Michał Rola-Żymierski (; 4 September 189015 October 1989) was a Polish high-ranking Communist Party leader, communist military commander and NKVD secret agent. He was appointed as Marshal of Poland by Joseph Stalin, and served in this position from 1945 until his death. He supported the 1981 imposition of Martial law in Poland. Early life Rola-Żymierski was born Michał Łyżwiński in Kraków under the Austrian Partition, to the family of railway clerk, Wojciech Łyżwiński. He joined the Zarzewie and later joined the Polish Rifle Squads. At the age of 20, he enrolled at the law faculty of the Jagiellonian University in 1910, but was drafted a year later. In the years 1911–1912, he served compulsory service in the Austro-Hungarian Army, where he graduated from the school of reserve officers. After his brother committed a widely publicised murder-robbery in Kraków, he began to call himself Żymierski around 1913. Military career World War I When World War I erupted in 1914, he joined the Polish Legions. He initially served as a company and battalion commander of the 1st Brigade. Żymierski fought in the Battle of Laski and Anielin and in the vicinity of the Dęblin Fortress, where on October 23, 1914 he was seriously wounded. In the summer of 1915, after his promotion to the rank of major, he served as commander of Polish Military Organisation. After the Oath Crisis of 1917, he retired from the Austro-Hungarian army with rank of lieutenant colonel and returned to Kraków, where he graduated from the Kraków Trading School. He later became the commander of the 2nd Infantry Regiment in the Polish Auxiliary Corps. In February 1918, after the signing of Treaty of Brest, he was the initiator of the rebellion of 2nd Legion Brigade and its breakthrough through the front during the Battle of Rarańcza. Then he handed over the command of this formation to General Józef Haller. After the front had passed, he became the chief of staff of the Polish II Corps in Russia following his promotion to the rank of colonel. After the corps was disarmed by the Germans after the Battle of Kaniów in May 1918, he served in command positions in the Polish Military Organization in Russia. He was the commander of the 2nd Infantry Regiment in the 4th Polish Rifle Division. Polish-Soviet war In 1918, he joined the reborn Polish Army. In March 1919, he was appointed commander of the