Zdzislaw Rurarz, a former Polish ambassador to Japan who defected to America in 1981 to protest the imposition of martial law, died January 21 of cancer at a Virginia hospital. He was 76.

Rurarz defected after Poland’s last communist leader, General Wojciech Jaruzelski, imposed martial law on December 13, 1981, in an attempt to crack down on the trade union Solidarity.

Born February 24, 1930, in Pionki, Rurarz held government and diplomatic posts under starting in the 1960s.

Escaping from Tokyo was tricky.

Rurarz first contacted the U.S. Embassy there to find out whether the Americans would grant him asylum. But that information was leaked to the press the family still doesn’t know how and when Polish officials found out, they ordered an Interior Ministry official in Tokyo to watch the family closely and prevent them leaving.

Their chance came when eight Polish sailors defected as their ship docked in Japan to pick up a rice shipment.

Once they arrived in the United States, Rurarz spoke out on what the communist regime was doing to Polish people, addressing a congressional panel and giving a series of lectures.

After he defected, Rurarz was tried in absentia on charges of high treason and sentenced to death by Polish authorities. His citizenship was also revoked and he lost the family’s home in Warsaw, his daughter said.

The death sentence was never lifted, and the citizenship and property were never restored.