Edward Ochab was a Polish communist politician and top leader of Poland between March and October 1956.
As a member of the Communist Party of Poland from 1929, he was repeatedly imprisoned for his activities under the Polish government of the time. In 1939 Ochab participated in the Defense of Warsaw but afterwards moved to the Soviet Union, where he became an early organizer and manager in the Union of Polish Patriots. In 1943, he joined General Berling's Polish Army on the Eastern Front as a political commissar and quickly advanced in its ranks. From 1944 he was a member of the Central Committee of the Polish Workers' Party and a deputy in the State National Council. In 1945, he became minister of public administration and held the successive positions of propaganda chief in the PPR, chief of cooperative associations, and chief of the Association of Trade Unions. From December 1948 he was a deputy member of the Polish United Workers' Party Politburo, and a full member from 1954.
Between 1949 and 1950, General Ochab was deputy minister of defense and led the political branch of the Armed Forces.