Editing Bolesław Bierut (section)

===In Soviet-dominated Poland===

Continuing as the KRN president, from August 1944 Bierut was secretly a member of the newly created [[Politburo]] of the PPR; he was officially presented to the public as a [[nonpartisanism|nonpartisan]] politician.<ref name="Eisler siedmiu 59–71">Jerzy Eisler, ''Siedmiu wspaniałych. Poczet pierwszych sekretarzy KC PZPR'' [The Magnificent Seven: first secretaries of the PZPR], pp. 59–71.</ref>

After the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising, Bierut arrived in Moscow. On 6–7 August 1944, together with [[Wanda Wasilewska]] and [[Michał Rola-Żymierski]], he conducted negotiations with Prime Minister [[Stanisław Mikołajczyk]] of the [[Polish government-in-exile]]. Mikołajczyk refused their offer of the job of prime minister in a coalition government, which otherwise would be dominated by the communists.<ref name="Brzoza Sowa Historia Polski 1918–1945 545–546">Czesław Brzoza, Andrzej Leon Sowa, ''Historia Polski 1918–1945'' [History of Poland: 1918–1945], pp. 545–546. Kraków 2009, [[Wydawnictwo Literackie]], {{ISBN|978-83-08-04125-3}}.</ref> Bierut's daughter Krystyna participated in the uprising as a soldier of ''[[Armia Ludowa]]'' and was gravely wounded.<ref name="Eisler siedmiu 59–71"/>

A KRN and PKWN delegation, led by Bierut, was summoned to Moscow, where it stayed from 28 September to 3 October. Stalin, assisted by Wasilewska, had two meetings with the leaders from Poland, during which he lectured them on a number of issues, but was especially displeased by the lack of progress in implementing the [[land reform]] decree passed by the PKWN on 6 September. Stalin urged them to proceed forcefully with the agrarian revolution and to eliminate the [[Polish landed gentry|great land owners class]] without further delay or undue legal concerns; Bierut felt that the remarks were addressed to him in particular.<ref name="Eisler siedmiu 59–71"/>

On 12 October, the anniversary of the [[Battle of Lenino]], the KRN for the first time deliberated in Lublin. The proceedings were interrupted to allow the deputies (including Bierut), together with officials of the PKWN and [[Nikolai Bulganin]] representing the Soviet Union, to participate in a field [[mass (liturgy)|mass]] celebrated for the occasion and in the military parade that followed. Such participation in religious ceremonies by leading communist politicians continued for a while; it was one of the manifestations of the officially proclaimed after the war democratic and pluralistic policies, which included preservation of religious freedoms. Marshal Rola-Żymierski recalled kneeling together with Bierut before the altar at another field mass in May 1946, on the first anniversary of World War II victory. In conversations with Stanisław Łukasiewicz, his press secretary, Bierut expressed his support for moderate and liberal policies. His personal views were [[anti-clericalism|anti-clerical]] and he thought the reform proposals put forward by Mikołajczyk's [[Polish People's Party (1945–1949)|Polish People's Party]] (PSL), the legally existing opposition, would be abandoned in the event of PSL victory.<ref name="Eisler siedmiu 59–71"/>

[[File:Bierut na Krajowym Zlocie ZWM.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Bolesław Bierut inspecting members of the [[Union of Polish Youth]], 1946]]

A military department of the PPR Central Committee was created on 31 October 1944 and included Bierut and Gomułka, in addition to three generals. Its goal was to politicize the armed forces, currently fighting the war, and to establish a politically reliable officer corps. According to Eisler, Bierut and Gomułka are both responsible for the post-war persecution of many former [[Home Army]] soldiers and other groups and individuals. The terror policies, particularly brutal in the 1944–48 period, were directed against declared opponents of the regime, including the legally functioning PSL, and had nor yet involved society as a whole.<ref name="Eisler siedmiu 59–71"/><ref name="Eisler siedmiu 75–82">Jerzy Eisler, ''Siedmiu wspaniałych. Poczet pierwszych sekretarzy KC PZPR'' [The Magnificent Seven: first secretaries of the PZPR], pp. 75–82.</ref>

In February 1945, the [[Yalta Conference]] took place in [[Crimea]]. At that time Bierut, together with the PPR leadership and government departments, moved to the capital city of Warsaw. The city was in ruins and its rebuilding and expansion became a major concern and preoccupation for Bierut during the years that followed.<ref name="Eisler siedmiu 59–71"/>

In June 1945, the [[Provisional Government of National Unity]] was established in Moscow. In July, Bierut and other Polish leaders participated in the [[Potsdam Conference]], where, together with Stalin, they successfully lobbied for the establishment of Poland's western border at the [[Oder–Neisse line]]. The Polish administration in the formerly German lands was to continue until the final delimitation of the frontier in the (future) peace settlement.<ref name="Kochanski 537-541">[[Halik Kochanski]] (2012). The Eagle Unbowed: Poland and the Poles in the Second World War, pp. 537–541. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-674-06814-8}}.</ref> Poland's newly acquired "[[Recovered Territories]]" had thus reached their maximum attainable size.<ref name="Eisler siedmiu 59–71"/>