World Notes POLAND

In what could be the beginning of a long-overdue reckoning with the crimes of ex-Communists, two Polish secret-police generals were arrested in Warsaw last week and charged with "directing" the October 1984 murder of Father Jerzy Popieluszko, a popular and fervent supporter of the then banned Solidarity labor union. Though four others have been convicted in the case, the two generals are the highest-ranking officials implicated in the killing so far.

The government's action came a few days after former Interior Minister General Miroslaw Milewski, who was the Politburo member responsible for the state-security police in 1984, was apprehended on charges of corruption. According to authorities, Milewski masterminded a network of Polish agents in Western countries who stole, brought to Poland and then divvied up valuables and jewelry, plus more than 2,000 troy ounces of gold valued at $820,000.

The arrests may have been timed to help Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki in his presidential campaign against Solidarity leader Lech Walesa. Walesa, who announced his bid for the job four weeks ago, has accused Mazowiecki of lacking decisiveness in prosecuting ex-Communists.