STUDIA NAD BEZPIECZEŃSTWEM

Nr 9 s. 25–39 2024

ISSN 2543–7321

Uniwersytet Pomorski w Słupsku

Przyjęto: 19.07.2024

Zaakceptowano: 19.07.2024

Oryginalna praca badawcza DOI: 10.34858/SNB.9.2024.002

Zbigniew Wilczyński



e-mail: zbigniew.wilczynski@ipn.gov.pl



THE MAIN ASPECTS OF COOPERATION BETWEEN

THE CITIZENS’ MILITIA AND THE SECURITY SERVICE

IN THE SEVENTIES AND EIGHTIES OF THE TWENTIETH

CENTURY

GŁÓWNE ASPEKTY WSPÓŁPRACY MILICJI

OBYWATELSKIEJ ZE SŁUŻBĄ BEZPIECZEŃSTWA W LATACH

SIEDEMDZIESIĄTYCH I OSIEMDZIESIĄTYCH XX WIEKU

Abstract: The article concerns the poorly described issue of cooperation between the

Citizens’ Militia and the Security Service in the 1970s and 1980s, especially the main

aspects of this cooperation. Based on an analysis of archival materials, the author tries

to answer the question of the extent to which the goals, methods and competences of the

Citizens’ Militia and the Security Service were similar and how they intertwined. Based



both services. Using the example of departmental studies and operational matters, ex-

amples of cooperation between the Citizens’ Militia and the Security Service are shown

in terms of information exchange, protection of the economy and combating political

opposition. Their areas of interest often overlapped, especially in matters of an econom-

ic nature, and the Citizens’ Militia and the Security Service often dealt with the same

issues. Despite the fact that the importance of cooperation was repeatedly emphasized in



Zbigniew Wilczyński

Zarys treści: 



-









MO a SB w zakresie wymiany informacji, ochrony gospodarki i zwalczania opozycji po-

          -

            -

        





Keywords: Citizens’ Militia, Security Service, intelligence work, secret collaborator, co-

operation of law enforcement and secret services.

Słowa kluczowe: 



The history of the Citizens’ Militia is not as popular as the history of the

Security Service, which is evident even from a cursory comparison of the

number of publications on the subject. In popular understanding the Citizens’

         



researchers and public opinion is focused on the SB.



It is worth noting that

due to their exceptional brutality, the Motorized Reserves of the Citizens’ Mi-

litia, as well as the grim realities of martial law, are still vivid in the memory



“UB” and “SB” were always much more dangerous than the “stupid militiamen”

who were the butt of widely spread jokes.

 

zens’ Militia. In 2018, a valuable publication was published entitled Brudne wspólnoty.

Przestępczość zorganizowana w PRL w latach siedemdziesiątych i osiemdziesiątych XX

wieku

The Main Aspects of Cooperation between the Citizens’ Militia…

-



opponents. It is clear that the “category” of many cases was obvious: criminal

cases were the domain of the MO, whilst political matters were handled by the

SB. However, this clear picture becomes more complicated if we take into ac-

count some areas of activity of both services, and especially their coopera-





Republic.





operational tasks, work methods, organizational structure and mutual relations,

especially in the context of combating criminality and political opposition?



Citizens’ Militia from those of the Security Service?

The aim of this article is to analyse the cooperation between the Citizens’



and similarities in their operational work, approach to secret collaborators and

common tasks related to the protection of the security order. An important

question in the context of preserved archival materials is to what extent the

cooperation between the Citizens’ Militia and the Security Service was really



the ideological declarations of the “fraternal services” had to diverge to some

extent from practice.

The following hypotheses are put forward in this article: the goals and meth-



convergent, especially in the area of combating economic crime, and the co-

    





The subject study was created based on archival materials collected in the

          -

          









Zbigniew Wilczyński

Security and “separation” of the Citizens’ Militia from the security apparatus),

and therefore, archival materials concerning the Citizens’ Militia created after









This may





an impact on the lives of a much smaller number of citizens.

