A reform-minded party official caught between control and negotiation
On the first day of the strike, he ordered an immediate collection of on-site information, saying the security service reports could not be trusted.
Tadeusz Fiszbach was a Polish United Workers' Party official and diplomat who led the party organization in Gdańsk from 1975. During the August 1980 strike, he opposed a violent solution and entered the first talks with worker representatives, remaining involved on the government side after Mieczysław Jagielski arrived. His conciliatory management nevertheless collided with the party's effort to contain an independent union, and martial law pushed him out of central politics. He later served as deputy marshal of the Sejm and as ambassador to Finland and Latvia.
Career Timeline
- 1959Joined the Polish United Workers' Party
- 1964–1968Secretary of the Elbląg district party committee
- 1968–1971Secretary of the Tczew district party committee
- 1971–1975Secretary of the Gdańsk provincial party committee
- 1975–1982First Secretary of the Gdańsk provincial party committee
- 1976–1985Deputy to the Sejm of the Polish People's Republic
- 1982–1986Counsellor at the Polish Embassy in Helsinki
- 2001–2005Polish ambassador to Latvia