Zenon Kliszko | |
|---|---|
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| Member of thePolitburo of thePolish United Workers' Party | |
| In office 1959–1970 | |
| Deputy Marshal of theSejm | |
| In office 20 February 1957 – 13 February 1971 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1908-12-08)8 December 1908 |
| Died | 4 September 1989(1989-09-04) (aged 80) Warsaw, Poland |
| Political party | Polish United Workers' Party |
| Alma mater | Warsaw University |
Zenon Kliszko (8 December 1908 – 4 September 1989), was a politician in thePolish People's Republic, considered theright-hand man ofPolish United Workers' Party (PZPR) leaderWładysław Gomułka. He was born inŁódź and died inWarsaw.
Kliszko graduated fromWarsaw University and joined theCommunist Party of Poland in 1931. He was arrested in 1934 for anti-state agitation and released after the courts established that he was mentally challenged.[1] Kliszko took part in theWarsaw Uprising duringNazi Germany'soccupation of Poland and escaped capture by swimming across theVistula river. He met Gomułka inLublin, befriended him, and became the KC PZPRfunctionary after the Soviet takeover in 1945.
On Kliszko´s advice and recommendation, the communist party took down the production ofDziady byMickiewicz at thePolish Theatre inWarsaw, leading to the1968 Polish political crisis and student protests across the country, brutally suppressed byORMO, as well as the expulsion from Poland of thousands of individuals ofJewish ancestry.[2]
Kliszko was responsible for issuing an order to regular army units underGeneralBolesław Chocha to open fire on striking workers inGdańsk andGdynia during thePolish 1970 protests. The protests would lead to Gomułka's resignation in December 1970; shortly thereafter, Kliszko was fired from his position and removed from the PZPR byEdward Gierek.[2]
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Order of the Builders of People's Poland (1964)[3]
Order of the Banner of Labour (1959)[4]
Order of the Cross of Grunwald, 2nd Class (1959)
Silver Cross ofVirtuti Militari
Medal for Warsaw 1939–1945 (17 January 1946)[5]
Medal of Ludwik Waryński (1986)[6]
Badge of the 1000th Anniversary of the Polish State (1963)[7]
Grand Officer ofOrder of Merit of the Italian Republic (Italy, 1965)[8]
Order of the People's Republic of Bulgaria, 1st Class (Bulgaria, 1967)[9]
Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin" (USSR, 1969))[10]| International | |
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