The topic of cooperation between the MO and the SB is present in histo-

riography mainly in the context of demonstrations, strikes or securing mass

-

selves from their colleagues from the SB and start a new chapter under the







The new political climate has completely

erased the years of propaganda-proclaimed “brotherhood” of both formations.





publications are a rich source of information on the cooperation of the MO and



-

tional materials). Specialized books and articles (most often written by depart-



the latter mentioned theses.

A distinctive work is the small-volume publication by Colonel Aleksander

Rozwadowski, a veteran of the security apparatus (he served in the MO from

           



-

tion and methods and forms in the operational work of the Militia Service, the



 



102.



 Rakowiecka w remoncie. Transformacja polityki bezpieczeństwa wewnętrz-

nego Polski w latach 1989–1993

 -

-





The Main Aspects of Cooperation between the Citizens’ Militia…

the outline of the lecture, as the title suggests, focuses, among other things, on





Rozwadowski em-





Militia, operational activities are primarily handled by employees of the criminal

       -





The issue of working with personal sources of information is similar, although

the author draws attention to the fact that secret collaborators of the MO were

recruited more often on the basis of incriminating materials. He also notes that

when recruiting (according to the police instructions) it was best to use material

interests, because candidates often came from a parasitic and criminal element,

where the only value was money. This is in contrast to the fact that the SB very

often recruited secret collaborators on the basis of “volunteering and joint civ-



          

ask for money at all. Rozwadowski also notes that many candidates for mili-

tia collaborators were recruited on the basis of incriminating materials (because

they committed common crimes and misdemeanours), and the SB usually did

not have such possibilities because it recruited people from a higher ethical and

intellectual level. Just like the SB, the MO could not recruit members of the



people holding managerial positions in state authorities and administration or in

political organizations (which the SB often did because higher-ranking people

usually knew and could do more). Apart from that, Rozwadowski sums up that



to maintaining documentation, contacts and working with secret collaborators.

Both services also used the specialist knowledge of their consultants in very sim-

ilar ways.

            

with criminal activity and social pathologies (drug addiction, alcoholism and



       

          







Zbigniew Wilczyński

parasitism



).The SB, on the other hand, dealt with political matters, opposi-

tion circles, espionage, diversion and sabotage. Rozwadowski writes, howev-

er, that both services jointly dealt with the protection of the national economy.



-

formation (…) transfer of operational materials and even secret collaborators

(…).







It is interesting to compare the looser forms of cooperation, i.e. opera-

tional contacts of the Security Service and persons trusted by the Citizens’





-



secret collaborators.



The level of control in the Security Service was much



less was required of the MO in terms of maintaining documentation. Both



          

operational work, Rozwadowski concludes that the operational investiga-

       

subject of their activities, although in combating economic crime there may

be a “far-reaching convergence.” By passing on information to each other:

“(…) they serve the same purpose, which is to maintain law and order and

security in our country.”





much more favourable for the communist authorities than it would be

a decade later. However, cooperation between the services and unwavering

defence of the threatened “law and order” were similarly assumed. After the

tragic events of December 1970, it was decided to better prepare the security



“work stoppages.” The MO and SB were to modernise and operate more

The most common form of parasitism was the avoidance of work.

 -

Specyka osobowych…, op. cit., p. 12.

Ibidem, p. 19.

Ibidem, p. 41.



The Main Aspects of Cooperation between the Citizens’ Militia…

professionally, which was also expressed by the development of new binding

operational work instructions for the SB from 1 February 1970 and for the



On 6 May 1971, a conference of the senior management of the MO and

-

ciszek Szlachcic, the summary of which was issued by the Department of





In his speech Szlachcic referred to the MO and SB, pointing out that the

ministry must develop regulations and action plans in the event of “serious

disturbances”, assuming that the SB will be responsible for the security of

“closed rooms”, and on the streets and in “open spaces” the MO will play the

leading role, with the provincial commander being responsible for the prepa-

ration and course of the activities. The MO and SB were to support each other

in suppressing unrest. The minister sharply criticized in particular the “lazi-

-

tration on writing reports and taking photographs (which were at a low level

anyway), and, perhaps surprisingly, the desire to expand the agency. He said:







