Portal:Poland/Selected biography/16
Paweł Jasienica, born Leon Lech Beynar (1909–1970), was a Polish historian, journalist and soldier. During World War II, Beynar fought in the Polish Army, and later in the Home Army resistance. Near the end of the war, he was also working with the anti-Soviet resistance, which later led to him taking up a new name to hide from the communist government of the People's Republic of Poland. He was associated with the Tygodnik Powszechny Catholic weekly and several other newspapers and magazines. He is best known for his books about pre-partition Poland, which played an important role in popularizing Polish history among several generations of readers. Jasienica became an outspoken critic of the communist censorship, and as a notable dissident, he was persecuted by the government. He was subject to invigilation by security services, and his second wife was in fact a communist secret police agent. Jasienica's books were banned during a brief period prior to his death. (Full article...)