Scientific Journal of the Military University of Land Forces ISSN:2544-7122(print),2545-0719(online) 2020,Volume52,Number3(197),Pages557-573 DOI:10.5604/01.3001.0014.3926 Original article Transformation of the special services in Poland in the context of political changes Marian Kopczewski1* , Zbigniew Ciekanowski2 , Anna Piotrowska3 1 FacultyofSecuritySciences, GeneralTadeuszKościuszkoMilitaryUniversityofLandForces,Wrocław,Poland, e-mail:[email protected] 2 FacultyofEconomicandTechnicalSciences, PopeJohnPaulIIStateSchoolofHigherEducationinBiałaPodlaska,Poland, e-mail:[email protected] 3 FacultyofNationalSecurity,WarStudiesUniversity,Warsaw,Poland, e-mail:[email protected] INFORMATION ABSTRACT Article history: ThearticlepresentsthetransformationofspecialservicesinPolandagainst Submited:16August2019 thebackgroundofpoliticalchanges.Itpresentstheactivitiesofsecuritybod- Accepted:19May2020 ies–civilandmilitaryintelligenceandcounterintelligenceduringthecommu- Published:15September2020 nistera.Theirtaskwastostrengthencommunistpower,eliminateopponents ofthesystem,strengthentheallianceofsocialistcountriesledbytheUSSR, andfightagainstdemocraticopposition.Thecreationofnewspecialservices wasalsoshown:theUOPandtheWSI.Thefocuswasonthenewtasksthat weresetfortheminconnectionwiththedemocraticchangesandnewalli- ances.TherewerepresentedspectacularUOPactions,whichcontributedto raisingtheprestigeofPolandontheinternationalarena. KEYWORDS *Correspondingauthor specialservices,politicalchanges,democracy,security ©2020byAuthor(s).ThisisanopenaccessarticleundertheCreativeCommonsAttribution InternationalLicense(CCBY).http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Introduction Specialservices–intelligenceandcounterintelligence–areessentialelementsofthestate’s internalandexternalsecuritysystems.Indemocraticcountries,theseinstitutionsservethe citizensandpreventthreatsthatcouldleadtodestabilizationofthestateanditsstructures. Theirsecrecyofactiondeterminestheireffectiveness.Theyhavetherighttosecretlycol- lectinformationconcerningcitizens,stateandlocalgovernmentinstitutions,privateand internationalentities,andotherstates.However,theyaresubjecttosystemiccontroland supervision,whichdeterminetheirproperuse.Thatisnotthecaseintotalitarianorauthori- tarianstates,whereintelligenceandcounterintelligenceservethestatusquoandstrengthen 557 Marian Kopczewski, Zbigniew Ciekanowski, Anna Piotrowska politicalexistence,andtheenemyisoftenidentifiedwithapoliticalopponentwithinthe country.Duringthecommunistera,thesecretserviceservedtostrengthenpower,keep undersurveillanceandeliminateopponentsoftheexistingsystem,bothinthecountryand intheémigrécommunities. Thefirstpartofthestudywillpresenttheintelligenceandcounterintelligenceorganizations operatingincommunistPolandandthegoalsandtaskstheypursued.Thesecondpartwill discusstheroleandtasksofthenewspecialservicescreatedafterthecollapseofthecom- munistsysteminPoland. Tasks of the People’s Republic of Poland (PRL) services 1944-1990 TheauthoritiesofcommunistPolandveryearlystartedtocreatesubordinatedandpolitically controlledspecialservices.Initially,untilaround1948,theywereaguaranteeoftheexistence ofnewpower,thentheywereatoolofpoliticsimposedbytheUSSR,andthenbytheWarsaw Pact.Suchsecurityorgansweretheintelligenceandcounterintelligencestructures,situated insuccessivecivilinstitutions:A.Thestructuresofintelligenceandcounterintelligencewere positionedinthefollowingcivilianinstitutions:A.theMinistryofSecurityofthePKWN(Pol- ishCommitteeofNationalLiberation)anditssubordinatefieldunits(July-December1944); B.theMinistryofPublicSecurityanditssubordinatefieldunits(1945-1954);C.thePublic SecurityCommittee(1954-1956);D.theMinistryoftheInterioranditssubordinatefield units(1956-1990);andalsomilitaryservice:E.Intelligence:theDivisionIIoftheGeneralStaff (SupremeCommandofthePolishArmedForces)/GeneralStaffofthePolishArmedForces (1943-1951)andtheBoardoftheGeneralStaffIIofthePolishArmedForces(1951-1990); F.counterintelligence:MainInformationBoardofthePolishArmedForces(1943-1957),Mil- itaryInternalService(1957-1990),MainBoardofInternalAffairsofmilitaryunitsofthe MinistryoftheInterior;G.shallowmilitary-civilianintelligence:undervariousnames,most recentlyastheReconnaissanceBoardoftheBorderProtectionTroops(1945-1991)[1,p.25]. ThefirststateintelligenceorganizationthatwasorganizedafterWorldWarIIwastheDe- partmentofIntelligence.Itwasestablishedon2January1945andoperatedwithinthe PublicSecurityDepartmentofthePolishCommitteeofNationalLiberation,andthenthe MinistryofPublicSecurityoftheProvisionalGovernment.Itsaimwasnotonlytoorganize thefoundationsoffutureintelligencebutalsotojointhefightagainsttheGermanoccupier. Thus,agentsandsaboteurswererecruited,trained,andthrownbehindthefrontlinewith intelligenceandsabotagetasks.Theseincludedgainingknowledgeoftheenemy’sforcesand