Wojciech Jaruzelski
Born 6 July 1923 in Kurow, is a retired Polish military officer and politician. When Poland was invaded by Germany Jaruzelski and his family were captured by the army of the Soviet Union, and deported to Siberia. In 1940 at the age of sixteen, Jaruzelski was sent to the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, where he performed forced labour in the Karaganda coal mines. During his labour work, having experienced snow blindness, he suffered permanent damage to his eyes and back. The damage to his eyes forced him to wear dark sunglasses most of the time, which became his trademark. After the end of the war, Jaruzelski graduated from the Polish Higher Infantry School, an event which was followed by a graduation from the General Staff Academy. He joined Poland\'s communist party, the Polish United Workers Party, in 1948. Jaruzelski became the chief political officer of the Polish armed forces in 1960, its chief of staff in 1964; and he became the Polish Minister of Defense in 1968. On 11 February 1981, Jaruzelski was elected Prime Minister of Poland. A fortnight after taking power, Jaruzelski met with Solidarity head Lech WaĹÄsa and Catholic primate JĂłzef Glemp, and hinted that he wanted to bring the church and the union in a sort of coalition government. However, he intended all along to crush Solidarity. On 13 December, citing recordings of Solidarity leaders planning a coup (which later turned out to be forgeries), Jaruzelski proclaimed martial law. A Military Council of National Salvation was formed, with Jaruzelski as chairman. He was the last Communist leader of Poland from 1981 to 1989, Prime Minister from 1981 to 1985 and the country\'s head of state from 1985 to 1990. He was also the last commander-in-chief of the Polish People\'s Army (LWP). He resigned from power after the Polish Round Table Agreement in 1989 that led to democratic elections in Poland. Alongside the Soviet Union\'s Mikhail Gorbachev and East Germany\'s Egon Krenz, Jaruzelski is the last surviving leader of an Eastern Bloc nation.
