Kazimierz Pużak (1883–1950) was a Polish socialist politician of the

interwar In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relativel ...

period. Active in the

Polish Socialist Party The Polish Socialist Party ( pl, Polska Partia Socjalistyczna, PPS) is a socialist political party in Poland. It was one of the most important parties in Poland from its inception in 1892 until its merger with the communist Polish Workers' P ...

, he was one of the leaders of the

Polish Secret State The Polish Underground State ( pl, Polskie Państwo Podziemne, also known as the Polish Secret State) was a single political and military entity formed by the union of resistance organizations in occupied Poland that were loyal to the Gover ...

and Polish resistance, sentenced by the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

s in the infamous

Trial of the Sixteen The Trial of the Sixteen ( pl, Proces szesnastu) was a staged trial of 16 leaders of the Polish Underground State held by the Soviet authorities in Moscow in 1945. All captives were kidnapped by the NKVD secret service and falsely accused of var ...

in 1945.

Biography

Born on 26 August 1883 in a family of

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

origins in

Tarnopol Ternópil ( uk, Тернопіль, Ternopil' ; pl, Tarnopol; yi, טאַרנאָפּל, Tarnopl, or ; he, טארנופול (טַרְנוֹפּוֹל), Tarnopol; german: Tarnopol) is a city in the west of Ukraine. Administratively, Ternopi ...

, he studied law in

Lwów University The University of Lviv ( uk, Львівський університет, Lvivskyi universytet; pl, Uniwersytet Lwowski; german: Universität Lemberg, briefly known as the ''Theresianum'' in the early 19th century), presently the Ivan Franko Na ...

but dropped his studies to become a full-time political activist. He joined the

around 1904 and was the cofounder, together with

Józef Piłsudski ), Vilna Governorate, Russian Empire (now Lithuania) , death_date = , death_place = Warsaw, Poland , constituency = , party = None (formerly PPS) , spouse = , children = Wan ...

, of

Polish Socialist Party - Revolutionary Faction 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 ...

(''Polska Partia Socjalistyczna - Frakcja Rewolucyjna'') in 1905. A member of the

Combat Organization of the Polish Socialist Party The Combat Organization of the Polish Socialist Party ( pl, Organizacja Bojowa Polskiej Partii Socjalistycznej, abbreviated ''OBPPS''), also translated as Fighting Organization of the Polish Socialist Party; also known as ''bojówki'' ( paramilita ...

, in 1909 together with

Henryk Minkiewicz Henryk Minkiewicz (19 January 1880 – 9 April 1940) was a Polish socialist politician and a general of the Polish Army. Former commander of the Border Defence Corps, he was among the Polish officers murdered in the Katyń massacre.; ; ; ; ; ; L ...

he participated in the

assassination Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...

of a provocateur and police agent Edmund Taranowicz. In 1911 arrested by the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

government for activism in the Polish revolutionary and pro-independence movement, he was sentenced to 8 years of

katorga Katorga ( rus, ка́торга, p=ˈkatərɡə; from medieval and modern Greek: ''katergon, κάτεργον'', "galley") was a system of penal labor in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union (see Katorga labor in the Soviet Union). Prisoner ...

and exile in Siberia afterwards. For a time he was imprisoned in

Shlisselburg Fortress The fortress at Shlisselburg is one of a series of fortifications built in Shlisselburg on Orekhovy Island in Lake Ladoga, near the present-day city of Saint Petersburg, Russia. The first fortress was built in 1323. It was the scene of many confli ...

. He was released during the

Russian Revolution of 1917 The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...

, in which he briefly participated. Pużak returned to activism in the PPS after 1918, becoming one of its leading activists. From 1921 to 1939 he was the Secretary General of the Central Executive Committee of PPS. He served as one of the secretaries in the government of

Jędrzej Moraczewski Jędrzej Edward Moraczewski (; 13 January 1870 – 5 August 1944) was a Polish socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownershi ...

and became known—despite his socialist background—as a relative conservative, opposing some of most radical demands of the workers (supported by the

communists Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a so ...

