Solidarność included. In doing so, he underscored his claim to leadership vis-à-vis the Vice Prime Minister Mieczysław Rakowski , who at that time was considered to be a representative of the reform wing.

At the same time he was a member of the Presidium of the National Committee of the National United Front FJN ( Front Jedności Narodu ) between 1981 and 1983 .

Martial law was declared in 1981

After the IX. At the extraordinary party congress and the subsequent escalation of the crisis, however, the power of the former defense minister Wojciech Jaruzelski , who had been chairman of the Council of Ministers since February 11, 1981, and who finally succeeded Stanisław Kania on October 18, 1981, himself became First Secretary of the Central Committee of the PZPR . Kania also lost its membership in the Central Committee's Politburo. Kania's intimate enemy Olszowski, who has always been against equal cooperation with the union, celebrated this triumph by announcing that a motion had been submitted to parliament to suspend the trade unions' right to strike, such as the law on non-working Saturdays.

As early as the autumn of 1981, Olszowski, Solidarność's sharpest opponent, suggested at a party meeting that the police and the military should patrol the streets together “to protect the citizens” - this anticipated martial law. Despite the willingness of Solidarity to compromise, which took place on the night of 12 to 13 December 1981 Polish People's Army together with other security organs such as the militia ( Milicja Obywatelska ) Police called and their coming against demonstrators and strikers used kasernierten special troops ZOMO the Power in Poland. A total of 70,000 soldiers and 30,000 ZOMO officials were deployed that day to set up checkpoints across the country. More than 3000 people were also arrested, including almost the entire leadership of Solidarność , many opposition intellectuals, but also some former top officials of the PVAP, including Edward Gierek and Piotr Jaroszewicz . The Solidarity itself was banned. On Sunday, December 13, 1981, early in the morning, early in the morning, television broadcast a pre-recorded speech by Jaruzelski announcing the establishment of a National Salvation Military Council ( Wojskowa Rada Ocalenia Narodowego , WRON ) and martial law over the country had been imposed.

After martial law was imposed, Olszowski became a member of the National Rescue Military Council chaired by General Jaruzelski, Major General Michał Janiszewski , Secretary General of the Council of Ministers, Colonel General Florian Siwicki , Chief of Staff and candidate of the Politburo, Lieutenant General Czesław Kiszczak , Minister of the Interior and former Chief of Defense , Politburo member Kazimierz Barcikowski , leader of the liberal party wing and author of the program for party reform, Mieczysław Rakowski, deputy prime minister , central committee member and negotiating expert with Solidarność , as well as the previous economic expert Janusz Obodowski , as deputy prime minister responsible for finances and the Foreign Trade, who was already Minister of Labor.

Second term as Foreign Minister from 1982 to 1985

As the successor to Józef Czyrek , Olszowski was again Foreign Minister on July 21, 1982 and held this ministerial post until his replacement by Marian Orzechowski on November 12, 1985. Even during the time of martial law, he was considered a possible successor to Jaruzelski as First Secretary of the Central Committee, especially because of its good relations with the USSR and the CPSU. In 1983 he also became a member of the Presidium of the Polish-Soviet Friendship Society ( Towarzystwo Przyjaźni Polsko-Radzieckiej ) . In November 1985 he resigned from the Politburo of the Central Committee and was no longer elected a member of the Central Committee of the PZPR at the Xth Party Congress (June 29– July 3, 1986). As Foreign Minister, he increasingly dealt with Polish-German relations , in particular to receive financial and economic aid for the People's Republic of Poland, although his tough stance contributed to the failure of a planned visit by Federal Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher to Poland.

In his function as a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee, Olszowski advocated the idea that stability in Poland could only be enforced through police terror and a repressive state power. This course is also represented by the Politburo member Albin Siwak and the former Interior Minister and current Central Committee Secretary Mirosław Milewski , who was responsible for internal security issues in the Politburo. In addition to Tadeusz Grabski, who was no longer a member of the Central Committee and was only head of the trade agency in the GDR, as well as the ambassador to the Soviet Union at that time, Stanisław Kociołek .

