Club of Generals of the Polish Army

The Association of Retired Generals and Admirals of the Armed Forces of the NDP was established in 1996 . It was a period of “post-PORP political revenge”: the majority in the Sejm belonged to the SDLS and its allies, the government was headed by the former secretary of the PORP party committee, Vlodzimezh Tsimosevich , and the former head of the Komsomol of Poland, Alexander Kwasniewski , served as president . On October 23, 1996, the post-communist majority of the Sejm decided to terminate the proceedings on violations of the law when martial law was introduced on December 13, 1981 .

In these political conditions, the creation of an organization of former commanders of the NDP was considered timely. On November 27, 1996, the Polish Army Generals Club ( KGWP ) was established ^[1] .

According to the Charter, the goals of the KGWP are to develop the patriotic traditions of the Armed Forces of Poland , to strengthen the authority of the officer corps in society, the interaction of retired military officials with active military personnel, and to protect the social interests of the Polish military, including members of the Club. The main methods of work are the organization of meetings, "the development and popularization of proposals aimed at strengthening the defense of the state, taking into account the many years of life experience of the Club members." At the same time, “maintaining relations and cooperation with the Ministry of National Defense and the General Staff ” is specifically stipulated.

KGWP members provide expert assessments and recommendations on the development of the armed forces, visit military units, educational institutions and defense enterprises. They cultivate in every possible way the study of the military history of Poland, the preservation and erection of monuments - including to the victims of the Katyn execution . However, even this side of the KGWP’s activity causes mixed reactions, as there are many members of the communist repressions among the Club members ^[2] .

Relations of the Ministry of Defense with the Club are open ^[3] . On September 18, 2013 , Polish Minister of Defense Tomasz Semonyak publicly met with KGWP chairman Roman Garmoza (the argument was that “General Garmoza made his career mainly after 1989 ”) ^[4] . A cooperation agreement was signed between the Ministry and the Club. The KGWP was entrusted with the functions of patriotic education of youth, propaganda of military service and historical traditions of the Polish Army ^[5] .

Separately, the KGWP held ceremonial and business meetings with Army General Wojciech Jaruzelski - the former Minister of Defense of the NDP, the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the PUWP , the Chairman of the Council, the Minister of NDP , the Chairman of the State Council of the NDP , and the Chairman of the Military Council for National Salvation . At the same time, General Jaruzelsky himself was not a member of KGWP.

The governing bodies of KGWP are the general meeting of members, the Club Council and the Revision Commission. The general meeting is convened once every three years and elects the Council. In between meetings, the Club is led by a Council that elects a chairman, his deputies, a secretary and a treasurer. The Revision Commission submits financial reports to the general meeting. KGWP funds are funded by membership fees and voluntary contributions.

Local organizations of the Club are established by five members - generals or reserve admirals . According to the latest official information (on April 1, 2011 , several people have died since then) 79 generals were in the KGWP. The average age is 75 years, the age range is from 54 to 92. More than a third of the Club members are over 80 years old. About a hundred people have the status of honorary members of the KGWP.

Club Chairpersons

• General of Armor ( Air Force and Air Defense ) Roman Pashkovsky ( 1996 - 1998 )
• Division General ( border troops ) Mechislav Dembitsky ( 1998 - 2001 )
• Division General ( tank troops ) Mechislav Dakhovsky ( 2001 - 2004 )
• Division General ( Artillery ) Franciszek Pukhala ( 2004 - 2007 )
• Brigade General (Air Force) Roman Garmoza (since 2007 )

Chairmen of the Audit Commission

• Division General (tank troops) Zdzislaw Graczyk ( 1996 - 1997 )
• Brigade General (tank troops) Romuald Krulak ( 1997 - 2001 )
• Brigade general ( ground forces , political agencies ) Vladislav Jura ( 2001 - 2004 )
• Brigade general (tank troops) Kazimierz Lesnyak ( 2004 - 2007 )
• Division General ( motorized rifle troops ) Apoloniush Golik ( 2007 - 2010 )
• Brigade General ( Engineering Troops ) Roman Pusyak (since 2010 )

When the KGWP was created, several members of the Military Council for National Salvation ( WRON ), a martial authority of martial law from 1981 to 1983, joined the Club. The deputy chairman of Pashkovsky in 1996-1997 was the brigade general ( Airborne Forces , motorized rifle troops) Jerzy Jarosz - who was in charge of WRON's position in the Masovian Voivodeship . The deputy chairman of Dembitsky in 1998 - 2001 was the division general (ground forces) Tadeusz Gupalowski - curator of economic policy WRON, minister of administration, economics and environmental protection in the government of Wojciech Jaruzelski .

KGWP members are Armor General (political agencies) Jozef Baryla , who led the WRON military propaganda system; general of armor ( chemical defense troops ) Zbigniew Novak , who oversaw the technical combat readiness of the troops at WRON; division general (tank troops) Jozef Uzzycki , who controlled the situation in Pomerania and Bydgoszcz .

