Zofia Gomułkowa, or Zofia Gomułka (born Liwa Szoken; 12 May 1902 – 27 November 1986), was a wife of First Secretary of the

Polish United Workers' Party The Polish United Workers' Party (, ), commonly abbreviated to PZPR, was the communist party which ruled the Polish People's Republic as a one-party state from 1948 to 1989. The PZPR had led two other legally permitted subordinate minor parti ...

Władysław Gomułka Władysław Gomułka (; 6 February 1905 – 1 September 1982) was a Polish Communist politician. He was the ''de facto'' leader of Polish People's Republic, post-war Poland from 1947 until 1948, and again from 1956 to 1970. Born in 1905 in ...

, leader of

communist Poland The Polish People's Republic (1952–1989), formerly the Republic of Poland (1947–1952), and also often simply known as Poland, was a country in Central Europe that existed as the predecessor of the modern-day democratic Republic of Poland. ...

from 21 October 1956 until 20 December 1970. Zofia was a pro-Soviet activist since the age of 18, as well as an executive member of the delegalized

Communist Party of Poland The interwar Communist Party of Poland (, 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 and Lithuania (SDKPiL) and the ...

(KPP) in the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

. After the Soviet takeover of Poland at the end of World War II, she initially worked as her husband's secretary and later, as a communist functionary in the

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

headquarters of PZPR.

Life

Liwa Szoken was born in 1902 in

, to an impoverished family of

Orthodox Jews Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and faithfully tr ...

. She left her home at the age of 16, and in 1920 joined the

delegalized in 1919. She worked at a match factory Płomyk in the Warsaw neighbourhood of Pelcowizna '' (pl)'', part of

Praga-Północ Praga-North (Polish language, Polish: ''Praga-Północ''), also known as North Praga, Praga North, is a district of the city of Warsaw, Poland, located in the central part of the city. History Praga is one of the oldest districts in Warsaw. Thro ...

. She met Władysław Gomułka (a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

by birth, and an ironworker) at the age of 25 in 1927. A year earlier, he joined the Communist Party of Poland sponsored financially by the

Communist International The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internationa ...

and served as leader of the Trade Union of Chemical Industry Workers at the time. They started living together in a common-law relationship. Liwa broke all contact with her Jewish family. The next year, Władysław Gomułka, age 23, was transferred to

Zawiercie Zawiercie () () is a town in southern Poland located in the Silesian Voivodeship with 49,334 inhabitants (2019). It is situated in the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland near the source of the Warta River. The town lies near the historical region of Sil ...

. Gomułkowa gave birth to a son there, who died within days. They relocated back to Warsaw and did not return to Zawiercie ever again. In 1930 Zofia Gomułkowa gave birth to her son Ryszard. She did not get married because, in prewar

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, marriage was a religious ceremony. Her common-law husband was arrested in 1932 for communist agitation during a workers' protest in

Łódź Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...

. Upon his release, Władysław Gomułka left Poland for Moscow to study ideology at the Lenin's Academy. She could not afford to keep her son and gave him to Gomułka's family in the village of

Białobrzegi Białobrzegi is a town in Masovian Voivodeship, Poland, about south of Warsaw. It is the capital of the Białobrzegi County and Gmina Białobrzegi (commune). The town is located on the border of the ''Białobrzegi Valley'' and ''Radom Plain'' ...

near

Krosno Krosno (in full ''The Royal Free City of Krosno'', ) is a historical town and Krosno County, county in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in southeastern Poland. The estimated population of the town is 47,140 inhabitants as of 2014. The functional ...

. Ryszard Gomułka-Strzelecki grew up without knowing about his Jewish roots. His daughter Ewa learned about her grandmother's Jewish background only as an adult. Zofia Gomułkowa married Władysław Gomułka in Stalinist Poland on 21 April 1951 in a civil ceremony without a wedding. At about that time, she changed her given name officially from Liwa to Zofia. Years later, she has supported her husband's anti-Zionist campaign of March 1968. Their son remarked that in the opinion of his father, those who like other places better and don't identify with Poland should leave. Notably, Zofia voiced no objections either to the massacre of the striking shipyard workers in 1970, an event that ultimately led to her husband's fall from power.Niezłomni (2014/01/21)
Sekret Władysława Gomułki, czyli o synu pochowanym w tajemnicy na kirkucie. Oraz o żonie, która została „Janem Chrzcicielem PPR”.
Portal informacyjno-historyczny.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gomulkowa, Zofia 1902 births 1986 deaths Politicians from Warsaw Communist Party of Poland politicians Polish Workers' Party politicians Polish atheists