| Ministerstwo Bezpieczeństwa Publicznego | |
.svg) Coat of Arms of thePolish People's Republic used by the UB as its official logo | |
 The ministry's headquarters inUjazdów Avenue | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed |
|
| Preceding agency |
|
| Dissolved |
|
| Superseding agency | |
| Type | Secret police, Border Police,Internal Security Corps special purpose military formation also known as interior troops. foreign intelligence,Counterintelligence,border security, criminal investigations |
| Jurisdiction | Poland |
| Headquarters | Warsaw,Polish People's Republic |
| Employees | 10,000 employees (1945)[1] |
| Agency executive |
|
| Parent agency | National Security Commission, from 1949 Commission of the Secretariat of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers Party for Public Security |
| Child agencies | |
TheMinistry of Public Security (Polish:Ministerstwo Bezpieczeństwa Publicznego), was thesecret police,intelligence andcounter-espionage agency operating in thePolish People's Republic. From 1945 to 1954 it was known as theSecurity Office (Urząd Bezpieczeństwa,UB), and from 1956 to 1990 as theSecurity Service (Służba Bezpieczeństwa,SB).[2]
The initial UB was headed by Public Security GeneralStanisław Radkiewicz and supervised byJakub Berman of thePolish Politburo. The main goal of the Department of Security was the swift eradication ofanti-communist structures and socio-political base of thePolish Underground State, as well as the persecution of former underground soldiers of theHome Army (Armia Krajowa) and later anti-communist organizations likeFreedom and Independence (WiN).
The Ministry of Public Security was established on 1 January 1945 and ceased operations on 7 December 1954. It was the chief secret service in communist Poland during the period ofStalinism. Throughout its existence, the UB was responsible for brutally beating, arresting, imprisoning, torturing and murdering at least tens of thousands[3][4] of political opponents and suspects as well as taking part in actions such asOperation Vistula in 1947. The headquarters were located on Koszykowa Street in centralWarsaw, but its branches and places of detention were scattered across the entire country, the most infamous beingMokotów Prison.
The Ministry of Public Security was replaced by a short-livedCommittee for Public Security (1954–1956). Propaganda publicized these events, although the changes were in reality cosmetic. The competences of the MBP were taken over by the KdsBP, headed byWładysław Dworakowski. All operational, technical-operational and accounting departments of the MBP remained in the committee. It therefore maintained full surveillance and repression capabilities. Several people were removed from prominent positions, but the personal continuity of the MBP-KdsBP management was maintained.[5] In 1956 the marginally less repressiveSecurity Service (SB) replaced the committee in 1956. All secret servicemen, functionaries, and employees were widely known by the public asUbecy; in English "Ubeks" and singular "Ubek/Esbek" (pronounced:OO-beck).
In July 1944, behind the Soviet front line, a brand new Polishprovisional government was formed, called thePolish Committee of National Liberation (Polski Komitet Wyzwolenia Narodowego, PKWN).[6] It was established inChełm on the initiative of Polish communists, in order to assume control over Polish territories liberated fromNazi Germany by the advancing Red Army. PKWN was proclaimed "the only legitimate Polish government" by Stalin, with full political control and Soviet sponsorship. Within the PKWN's internal structure, there were thirteen departments calledResorty. One of these was the Department of Public Security (Resort Bezpieczeństwa Publicznego) or RBP, headed byStanisław Radkiewicz. It was a precursor of the Polish communist secret police.[7][8]
On 31 December 1944, the PKWN was joined by several members of the London-basedPolish government in exile, among themStanisław Mikołajczyk (later chased out of the country). PKWN was then transformed intoProvisional Government of the Republic of Poland (Polish:Rząd Tymczasowy Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej or RTRP). All departments were renamed: the Department of Public Security became the Ministry of Public Security (Ministerstwo Bezpieczeństwa Publicznego) or MBP and UB.[7]
From the end of the 1940s to 1954, the Ministry of Public Security – operating alongside theMinistry of Defence – was one of the largest and most powerful institutions in post-warPeople's Republic of Poland. It was responsible for internal and foreign intelligence,counter-intelligence, monitoring anti-state activity in Poland and abroad, monitoring government and civilian communications (wiretapping), supervision of the local governments, maintaining amilitsiya, maintaining prisons, fire services, rescue services, and border patrol; as well as severalconcentration camps set up by the NKVD (such asZgoda labour camp). In July 1947, the UB absorbedSection II of General Staff of thePolish People's Army (the Polish Military Intelligence). Military and civilian intelligence merged to becomeDepartment VII of Ministry of Public Security.[7][8]
In 1950s Ministry of Public Security employed around 32,000 people. Also, UB had control over 41,000 soldiers, including 29,053 privates and 2,356 officers of theInternal Security Corps (Korpus Bezpieczeństwa Wewnętrznego, KBW),[9] 57,000 officers in the Citizens' Militia (Milicja Obywatelska), 32,000 officers and soldiers in the Border guard (Wojska Ochrony Pogranicza), 10,000 prison officers (Straż Więzienna), and 125,000 members ofVolunteer Reserves of the Citizens Militia (Ochotnicza Rezerwa Milicji Obywatelskiej,ORMO), aparamilitary police used for special operations.[7]
