Internal Military Service - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Wojskowa Służba Wewnętrzna - or WSW, Military Internal Service, it was a military counterintelligence, military police

Military police

Military police are police organisations connected with, or part of, the military of a state. The word can have different meanings in different countries, and may refer to:...

, and secret police

Secret police

Secret police are a police agency which operates in secrecy and beyond the law to protect the political power of an individual dictator or an authoritarian political regime....

Service during the years of 1957-1990 in the Polish People's Republic or PRL.

Background

When Polish communists with the consent of Joseph Stalin

Joseph Stalin

Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...

start to create a Polish military units in Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

. First unit was formed on 14 May 1943, it was Polish 1st Tadeusz Kosciuszko Infantry Division

Polish 1st Tadeusz Kosciuszko Infantry Division

The Polish 1st Tadeusz Kościuszko Infantry Division was an infantry division in the Soviet-organized Polish armed forces formed in 1943 and named for the Polish and American revolutionary Tadeusz Kościuszko...

.

A day later, on May 15, 1943 at the division headquarters by the Soviets so-called the Military Information (IW), which was responsible for the political security and counterintelligence in the division. First it was 20 people they were Russians, whom came from soviet formation like SMERSH

SMERSH

SMERSH was the counter-intelligence agency in the Red Army formed in late 1942 or even earlier, but officially founded on April 14, 1943. The name SMERSH was coined by Joseph Stalin...

, NKGB and NKVD

NKVD

The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....

. These people will direct the Polish counterintelligence until 1957. People like Colonel Dmitry Wozniesienski, a former officer of SMERSH, Col. Kożuszko Red Army

Red Army

The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...

officer, and many others. In 1943–1944, 100% of positions were filled at the IW by Soviet officers. The first group of Poles

Poles

thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...

rushed in mid-1944—there were probably 17, but took up the position of interpreters and other not significant positions.

Should also pay attention to the ethnic origin of the officers who have spanned executive positions. Same thing was in civilian security service the Ministry of Public Security

-Places:*Ub, Serbia, a town in Serbia*Ub , a river in Serbia*UB postcode area, in London, England*Ulan Bator, Mongolia-Organizations and businesses:*UltimateBet, an online poker site*Ungermann-Bass, a computer networking company in California...

. When slowly Soviet officers were going away, freeing up space for the officers, "Polish", which is a very relative concept because of their origin. For example, in August

August

August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars and one of seven months with a length of 31 days.This month was originally named Sextilis in Latin, because it was the sixth month in the original ten-month Roman calendar under Romulus in 753 BC, when March was the first...

1945, at Deputy of the Head of Main Directorate of Information of the Polish Army, Officers were called "Polish": Col. Anatoly (Natan) and Colonel Eugene Feygin Zadrzyński (both Jewish).

In December 1945, Colonel Peter Kożuszko was recalled to the Soviet Union, and was replaced by Col. Jan Rutkowski (pre-war communist of Jewish origin.) Also, his successor, Colonel Stefan Kuhl, was of Jewish origin, as well as the heads of four of the five departments (sections). And so:

Section I: counterintelligence protection of the Army Staffs led by Col. Alexander Kokoshin,

Section II: elimination of enemy spies, work control and Instructors led by Col. Ignatius Flint

Section III: counterintelligence operation targeting led by Col. Jerzy Fonkowicz,

Section IV: Investigations, led by Col. Wladyslaw Kochan,

Section V: Operations - observation, searches, arrests, led by Colonel Vincent Klupiński.

With only the aforementioned Colonel Kochan was of Polish origin.

The actions of so-called military information, additionally the tasks for which it was established that is, military counterintelligence, it rely consisted more on the fight against the opponents of the communist regime in the Polish Army. IW chased prewar officers, officers and soldiers of the Home Army, and other key independent organizations. Organizations that were loyal and subject to the orders of the Polish government on exile in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

.

Starting from mid 1944–1945 IW carried out purges in the army, with apply proven soviet methods, like arrests, torture

Torture

Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...

and show trials.
With these actions, IW was even more cruel than the Gestapo

Gestapo

The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...

, Nazi political police.

