Wojciech Jaruzelski
Wojciech Witold Jaruzelski (Polish: [ˈvɔjt ɕɛx jaruˈzɛlskʲi] ( listen); 6 July 1923 – 25 May 2014) was a Polish military officer and communist politician. He was First Secretary of the Polish United Workers' Party from 1981 to 1989, and as such was the last leader of the Communist People's Republic of Poland. He also served as 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, which led to democratic elections in Poland. Jaruzelski was chiefly responsible for the imposition of martial law in Poland on 13 December 1981 in an attempt to crush the pro-democracy movements, which included Solidarity, the first non-Communist trade union in Warsaw Pact history. Subsequent years saw his communist government and its internal security forces censor, persecute, and jail thousands of journalists and opposition activists without charge; others lost their lives during these same events. The resulting socio-economic crisis led to the rationing of basic foods such as sugar, milk, and meat, as well as materials such as gasoline and consumer products, while the median income of the population fell by as much as 40 percent. During Jaruzelski's rule from 1981 to 1989, around 700,000 people left the country.