Political penetration and military control over the country by theSoviet Union was evident in the early years of the Polish People's Republic. The SovietNorthern Group of Forces was stationed in Poland until 1956. The command and administrative structure of the Polish Armed Forces,Intelligence,Counter-intelligence, special services and Internal security organs both civilian (UB) and military (Main Directorate of Information of the Polish Army GZI WP) were infiltrated by Soviet intelligence and counter-intelligence officers, who served as the main guarantee of pro-Soviet policy of the new Polish socialist state. The Red Army provided assistance to MPB not only in the form of advisors, but also with their own paramilitary units includingNKGB,NKVD,GRU,SMERSH; and, in later yearsMGB,MVD andKGB.[7]
The first Russian chief advisor to the MPB wasMajor GeneralIvan Serov, a well-trained Stalinist experienced with Soviet security organs. Serov became commander of the NKVD-run militsiya during World War II. He worked as chief of the NKVD Secret Political Department, before becomingPeople's Commissar of Internal Affairs of theUkrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in the USSR. In 1941–1945, he was the First Deputy People's Commissar of the State Security and later – Deputy People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of the Soviet Union. Once he became main advisor to the UB in March 1945, Ivan Serov oversaw the kidnapping of 16 top Polish politicians and underground resistance leaders, secretly transported them toMoscow, where they were tortured and thrown into jail after the stagedTrial of the Sixteen. None survived.[10][11]
Infiltrated by NKGB and NKVD agents – the Ministry of Public Security was well known for itscriminal nature. From January 1945 (or, July 22), the surviving members of theHome Army laid down their arms, granted an official amnesty (lasting till October 15). Most were arrested by UB on the spot, tortured and tried for treason.[12] The UB carried out brutal pacification of civilians, mass arrests (see:Augustów roundup), as well asmakeshift executions (see:Mokotów Prison murder,Public execution in Dębica) and secret assassinations.[13] According to depositions byJózef Światło and other communist sources, in 1945 alone the number of members of thePolish Underground State deported to Siberia and various labor camps in the Soviet Union reached 50,000.[14]
Overall, in the years 1944–1956 around 300,000 Polish citizens had been arrested, of whom many thousands were sentenced to long-term imprisonment. There were 6,000 death sentences pronounced, the majority of them carried out "in the majesty of the law". A special disciplinary legislation had been introduced, which allowed for the sentencing of civil persons before military tribunals including young people and children.[15] The courts were concerned with the alleged crimes, not the age and the maturity of its victims. For many years, the public prosecutors and judges as well as functionaries of the Ministry of Public Security, Security Service of the Ministry of Interior (SB) andMain Directorate of Information of the Polish Army (GZI WP) engaged in acts recognized byinternational law ascrimes against humanity andcrimes against peace. The so-called "Cursed soldiers" of theanti-communist resistance, who opposed the new occupiers and attacked the Stalinist strongholds, were eventually hunted down by UB security services and assassination squads.[12] The underground structures had been destroyed, and most members of the Armia Krajowa andWiN who remained opposed to communism,[13][16] were executed afterkangaroo trials (staged byWolińska-Brus andZarakowski among others), or deported to the SovietGULAG system.[17]
In November 1953,First Secretary of the Polish United Workers' Party,Bolesław Bierut, asked Politburo memberJakub Berman to send MBPLieutenant ColonelJózef Światło on an important mission toEast Berlin. Światło, deputy head of UBDepartment 10, together with ColonelAnatol Fejgin, were asked to consult with theEast GermanMinistry for State Security's chiefErich Mielke about eliminatingWanda Brońska.[7]
The two officials traveled to Berlin and spoke with Mielke. On December 5, 1953, the day after meeting Mielke, Światło defected to the United States through their military mission inWest Berlin. The next day, American military authorities transported Światło toFrankfurt and by December, Światło had been flown to Washington D.C, where he underwent an extensive debriefing.[7]
Światło's defection was widely publicized in the United States and Europe by the American authorities, as well as in Poland viaRadio Free Europe, embarrassing the authorities in Warsaw. Światło had intimate knowledge of the internal politics of the Polish government, especially the activities of the various secret services. Over the course of the following months, American newspapers and Radio Free Europe reported extensively on political repression in Poland based on Światło revelations, including thetorture of prisoners under interrogation and politically motivated executions. Światło also detailed struggles inside thePolish United Workers' Party.[7]
Among other activities, Światło had been ordered to falsify evidence that was used to incriminateWładysław Gomułka, whom he personally arrested. He had also arrested and falsified evidence againstMarian Spychalski, the futureMinister of National Defence, who was at the time a leading politician and high-ranking military officer.