After 1956 and under the new political conditions in Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

, the existing military counterintelligence which in 1956 was The Main Directorate of Information of the Polish Army (Główny Zarząd Informacji Wojska Polskiego), was dismantled in January

January

January is the first month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and one of seven months with the length of 31 days. The first day of the month is known as New Year's Day...

1957.

Creation of WSW

The WSW with stand for - Wojskowa Służba Wewnętrzna, The Internal Military Service was established in order number 01/1957 by the Minister of National Defense

Ministry of National Defence of the Republic of Poland

Ministry of National Defence is the office of government in Poland under the Minister of Defence. During the Second Polish Republic and World War II it was called the Ministry of Military Affairs...

, a position occupied then by general

General

A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....

(from 1963 Marshal of Poland

Marshal of Poland

Marshal of Poland is the highest rank in the Polish Army. It has been granted to only six officers. At present, this rank is equivalent to a Field Marshal or General of the Army in other NATO armies.-History:...

) Marian Spychalski

Marian Spychalski

Marian "Marek" Spychalski was a Polish architect, military commander, and communist politician.Born to a working-class family in Łódź, he graduated from the Faculty of Architecture at the Warsaw University of Technology in 1931...

, a soldier and communist politician. He was born in 1906 and was a communist during the World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, a high ranking officer active in the communist resistance in Poland

Poland

. He was later appointed the chief of General Staff of the People's Guard

People's Guard

People's Guard can mean:* the Gwardia Ludowa, a communist armed organisation in Poland during World War II, organised by the Soviet-created Polish Workers Party* the People's Guard , part of Muammar Gaddafi's regime in Libya...

, which after a reorganization during the second half of 1944 became one of the main departments in the People's Army.

Also the order of Chief of General Staff of the People's Army of Poland a position occupied then by soviet officer general Jerzy Bordziłowski, also Deputy Defence Minister. His order No. 0013 allow to disband the Main Directorate of Information of the Polish Army so-called Informacja Wojskowa (Military Information).
The name indicates that this was a Military Intelligence formation, a lot of people are still convinced that it was. But is not truth. As the main article Main Directorate of Information of the Polish Army indicates that it was counterintelligence and political police formation.

Responsibilities and supervision

WSW was responsible for typical military counterintelligence and military police

Military police

Military police are police organisations connected with, or part of, the military of a state. The word can have different meanings in different countries, and may refer to:...

duties.

They were -

Detection of espionage activity in Polish People's Army

Elimination of detected espionage activity

Detection of Political sabotage in Polish People's Army

Elimination of detected Political sabotage.

Detection of Polish People's Army soldiers who carry out terrorist attacks

Detection of officers and soldiers who carry out sabotage in units of Polish People's Army

Elimination of these two threats

Detection and elimination created by the soldiers and officers of illegal political alliances in the Polish People's Army

Counterintelligence Supervision of the Polish Navy

Counterintelligence Supervision of Air Force and Air Defence of the Country

Protection of Minister of National Defence and the closest family

Counterintelligence Supervision of factories working for the Ministry Of National Defense, such as the production of tanks and other weapons for the needs of the Army, Navy, Air Force etc

Maintaining discipline in the Polish People's Army

Conducting investigation of criminal cases in which suspects were officers or soldiers of the Polish People's Army

Conducting prosecutions of soldiers who deserted or did not return from a pass (home live)

Overseeing the recruitment of Polish People's Army

The Military Internal Service was not part of the General Staff. Operating separately from the General Staff the Military Internal Service (WSW) had a larger field for maneuvers. WSW/MIS was a part of the Ministry of National Defence

Ministry of National Defence of the Republic of Poland

Ministry of National Defence is the office of government in Poland under the Minister of Defence. During the Second Polish Republic and World War II it was called the Ministry of Military Affairs...

as one of its departments. Exact name of that department was - Szefostwo Wojskowej Służby Wewnętrznej which meant Central Command Authority of the Military Internal Service.

As a part of MON

Ministry of National Defence of the Republic of Poland

Ministry of National Defence is the office of government in Poland under the Minister of Defence. During the Second Polish Republic and World War II it was called the Ministry of Military Affairs...

(MON -Ministerstwo Obrony Narodowej: Ministry of National Defense), as one of the departments, Military Internal Service was monitored and subject to the orders of one of the vice ministers of National Defence, or to the first Deputy (vice minister) of Minister of National Defence.

