Karol Popiel | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Minister of Justice | |
| In office 20 October 1941 – 20 January 1942 | |
| Prime Minister | Władysław Sikorski |
| Preceded by | Herman Lieberman |
| Succeeded by | Wacław Komarnicki |
| Minister for the reconstruction of public administration | |
| In office 14 July 1943 – 29 November 1944 | |
| Prime Minister | Stanisław Mikołajczyk |
| Succeeded by | Stanisław Sopicki |
| Leader of Labor Party | |
| In office 1945–1946 | |
| Succeeded by | Feliks Widy-Wirski |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 28 October 1887 |
| Died | 6 June 1977 (aged 89) |
| Political party | National Workers' PartyLabor Party |
Karol Michał Popiel (28 October 1887 – 6 June 1977) was a Polishpolitician of thechristian democracy tendency andwriter. DuringWorld War II Popiel served asMinister of Justice from 1941 to 1942 and Minister for the reconstruction of public administration from 1943 to 1944 in thePolish government in exile. After the end of war, he was a leader of theLabor Party from 1945 to 1946.
He was active inTemporary Commission of Confederated Independence Parties.[1]
DuringWorld War I he fought in thePolish Legions. From 1918 to 1921 he worked inMinisters of Internal Affairs. In 1920 he was one of the founders of theNational Workers' Party, from 1929 to 1937 he was the president of this party. From 1922 to 1927 he was a member of theSejm.
From 1930 he was a member ofCentrolew andFront Morges alliances. In the period from September to December 1930, he was imprisoned by theSanation authorities in theBrest Fortress for political reasons. From 1937 to 1939 he was the vice president and in practice leader of theLabor Party.
AfterGerman aggression against Poland, he went toFrance and later toUnited Kingdom, where he worked in the structures of thePolish government-in-exile. From autumn 1939 to November 1941, he wasundersecretary of state in the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare. He was a supporter of the policy of generalWładysław Sikorski. After theGerman invasion of the Soviet Union, a supporter of the normalization of Polish-Soviet relations.[2] From October 1941 to January 1942, he served as minister of justice. From January 1942 to July 1943, he served asminister without portfolio and from July 1943 to November 1944, he served as minister of reconstruction of public administration.
In the summer of 1945 he returned to Poland.[3] Until 1946, he was a leader ofLabor Party. From December 1945 to March 1946, he was a member of theState National Council. In November 1947 he went to theUnited States. Later he stayed inParis. From 1962 he lived inRome. In exile, he sought recognition byWestern European countries of thePoland-German border on the Oder and Lusatian Neisse.[2]
He devoted himself to writing books. Publications issued in exile inPolish People's Republic due tocensorship were not published until the 1980s.[4][5]
He was buried atPowązki Cemetery inWarsaw.