). He opposed the escalation of the Polish-Soviet War, and supported the

Silesian Uprisings The Silesian Uprisings (german: Aufstände in Oberschlesien, Polenaufstände, links=no; pl, Powstania śląskie, links=no) were a series of three uprisings from August 1919 to July 1921 in Upper Silesia, which was part of the Weimar Republic ...

. Elected as a deputy to

Sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of t ...

(Polish parliament) in all elections from 1919 to 1935, first from

Zagłębie Dąbrowskie Zagłębie in Polish means coalfield. It can refer to: *Górnośląskie Zagłębie Węglowe, a mining region *Zagłębie Dąbrowskie, a mining region *Zagłębie Sosnowiec, an association football club *Zagłębie Lubin, an association football clu ...

region, later from

Częstochowa Częstochowa ( , ; german: Tschenstochau, Czenstochau; la, Czanstochova) is a city in southern Poland on the Warta River with 214,342 inhabitants, making it the thirteenth-largest city in Poland. It is situated in the Silesian Voivodeship (admin ...

, he often negotiated with the workers in those regions and supported their

strike Strike may refer to: People * Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...

s. Participated in underground Polish political life in

occupied Poland ' (Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 October 2 ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In 1939 Pużak became one of the founders of the underground

(''Polska Partia Socjalistyczna''), the PPS-WRN (''Polish Socialist Party - Liberty Equality Independence'' or ''Polska Partia Socjalistyczna - Wolność, Równość, Niepodległość''). He was commander-in-chief of

Gwardia Ludowa WRN :''Gwardia Ludowa WRN was a leftist mainstream political organization; to learn more about the communist pro-Soviet formation see Gwardia Ludowa.'' Gwardia Ludowa WRN (GL WRN, People's Guard of WRN) was a part of the Polish resistance movement in W ...

(''People's Guard WRN'') which was the military organization of the PPS. He was PPS representative in the underground

Main Political Council Main Political Council ( pl, Główna Rada Polityczna) was a political advisory body created in Poland as part of Service for Poland's Victory resistance organisation during the early stages of World War II. A sort of an underground quasi-parliamen ...

(''Główna Rada Polityczna''). Since 1940 he was a member of the

Political Consultative Committee Political Consultative Committee ( pl, Polityczny Komitet Porozumiewawczy, ''PKP'') was the beginning of the political arm of the Polish Secret State in occupied Poland during World War II. It was formed on 26 February 1940 by several Polish politi ...

(''Polityczny Komitet Porozumiewawczy'') at

Union of Armed Struggle Związek Walki Zbrojnej ( abbreviation: ''ZWZ''; Union of Armed Struggle;Thus rendered in Norman Davies, ''God's Playground: A History of Poland'', vol. II, p. 464. also translated as ''Union for Armed Struggle'', ''Association of Armed Strug ...

(''Związek Walki Zbrojnej, ZWZ''). Head of the Council of National Unity (''Rada Jedności Narodowej'') since 1944. He played a decisive role in formulating the programmatic declaration "What the Polish nation is fighting for?", strongly opposing any cooperation with the

. In May 1944 nominated for vice-president, but he declined, refusing to leave Poland. During 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 ...

(August 1–October 1, 1944)—which he criticized before it was started—Pużak was 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 ...

. After the capitulation of the capital, he left the city together with the civil population and continued his underground activities. After the Soviet forces drove the Germans from Polish territories,

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. ...

general

Ivan Serov Ivan Alexandrovich Serov (russian: Ива́н Алекса́ндрович Серóв; 13 August 1905 – 1 July 1990) was a Russian Soviet intelligence officer who served as the head of the KGB between March 1954 and December 1958, as well as h ...

invited Polish underground leaders for negotiations to discuss the aftermath of the

Yalta Agreement The Yalta Conference (codenamed Argonaut), also known as the Crimea Conference, held 4–11 February 1945, was the World War II meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union to discuss the post ...

