Bolesław Piasecki

Bolesław Piasecki
Leader of the Falanga National Radical Camp
In office 1935–1939
Leader of PAX Association
In office 1947–1979
Succeeded by	Ryszard Reiff
Personal details
Born	(1915-02-18)18 February 1915 Łódź, Congress Poland, Russian Empire
Died	1 January 1979(1979-01-01) (aged 63) Warsaw, Poland
Alma mater	University of Warsaw
Military service
Nickname(s)	Leon Całka, Wojciech z Królewca, Sablewski
Years of service	1939–1945
Rank	Lieutenant
Unit	Confederation of Nation, Home Army
Battles/wars	World War II

Bolesław Bogdan Piasecki, alias Leon Całka, Wojciech z Królewca, Sablewski (18 February 1915 – 1 January 1979) was a Polish politician and writer.

Biography[]

In interwar Poland he was one of the more prominent nationalist politicians, playing an important role in the leadership of Obóz Narodowo-Radykalny. In 1934 he was interned in Bereza Kartuska. After his release, he became the leader of the illegal, extreme right faction ONR-Falanga. This organisation advocated "Catholic totalitarianism" and is considered by many to have been a fascist movement.

During the Second World War he fought the Nazis as a member of the Polish Underground, leading the grouping Konfederacja Narodu (merged into the Armia Krajowa in 1943) and taking part in the fighting around Vilnius. Afterwards, he was arrested by the Soviet NKVD, and in a drastic conversion from his previous stance began to cooperate with the Communist government in Poland.^[1]

After the war, in 1945, he co-founded and directed a so-called social progressive movement of lay Catholics, grouped around the weekly publication "" (Today and Tomorrow). In 1947 he created the PAX Association and was the chairman of its governing body (until his death). After 1956, the importance of PAX diminished (and Piasecki's role along with it), though it remained a prominent organisation until 1989 and its successors still exist today.

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In later years, Piasecki was a member of the Polish Sejm from 1965, where he presided over the grouping of members associated with PAX. In 1971-1979 he was a member of the Polish Council of State.

Honours and awards[]

• Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari (1944)
• Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta (1964), previously awarded the Commander's Cross (1955)
• Order of the Banner of Work, 1st Class (1969)

References[]

Further reading[]

• Mikołaj Kunicki (2005). "The Red and the Brown: Boleslaw Piasecki, the Polish Communists, and the Anti-Zionist Campaign in Poland, 1967-68". East European Politics & Societies 19 (2): pp. 185–225.
• Dudek, Antoni/Pytel, Grzegorz (1990). Bolesław Piasecki. Próba biografii politycznej (Wstęp Jan Józef Lipski). Londyn: . ISBN 0-906601-74-6.