Władysław Dworakowski (10 September 1908 in
Oblasy – 17 November 1976 in
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
) was a
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
*Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
communist politician and statesman.
Biography
Dworakowski was born in to a poor peasant family in the
Lublin Governorate
Lublin Governorate (russian: Люблинская губерния, pl, Gubernia lubelska) was an administrative unit (Governorates of the Russian Empire, governorate) of Congress Poland.
History
The Lublin Governorate was created in 1837 fro ...
. He was a locksmith by profession and was active in the workers's movement. Dworakowski joined the
Young Communist League of Poland in 1931and later the
Communist Party of Poland
The interwar Communist Party of Poland ( pl, Komunistyczna Partia Polski, KPP) was a communist party active in Poland during the Second Polish Republic. It resulted from a December 1918 merger of the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland a ...
in 1934 and was a member of the party until its dissolution in 1938.
In 1941-1942 he was a member of the Association of Friends of the Soviet Union and later joined the
Polish Workers' Party
The Polish Workers' Party ( pl, Polska Partia Robotnicza, PPR) was a communist party in Poland from 1942 to 1948. It was founded as a reconstitution of the Communist Party of Poland (KPP) and merged with the Polish Socialist Party (PPS) in 1948 ...
shortly after its foundation. He was member of the anti-Nazi resistance in Poland and was a soldier in
Gwardia Ludowa
Gwardia Ludowa (; People's Guard) or GL was a communist underground armed organization created by the communist Polish Workers' Party in German occupied Poland, with sponsorship from the Soviet Union. Formed in early 1942, within a short time Gw ...
and also participated in the
Warsaw Uprising
The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occ ...
.
After World War II he was a high ranking functionary in the PPR and later the Polish United Workers' Party. He was the secretary of the Central Committee and the Party District Committees in
Gdańsk
Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...
,
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
and
Łódź
Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of canti ...
. From November 1952 to March 1954 Dworakowski was
Deputy Prime Minister of the People's Republic of Poland in the government of
Bolesław Bierut
Bolesław Bierut (; 18 April 1892 – 12 March 1956) was a Polish communist activist and politician, leader of the Polish People's Republic from 1947 until 1956. He was President of the State National Council from 1944 to 1947, President of Polan ...
. At the Second Party Congress in 1954, he became a member of the
Politburo
A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states.
Names
The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian ''Politbyuro'' (), itself a contraction ...
of the
Central Committee
Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of Communist party, communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party org ...
and at the same time Secretary of the Central Committee of the PZPR.
In 1951 Dworakowski expressed condemnation of
Władysław Gomułka
Władysław Gomułka (; 6 February 1905 – 1 September 1982) was a Polish communist politician. He was the ''de facto'' leader of post-war Poland from 1947 until 1948. Following the Polish October he became leader again from 1956 to 1970. Go ...
's "polonization policy", which disregarded communist doctrines, and accused Gomułka: "Full of hatred for the Soviet Union, Gomułka led an action through which our working masses were to be won over to the bourgeoisie and the large bourgeois landowners". He was among the people responsible Gomułka's arrest.
In December 1954 the
Ministry of Public Security was disbanded and its functions were divided in to two different committees and Dworakowski became the chairman of
Committee for Public Security (KdsBP).
After the
Polish October
Polish October (), also known as October 1956, Polish thaw, or Gomułka's thaw, marked a change in the politics of Poland in the second half of 1956. Some social scientists term it the Polish October Revolution, which was less dramatic than the ...
, Dworakowski was one of the politicians who were against the Gomułka reforms and eventually created the
Natolin faction Natolin faction was a faction within the leadership of the communist Polish United Workers' Party (Polish: PZPR). Formed around 1956, shortly after the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, it was named after the place where its ...
alongside other party hardliners. Eventually the Natolins lost the power struggle within the PZPR, and Dworakowski who was one of the most outspoken members of the faction was significantly demoted within the party and lost his membership in the Politburo in 1956.
In 1959, Dworakowski left the party and returned to his profession as a locksmith. Later he joined
Kazimierz Mijal's
Communist Party of Poland
The interwar Communist Party of Poland ( pl, Komunistyczna Partia Polski, KPP) was a communist party active in Poland during the Second Polish Republic. It resulted from a December 1918 merger of the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland a ...
and was involved in underground activity for the party.
Władysław Dworakowski died in 1971 at the age of 68 and despite his stance against the PZPR received a state funeral. He was buried at the
Powązki Military Cemetery
Powązki Military Cemetery (; pl, Cmentarz Wojskowy na Powązkach) is an old military cemetery located in the Żoliborz district, western part of Warsaw, Poland. The cemetery is often confused with the older Powązki Cemetery, known colloquial ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dworakowski, Wladyslaw
1908 births
1976 deaths
Polish communists
Members of the Politburo of the Polish United Workers' Party
Communist Party of Poland politicians
Members of the State National Council
Members of the Polish Sejm 1947–1952
Polish atheists
Polish anti-fascists
Anti-revisionists
Recipients of the Order of the Banner of Work
Recipients of the Gold Cross of Merit (Poland)
Burials at Powązki Military Cemetery
Hoxhaists