The Trial of the Generals ( pl, proces generałów) was a totalitarian

show trial A show trial is a public trial in which the judicial authorities have already determined the guilt or innocence of the defendant. The actual trial has as its only goal the presentation of both the accusation and the verdict to the public so th ...

organized by the communist authorities of the Government of the Polish People's Republic, (''Today Poland''), between July 31 and August 31, 1951. Its purpose was to cleanse the new pro-Soviet Polish Army of officers who had served in the armed forces of the interwar Poland or in the anti-Nazi resistance during World War II. The trial was used by the authorities in the political struggle for power within the new communist administration, and against Marshal of Poland Michał Rola-Żymierski as well as Generals Marian Spychalski and

Wacław Komar Wacław is a Polish masculine given name. It is a borrowing of cz, Václav, Latinized as Wenceslaus. For etymology and cognates in other languages, see Wenceslaus. It may refer to: *Wacław Leszczyński (disambiguation), Wacław Leszczyński *W ...

, whose political faction had fallen out of grace. The trial was led by the Stalinist Colonel Stanisław Zarakowski. All of the arrested officers were falsely accused of conspiracy against the Polish United Workers' Party and collaboration with British and

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

intelligence services. The following so-called ''TUN court case'' – an acronym for the names of three most notable participants: Tatar-Utnik-Nowicki, was launched in 1951 against the custodians of the Fund of National Defense (FON) secretly stolen by Jakub Berman's security forces in 1947. W WSI znaleziono skarb z FON i afery “Żelazo”, qazeta.pl
Dr Andrzej Leszek Szcześniak

Jarosław Jakimczyk, Grzegorz Indulski
"Skarb tajniaków," Agencja Wydawnicza Wprost, 37/2006 (1239)
/ref> All of the accused generals were sentenced to life imprisonment, including

Franciszek Herman Franciszek () is a masculine given name of Polish origin (female form Franciszka). It is a cognate of Francis, Francisco, François, and Franz. People with the name include: *Edward Pfeiffer (Franciszek Edward Pfeiffer) (1895–1964), Polish gene ...

, Jerzy Kirchmayer,

Stefan Mossor Stefan Adolf Mossor (23 October 1896, Kraków - 22 September 1957) was a Polish general. Member of the Polish Legions. 1928 - 1930 studied at École Supérieure de Guerre in Paris. In the Second Polish Republic he reached the rank of the lieutena ...

and

Stanisław Tatar Stanisław Tatar '' nom de guerre'' "Stanisław Tabor" (October 3, 1896 – December 16, 1980) was a Polish Army colonel in the interwar period and, during World War II, one of the commanders of Armia Krajowa, Polish resistance movement. He was a ...

. Stanisław Tatar: Polska Podziemna, Radosław "Butryk"" Butryński, 2005 - 2007
/ref> The colonels Marian Jurecki,

Marian Utnik Marian may refer to: People * Mari people, a Finno-Ugric ethnic group in Russia * Marian (given name), a list of people with the given name * Marian (surname), a list of people so named Places *Marian, Iran (disambiguation) * Marian, Queensland, ...

and

Stanisław Nowicki Stanislav and variants may refer to: People *Stanislav (given name), a Slavic given name with many spelling variations (Stanislaus, Stanislas, Stanisław, etc.) Places * Stanislav, a coastal village in Kherson, Ukraine * Stanislaus County, Cali ...

were sentenced to 15 years in prison, while Major Roman and Commander Wacek were sentenced to 12 years. In the so-called "splinter trials", an additional 86 officers of the Polish Army, Navy and Air Forces were arrested and tried. Most of them were tortured by the secret police ( Urząd Bezpieczeństwa) under Roman Romkowski. The Doomed Soldiers. An Account of interrogation methods.
Polish Underground Soldiers 1944-1963. The Untold Story. DoomedSoldiers.com Around 40 indicted officers were condemned to death. Only the first 20 executions were carried out (see also:

1951 Mokotów Prison execution Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United K ...

). In 1956, after the end of

Stalinism Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the theory ...

in Poland, all of the imprisoned were set free, and rehabilitated soon afterwards during the Polish October, except for Gen. Herman who was killed in prison. It was not until 1990 before War of Laws that all wrongfully accused were fully rehabilitated (except for General Mossor).

References

* Poksińki Jerzy
''"TUN". Tatar-Utnik-Nowicki.''
1992, Bellona Publishing, Warsaw, 304 pages. . {{History of the Polish People's Republic Generals, Trial of the 1951 in case law 1951 in Poland Stalinism in Poland July 1953 events in Europe August 1953 events in Europe

See also

References