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Finally, in the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, I became secretary of the party [43] committee, elected by the members of the brigade and so I was at the very top of the brigade. After the commander and the second-in-command for political and educational affairs, I was third highest in rank.
I was in the party from the beginning. They persuaded me to join in 1948, while it was still the PPR [44]. An army man joining the PPR at that time - before the creation of the PZPR - was in theory legal, but illegal, because the army had a principle of apoliticism back then. But these two guys came to see me, one of them was a Jew, and they gave me some spiel about the party, and I didn't know what it was all about back then. I was 23. They told me that the party would lead to prosperity, and told me to sign. So what was I supposed to do? Not sign?
One of them, Henryk Oppenheim, then in the rank of captain, worked in the Political Department in our brigade, and gave me a recommendation to the PPR. He was like my introducer, as they say. And from then on I had to be in the party all the time, because getting out of the party was very difficult. Anyway, if I'd withdrawn from the party I'd have had to say goodbye to my career. And since I was in the army I at least wanted to serve my way to a decent pension.
I was in the party from the beginning. They persuaded me to join in 1948, while it was still the PPR [44]. An army man joining the PPR at that time - before the creation of the PZPR - was in theory legal, but illegal, because the army had a principle of apoliticism back then. But these two guys came to see me, one of them was a Jew, and they gave me some spiel about the party, and I didn't know what it was all about back then. I was 23. They told me that the party would lead to prosperity, and told me to sign. So what was I supposed to do? Not sign?
One of them, Henryk Oppenheim, then in the rank of captain, worked in the Political Department in our brigade, and gave me a recommendation to the PPR. He was like my introducer, as they say. And from then on I had to be in the party all the time, because getting out of the party was very difficult. Anyway, if I'd withdrawn from the party I'd have had to say goodbye to my career. And since I was in the army I at least wanted to serve my way to a decent pension.
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Interview
Leon Glazer
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