At the 10th Party Congress (June 29 to July 3, 1986) he was no longer elected a member of the Central Committee. A short time later he emigrated to the USA and settled in Eastport .

honors and awards

For his services in the People's Republic of Poland, Olszowski was honored several times and received, among other things, the Order of the Banner of Labor ( Order Sztandaru Pracy ) Second Class and later First Class, the Officer's Cross of the Order Polonia Restituta (Order Odrodzenia Polski) , the Cross of Merit of the People's Republic of Poland ( Krzyż Zasługi) in silver and gold and in 1976 the Grand Cross of the Order of Infante Dom Henrique .

Publications

  • Current problems of foreign policy. Information by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Polish People's Republic, Stefan Olszowski delivered at the Sejm on February 13, 1984 , Warsaw 1984
  • Current problems of Polish foreign policy. Information by Polish Foreign Minister, Stefan Olszowski, delivered in the Sejm on March 14, 1985 , Warsaw 1985

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Poland: Faithful Son. With Moscow's help, the Polish Communist Party leader Gierek was able to disembark his opponents without giving up his reform program . In: Der Spiegel . No. 52 , 1971, p. 77 f . ( online - December 20, 1971 ).
  2. ^ Professional: Stefan Olszowski . In: Der Spiegel . No. 53 , 1971, p. 108 ( Online - Dec. 27, 1971 ).
  3. ↑ Unnecessarily pushed aside. A “Polish week”, put on hold by ZDF before the ratification of the Eastern Treaty, is now still on TV . In: Der Spiegel . No. 38 , 1972, p. 132 f . ( online - September 11, 1972 ).
  4. ↑ “We lost the war again” . In: Der Spiegel . No. 6 , 1973, p. 76-80 ( Online - Feb. 5, 1973 ).
  5. ↑ Ostpolitik: “Stick out of hand” . In: Der Spiegel . No. 40 , 1973, pp. 21-23 ( Online - Oct. 1, 1973 ).
  6. ↑ Informal commitment . In: Der Spiegel . No. 43 , 1973, p. 22 ( Online - Oct. 22, 1973 ).
  7. ↑ Ostpolitik: "We want to do that now" . In: Der Spiegel . No. 50 , 1973, pp. 19th f . ( Online - 10 December 1973 ).
  8. ↑ Vatican intimate. The managers of Pope Paul. 2. Continuation . In: Der Spiegel . No. 45 , 1974, p. 158-177 ( online - 4 November 1974 ).
  9. ↑ "I don't know how one can help Helmut" . In: Der Spiegel . No. 9 , 1975, p. 19-21 ( Online - Feb. 24, 1975 ).
  10. ^ German summit: "Here and there an accent" . In: Der Spiegel . No. 32 , 1975, pp. 17-23 ( online - 4 August 1975 ).
  11. ^ Poland treaties: every four years . In: Der Spiegel . No. 33 , 1975, pp. 22-24 ( online - August 11, 1975 ).
  12. ↑ Poland trade: curb appetite . In: Der Spiegel . No. 42 , 1975, pp. 34 ( Online - Oct. 13, 1975 ).
  13. ↑ But a joint . In: Der Spiegel . No. 42 , 1975, pp. 23 ( Online - Oct. 13, 1975 ).
  14. ↑ Contracts: In the genitive . In: Der Spiegel . No. 45 , 1975, pp. 33 ( Online - Nov. 3, 1975 ).
  15. ↑ CDU / CSU: In the Sonthofen style to victory? In: Der Spiegel . No. 9 , 1976, p. 21-23 ( Online - Feb. 23, 1976 ).
  16. ↑ Strauss: No longer in control of the situation . In: Der Spiegel . No. 12 , 1976, p. 19-24 ( online - March 15, 1976 ).
  17. ^ Poland: Black flags over Krakow . In: Der Spiegel . No. 22 , 1977, pp. 110 f . ( online - May 23, 1977 ).
  18. ^ Criticism of Gierek . In: Der Spiegel . No. 52 , 1978, p. 17 ( Online - Dec. 25, 1978 ).
