A writer, Herling-Grudzinski was an outspoken critic of communism in his native Poland and of the Soviet political machine. The Soviets promptly imprisoned him in a labor camp.
He escaped after two years and joined the Polish underground. His book Inny Swiat (Another World or A World Apart) described his prison experience. Herling-Grudzinski later co-founded the magazine Kultura to inform Poles about cultural and political issues during the communist era, and worked for Radio Free Europe. He died 4 July in Italy from a stroke. He was 81.