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Albin Siwak

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Albin Siwak in 1981

Albin Siwak (January 27, 1933 – April 4, 2019[1]) was a Polish politician, construction worker and a social activist, who acted as a government sponsored antagonist of opposition leader Lech Wałęsa during the 1980s. After his career in the People's Republic, Siwak held nationalist and anti-semitic views, arguing that Solidarity had been a Jewish conspiracy.[2]

Biography

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Son of Józef and Czesława née Mielczarek.[3] He was born in Wołomin. In 1935 he and his family moved to Praga.[3] His father was a member of the Polish Socialist Party, his mother worked as a housewife. He spent World War II and occupation of Poland with his family in Warsaw.[4] After the war, he and his father left for the Recovered Territories, where in the village of Lutry.[5] He completed seven classes of elementary school.

In 1950 he went to Warsaw in search of work. He was directed to the masonry brigade. He quickly became a shock worker and then a foreman.[6] He took part in the construction of Nowa Huta.[7] From the 1950s he was an active activist in trade unions. From 1968 he belonged to the Polish United Workers' Party.[8] He was delegate for the VIII, IX and X Congress of the Polish United Workers' Party. In 1979, the Congress of Trade Unions elected him a member of the World Federation of Trade Unions.

From July 1981 was a member of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers' Party. From 1981 to 1986 was a member of the Politburo of the Polish United Workers' Party. In the 1980s, he was an opponent and critic of Solidarity movement. From 1986 he was a councilor of the Polish Embassy in Tripoli. Dismissed from his diplomatic position in March 1990 by Foreign Minister Krzysztof Skubiszewski.[9][6][10]

After 1990, he was a member of the Social Democracy of the Republic of Poland. He was removed from the party after a conflict with Leszek Miller. Siwak later joined the Catholic nationalist National Party "Ojczyzna".[11]

Siwak wrote nomerous autobiographic books after retirement, reflecting on his personal journey from mason to diplomat, his political conversion from communist and atheist to nationalist and Catholic, expatiating the socio-political changes in Poland during his lifetime.[12] In 2001, a biopic was released.[13] Towards the end of his life, he aligned with the radical panslavic movement and engaged in bogus archeology.[14] He and his wife had three children.[12]

Publications

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  • Od łopaty do dyplomaty. Wydawnictwo Projekt, Warszawa 2000. ISBN 83-87168-21-1.
  • Rozdarte życie. Wydawnictwo Projekt, Warszawa 2000. ISBN 83-87168-23-8.
  • Trwałe ślady. Wydawnictwo Żywe Kamienie, Toruń 2002. ISBN 978-83-913800-2-4.
  • Historie niewiarygodnie prawdziwe z zakątka Warmii. Wydawnictwo Regionalista, Olsztyn 2009. ISBN 978-83-927282-3-8
  • Bez strachu, tom I, Printed by Europa, 2008.
  • Bez strachu, tom II, Warszawa 2009. ISBN 978-83-930071-2-7.
  • Bez strachu, tom III, Warszawa 2011. ISBN 978-83-930071-3-4.
  • Chciałbym dożyć takich dni, Warszawa 2013. ISBN 978-83-930071-4-1.
  • Syndrom gotowanej żaby, Warszawa 2015. ISBN 978-83-930071-1-0.
  • Utajniony wyrok, Warszawa 2018. ISBN 978-83-930071-6-5.

References

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  1. ^ Eckardt, Maciej (13 April 2019). "Wczoraj pochowano Albina Siwaka - ikonę PRL-u". salon24.pl (in Polish). Salon24. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
  2. ^ Przemysław Gasztold: Towarzysze z betonu. Dogmatyzm w PZPR 1980–1990. Warszawa: Instytut Pamięci Narodowej, 2019. ISBN 978-83-8098-865-1.
  3. ^ a b "Aferyprawa - Albin Siwak - Bez strachu - WSPOMNIENIA STARE I NOWE - czyli jak ujarzmiano Polskę i Polaków". www.aferyprawa.eu. Retrieved 2020-01-12.
  4. ^ "Biuletyn Informacji Publicznej Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej". katalog.bip.ipn.gov.pl. Retrieved 2020-01-13.
  5. ^ "Historia. Ochrzcili mnie betonem i ciemniakiem". gazetaolsztynska.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2020-01-12.
  6. ^ a b Koczanowicz, Leszek (2008). Politics of Time: Dynamics of Identity in Post-Communist Poland. New York: Berghahn Books. p. 35. ISBN 978-1-84545-510-1. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  7. ^ "Biuletyn Informacji Publicznej Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej". katalog.bip.ipn.gov.pl. Retrieved 2024-09-10.
  8. ^ "Trwały ślad po Siwaku… | Myśl Polska". www.mysl-polska.pl. Retrieved 2020-01-13.
  9. ^ "Doc. 4880: Situation in Poland and East-West Relations". Documents: Working Papers of the Thirty-Fourth Ordinary Session, First Part, Volume 2. Stausborg: Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. 19 April 1982. p. 58. 10. The most prominent of hardliners are Albin Siwak, a member of the Politburo and Tadeusz Grebski
  10. ^ Michnik, Adam (1998). Grudzińska Gross, Irena (ed.). Letters from freedom post-cold war realities and perspectives. Translated by Cave, Jane. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 271. ISBN 978-0-520-92249-5. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  11. ^ Cf. flap text of "Bez strachu" [Without fear], see https://tezeusz.pl/bez-strachu-siwak-albin-809076.
  12. ^ a b "Od łopaty do dyplomaty". wydarzenia.interia.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2024-09-08.
  13. ^ "Ja, robotnik budowlany (Ja, robotnik budowlany)". www.sfp.org.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2024-09-08.
  14. ^ "Wyborcza.pl". wyborcza.pl. Retrieved 2024-09-08.


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