Editing Bolesław Bierut (section)

==Remembrance in communist and post-communist Poland==

Khrushchev, who participated in Bierut's funeral, stayed in Warsaw for several days and attended the Sixth Plenum of the PZPR Central Committee. On 20 March, Edward Ochab was chosen there as the party's new first secretary. Prime Minister Cyrankiewicz delivered a detailed account of the history of Bierut's illness, going back to the early spring of 1950, when Bierut experienced his first [[myocardial infarction]]. The report was not made public.<ref name="Eisler siedmiu 88–93"/>

According to historian Andrzej Garlicki, Bierut died just in time to make possible the political demise of Berman and Minc and the triumphal return of Gomułka. Had Bierut lived much longer, the [[de-Stalinization]] process in Poland could have been stalled.<ref name="Eisler siedmiu 88–93"/>

Soon after Bierut's death, on 18 April 1956, a merchant ship newly built in [[Gdańsk Shipyard]] was named ''Bolesław Bierut''.<ref name="Eisler siedmiu 93–97">Jerzy Eisler, ''Siedmiu wspaniałych. Poczet pierwszych sekretarzy KC PZPR'' [The Magnificent Seven: first secretaries of the PZPR], pp. 93–97.</ref>

During Gomułka's rule as first secretary (1956–70), the memory of Bierut was marginalized. After 1970, First Secretary [[Edward Gierek]] brought Bierut back into public consciousness. Some books about him were published and in July 1979, on the 35th anniversary of communist Poland, Bierut's monument was erected in Lublin.<ref name="Eisler siedmiu 93–97"/> Bierut's legend was sustained and cultivated during the 1970s.<ref name="Eisler siedmiu 31–38"/> Gierek and his team, according to Eisler, idealized Bierut and his period and introduced a soft version of Stalinism, lacking the terror component of the original.<ref name="Eisler siedmiu 93–97"/>

During the brief but turbulent [[Solidarity (Polish trade union)|Solidarity]] period, the University of Wrocław attempted to reclaim its original name, but the Ministry of Higher Education declined to implement the faculty resolution in January 1982.<ref name="Eisler siedmiu 93–97"/>

[[File:Bierut Trasa WZ.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Bolesław Bierut and [[Józef Cyrankiewicz]] during the opening of the [[Warsaw W-Z Route]], 2 July 1949]]

On 1 June 1987, a factory in [[Skierniewice]] was given Bierut's name, which was likely the last such outcome. In 1989, the University of Wrocław got its old name back, Bierut's monument in Lublin was taken down, and soon all the mention of Bierut was removed from public space.<ref name="Eisler siedmiu 93–97"/> However, memorials dedicated to countless many public and other figures and groups, judged compromised by their activities or connections with the communist regime, as well as other objects and names, including monuments of Soviet World War II soldiers or Polish [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]] soldiers, met the same fate.

Communist historian Zenobiusz Kozik wrote of the "important role of Bierut in the deep social, economic and civilizational processes of those years. Processes that caused the rapid economic development of the country and great cultural advancement of entire groups and social spheres, especially the great masses of young people. (Regardless of the negative results and side effects, especially destroying the value of existing structures and the unconditional breaking of continuity). The civilizational advancement of Poland influenced the judgements regarding Bierut's place in the history of Poland, especially for a certain generation".<ref name="Eisler siedmiu 31–38"/>

Eisler countered this argument by writing of "the brutal and bloody persecution of soldiers of the independence-seeking underground, clandestine murders, fake political trials, and also the falsified referendum of 1946 and the elections of the following year, and finally the [[Sovietization]] of Poland in practically all areas of public life".<ref name="Eisler siedmiu 31–38"/>

Szwalbe related that Bierut tried to persuade him that "every social revolution has to result in victims, including innocent ones. [...] Bierut considered himself a student of Stalin. He found making statements and declarations with the intent of obfuscating reality to be purposeful and justified (like Stalin did), and also the liquidation of the so-called adversaries in the process of the so-called successive stages of the revolution..."<ref name="Eisler siedmiu 31–38"/>

According to the historians Eleonora and Bronisław Syzdek, Bierut "brought to mind no associations with a figure of despot or dictator". "He knew how to listen and express himself competently, although formally he completed only five grades of elementary schooling and trade-cooperative courses. The knowledge he possessed, he acquired through self-education." "People from Bierut's immediate surroundings, whom he always treated with proper respect, while keeping the necessary distance in formal relations, to this day have retained a sympathetic view of him and try to defend the former president of People's Poland against negative judgements".<ref name="Eisler siedmiu 31–38"/>

Leon Chajn spoke of Bierut: "Refined, tactful, composed. Not an eagle, but valued intelligence in others. A great patriot,{{Ref label|b|b|none}} enthusiast of Stalin's concepts but opponent of his methods." Stanisław Łukasiewicz wrote about Bierut: "Always read a lot and wrote a lot, especially in prison. The years spent in prison were for him the period of his university studies."<ref name="Eisler siedmiu 31–38"/>