Bolesław Bierut

Life

Bierut was born in Rury, now a part of Lublin, to Wojciech Bierut, a village teacher, and his wife Maria (née Biernacka). In 1918 he took courses at the Warsaw School of Economics. From 1924–30, he was in Moscow for training at the school of the Communist International.

In 1930–31, he was sent by the Comintern to Austria, Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria. In 1933 he became an agent of Soviet military intelligence, the GRU, and subsequently, was sentenced in Poland to 10 years in prison for "anti-state activities" (incarcerated between 1933–1938). The pro-Soviet Communist Party of Poland was dissolved by Joseph Stalin in 1938. Bierut avoided being caught in the Great Purge, which led to the execution of many leaders of the Communist Party of Poland in the USSR. After an amnesty from the Polish government in 1938 Bierut settled down in Warsaw and worked as a bookkeeper in a cooperative.

After the outbreak of World War II, Bierut left Warsaw and through Lublin went to eastern Poland, which was soon occupied by the Red Army. Bierut spent part of the war in the Soviet Union, but was sent to Poland to join the leadership of the new Polish Workers' Party (PPR) in 1943. He headed the State National Council (Krajowa Rada Narodowa), a communist quasi-parliament established by Władysław Gomułka and the PPR, from 1944 to 1947. With Gomułka and others, Bierut played a leading role in the establishment of communist Poland.

From 1947 to 1952, he served as President and then (after the abolition of the Presidency with the creation of the People's Republic of Poland) Prime Minister. He was also the first Secretary General of the ruling Polish United Workers Party from 1948 to 1956. Bierut oversaw the trials of many Polish wartime military leaders, such as General Stanisław Tatar and Brig. General Emil August Fieldorf, as well as 40 members of the Wolność i Niezawisłość (Freedom and Independence) organisation, various church officials, and many other opponents of the new regime including the "hero of Auschwitz", Witold Pilecki, condemned to death during secret trials. Bierut signed many of those death sentences.

Death

Bierut died under mysterious circumstances in Moscow on 12 March 1956 during a visit to the Soviet Union, shortly after attending the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during which Nikita Khrushchev delivered his "Secret Speech", denouncing Stalin's cult of personality. His death gave rise to speculation about poisoning or suicide.

Speculations about identity

Polish historian Paweł Wieczorkiewicz posited that Bierut might have had a Soviet-sent double (an NKVD agent) posing as Bierut since 1943 with his full knowledge. Wieczorkiewicz referred to an account of Piotr Jaroszewicz made soon before his death, and published by Bohdan Roliński. The Polish President's double was shot dead by an unidentified assassin – likely another agent wearing an NKVD uniform and killed at the scene – at the Hotel Francuski in Kraków, Poland in 1947. The real "Bierut" showed up half an hour later and calmed the security according to statement made by one of them. The assassination attempt was kept secret by the authorities. Wieczorkiewicz himself referred to this theory as an urban legend.