WARSAW, March 7. /TASS/. Daughter of the last leader of the Polish People’s Republic, General Wojciech Jaruzelski (1923-2014) has said she will not defy the current authorities’ plans for posthumously stripping her father of the general’s rank and removing his remains from the Powazki Cemetery, where many notable Poles were laid to rest.
"We will wait and see if that happens or not," Monika Jaruzelska told TASS in an interview, adding she had no intention of taking any countermeasures now, because they might have the reverse effect.
"If I tried to resist, this would just make them happy. Our opponents are far stronger," Jaruzelska said. "For now there will be a defensive strategy. Then we’ll see. Despite the policy of presenting my father as one of the darkest personalities in history I hear many warm words about him whenever I meet with the readers of my books," Jaruzelska said.
Asked about the active process of rewriting history, afoot in Poland in recent years, Jaruzelska said "history is a political instrument in the hands of those who come power."
"Part of the audience join their voices to this chorus. But if you take a look at the comments contributed by ordinary world web users, it will become clear that anti-Russian sentiment among ordinary Poles is not so strong as it might seem," she said.
"Some people have just let others to manipulate them. The growing disillusionment in different countries and the current geopolitical trends bring about a situation where greater tensions and surge of emotion are triggered, which leaves no room for a dialog. If find this worrisome. As a person who lives in Poland, sandwiched between such countries as Russia and Germany, I am worried about the current state of affairs."
Poland’s Jaroslaw Kaczynski-led ruling party Law and Justice argues that Jaruzelski’s decision to impose martial law on December 13, 1981 was criminal. Some 3,000 opposition activists, including nearly all leaders of the Solidarity trade union and its founder and leader Lech Walesa were put under arrest. Questioned by a parliamentary commission in December 1992 Jaruzelski assumed the responsibility for that decision.
The possibility of stripping Jaruzelski of his military rank has been discussed in Poland for several years now, but no legal acts have been passed yet. The Law and Justice party now controls parliament and may push ahead with its plan.