Martial law in Poland Martial law in Poland Martial law in Poland () refers to the period of time from December 13, 1981 to July 22, 1983, when the authoritarian communist government of the Polish People's Republic drastically restricted normal life by introducing martial law in an attempt to crush political opposition. Thousands of opposition activists were jailed without charge and as many as 91 killed. Although martial law was lifted in 1983, many of the political prisoners were not released until a general amnesty in 1986. Led by General of the Army Wojciech Jaruzelski and the Military Council of National Salvation ("Wojskowa Rada
Wojciech Jaruzelski on 9 December. On 31 January 1991, General Jaruzelski retired from the army. In October 1994, while attending a book-selling activity in Wroclaw, Jaruzelski was attacked by a male pensioner with a stone and had his jaw injured, after which he was sent to a hospital to receive surgery. The man had been arrested in prison during the martial law period. Later, the man was sentenced two years and fined 200 zloty. In an interview in 2001, Jaruzelski said that he believed Communism failed, and that he was now a social democrat. He also announced his support for then-President Aleksander