Władysław Kowalski’s Life After Life, or the Fate of the Personal Notes of a Political Activist

Abstract

The article outlines the biography of Władysław Kowalski, Marshal of the Legislative Sejm, leader of the People’s Party (Stronnictwo Ludowe) and the United People’s Party (Zjednoczone Stronnictwo Ludowe), his position in the Polish establishment after the Second World War. It presents a newly found source translated from Russian – Władysław Kowalski’s diary from 1957–1958. The diary contains documents from the USSR embassy in Warsaw concerning the circumstances of its creation. The source shows Kowalski as a radical communist, close to the Natolin faction of the Polish United Workers’ Party. It is also a fascinating account of the events of 1956 in Poland through the eyes of a man removed from power, marginalised, who ultimately decides to commit suicide.