Lech Walesa, Polish anti-Soviet hero, was paid Communist informant, seized documents suggest

Former Polish President Lech Walesa, whose Solidarity trade union federation is credited with hastening the fall of the Soviet Union, was a paid informant for the Communist-era secret police from 1970 to 1976, the head of Poland's Institute of National Remembrance said Thursday, citing recently seized documents from the home of the last interior minister of Communist Poland, the late Gen. Czeslaw Kiszczak. Lukasz Kaminsky, the head of the state history institute, said that the documents include a commitment to pass on information to the secret police signed by Walesa and including his long-rumored code name, "Bolek." There are also pages of reports and expense reimbursements signed by Walesa, Kaminsky said.

Walesa, who has admitted signing up to inform for the secret police but insisted he never followed through, was cleared of spying charges by a special court in 2000. On Thursday, the 72-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate again proclaimed his innocence. "You can't change the facts with your lies, allegations, and counterfeits," he wrote in a blog post. "It was I who safely led Poland to a complete victory over communism." The history institute learned about the documents when Kiszczak's widow tried to sell them for about $20,000. Instead of paying, the institute raided the house. The Communist secret police were known to have doctored documents to tarnish the reputations of non-informants.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up