Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles
available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Edward Gierek
(Polish pronunciation; January 6, 1913 - July 29, 2001) was a Polish
communist politician. He was born in Por¿bka, outside of Sosnowiec. He
lost his father to a mining accident in a pit at the age of four. His
mother married again and emigrated to northern France, where he was
raised. He joined the French Communist Party in 1931 and was later
deported to Poland for organizing a strike. After his military service
in Stryj, Galicia, Gierek went to Belgium in 1934, where he joined the
Communist Party of Belgium while working in the coal mines of
Waterschei.