This is especially interest-



in the 1980s, i.e. the massive expansion of the network of secret collabora-

tors.





and equipped. However, Szlachcic had no objections to the attitude of the

         -

ing with a policeman with a shattered skull who expressed his willingness

to continue serving. However, he believed that the leadership of the services



with the army and under no circumstances to claim that it was the army that

was shooting and the militia that “was not shooting.” He argued that if the

          

-

       -

wa 1971.

Ibidem, p. 12.

 

simultaneously ran several to a dozen or so collaborations. See e.g. T. Ruzikowski, Wstęp,

in: idem (ed.), Instrukcje pracy operacyjnej aparatu bezpieczeństwa (1945–1989)





Zbigniew Wilczyński

situation required it, the MO should use weapons as often as required, without

at the same time jeopardizing the image of the army, which was very important

to the authorities.

An interesting perspective on the relations between the MO and the Security

Service is provided by a probably never-published study written after 1981 by an

-







Apart from a number of regulations and directives

concerning the cooperation of the services, which the author cites and points out,

he talked to many employees and during the survey some of them were unable

to provide any regulations concerning the cooperation of both services.



Given

such a low level of knowledge of the issue, the writer felt it was necessary to re-

mind people of this obligation.

-

tia of 10 August 1974, which obliged the militiamen, among other things, to take



-

in the scope of competences and duties of the Security Service (…).”





           

all events involving foreigners, especially if they were related to a threat to the





1976-1980, obliged the Security Service to further tighten cooperation within the



of the national economy.





collecting as much information as possible and counteracting political crimes to-





at the MO were also to be an important link in communication with the Securi-





 -

-

-



Ibidem, p. 67.



Ibidem, p. 74.



The Main Aspects of Cooperation between the Citizens’ Militia…

Units of the MO, which were also supposed to combat hostile political, sabotage

and economic activities, most often by immediately reporting. However, police



information with a delay or did not notify the SB at all.

In general, the Citizens’ Militia, together with the Security Service, was

-

scriptions on walls, pursue distributors and authors of anonymous letters, secure

traces and evidence of political crimes, and after detecting the perpetrator or

the prohibited act, the criminal service of the militia was obliged to agree with

the Security Service unit on a possible transfer of the case, although this could

also take place at the request of the Security Service itself.



Additional duties,

a superior role and the “prominence” of the SB could of course interfere with



supposed to provide the SB with useful information. As the author noted, there



was very wide. The MO units were too poorly used for counter-intelligence se-

curity and their involvement in cooperation with the SB was “small.”



The fact



-

vice recorded as many as 1,172.







-

-





These plans were put into action in 1980, thanks to which the MO and SB began

to inform each other about threats much more often, which the author describes

-



passed on” information about the speeches of priests, visits of bishops, attitudes

of priests or the purchase of land and buildings.



Thanks to the MO, harmful ini-

tiatives of the clergy were “silenced”, operational matters were conducted more

Ibidem, p. 82.

Ibidem, p. 89.

Ibidem, p. 92.

Ibidem, p. 98.



Zbigniew Wilczyński



not the main topic of this article, the described examples show that the MO often

helped the SB very much.



-









(1989) were written based on operational materials

and end with similar conclusions. The police should have a better understanding

of the issues related to the work and tasks of the Security Service, both services

should coordinate their work with secret collaborators and sharing information

should be a common practice. According to Murawski, the MO should not treat

tasks performed for the SB as “additional activities”, but as “regular tasks per-



opinion, raising the need to maintain an “atmosphere of camaraderie, cordiality



example of many sources, the cooperation between the MO and the SB did not





assigned by the SB.

