Word: gomulka
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...first acts of Wladyslaw Gomulka, after he shot back into power last October on a nationwide upsurge of anti-Russian feeling, was to set Stefan Cardinal Wyszynski, Primate of Poland, free from house arrest. Like Roman Catholic leaders in other Soviet satellites, the cardinal had been taken into custody during the bitter Stalinist struggle to convert the 85% Roman Catholic country to the atheist Communism of its conquerors. Back suddenly in Warsaw, and instantly a national hero. Wyszynski set an example of restraint and patience to the faithful. In sermons and public announcements, he made the same pleas as Gomulka...
...Gomulka, who announced that "Communism is flexible enough for everything except permitting man to exploit man,'' was ready to try all sorts of unorthodox ways to hold Poland for Communism. He named Jerzy Sztachelski, former Minister of Health, to the new Office of Church Affairs. In return for the public pledge of support, Sztachelski quickly conceded the cardinal's representatives' two" main demands: 1) that religious instruction be given in schools for all whose parents ask it; 2) that church appointments no longer be subject to state veto. Having gained these concessions, the Vatican last week...
...first economic consequence of the new independence hit Poland last week. For lack of coal, iron foundries and chemical factories closed down, other heavy industries went on part-time, and the coal-burning railways canceled some 75 regular train schedules. Rushing to the Silesian mining center of Katowice, Wladyslaw Gomulka told the miners that their out put had slid off calamitously since they tasted freedom. Unless they spent more time in the pits and less at meetings, and unless they began obeying mine bosses' orders again, said Gomulka, Poland would not have enough coal to send abroad...
None of these developments appeared to change Gomulka's standing with the Russians. But when he approached the U.S. for tentative economic aid, Moscow cracked down hard. Nor was Moscow standing for multi-party government, along the lines accepted by Premier Nagy in Hungary's five days of freedom. Said Gomulka bluntly last week: "There will be no freedom for bourgeois [Western-type] political parties in this country." For the anarchy which is the real threat to his power he had a warning: "We shall combat ruthlessly provocateurs, scum, and all those who disturb public order, threaten...
...Although Gomulka had won the esteem, and even the affection of his people, for standing up to Russia, he was also doing a fine job of keeping Poland inside the Soviet orbit. At this moment of history his peculiar balance between Communism and patriotism makes him the ideal leader to both sides...