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Poles remember former PM

PR dla Zagranicy
Grzegorz Siwicki 09.02.2019 11:15
Poles were on Saturday remembering former Prime Minister Jan Olszewski, who has died at the age of 88.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki signs a book of condolence for the late Jan Olszewski. Photo: PAP/Paweł SupernakPolish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki signs a book of condolence for the late Jan Olszewski. Photo: PAP/Paweł Supernak

Olszewski served as prime minister from December 1991 to June 1992. He died in a Warsaw hospital late on Thursday.

On Saturday morning, a book of condolence opened to the public at the Polish Prime Minister's Office in Warsaw.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has made the first entry in the book, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.

Morawiecki on Friday wrote on Twitter that "Jan Olszewski was a person who was impeccably honest and faithful to his views, and at the same time extremely courageous.”

Olszewski was once an anti-communist dissident. A lawyer by profession, he defended members of Poland's democratic opposition in political trials during the communist era.

In the 1980s, he was a leading figure in Poland's Solidarity freedom movement.

In 1989, he took part in the country's landmark Round Table talks that paved the way to the collapse of communism in Poland and across the region.

From 2006 to 2010, he worked as a political adviser to President Lech Kaczyński.

Born in Warsaw in 1930, Olszewski took part in the city's 1944 uprising against Poland's Nazi German occupiers during World War II.

In 2009, he was presented with the Order of the White Eagle, Poland’s highest state decoration.

An
An image of Jan Olszewski projected on the facade of the presidential palace in Warsaw. Photo: PAP/Radek Pietruszka

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Source: TVP Info, IAR/PAP

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