Revisiting Jewish Role in Polish Security Service, the UB: Between Soviet Communist Rule and a Hard Place. Batya Knebel Faculty Advisor: Martin Miller History Department Submitted: April 2016 This project was submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Graduate Liberal Studies Program in the Graduate School of Duke University. Copyright by Batya Knebel 2016 Table of Contents Acknowledgement ................................................................................................................................................................. v Abstract ..................................................................................................................................................................................... vi Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................................... vii Procedure ................................................................................................................................................................................. xii Criteria to Determine Affiliation .................................................................................................................................... xiii The Fate of the Small Polish-Jewish Community That Survived the Holocaust ................................. 1 Accepting a New Reality ....................................................................................................................................................... 3 Stalin’s Records with Jews ................................................................................................................................................... 8 Short Historical Review of Previous Soviet Terror .......................................................................................... 10 The Catholic Church and Anti-Semitism ...................................................................................................................... 12 Polish Tradition of Rebellious Sentiments toward the Regime. ............................................................... 22 Polish Police Security of Prewar and Pre-Soviet Control ............................................................................. 24 Stalin’s Preliminary Plans to Take Control of Poland .................................................................................... 26 Consolidation of Power and Challenges ................................................................................................................. 29 Ministry of Public Security (MBP - Ministerstwo Bezpieczenstwa Publicznego), Known as Bezpeika or UB ..................................................................................................................................................................... 34 The Receptive and Amenable State of Jewish Survivors ....................................................................................... 39 Motivation ................................................................................................................................................................................ 43 Recruitment ............................................................................................................................................................................. 45 System of Repression ........................................................................................................................................................ 49 Principles of Repression ..................................................................................................................................................... 49 System of control ................................................................................................................................................................... 51 Effects ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 54 ii Statistical Results of the IPN Table ........................................................................................................................... 56 MBP -- The Ministry of Public Security ......................................................................................................................... 56 Control Sections in the MBP .............................................................................................................................................. 67 Provinces ................................................................................................................................................................................... 68 Kielce Province ....................................................................................................................................................................... 70 MBP Camps and Prisons in Poland ................................................................................................................................. 71 MBP Camps .............................................................................................................................................................................. 71 Prisons ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 72 MBP in the New Territories............................................................................................................................................... 75 Bibliography .......................................................................................................................................................................... 84 Abbreviations ....................................................................................................................................................................... 90 Appendix .................................................................................................................................................................................. 92 Maps & Tables ......................................................................................................................................................................... 92 iii Acknowledgement I would first like to thank my thesis advisor Professor Martin Miller of the History Faculty at Duke University. His skills as a mentor are commendable for having the finesse to fine-tune my writing. He consistently allowed this paper to be my own work. I would also like to thank Professors Donna Zapf and Kent Wicker at the MALS program, who were involved in the validation of this research project. Their passionate contribution and editorial instruction enabled me to hone my writing skills. Lastly I want to thank my friend Carol Winkelman who always had invaluable editorial insights for me. v Abstract This research paper provides insight into the political considerations and goals of the regime to institute a new order in Poland. It is ironic that after World War II, at the very time when the Jewish people was recovering from near-elimination, they become the enforcers of Soviet authority in Poland. The research challenges the Polish denial of anti-Semitism and false truth by investigating how Jews became the convenient, trusted employees with sensitive positions in Poland’s controlled intelligence organization, particularly in the wake of the war’s destruction, as well as being regarded as racially inferior and “enemies of the state” in postwar Poland, The study fills the gaps in the current historiography of the period in understanding the limits of Jewish participation in its service. My statistical analysis of IPN tables shows that Jewish participation in the managerial positions of the security service was not proportionally that high enough to warrant the stereotypical accusation of over representation, but rather it points to other variables that were involved in shaping this stereotype. Ironically, the small fraction of the surviving Jews, who was represented in the new post-war power structure, had limited influence on security issues. Post-war years were marked with intense attacks on Jewish communities, which the government did not succeed to control. vi Introduction Most of the Jews, who were in Poland during the Second World War and the Holocaust, either died or fled elsewhere. Nonetheless, a visible Jewish presence remained, including those Jews who had stayed in Poland, and others who had returned after the war. For reasons that I will discuss in this paper, the Soviet Union’s occupation regime in Poland and its security service, UB (in Polish: Urząd Bezpieczeństwa1), hired significant numbers of Polish Jews to gather intelligence on anti-government organizations, in positions of management that came with status, authority and power. A prevalent belief claims the MBP UB was dominated by large numbers of Jews, and that some of these Jewish managers and investigators used violence, imprisonment and other forms of intimidation in the name of security. Rumors claim also that Jews sought revenge against local Poles who persecuted their families. These widespread perceptions, whose truth has not been questioned by the Polish population, among Poles2