Marian Zacharski
Encyclopedia
Marian Zacharski was a Polish Intelligence officer arrested in 1981 and convicted of espionage against the United States
. After four years in prison, he was exchanged for American agents on Berlin's famous Glienicke Bridge
. Arguably, he was one of the most famous agents of the Polish intelligence service. In 1996, prosecutors in Warsaw
charged him with flagrant mismanagement at the Pewex
company, and Gorzów Wielkopolski
police want to question him about illegal car trading.
For the apprehension of Marian Zacharski credit belongs to a Polish diplomat Jerzy Koryciński at UN who blew the whistle, while asking for political asylum in the US.
Under disguise of business activities, and over the period of several months, Zacharski developed a relationship with Bell. According to a court affidavit filed by the bureau, he had paid Bell about $110,000 in cash and $60,000 in gold coins, to photograph highly classified documents detailing Hughes Aircraft radar and weapons systems. Furthermore, Zacharski won access to material on the then-new Patriot and Phoenix missiles, the enhanced version of the Hawk air-to-air missile, radar instrumentation for the F-15 fighter, F-16, "stealth radar" for the B-1 and Stealth bomber, an experimental radar system being tested by the U.S. Navy, submarine sonar, and the M1 Abrams
tank.
According to Kenneth Kaiser, an agency counterintelligence supervisor in Chicago, Poland was particularly active in industrial espionage. While the Soviet KGB got all the press, Polish intelligence was perhaps superior. They, however, could not care less about military intelligence; they wanted economic and scientific secrets. Their objective was to short-circuit development costs and undersell us And, as the Zacharski case suggests, they were good at finding friends in the right places.
Zacharski disclosed the activities of a Russian spy in Poland who under code name "Olin" (known as affair of Olin - Polish Security Services and Oleksy Case Olingate cooperated with one of the best connected KGB agents and the most powerful Russian spies Vladimir Alganov
and another Russian diplomat, Georgiy Yakimishin. This consequently resulted in fall of Polish government under Prime Minister Jozef Oleksy
. *Afery Prawne(Polish).
In June 1996 Marian Zacharski left Poland for Switzerland and disappeared, leaving no clues about his whereabouts. Currently Wojciech Bockenheim from Polish TV station TVN
produced six TV movies entitled Szpieg ("Spy") "in search of Marian Zacharski", which is dedicated to disclose some of activities of Zacharski. official movie site.
, but the United States and Jan Nowak-Jeziorański
protested and Zacharski never assumed the position. In a poll from that time that asked "Which colonel better served Poland?", Zacharski or Ryszard Kukliński
, who spied for the United States, 52% responded "neither", 17% said Zacharski, and 7% responded Kukliński. . In addition, 22% said Zacharski was fit to head Polish intelligence, and 22% disagreed.
Cloak and dagger]
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. After four years in prison, he was exchanged for American agents on Berlin's famous Glienicke Bridge
Glienicke bridge
The Glienicke bridge is a bridge on the edge of Berlin that spans the Havel River to connect the cities of Potsdam and Berlin near Klein Glienicke...
. Arguably, he was one of the most famous agents of the Polish intelligence service. In 1996, prosecutors 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...
charged him with flagrant mismanagement at the Pewex
Pewex
Pewex was a chain of hard currency shops in communist Poland...
company, and Gorzów Wielkopolski
Gorzów Wielkopolski
Gorzów Wielkopolski is a city in western Poland, on the Warta river. It is the biggest city in the Lubusz Voivodeship with 125,149 inhabitants...
police want to question him about illegal car trading.
Espionage
Zacharski was president of the Polish American Machinery Company (POLAMCO) and lived in the United States from about 1977 till 1981. Acting as the commercial representative, he was at the same time an officer of the Polish intelligence service. In June 1981 William Holden Bell, project manager of the Radar Systems Group at Hughes Aircraft in El Segundo, California, and Zacharski, were arraigned on espionage charges.For the apprehension of Marian Zacharski credit belongs to a Polish diplomat Jerzy Koryciński at UN who blew the whistle, while asking for political asylum in the US.