  19. ↑ "Poland has become poorer". SPIEGEL correspondent Inge Cyrus on Cardinal Wyszynski . In: Der Spiegel . No. 36 , 1980, pp. 129 ( online - Sept. 1, 1980 ).
  20. ↑ The Pope sends his regards. SPIEGEL employee Timothy Garton-Ash on the Warsaw judgment . In: Der Spiegel . No. 47 , 1980, pp. 163 f . ( online - November 17, 1980 ).
  21. ^ Poland: Lasting Dialogue . In: Der Spiegel . No. 1 , 1981, p. 91-94 ( Online - Jan. 5, 1981 ).
  22. ^ Poland between conflict and compromise . In: Der Spiegel . No.  6 , 1981, pp. 102-104 ( Online - Feb. 2, 1981 ).
  23. ↑ “Do not know until after the accident”. Timothy Garton-Ash on the mood in Warsaw last week . In: Der Spiegel . No. 7 , 1981, pp. 123 f . ( Online - Feb. 9, 1981 ).
  24. ↑ Poland: "Last Chance Crisis" . In: Der Spiegel . No. 14 , 1981, pp. 134-140 ( online - March 30, 1981 ).
  25. ↑ "The party is pursuing the counter-revolution". Warsaw journalist Jan Walc on the Polish crisis . In: Der Spiegel . No. 14 , 1981, pp. 138 f . ( Online - Mar. 30, 1981 ).
  26. ^ Poland: On the edge . In: Der Spiegel . No. 28 , 1981, pp. 95-97 ( Online - July 6, 1981 ).
  27. ↑ Poland: Will a Troika come to power? In: Der Spiegel . No. 40 , 1981, pp. 141 f . ( Online - September 28, 1981 ).
  28. ↑ "Because it comes to an end with them". “Solidarnosc” journalist Jan Walc on the Danzig Congress . In: Der Spiegel . No. 41 , 1981, pp. 140 ( Online - Oct. 5, 1981 ).
  29. ↑ Poland: fire against fire . In: Der Spiegel . No. 45 , 1981, pp. 145-148 ( online - 2 November 1981 ).
  30. ^ Poland: Right to Cruelty . In: Der Spiegel . No. 23 , 1983, pp. 95-101 ( online - 6 June 1983 ).
  31. ^ Włodzimierz Borodziej: History of Poland in the 20th century . Munich 2010, p. 368.
  32. ↑ "In Eastern Europe the power of the army is growing". SPIEGEL interview with the Czech politician in exile Zdenek Mlynar . In: Der Spiegel . No. 52 , 1981, pp. 99 f . ( online - December 21, 1981 ).
  33. ↑ "Reverse gear can be fatal". How the disaster happened in Poland . In: Der Spiegel . No. 53 , 1981, pp. 60-65 ( Online - Dec. 28, 1981 ).
  34. ↑ Poland: Deep Scars . In: Der Spiegel . No. 2 , 1982, p. 85-89 ( Online - Jan. 11, 1982 ).
  35. ↑ Poland: In reserve . In: Der Spiegel . No. 7 , 1982, pp. 113-117 ( online - 15 February 1982 ).
  36. ↑ Adam Michnik: "More freedom for Poland" . In: Der Spiegel . No. 10 , 1982, pp. 124-127 ( Online - Mar. 8, 1982 ).
  37. ↑ Poland: "Fear is Jaruzelski's strongest weapon" . In: Der Spiegel . No. 51 , 1982, pp. 84-86 ( Online - Dec. 20, 1982 ).
  38. ↑ Help for Poland's farmers . In: Der Spiegel . No. 4 , 1984, pp. 13 ( Online - Jan. 23, 1984 ).
  39. ^ Rüffel for Minister Mertes . In: Der Spiegel . No. 16 , 1984, pp. 16 ( Online - Apr. 16, 1984 ).
  40. ↑ Ostpolitik: Kosthares result . In: Der Spiegel . No. 48 , 1984, pp. 22nd f . ( Online - Nov. 26, 1984 ).
  41. ↑ Poland: Light in the Dark . In: Der Spiegel . No. 45 , 1984, pp. 156 f . ( Online - Nov. 5, 1984 ).
  42. ↑ Poland: Happy Marriage . In: Der Spiegel . No. 28 , 1986, pp. 94 f . ( Online - 7 July 1986 ).
personal data
SURNAME Olszowski, Stefan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Olszowski, Stefan Michał (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Polish politician, member of the Sejm
DATE OF BIRTH August 28, 1931
PLACE OF BIRTH Toruń