. Pużak suspected deceit but nonetheless decided to attend to show the willingness of the resistance to work within the Yalta framework. He was promptly arrested by the Soviets, together with fifteen other Polish leaders. In the

, which took place in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

in 1945, he was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Released in November 1945 after an amnesty, he refused to emigrate and instead elected to stay in Poland and continue his activity in the anti-communist opposition. During that time, he wrote his memoirs (''Wspomnienia 1939-1945'', published in Paris in 1977). Pużak was again arrested by the

Urząd Bezpieczeństwa The Ministry of Public Security ( pl, Ministerstwo Bezpieczeństwa Publicznego), commonly known as UB or later SB, was the secret police, intelligence and counter-espionage agency operating in the Polish People's Republic. From 1945 to 1954 it w ...

in 1947 and 1948. After another

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 ...

against leaders of the PPS-WRN, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison, which was later reduced to 5 years imprisonment. Pużak died in prison in

Rawicz Rawicz (; german: Rawitsch) is a town in west-central Poland with 21,398 inhabitants as of 2004. It is situated in the Greater Poland Voivodeship (since 1999); previously it was in Leszno Voivodeship (1975–1998). It is the capital of Rawicz C ...

on April 30, 1950, and was secretly buried in

Powązki Cemetery Powązki Cemetery (; pl, Cmentarz Powązkowski), also known as Stare Powązki ( en, Old Powązki), is a historic necropolis located in Wola district, in the western part of Warsaw, Poland. It is the most famous cemetery in the city and one of t ...

. During World War II, he was awarded with

Virtuti Militari The War Order of Virtuti Militari (Latin: ''"For Military Virtue"'', pl, Order Wojenny Virtuti Militari) is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war. It was created in 1792 by Polish King Stan ...

(V class) and

posthumously Posthumous may refer to: * Posthumous award - an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death * Posthumous publication – material published after the author's death * ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1987 * ''Posthumous'' (E ...

with the

Armia Krajowa Cross The Cross of the Home Army ( pl, Krzyż Armii Krajowej) is a Polish military decoration that was introduced by General Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski on 1 August 1966 to commemorate the efforts of the soldiers of the Polish Secret State between 1939 and ...

by the

Polish government in exile The Polish government-in-exile, officially known as the Government of the Republic of Poland in exile ( pl, Rząd Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej na uchodźstwie), was the government in exile of Poland formed in the aftermath of the Invasion of Pola ...

. In

post-communist Post-communism is the period of political and economic transformation or transition in former communist states located in Eastern Europe and parts of Africa and Asia in which new governments aimed to create free market-oriented capitalist economi ...

Poland in 1996, he was posthumously decorated with the Order of the White Eagle.

Notes

References

*
KAZIMIERZ PUŻAK
bio at Muzeum Powstania Warszawskiego *

*

* Waldemar Chamala

*

WIEM Encyklopedia WIEM Encyklopedia (full name in pl, Wielka Interaktywna Encyklopedia Multimedialna - "Great Interactive Multimedia Encyclopedia"; in Polish, ''wiem'' also means 'I know') is a Polish Internet encyclopedia. The first printed edition was released i ...

Kazimierz Pużak
{{DEFAULTSORT:Puzak, Kazimierz 1883 births 1950 deaths Politicians from Ternopil People from the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Polish Socialist Party politicians Members of the Legislative Sejm of the Second Polish Republic Members of the Sejm of the Second Polish Republic (1922–1927) Members of the Sejm of the Second Polish Republic (1928–1930) Members of the Sejm of the Second Polish Republic (1930–1935) Warsaw Uprising insurgents Recipients of the Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari Recipients of the Armia Krajowa Cross Polish deportees to Soviet Union Polish people detained by the NKVD Prisoners who died in Polish People's Republic detention Burials at Powązki Cemetery Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland)