The Past As Prologue
Poland's communist leader Jaruzelski is again on the docket
Mazowiecki's Solidarity government was quickly followed by several others with less generous attitudes toward their predecessors. But their efforts to organize trials of former communist leaders floundered, mainly because unpopular economic reforms eroded public support for government initiatives.
In addition, early attempts at lustration--the process of fingering collaborators of the old regime--turned embarrassing when a leaked list of suspects was revealed to include, incredibly, Walesa himself. In 1993, Poles voted for a government of former communists, and the momentum seemed lost forever. But some activists refused to give up. One was Mariusz Kaminski, 35, a member of parliament who became a Solidarity activist as a young teenager. For seven years Kaminski and his allies have held candlelight vigils in front of Jaruzelski's villa on the anniversary of the imposition of martial law. After efforts to bring Jaruzelski to trial for that event failed, Kaminski and his allies turned their energies to the current trial.
Old, sick man. By and large, public opinion has favored a forgive-and-forget approach. "Poles look at Jaruzelski as an old, ill man," says Wieslawa Kozek, head of the Polish Institute of Sociology. "Their approach is something like, `Let us leave him alone.' " Outside the courtroom, Jaruzelski's supporters expressed their outrage. "It's a scandal that he is treated like a criminal and put on trial," said retired Col. Stanislaw Ludwiczak.
But among Poland's opinion makers many support the trial as a building block to democratization. "Such trials are probably 11 years too late with regard to public opinion," says prominent political scientist Edmund Wnuk-Lipinski. "But they are not too late with regard to restoration of the norms of justice in public life . . . they send a message to would-be dictators that justice may not be swift but it will come."
But norms of justice took a beating early in the trial. On the second day of hearings both of Jaruzelski's lawyers quit: One said his life had been shattered by the dredging up of an old manslaughter conviction; the other simply claimed he was too old to handle the case. The trial will now most likely be delayed until a new lawyer is up to speed on the case--which will take at least a couple of months. Then the court will have to deal with 1,100 witnesses and the recorded testimony of 2,400 more. Even if the evidence is abridged, the trial is likely to drag on for more than a year.
Even if the star defendant lives long enough to hear the verdict, whatever justice emerges from the tortured process will almost surely be too little, too late for the surviving relatives of the nearly forgotten victims: the 44 people who died in demonstrations 31 years ago.
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF WOJCIECH JARUZELSKI
1923-1945 War years. Born in Kurow, Jaruzelski, at 16, was deported to Siberia by the invading Soviet Army. Three years later, he was sent back to fight the Germans.
1945-1968 Rise to power. Joined Polish Communist Party at 24, promoted to general at 33. Defense minister in 1968.
1981 Martial law. Became premier in February 1981. Declared martial law Dec. 13, 1981, arresting thousands of Solidarity activists. Lifted martial law two years later. In 1988, initiated talks leading to legalization of Solidarity and transition to free elections. Elected president by parliament in July 1989 and relinquished party positions.
1990-1996 Memoirs. Defends martial law as the only way to have prevented a Soviet invasion. Parliament grants amnesty covering Jaruzelski's actions during martial law.
2001 Trial. Jaruzelski is on trial for the deaths of 44 workers shot during strikes at three Baltic ports in December 1970 when he was defense minister.
With Bogdan Turek and Patricia Koza
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