meansandrecognizingorganizationssubordinatetothegovernmentinLondon.Fromthe verybeginningofitsexistence,theMinistryofPublicSecurity’sintelligencewasintended tofighttheopponentsofthenewsystem.InJuly1945,thenamewaschangedtoSpecial DivisionII,thenIndependentDivisionII,andin1947totheDepartmentVII.Atthattime, civilintelligencewascloselyrelatedintermsofpersonnelandorganizationtothemilitary intelligencelocatedintheDivisionIIoftheGeneralStaffofthePolishArmedForces.InJuly 1947,therewasanorganizationalmergerofmilitaryandcivilintelligence,andin1950itwas separatedagain[2,p.82-4].Newtasksforintelligencewereestablishedinthesecondhalf of1949.Thefocuswasongatheringinformationabouttheenemy’spotential,whichwere theUnitedStatesandWesternEuropeancountries.Thesecondtaskwastojointheclass struggletodefendthesocialistsystem.Thecivilintelligenceactivitieswereonlyintensified 558 Transformation of the special services in Poland in the context of political changes in1953.Numerousdesertionshadpreviouslybeendealtwith,thereweremanydismissals ofpoliticalandanti-Semiticnature,aswellasunderthepretextofincompetence,orlinks tocapitalistspheres.ThereorganizationinApril1953wasassociatedwithnewpriorities: –conductingpoliticalintelligenceactivityinWesternEuropeanandnon-European countries,i.e.thosewhosepoliciesmighthaveconflictedwiththeinterestsofthe PolishPeople’sRepublicandsocialistcountries;Germany,theUSA,GreatBritain, FranceandtheVaticanwereconsideredthemainopponents, –keepingthecirclesinexileundersurveillance,asthemainthreattothecommunist powerinPolandwasstillseeninexile, –keepingthestaffofPolishembassiesandconsulatesundersurveillancetocoun- terintelligenceprotectionofPolishdiplomaticmissions–tracesofsecretsearches, wiretapping,burglariesweredetectedintheposts, –conductingscientificandtechnicalintelligenceactivity–acquiringinformationand documentationonthelatestscientificachievementsandtechnicalprogresswasto servePolishandSovietscienceandeconomy, –developingandevaluatingagencymaterialsandpreparinginformationfortheparty leadershipandgovernmentmanagement[2,p.87,88,94]. Afterfurtherbetrayals,desertions,andunmaskingoftheintelligenceemployeesandas- sociates,aneworganizationalformula,indicatingachangeofdirection,wasadoptedin June1961.TheThirdWorldintelligenceunitsandtheillegaldivision1wereliquidated,and theirworkwastobecarriedoutbythevariousoperationaldepartments.Fromthenon,the mostcrucialrolewasplayedbytheDivisionIII,whichorganizedtheworkoftheresiden- cies,checkedtheloyaltyoftheintelligenceworkersandtheirsources,andsupervisedthe employeesofthediplomaticmissionsofthePeople’sRepublicofPolandandPolishcitizens goingabroadonbusiness.Inmid-1973,inlinewiththeexpectationsofthepartyleadership, scientificandtechnicalintelligencebuiltfromscratchaftertheheadofthisintelligencehad escapedin1961[2,p.95,98,99],wasexpanded.Subsequentreorganizations,whichchanged littleintheintelligenceservicepriorities,tookplacein1977andJanuary1978. Throughoutalltheyearsofitsoperation,PRLintelligencetreatedtheUnitedStatesasits mainopponent,whichdetermineditsoperationalactivitydirections.TheU.S.wasaccused ofpursuingapolicyaimedatweakeningsocialistcountries’unityandtheintentionto“lead out”Polandfromthesocialistcamp.Forthisreason,countriesconsideredtobetheUSA’s mostimportantallies,suchastheFederalRepublicofGermanyandGreatBritain,remained inthecircleofthemostconsiderableinterestofthecommunistintelligence.Accordingto theintelligence,WesternGermanyposedathreattoPolandasitsoughttogainadominant positioninNATOandtheEEC,andthankstoitseconomicandmilitarystrength,itsoughtto unifyGermanyandrevisetheOder-Neisseborder.Therefore,theintelligencewasexpected toconfirmthatopinion.Theintelligenceapparatuswasgearedtoobtaininginformation confirmingthethreatofGermanrevisionism. GreatBritainexistedinthecircleofinterestofintelligencenotonlybecauseofbeinganally oftheUSAbutalsobecauseoftheanti-communistactivityofPolishemigration,whichdid 1 Illegalnetworkisanintelligencetermforagroup,ateamofpeople,oragentscarryingouttaskscommis- sionedbytheresident,see:K.A.Wojtaszczyk(ed.).Polskie służby specjalne. Słownik.Warszawa:ASPRA–JR; 2011,p.130. 559 Marian Kopczewski, Zbigniew Ciekanowski, Anna Piotrowska notrecognizethecommunistpowerinPoland.Otherwesterncountries,suchasAustria,Swit- zerland,Sweden,andDenmark,asalliesoftheUSA,alsoremainedinthecircleofinterestof theintelligence.TheintelligencewasinterestedinpeopleworkinginNATOinstitutionsand officesorhavingaccesstothem.InformationconcerningtheplansofNATOcountriestowards thePolishPeople’sRepublicandothersocialistcountrieswasparticularlydesiredtoobtain. Theseconddirectionoftheoperationalintelligence’sinterestwastheEuropeanEconomic CommunityandtheprocessoftheeconomicintegrationofitsMemberStates.Thethreatto PolishexportplansregardingthemarketsofEECMemberStateswasseenhere.Theintelli-