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 ...

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

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