Until his death, the KGWP consisted of the general of armor (tank and motorized infantry troops) Eugeniusz Molchik and the division general (training of military personnel) Zygmunt Zieliński . General Molchik was one of the leaders of WRON, General Zelinsky - the organizer of office work.

One of the founders of KGWP was the division general (military counterintelligence and internal security) Theodor Kufel , a former civilian police officer and functionary of the Ministry of Public Security , a participant in political repressions of the 1940s and 1950s and the anti-Semitic campaign of the late 1960s ^[6] . In the military-political leadership of the NDP, Kufel was considered a "guarantor of loyalty to the Kremlin " ^[7] .

After Kufel’s death in 2016 , General Franciszek Pukhala, one of the organizers of martial law, is considered the most influential figure in the KGWP (“ gray cardinal ”). His closest associate is the division general (military intelligence) Roman Misthal , a military functionary. General Mechislav Dakhovsky also participated in the repressive suppression of Solidarity . From the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, the brigade general (military justice) Jozef Shevchik was the chief military prosecutor and deputy prosecutor general of the NDP. During the period of martial law, he demanded the most severe sentences for the opposing Solidarity activists, especially the Wujek mine strikers ^[8] . Division General (political agencies) Jan Chapla was in charge of the ideological support of repressive campaigns. Division general (military justice) Lucian Chubinsky legally substantiated the use of weapons and special equipment against workers' protests of December 1970 and June 1976 , formulated a simplified procedure for prosecution in martial law. The brigade general (military justice) Marian Ryba was accused by the Institute of National Remembrance of illegal arrests on political charges ^[2] .

The members of the Club Council and vice-chairmen at different times were major military leaders of the NDP: the general of armor (ground forces) Zbigniew Zalewski , the general of the division (Air Defense) Henrik Petrczak , the general of the division (intelligence and counterintelligence) Boleslav Izidorchik , the general of the division (motorized rifle troops Blanchman Zb ) General Brigade (Corps of Engineers) Henryk Mika , Brigade General (armored troops) Valerian Owl , Brigade General (armored troops) Peter Pshilutsky , General division (army) Leszek Ulandovsky , Brigade General ( Korpu Homeland Security ) Ian Syuhninsky , Brigade General (motorized troops, political bodies) Stanislav Brodzinsky , General Division (artillery) Czeslaw Chubryt-Borkowski , General Division (motorized troops) Ian Svyatovets , Brigade General ( Signal Corps ) Henrik Andratsky , Brigade General (war economy ) Marian Vrublevsky , general of the brigade (political agencies) Mechislav Mikhalik and several others.

Some generals of the NDP - members of the KGWP continued their military service after changing the socio-political system in the Third Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth . Jerzy Jarosz commanded the Warsaw Military Police in 1990 - 1992 . After 1990 , Franciszek Pukhala was deputy chief of the General Staff, head of the inspection team of the Ministry of Defense, played a leading role in establishing cooperation with NATO , and developed the Partnership for Peace program. Roman Mishtal in 1991 - 1994 commanded the Polish units of the UN peacekeeping force . Boleslav Izidorchik in 1992 - 1994 headed the Military Information Service . Jan Svyatovets received the rank of division general in 1993 , from President Lech Walesa .

Henryk Andratsky was a member of the National Broadcasting Council in 1994-1997 (appointed by President Valencia). Henryk Mika was the leader of the Self-Defense Party of the Republic of Poland, Andrzej Lepper .

Many observers consider the KGWP to be the structure of political lobbying for conservative post-communist forces associated with the military nomenclature of the time of the NDP. At the same time, the pro-Western position of KGWP in foreign and defense policy, a clear focus on participation in NATO and the European Union is noted. On this basis, a seemingly paradoxical understanding arose between former communist generals and the liberal party Civic Platform ^[1] .

On September 24, 2013 , Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski , a representative of the Civil Platform, a former dissident and Solidarity activist interned in a martial law, officially hosted a group of KGWP members, including former WRON members Zbigniew Novak and Zygmunt Zielinsky ^[9] . This provoked sharp protests of the opposition, especially the right - wing conservative anti - communist Law and Justice Party (PiS), which strictly demanded that the Ministry of Defense stop all cooperation with KGWP ^[10] .

In the 2015 presidential election of 2015 , KGWP officially supported the candidacy of Bronislaw Komorowski ^[11] (a special impression was made by the advocate for liberal Komorowski of such a figure as General Kufel ^[12] ). It was also noted by the opposition and called the “kiss of death” ^[8] . Bronislaw Komorowski was defeated, PiS representative Andrzej Duda was elected president ^[13] .

• Union of Fighters for Freedom and Democracy