Soviet reaction to the Polish crisis of 1980–1981 Soviet reaction to the Polish crisis of 1980–1981 The Polish crisis of 1980–1981, associated with the emergence of the Solidarity mass movement in Poland, challenged the Soviet Union's control over its satellite states in the Eastern Bloc. For the first time however, the Kremlin abstained from military intervention, unlike on previous occasions such as the Prague Spring of 1968 and the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, and thus left the Polish leadership under General Wojciech Jaruzelski to impose martial law to deal with the opposition on their own. Contrary to the interpretations of US intelligence, no preparations were underway for even
Wojciech Jaruzelski delivered the decision of deportation by several armed soldiers in Lithuanian and Polish. In the railway station, Jaruzelski was separated from his father, who was sent directly to a labor camp. Jaruzelski and his mother were sent to Biysk, Altai Krai, spending more than one month on the way. After that, Jaruzelski walked for 180 kilometers to Turochak where he was responsible for forest cleaning. During his labour work he was stricken with snow blindness and suffered permanent damage to his eyes as well as his back. His eye condition forced him to wear dark sunglasses most of the time