Solidarity days: Wojciech Jaruzelski, who tried to crush the Polish Solidarity movement inspired by Pope John Paul, paid tribute yesterday to a man he called a worthy political adversary and a great patriot.
"We have lost a great personality, a great man, a great humanist, a great Pole," former communist leader Gen Jaruzelski said of the Pope.
Gen Jaruzelski, who imposed martial law in 1981, said at that time he had seen the Pope as an opponent and only over the years had he learned to appreciate his pivotal role in Poland's peaceful transition from communism to democracy.
"Back then the Pope, in the political dimension, was an adversary, an opponent," Gen Jaruzelski (81) said in a telephone interview.
"But what I was already able to appreciate then was the fact that while he backed, defended and blessed Solidarity, at the same time he did everything to prevent radical developments that could lead to a tragedy."
Karol Wojtyla's trip to Poland in 1979, his first after he became Pope in 1978, drew millions to the streets and inspired the emergence of the Solidarity movement which a decade later helped bring down the entire Soviet bloc.
Gen Jaruzelski's decision to clamp down on Solidarity remains a subject of heated debate in Poland.
Many view it as a criminal act against the Polish people, while others see Gen Jaruzelski as a tragic figure who was forced to chose between two evils.
Gen Jaruzelski himself has always defended the imposition of martial law, arguing it was necessary to prevent a violent confrontation between the 10 million-strong union and the communist authorities and to stave off the threat of a Soviet intervention.