In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

342 Document No. 60: Information on Brezhnev Meeting with Kania and Jaruzelski on August 14, 1981 August 22, 1981 After the PUWP’s Extraordinary Ninth Congress in July, the Kremlin held out slim hopes once more that Kania and Jaruzelski would take advantage of their political momentum and move firmly against Solidarity and its allies. One month later, a clearly incensed Brezhnev berates the two Poles for their “complacency” and warns them that it may already be “too late” to save socialism in Poland. In blunt language , he calls for “extreme” actions to suit the circumstances, and proceeds to lay out a series of specific examples, even as he insists that the ultimate decision on what to do is up to the Poles themselves. […] On August 14, 1981, a meeting took place in the Crimea between CPSU CC general Secretary and Chairman of the USSR Supreme Soviet Cde. L. I. Brezhnev , First Secretary of the PUWP CC S. Kania, and PUWP CC Politburo member and Chairman of the PPR Council of Ministers W. Jaruzelski. Cdes. A. A. gromyko, K. U. Chernenko and K. V. Rusakov took part in the discussion. The CPSU CC attached great significance to this meeting with the Polish leadership. At the beginning of the discussion Cde. L. I. Brezhnev expressed serious apprehension about where Poland was going. We had hopes, he said to Cdes. S. Kania and W. Jaruzelski, that after the Congress a certain change in the course of events would be detected. In fact, the situation continues to get worse and the counter-revolution is intensifying its pressure. All the steps the CPSU and the Soviet Union have taken in the course of the Polish crisis have been dictated solely by a concern for the interests of socialist Poland. Cde. L. I. Brezhnev proposed with complete frankness, as befits communists , to speak a little about Polish matters. Cdes. Kania and Jaruzelski recounted in some detail the situation in the country and in the party. They acknowledged the validity of the feeling of alarm over the fate of socialism in Poland that the leaders of the CPSU and other fraternal parties are experiencing. The Polish comrades underscored the positive influence of the PUWP Extraordinary Ninth Congress, after which, in their words, “the party was able to act more decisively.” The PUWP leadership calls the new composition of the CC manageable. “Currently, a process of consolidation of the PUWP is underway… An example of this is the Second Plenum of the party CC, where the speeches 343 were notable for their high standard, their principled character, and their sense of confidence,” remarked Cde. S. Kania. Regarding the PUWP’s struggle to find a way out of the crisis, Cde. S. Kania stated in particular: “Today, no one will say any longer that the party does not see the path toward overcoming the crisis. The PUWP has a program and today it has the initiative.” Cdes. S. Kania and W. Jaruzelski attempted to show that the line they have adopted fully responds to the peculiarities of the Polish conditions and provides a basis to talk about the first successes on the path toward political stabilization. As proof that there is a turning point in the situation, they cited the work of the PUWP CC Second Plenum, the agreement with Solidarity at LOT Airlines, the avoidance of street disturbances in Warsaw, and other facts. The Polish leaders guaranteed that all direct speeches against the people’s authority would be dealt an impressive blow. However, their statements evidently do not presuppose a decisive and direct confrontation with their political adversaries or with the counter-revolution at the present time. Cde. S. Kania said: “We aim at all times to use the most decisive measures against the counter-revolution. However, that will be possible only under conditions that guarantee the support of the population.” Cde. S. Kania noted with satisfaction the situation within the organs of state security and the army, which, “despite difficulties, are in a very good state.” Speaking about Solidarity, Cde. S. Kania said that “society and the working class are beginning to turn away from Solidarity, and its leaders do not want it to be perceived as a destructive force.” Solidarity called for a period of no strikes for two months, and for working on eight free Saturdays.” It is well-known, however, that Solidarity intends to distribute the work product from those Saturdays through its own channels. Having spoken about the difficult situation among the...

Share