Chiefs/Commanders of WSW

First head of WSW was born in 1903 Colonel

Colonel

Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...

and later general

General

Aleksander Kokoszyn, a Belarusian

Belarusians

Belarusians ; are an East Slavic ethnic group who populate the majority of the Republic of Belarus. Introduced to the world as a new state in the early 1990s, the Republic of Belarus brought with it the notion of a re-emerging Belarusian ethnicity, drawn upon the lines of the Old Belarusian...

. Pre-war communist and graduate of NKVD

NKVD

school in Smolensk

Smolensk

Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River. Situated west-southwest of Moscow, this walled city was destroyed several times throughout its long history since it was on the invasion routes of both Napoleon and Hitler. Today, Smolensk...

. During the war years was working in secret PPR

PPR

PPR may refer to:* Pipe Penetrating Radar, Ground Penetrating Radar performed from inside buried pipe and conduit infrastructure* PPR , a French luxury goods and retail distribution company...

paper and copy shop (Gwardzisty), were in 1942 was arrested by Gestapo

Gestapo

The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...

and send to one of the concentration camps.

After the war

War

War is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political...

he come back to Poland

Poland

and began working together with his wife in the notorious GZI WP the military counterintelligence, were in December

December

December is the 12th and last month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars and one of seven months with the length of 31 days.December starts on the same day as September every year and ends on the same day as April every year.-Etymology:...

1956 he become the head of GZI and then the Chief of Military Internal Servise. Doing his time as an Internal Military Service head, the WSW had lost the look as effective and notorious counterintelligence service as the Main Directorate of Information of the Polish Army GZI was. Kokoszyn left his position in November

November

November is the 11th month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars and one of four months with the length of 30 days. November was the ninth month of the ancient Roman calendar...

1964 and was replaced by his former deputy general Teodor Kufel

Teodor Kufel

Teodor Kufel is a former Polish general of the Ludowe Wojsko Polskie. He later served as commander of the Internal Military Service from 1964 until 1979.-References:...

, who start as an acting WSW Chief.

Teodor Kufel born in 1920, later in 1954 the graduate of KGB

KGB

The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...

school in Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

. From beginning he was involved in secret service activities. Doing the war he was involved in Warsaw Uprising

Warsaw Uprising

The Warsaw Uprising was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance Home Army , to liberate Warsaw from Nazi Germany. The rebellion was timed to coincide with the Soviet Union's Red Army approaching the eastern suburbs of the city and the retreat of German forces...

. Then after the war he was working in Police (Milicja or MO), and from 1953 for the civilian Special Services the Ministry of Public Security

Ministry of Public Security

Ministry of Public Security can refer to:* Ministry of Public Security of Burundi* Ministry of Public Security of the People's Republic of China* Ministry of Public Security of Costa Rica* Ministry of Public Security of Israel...

(MBP). Between 1954 and 1955 Kufel attend KGB

KGB

school in Moscow

Moscow

and after his come back start working in Militsiya

Militsiya

Militsiya or militia is used as an official name of the civilian police in several former communist states, despite its original military connotation...

General Headquarters in Warsaw

Warsaw

Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...

. Three years later Kufel was moved to military counterintelligence, Internal Military Service, as a deputy head of first Directorate responsible for counterintelligence, and in 1964 he become WSW Chief and held this post for 14 years till 1979 when general Czesław Kiszczak become his successor.

Born in 1925 Czesław Kiszczak was long time military counterintelligence officer, first working in Main Directorate of Information of the Polish Army (GZI), to become head of counterintelligence for one of the infantry divisions and then one of the Military District and later head of counterintelligence for the Polish Navy

Polish Navy

The Marynarka Wojenna Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej - MW RP Polish Navy, is the branch of Republic of Poland Armed Forces responsible for naval operations...

. In 1967 Kiszczak become Kufel's deputy. But three years later he become the head of military intelligence which was then Zarząd II Sztabu Generalnego Wojska Polskiego (2nd Directorate of General Staff of the Polish Army). After seven years as an it head, in 1979 Kiszczak come back to WSW to take over after Kufel. Again he was moved in 1981, this time to the civilian branches of secret service, he become minister and took over the Ministry of Internal Affairs (Ministerstwo Spraw Wewnętrznych) or MSW, witch this position Kiszczak had the notorious Służba Bezpieczeństwa (SB) under his control.

