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General Jaruzelski, the 84-year-old former President of Poland, wants Maggie Thatcher and Mikhail Gorbachev to act as witnesses at his forthcoming trial.
Solidarity veterans have campaigned for years to bring the General before a court, and the wheels are now turning after a stalled bid in 1996.
Jaruzelski stands accused of introducing Martial Law to Poland in December 1981. Over ninety people died in the crackdown and scores more were imprisoned.
The General claims that his decision prevented the more catastrophic impact of a Russian invasion. However, many Polish historians are dismissive of this theory.
Jaruzelski's life often seems more fanciful than fiction. He was born into the nobility and went to an old-fashioned boarding school. There he wrote many patriotic essays about heroes from Poland's history. When war broke out in 1939 he and his family were exiled to Siberia along with thousands of other 'class enemies'. His father died soon afterwards. In 1943, when Stalin created a Polish Army to fight against the Germans, Jaruzelski joined up and swiftly rose up the ranks.
The General's current bid to call Gorbachev and Thatcher to the stand may prove tricky. Lady Thatcher's health has wavered in recent years, and it is unlikely that Britain's former PM would be able to attend a trial in Warsaw, although a video-link is a possibility. However, whether 'the Iron Lady' would paint the General as a man of honour is an altogether different kettle of fish. Thatcher remains one the staunchest critics of all things communist, labelling the Soviet bloc as 'an evil empire.'
| Source: Cracow Life | March.25.2008 |
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