The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB

Jaruzelski seems finally to have given way to Soviet pressure at the beginning of December. He told a meeting of the PUWP Politburo on December 5 that, after thirty-six years of the “people’s power” in Poland, there sadly seemed no alternative to using “police methods” against the working class. The Politburo unanimously accepted the need to declare martial law.⁵⁵ The main details of its implementation were worked out under the supervision of Kiszczak,⁵⁶ who briefed Pavlov on December 7. One hundred and fifty-seven SB and other interior ministry personnel had been sent around the provinces in groups of up to five to ensure that preparations had been made to isolate and arrest Solidarity leaders and other “extremists.” Pavlov reported to the Centre that the SB had agents “at all levels of Solidarity,” and intended that, where possible, these agents should step into the shoes of the arrested activists. Their main task after the declaration of martial law would be to prevent workers from going on strike or taking to the streets.⁵⁷ Suspect members of the government and Party leadership were placed under close SB surveillance. Kania’s former supporter, Barcikowski, told his friends that the SB followed him wherever he went and recorded all his telephone calls.⁵⁸

On the night of December 8-9 Jaruzelski briefed Marshal Kulikov on the timetable for martial law. Approximately 80,000 personnel had been selected to arrest 6,000 Solidarity activists on the night of either December 11-12 or 12-13. Troops would begin moving from their barracks at 6 a.m. on the morning after the arrests. Though the plans appeared resolute, however, Jaruzelski did not. “During our discussions,” Kulikov reported, “W. Jaruzelski’s indecisiveness and wavering and his apprehension about the successful implementation of the plan to impose martial law were palpable.” The PUWP, Jaruzelski complained, had little authority left. Six to seven hundred thousand of its members were associated with Solidarity, and it was compromised by numerous instances of theft, bribery and other abuses of the people’s trust. For martial law to succeed, it might be necessary for him to appeal for assistance from Warsaw Pact forces—though he asked for East German troops not to be used. “I can assure you that you have no need for concern on that score,” Kulikov told him. “The question of assisting you in the event that your own resources become exhausted is being addressed at General Staff level.”⁵⁹

On December 9 Milewski brought Pavlov further evidence of Jaruzelski’s anxious state of mind. Jaruzelski had still not set a date for the introduction of martial law. If the Church opposed martial law, Jaruzelski had told him, Glemp would turn into “a second Khomeini.”⁶⁰ Next day the CPSU Politburo met in emergency session to discuss the Polish crisis. It began by hearing a report from Nikolai Baibakov of Gosplan, just returned from a visit to Warsaw to discuss Poland’s appeal for economic assistance. Jaruzelski, Baibakov reported, had become an “extremely neurotic” wreck, terrified that Glemp would declare a holy war. Though all the Politburo members who spoke after Baibakov made scathing criticisms of Jaruzelski, none suggested trying to replace him. It was plainly too late for that. There was general agreement, too, that Soviet forces must not intervene. Andropov declared bluntly:

If Comrade Kulikov actually did speak about the introduction of troops, then I believe he did this incorrectly. We can’t risk such a step. We don’t intend to introduce troops into Poland. That is the proper position, and we must adhere to it until the end. I don’t know how things will turn out in Poland, but even if Poland falls under the control of Solidarity, that’s the way it will be.⁶¹

Jaruzelski complained to Milewski and others that, by refusing to allow Warsaw Pact military intervention if Polish security forces proved unable to cope, the Soviet Politburo had let him down:

They pressed us to take firm and decisive action, and the Soviet leaders promised to provide all the assistance and support needed. But now, when we have made a firm decision to take action and we would like to discuss it with the Soviet leaders, we cannot get a concrete answer from the Soviet comrades.