The widely publicized student demonstrations in Warsaw took place on 8 March 1968. On 19 March, Gomułka delivered another major televised speech. Reviewing with other Politburo members its text in advance, Ochab objected to Gomułka's reference to "student youth of Jewish origin". The Jewish youth were justifiably sensitive because of the millions of Jews killed in Poland during World War II, he argued. Ochab's and Gomułka's wives were Jewish, but unlike Gomułka, Ochab displayed no tolerance for the antisemitic excesses. To protest the policies pursued in 1967–68 in Poland he decided to resign all of his state and party offices, effectively retiring from political life. He wrote appropriate letters to the Politburo and the Sejm and had a final conversation with Gomułka, Cyrankiewicz and Kliszko. He wrote of the "antisemitic campaign organized by the various reactionary elements, yesterday's phalangists and their today's highly placed protectors" (Mieczysław Moczar's faction in the party). The Politburo accepted his resignation on 8 April and three days later the Sejm replaced Ochab with Marian Spychalski as chairman of the Council of State. General Wojciech Jaruzelski, the armed forces chief of staff, replaced Spychalski as the minister of defense. In retirement Ochab first proceeded to safeguard the documents that secured his historical role, the forty years he had been active in the communist movement. He witnessed Gomułka's fall from power in 1970 and the generational change in the PZPR and later expressed highly critical opinions regarding the use of force against the protesting workers, even though he himself had made comparable decisions in 1956. He carefully observed the dealings of the new leadership of Edward Gierek. When the Party Guidelines were published before its Sixth Congress and the rank and file was asked to debate them, Ochab took advantage of the opportunity and typed up on 30 September 1971 several pages of Introductory Critical Comments. The letter, which included reformist, revisionist or social democratic ideas, caused an uproar because it was soon published by the Polish émigré Kultura journal in Paris under the title Edward Ochab in the Opposition. The former first secretary criticized the advancing for managerial party and state jobs of cynical career-oriented people, serving only the autocrat (Gomułka) and his circle. He called for measures preventing such "deformations" now and in the future. He proposed a radical reduction in the scope and budget of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and a removal from