The Polish Revolutionary Home Army (PRHA) was a group of four men who seized the Polish Embassy in Bern, Switzerland and held several diplomats hostage in September 1982.  There is a great deal of confusion surrounding the aims of the PRHA, and although the group originally defined themselves as "anti-Communist revolutionaries," events surrounding the siege and its aftermath suggest that the group's motive could have been monetary or otherwise.  <P><br /><br />The siege began on September 5, 1982, when four armed men entered the Polish Embassy in Bern, taking 13 diplomats hostage.  In a message to news media, the group's leader who identified himself as "Colonel Wysocki" of the PRHA, threatened to blow up the embassy and kill the hostages if the group's demands were not met.  The group called for the abolishment of martial law in Poland, the release of all political prisoners, the shutdown of prison camps, and the end of repression of the Polish people.  Claiming to have 55 pounds of explosives, the PRHA gave the Polish Government 48 hours to comply with its demands.  <P><br /><br />On September 9, after several hostages had been released, and the PRHA's deadline had been extended another 48 hours, Swiss commandos re-took the embassy by force, freeing the captives and capturing the terrorists.  In all, no one was harmed in the incident. <P><br /><br />After the perpetrators were captured, Poland requested their extradition, saying that the PRHA was affiliated with the liberal Solidarity movement that had been actively protesting the Polish Government in recent weeks.  Switzerland promptly denied the request,  and the four men, leader Florian Kruszyk, Krystof Wasilewski, Miroslaw Plewinski, and Marck Michalski, were put on trial in Lausanne.  At this point, information began to surface about Kruszyk which led many to doubt the true motivations of the PRHA. <P><br /><br />Kruszyk served in the Polish Secret Service from 1962-1965, and in 1967 moved to Switzerland where he was arrested by Swiss police for spying on Polish refugees at the behest of the Warsaw government.  This information led many to believe that Kruszyk was actually a Polish agent who was working to discredit the Solidarity movement. <P><br /><br />It also emerged that Kruszyk had been arrested in 1969 after robbing a family in Vienna and was sentenced to nine years in jail.  Furthermore, it was revealed that Kruszyk had actually demanded millions of dollars for the release of the hostages, leading many to believe that the motive had been purely financial.  In fact, during the trial, Kruszyk's co-defendants insisted that they had wanted to join a "patriotic struggle," but were tricked by Kruszyk who claimed to lead a non-existent organization. <P>  <br /><br />Although Kruszyk remained insistent that he and his comrades were fighting for the freedom of Poland, there has never been proof of any specific motivation behind the siege, be it a Polish plot, a purely criminal act, or true anti-communist patriotism.  Kruszyk was sentenced to six years in jail, and the other members of the groups received terms of 30-36 months. <P>      <br />