Wladislaw Gomulka (1905-1982) ruled Poland for 14 years as first secretary of the Communist party. His career in politics reflected the difficult relationship between nationalism and international communism in Eastern Europe after 1945.

Wladislaw Gomulka was born in February 1905, into a working-class family in Krosno, in southern Poland. He began work as a plumber at the age of 14 and soon became involved in political agitation. He joined the clandestine Polish Communist party in 1926 and became an active and effective organizer of strikes. After 2 years in prison for conspiracy, he went to Moscow in 1934; after returning in 1936, he was imprisoned again but escaped when the Germans invaded Poland 3 years later, and again went to the Soviet Union. During his two years there, he had no significant involvement in communist politics, and he remained a home-grown and locally oriented Communist more Polish than Soviet. His appointment in 1942 to a top executive position...