Natolin faction

The “Natolin” faction was one of the two informal groups within the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers’ Party. It competed for power with the “Puławianie” faction. It was formed in early 1956 (the name derives from their meeting place – the palace in Natolin near Warsaw, currently part of Warsaw’s Ursynów district). The “Natolin” faction demanded for the return of Władysław Gomułka to politics and for a group of party activists, including Hilary Minc, Jakub Berman, and Roman Zambrowski to be made accountable for their unlawful actions, for instance for their preferential treatment of Jewish people within the party. The faction promoted close ties of Poland with the USSR, treating friendly Polish-Soviet relations as a critical element of the system.

The “Puławianie” faction presented the “Natolin” faction as Stalinists, opponents of reform, nationalists, anti-Semites, and anti-intellectuals. After Gomułka rose to power (October 1956), he gave his support to “Puławianie,” which resulted in the marginalisation of “Natolin” and their elimination from the struggle for influence. Some members of the faction (Kazimierz Mijal) founded the illegal Communist Party of Poland in 1966.

The most prominent members of the “Natolin” faction were: Franciszek Jóźwiak, Wiktor Kłosiewicz, Stanisław Łapot, Franciszek Mazur, Zenon Nowak, Bolesław Rumiński, and Kazimierz Witaszewski.

 

Bibliography:

Jedlicki W., Chamy i Żydy, Paris 1962.

Szumiło M., Roman Zambrowski 1909–1977. Studium z dziejów elity komunistycznej w Polsce, Warsaw 2014.

Zambrowski A., “Rewelacje wyssane z palca, czyli Puławianie i Natolińczycy w 1956 roku,” Warszawskie Zeszyty Historyczne 1982, no. 2.

 

The entry was written by Martyna Rusiniak-Karwat, Ph.D. on the basis of source materials of the PWN printing house