CALENDAR. November 1, 1970 – on this day, dramatic events took place at the airport in Karachi, Pakistan, which could have changed the course of Polish post-war history. During the official visit of the delegation of the Polish People’s Republic, led by the Chairman of the Council of State and Marshal of Poland, Marian Spychalski, an unsuccessful attack took place. At 9:30 a.m. local time, when the government plane from Warsaw had just landed and the guests were being greeted by representatives of the Pakistani authorities, a semi-truck driven by a Pakistani driver employed at the airport drove into the welcome column at high speed. The vehicle crashed violently into the gathered welcoming committee, killing four people and injuring eleven others. Among the victims was the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Polish People’s Republic, Zygfryd Wolniak, an experienced diplomat and close associate of Minister Stefan Jedrychowski, who died on the spot. Two Pakistani photojournalists and the deputy chief of Pakistani intelligence were also killed. Spychalski, who had been talking to the hosts’ representatives a moment earlier, survived by accident – he was pushed away at the last moment by a security guard, and the car stopped just a few meters from him. Pakistani authorities initially claimed that it was an unfortunate accident caused by driver error and brake failure, but doubts quickly emerged in Warsaw. In times of Cold War tensions and delicate relations between the Eastern Bloc and Third World countries, any such event raised suspicions of sabotage or provocation. There were many voices in diplomatic circles that the incident could have had a deeper meaning – there was internal political instability in Pakistan at the time, and the security services did not always act in a coordinated manner. Marian Spychalski, former general of the Polish People’s Army, collaborator of Bolesław Bierut and long-time minister of national defense, was at that time one of the most recognizable figures in the power structures of the Polish People’s Republic. #Calendar #History #PRL #MarianSpychalski #ZygfrydWolniak #Karachi #Pakistan #Diplomacy #ColdWar #PolishHistory #November 1 #History of the 20th Century #HistoricalEvents #OnThisDay
Posted by HistoricaDayAfterDay