Under disguise of business activities, and over the period of several months, Zacharski developed a relationship with Bell. According to a court affidavit filed by the bureau, he had paid Bell about $110,000 in cash and $60,000 in gold coins, to photograph highly classified documents detailing Hughes Aircraft radar and weapons systems. Furthermore, Zacharski won access to material on the then-new Patriot and Phoenix missiles, the enhanced version of the Hawk air-to-air missile, radar instrumentation for the F-15 fighter, F-16, "stealth radar" for the B-1 and Stealth bomber, an experimental radar system being tested by the U.S. Navy, submarine sonar, and the M1 Abrams
M1 Abrams
The M1 Abrams is a third-generation main battle tank produced in the United States. It is named after General Creighton Abrams, former Army Chief of Staff and Commander of US military forces in Vietnam from 1968 to 1972. The M1 is a well armed, heavily armored, and highly mobile tank designed for...
tank.
According to Kenneth Kaiser, an agency counterintelligence supervisor in Chicago, Poland was particularly active in industrial espionage. While the Soviet KGB got all the press, Polish intelligence was perhaps superior. They, however, could not care less about military intelligence; they wanted economic and scientific secrets. Their objective was to short-circuit development costs and undersell us And, as the Zacharski case suggests, they were good at finding friends in the right places.
Zacharski disclosed the activities of a Russian spy in Poland who under code name "Olin" (known as affair of Olin - Polish Security Services and Oleksy Case Olingate cooperated with one of the best connected KGB agents and the most powerful Russian spies Vladimir Alganov
Vladimir Alganov
Vladimir Alganov is a Russian spy. He was Soviet KGB officer in Warsaw, Poland in the 1980s and Russian SVR officer in the same city in the 1990s.In 1996, Poland's Prime Minister Józef Oleksy resigned because of his links to Alganov....
and another Russian diplomat, Georgiy Yakimishin. This consequently resulted in fall of Polish government under Prime Minister Jozef Oleksy
Józef Oleksy
Józef Oleksy is a post-communist Polish politician, former chairman of Democratic Left Alliance ....
. *Afery Prawne(Polish).
In June 1996 Marian Zacharski left Poland for Switzerland and disappeared, leaving no clues about his whereabouts. Currently Wojciech Bockenheim from Polish TV station TVN
TVN (Poland)
TVN is a major Polish commercial television network. The broadcaster was co-founded by Polish businessmen Mariusz Walter and Jan Wejchert. The network launched on October 3, 1997. TVN belongs to the TVN S.A...
produced six TV movies entitled Szpieg ("Spy") "in search of Marian Zacharski", which is dedicated to disclose some of activities of Zacharski. official movie site.
Popularity in Poland
On 15 August 1994, the Polish government announced Zacharski’s appointment as head of civilian intelligence in the Polish Office of State ProtectionUrzad Ochrony Panstwa
Urząd Ochrony Państwa or UOP was the intelligence agency of Poland. It was founded on April 6, 1990, as a department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In 1996 it was transformed into a separate government agency under the supervision of the Prime Minister...
, but the United States and Jan Nowak-Jeziorański
Jan Nowak-Jezioranski
Jan Nowak-Jeziorański was a Polish journalist, writer, politician, social worker and patriot. He served during the Second World War as one of the most notable resistance fighters of the Home Army...
protested and Zacharski never assumed the position. In a poll from that time that asked "Which colonel better served Poland?", Zacharski or Ryszard Kukliński
Ryszard Kuklinski
Ryszard Jerzy Kukliński was a Polish colonel, Cold War spy and whistleblower. He passed top secret Warsaw Pact documents to the CIA between 1971 and 1981...
, who spied for the United States, 52% responded "neither", 17% said Zacharski, and 7% responded Kukliński. . In addition, 22% said Zacharski was fit to head Polish intelligence, and 22% disagreed.
External links
- Part V: Polish Intelligence 1989-2005 Interfering with Political Processes
- Ex-Communist Polish Premier May Resign Over Charges of Spying for Moscow
- What Is The KGB Interested In?
- The Spy, directed by Wojciech Bockenheim
- Zacharski: I was proud to be a spy | Zacharski: Byłem dumny, że jestem szpiegiem (polish).
- Their agents and double agents
- Our agents and double agents
- They chose freedom
- FBI
- The Spy Who Went Into Retailing
- The Polish Political Circus
- Espionage cases
- Marian and His Curious Friend
- Marian Zacharski
- Top secret Polish intelligence documents
- http://books.google.pl/books?id=rrULmz5IVZQC&pg=PA37&lpg=PA37&dq=marian+zacharski&source=web&ots=pGs44xB44d&sig=VhSVd-edg0vd4etiAdjm1UQavD4&hl=en
Cloak and dagger]