IN: Wladyslaw Gomulka (Polish: [vwa'diswaf go'muwka]; 6 February 1905 - 1 September 1982) was a Polish communist politician. He was the de facto leader of post-war Poland until 1948. Following the Polish October he became leader again from 1956 to 1970. Gomulka was initially very popular for his reforms; his seeking a "Polish way to socialism"; and giving rise to the period known as "Gomulka's thaw".

In the fall of 1943, the PPR leadership began discussing the creation of a Polish quasi-parliamentary, communist-led body, to be named the State National Council (Krajowa Rada Narodowa, KRN). After the Battle of Kursk the expectation was of a Soviet victory and liberation of Poland and the PPR wanted to be ready to assume power. Gomulka came up with the idea of a national council and imposed his point of view on the rest of the leadership. The PPR intended to obtain consent from the Cominterm leader and their Soviet contact Georgi Dimitrov. However, in November the Gestapo arrested Finder and Malgorzata Fornalska, who possessed the secret codes for communication with Moscow and the Soviet response remained unknown. In the absence of Finder, on 23 November Gomulka was elected general secretary (chief) of the PPR and Bierut joined the three-person inner leadership. The founding meeting of the State National Council took place in the late evening of 31 December 1943. The new body's chairman Bierut was becoming Gomulka's main rival. In mid-January 1944 Dimitrov was finally informed of the KRN's existence, which surprised both him and the Polish communist leaders in Moscow, increasingly led by Jakub Berman, who had other, competing ideas concerning the establishment of a Polish communist ruling party and government. Gomulka felt that the Polish communists in occupied Poland had a better understanding of Polish realities than their brethren in Moscow and that the State National Council should determine the shape of the future executive government of Poland. Nevertheless, to gain a Soviet approval and to clear any misunderstandings a KRN delegation left Warsaw in mid-March heading for Moscow, where it arrived two months later. By that time Stalin concluded that the existence of the KRN was a positive development and the Poles arriving from Warsaw were received and greeted by him and other Soviet dignitaries. The Union of Polish Patriots and the Central Bureau of Polish Communists in Moscow were now under pressure to recognize the primacy of the PPR, the KRN and Wladyslaw Gomulka, which they ultimately did only in mid-July. On 20 July, the Soviet forces under Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky forced their way across the Bug River and on that same day the combined meeting of Polish communists from the Moscow and Warsaw factions finalized the arrangements regarding the establishment (on 21 July) of the Polish Committee of National Liberation (PKWN), a temporary government headed by Edward Osobka-Morawski, a socialist allied with the communists. Gomulka and other PPR leaders left Warsaw and headed for the Soviet-controlled territory, arriving in Lublin on 1 August, the day the Warsaw Uprising erupted in the Polish capital.

Was there anything else you found interesting?

OUT: in November the Gestapo arrested Finder and Malgorzata Fornalska, who possessed the secret codes for communication with Moscow and the Soviet response remained unknown.

IN: Born in Drouin to Alfred and Colleen Ablett, Gary Ablett grew up in the Latrobe Valley in Victoria's Gippsland region alongside his four elder brothers and three sisters. Ablett displayed a love for sport at an early age, winning the state school high jump at 10 years of age. He was also awarded both club and competition best and fairest awards for Drouin at the under-11s, under-12s and under-14s levels. After citing waning interest in school, Ablett dropped out of high school at the age of 15 years to become a bricklayer's labourer.

Two of Ablett's brothers played in the Victorian Football League - Kevin Ablett, who played for Hawthorn, Richmond and Geelong, and Geoff Ablett, who played for Hawthorn, Richmond and St Kilda. Ablett's eldest son, Gary Ablett Jr., has followed in his footsteps to play for Geelong. In 2007 and 2009, Ablett Jr. won the Cats' best and fairest award, emulating a feat established by his father in his first season with the Cats back in 1984; he also won the Brownlow Medal in 2009 and 2013. Another son, Nathan, was drafted in 2004 (48th pick) by Geelong under the father-son rule. Nathan initially refused to play AFL Football because of his father's experience with the media, but, with encouragement from the club, was signed ahead of the 2005 AFL Season and has since established himself in the full forward role Gary Snr made his own. On 29 September 2007, both Gary Jr. and Nathan contributed to Geelong winning its first flag in 44 years, capturing the premiership that proved elusive to Gary Snr in his 12 years at the club. Nathan retired suddenly before the 2008 season, but he and his brother Gary Jr. were members of the Gold Coast Football Club's inaugural team for the 2011 season. In addition to his sons, Ablett has a nephew, Luke Ablett, who played for the Sydney Swans and won a premiership with them in 2005. Two other nephews, from his sister's marriage to Hawthorn legend Michael Tuck, also played in the AFL - Richmond's Shane Tuck and Travis Tuck, who played for Hawthorn.

Did he win any award or recognition?

OUT:
Ablett Jr. won the Cats' best and fairest award, emulating a feat established by his father in his first season with the Cats back in 1984;