The Brest trials () were among the most famous trials conducted under the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...

. Lasting from 26 October 1931 to 13 January 1932, they were held at the

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

Regional Court where leaders of the '' Centrolew'', a "Center-Left" anti- Sanation-government political-opposition movement, were tried.

Overview

The Polish Sanation government had invalidated the May 1930 election results by disbanding the parliament in August and with increasing pressure on the opposition started a new campaign, the new elections being scheduled for November. Using anti-government demonstrations as a pretext, 20 members of the opposition, including most of the leaders of the ''Centrolew'' alliance (from

Polish Socialist Party The Polish Socialist Party (, PPS) is a democratic socialist political party in Poland. It was one of the most significant parties in Poland from its founding in 1892 until its forced merger with the communist Polish Workers' Party to form ...

, Polish People's Party "Piast" and Polish People's Party "Wyzwolenie") were arrested in September without a warrant, only strictly on the order of

Józef Piłsudski Józef Klemens Piłsudski (; 5 December 1867 – 12 May 1935) was a Polish statesman who served as the Chief of State (Poland), Chief of State (1918–1922) and first Marshal of Poland (from 1920). In the aftermath of World War I, he beca ...

and the then Minister of Internal Security,

Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski (; 9 June 1885, Gąbin – 31 August 1962 London) was a Polish physician, general, and politician who served as Ministry of Interior and Administration (Poland), Minister of Internal Affairs and as the 28th Prime Mi ...

, accusing them of plotting an anti-government coup. The opposition members (who included the former prime minister

Wincenty Witos Wincenty Witos (; 21 or 22 January 1874 – 31 October 1945) was a Polish statesman, prominent member and leader of the Polish People's Party (PSL), who served three times as the Prime Minister of Poland in the 1920s. He was a member of the Pol ...

, and Wojciech Korfanty) were imprisoned in the Brest Fortress, where their trial took place (thus the popular name for the election: the 'Brest election'). A number of less known activists were also arrested throughout the country. They were released after the end of the election in the same month. The Brest trial ended in January 1932, with 10 accused receiving sentences up to three years of imprisonment; the appeals of 1933 confirmed the sentences. The government however gave the accused the choice of emigrating: five of them did so, the other five stayed on in Poland to serve the prison term instead.

References

External links

{{Commons-inline Legal history of Poland Trials in Poland Trials Political and cultural purges 1931 in Poland 1932 in Poland Politics of the Second Polish Republic Western Belorussia (1918–1939)