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Security Apparatus in Poland in the Years 1950-1952 Tactics, Strategy and Methods - wersja graficzna tekstu

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The second publication from the series of "Documents" contains materials that illustrate the tactics, strategy and functioning methods of the Ministry of Public Security during the period of its greatest organizational development. The volume contains 23 documents, mainly from the archives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration. Dr. Antoni Dudek and Prof. Andrzej Paczkowski selected and edited the following research materials:

Protocol of management councils of the public security department;
Speeches and reports of the Minister of Public Security, Mr. Stanisław Radkiewicz;
Order of the Minister of Public Security regarding "the fight against the espionage of the imperialistic countries";

Letters of the departmental management on current issues and tasks of the Public Security Ministry;
Analysis and editorials depicting means of elimination of the independent military underground.

Documents included in the volume shed a new light on the problem of the size and scope of the resistance against the Communist authorities. They particularly question the general conviction that the remains of the anti-communist military underground were increasingly weakening starting from the first half of the 1950s.

In the light of the data of the Ministry of Public Security of 1951 enclosed in the volume, there have been a significant increase in the number of the underground armed groups, and thus also military actions and assassinations of the apparatus officials. According to the estimates of the III Department of the Ministry of Public Security in the middle of 1952, in the city of Bałystok alone, about 500 people engaged in underground activities remained in conspiracy. In Cracow there were about 300 of them.

The published documents reflect general problems that contemporary authorities were facing, which were: disorder in the industry causing frequent damages and accidents - in consequence considered to be a sign of sabotage; delays in compulsory deliveries to the countryside - treated as acts of sabotage; and numerous signs of braking the discipline by the Security Police and Militia officers.

The book contains also information on creating a net of informers in various social environments and groups, which was one of the methods of recognizing and destroying the enemies. As the Minister of Public Security Stanisław Radkiewicz put it: "We must know in detail enemy's intentions. First, we have to know them, and hit later on . (...) When we know them, we will strike well and accurately. (...) Otherwise, we will hit weakly, and what we want is - the internal and international situation requires that - to hit well, accurately and strongly."

10 August 2006

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