After general Kiszczak left WSW he was replace witch general Edward Poradko.

Born in 1924 Poradko had almost the same military past as Kiszczak. After the war he joint the military counterintelligence and was working for long time in the GZI. Then was moved military intelligence and took over the strategic intelligence. In 1981 after Kiszczak left the WSW he come back to take over as a head. The next and last head of WSW was general Edmund Buła.

There are speculations that gen. Edward Buła had ordered to copy lists of WSW Informants and agents and sent it to Moscow

Moscow

, probably KGB

KGB

's III Main Directorate, and some of them to GRU. Buła is also responsible for many other things. In the eighties, the Military Internal Service was very much involved in the fight against the democratic opposition Solidarity

Solidarity

Solidarity is a Polish trade union federation that emerged on August 31, 1980 at the Gdańsk Shipyard under the leadership of Lech Wałęsa. It was the first non-communist party-controlled trade union in a Warsaw Pact country. Solidarity reached 9.5 million members before its September 1981 congress...

, etc. Almost all of the operational documents from those years have been burned, (in 1988 11 tons and latter another 5) all of this actions were controlled by general Bula and supervised by Colonel Mieczysław Kacprzyk. But the order to destroy of these documents, had to came from a higher level, it came from general's W. Jaruzelski

Wojciech Jaruzelski

Wojciech Witold Jaruzelski is a retired Polish military officer and Communist politician. He was the last Communist leader of Poland from 1981 to 1989, Prime Minister from 1981 to 1985 and the country's head of state from 1985 to 1990. He was also the last commander-in-chief of the Polish People's...

and Czesław Kiszczak

From 1957 to 1990 the commanders of WSW were:

gen. Aleksander Kokoszyn - 1/10/1957– 11/14/1964
gen. Teodor Kufel
Teodor Kufel
Teodor Kufel is a former Polish general of the Ludowe Wojsko Polskie. He later served as commander of the Internal Military Service from 1964 until 1979.-References:...

- (act) 11/14/1964 – 6/24/1965
gen. Teodor Kufel
Teodor Kufel
Teodor Kufel is a former Polish general of the Ludowe Wojsko Polskie. He later served as commander of the Internal Military Service from 1964 until 1979.-References:...

- 6/24/1965 – 1979
gen. Czesław Kiszczak - 1979–1981
gen. Edward Poradko - 1981–1986
gen. Edmund Buła - 8/15/1986 – 8/1990

Mazur Commission and WSW activities

The WSW was much different from its predecessor. During the transition from the Military Information to Military Internal Service, a special commission was established, so-called Mazur Commission. Its task was to check the activities of former Military Information, and an indication of the officers who showed cruelty to detainees doing the investigations.

The results of the commission have been classified and have been hidden from the general public till 1999, when one of the major newspapers (Gazeta Wyborcza

Gazeta Wyborcza

Gazeta Wyborcza is a leading Polish newspaper. It covers the gamut of political, international and general news. Like all the Polish newspapers, it is printed on compact-sized paper, and is published by the multimedia corporation Agora SA...

) had printed pieces of it.

Organization

During the beginning Internal Military Service was based on two main wings, first was operational counterintelligence, and second for investigate and safety task's. The each wing were supervised by WSW Chef Deputies.

Deatel WSW organization was:

First Directorate - military counterintelligence Responsible for counter-espionage protection of Army's structure and its unit’s and important military infrastructure and installations. First Directorate was consisted of four Sections

- 1st Section: protection of military secrets, confidentiality and prevention
- 2nd Section: Offensive counterintelligence, carrying out recruitment of secret informants in the ranks of Polish Army, Navy, and Air Force. Also conducting so-called operational counterintelligence games
- 3rd Section: Elimination of political sabotage in military units
- 4 Section: counterintelligence analysis

Second Directorate - Responsible for keeping an eye on order and discipline in the army units. Also the second main responsibility of 2nd Directorate was: Carrying out investigation cases, criminal, and the various offenses committed by soldiers of the armed forces. 2nd Directorate was consisted of four Sections and one Special section.

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