.jpg)
The political and administrative matters of the Ministry came under the authority ofJakub Berman, aStalinist from thePolish United Workers' Party. The Ministry of Public Security structure was being changed constantly from January 1945 on, as the Ministry expanded. It was divided into departments and each department was subdivided into sections entrusted with different tasks. In January 1945, the largest and the most important department in UB was Department One, responsible forcounter-espionage andanti-state activities. It was headed by GeneralRoman Romkowski.Department I was divided into Sections, each responsible for a different but specific functionself-described in the following way:
Two new departments were formed in addition to departments and sections created for the Resort Bezpieczeństwa Publicznego (RBP) forming the core ofMBP or UB in January 1945. On September 6, 1945, from the existing structure ofDepartment I emerged three additional departments:Department IV commanded by Aleksander Wolski-Dyszko,Department V commanded byJulia Brystygier, andDepartment VI headed byTeodor Duda(pl). In July 1946, further changes were enacted. UB was divided into eight (8) departments, five of which dealt with operational cases, includingCounter-espionage (Dep 1),Technical operations and technology (Dep 2),Fighting underground resistance (Dep 3),Protection of economy (Dep 4), andCounteraction of hostile penetration and church influences (Dep 5).[7]
In June 1948 theSecret Office was established forInternal counter-intelligence. The Special Office conducted surveillance on members of the MPB itself. On March 2, 1949, theSpecial Bureau was established, renamed in 1951 simply asDepartment Ten. Department 10 conducted surveillance of high-ranking members of thePolish United Workers' Party and people associated with them.[7]
All over PolandMinistry of Public Security had regional offices. There was one, or more UB office in eachvoivodeship, each of them called theVoivode Office of Public Security (Wojewódzki Urząd Bezpieczeństwa Publicznego, or WUBP). Each WUBP had 308 full-time UB officers and employees on staff. Beside WUBP, there were also City Offices of Public Security (Miejski Urząd Bezpieczeństwa Publicznego or MUBP), with 148 MPB officers and employees; as well as District Offices of Public Security (Powiatowy Urząd Bezpieczeństwa Publicznego or PUBP), with 51 officers and employees; and finally, the Communal Offices of Public Security (Gminny Urząd Bezpieczeństwa Publicznego, or GUBP), which were stationed at the local militia precincts (MO), with 3 UBP security officers on staff.[7]
In 1953, in the field, there were 17 Voivode Offices of Public Security (WUBP), and 2 Regional Offices of Public Security on the order of WUBP. There were 268 District Offices of Public Security (PUBP) and 5 City Offices of Public Security (MUBP), which operated as District Offices of Public Security (PUBP). Together, they employed 33,200 permanent officers, of which 7,500 were stationed in theirWarsawheadquarters. According to professorAndrzej Paczkowski, in 1953, there was one UB officer for every 800 Polish citizens. Never again, in the 45-year-old history of thePeople's Republic of Poland, were its special services' formations so large in numbers.[18]
The highly publicized defection of Colonel Światło, not to mention the general hatred of the Ministry of Public Security among the Polish public led to changes in late 1954. In December of that year, thePolish Council of State and theCouncil of Ministers decided to replace the ministry with two separate administrations: the Committee for Public Security (Komitet do Spraw Bezpieczeństwa Publicznego or KDSBP), headed byWładysław Dworakowski, and theMinistry of Interior (Ministerstwo Spraw Wewnętrznych or MSW), headed byWładysław Wicha. The number of employees of the Committee for Public Security was cut by 30% in central headquarters and by 40–50% in local structures. The huge network of secret informers was also substantially reduced and the most implicated functionaries of the Ministry of Public Security were arrested. Surveillance and repressive activities were reduced; in the majority of factories, special cells of public security, set up to spy on workers, were secretly closed.[7]
The Committee for Public Security took responsibility forintelligence and counter-espionage, government security and the secret police. From September 3, 1955 to November 28, 1956 it also controlled the Polish Army'sMain Directorate of Information (Główny Zarząd Informacji Wojska), which ran theMilitary Police and counter espionage service. TheMinistry of Interior was responsible for the supervision of local governments, theMilicja Obywatelska (Citizens' Militia, MO) police force,Prison Service, [[State Fire Service|fire and rescue forces]], and theBorder Protection Forces. In 1956 the Committee was dissolved, most of its functions merged into Ministry of Interior; the secret police was reformed into theSecurity Service (Służba Bezpieczeństwa or SB) on 28 November 1956.[7] The order was made byWładysław Wicha, who was the incumbent Minister of Interior until 1964.
|
|
In Warsaw, most of the killings were carried out at theMokotów Prison. The victims' bodies – often placed naked in cement bags – were wheeled out at night and buried in unmarked graves in the vicinity of various Warsaw cemeteries and in open fields.[citation needed]
{{cite book}}:|work= ignored (help){{cite book}}:|work= ignored (help)puppet government they had set up formally disbanded the AK.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