Jan Murawski, writing about the issue of protection of the economy, empha-

sized, among other things, that the MO “takes over operational protection of

non-key objects of the national economy that remain outside the interest of the

SB (…). The Militia provides information to Division III from objects of the

-



and other equipment that could be used for hostile activities.”



Interestingly,



      -

         -

-



          







          -

-





 

p. 78.



The Main Aspects of Cooperation between the Citizens’ Militia…

the MO about whether the information provided was useful and how it was

used. The supervisor of Murawski’s work, who was considered to be of a high

standard, was Eugeniusz Cilecki, a prominent theoretician of economic pro-

tection, who ten years later would write a manual sent to SB units throughout







In the context of the scope of cooperation between De-



the mid-1980s: 

crime, economic damage, facts of violating secrets, criminal activities of for-

eigners and hostile opposition groups in the country.”

According to the operational instructions, the Security Service had the





primary role of the Security Service in practice could be reduced to mainly

informing the Citizens’ Militia (resulting in initiating cases), and less often

-

tions. This can be seen well in the example of some operational cases of an

economic nature.







As noted



in the District Horticultural and Beekeeping Cooperative in Szczecin in the





to be systematically deteriorating. It turned out that the list of negligence and

deliberate, harmful actions was long, among other things, the cooperative’s

board was supposed to have colluded with the producers-members of the



evidence of income and expenses in the reports. It was considered that the

-

ous board. Inspired by the SB, the Supervisory Board dismissed the president





 



Ibidem, p. 41.

 -





Zbigniew Wilczyński

         



were also carried out, which in turn revealed further irregularities. The SB

inspector who concluded the “Spadek” case passed the information to the

police’s Department for Combating Economic Crimes. In response, the po-

lice initiated its own operational investigation case codenamed “Octownia”,

which it conducted until 1988.



-

ated thanks to the mutual exchange of information without conducting exten-

sive archival research. It could have been a noticeable percentage, as could

be the cases that were “duplicated”, i.e. initiated almost simultaneously by

both services, especially since their areas of interest often overlapped.

     



, concern-



         

           

22 January 1986.

         

should be recognized that there were areas where cooperation between the

MO and SB was natural and had a continuous character. It was also quite

paradoxical: at the same time “necessary” and neglected. Its course was in-





needs of the security apparatus.



paramount role of the Security Service





were the exchange of information, control of foreigners and joint protection

of facilities. Operational activities were conducted similarly by both services,

and especially in relation to issues of an economic nature, the methods of op-

eration and goals were often almost identical. At the same time, the sources

 -



          -





 -

           

10 August 1974.



The Main Aspects of Cooperation between the Citizens’ Militia…

clearly show that this fundamental (at least declarative) cooperation in prac-



side.



between what interested the MO and the SB. Too often, competences overlapped,

especially when it came to the broadly understood “protection of the economy.”

-

rior role towards the “auxiliary” MO, “SB” matters were generally more im-

portant than “militia” matters. However, the examples from operational matters

show that both services could also “share” interesting issues or objects, especial-

ly since there were many more militia members.

Based on the analysis of archival materials, the research hypotheses were





among other things, the fact that cases were opened on the same issues and the

previously cited publication by Aleksander Rozwadowski, who writes in this

context about “joint protection” and “far-reaching convergence.” The hypothesis

that despite declarations, cooperation between the two services was not (with





and cooperation between the services was usually irregular and ad hoc in nature

(as shown by the examples concerning the exchange of information).

To sum up, the goals and operational methods of the Citizens’ Militia and the





in motivations and the ethical and intellectual level of the secret police), they

operated in a similar way in combating economic crime, while “serious” cases



domain of the Security Service, such as the dismantling of the Catholic Church.

The question of the scale of deeper cooperation and mutual trust or even inti-

macy of relations between the services remains open. The preserved ideological

and propaganda materials created an almost ideal image of harmonious cooper-

ation in the face of enemy actions



, while departmental administrative, opera-





 -





Zbigniew Wilczyński

exchange of information and training of both services, counter-intelligence se-

curity, surveillance of the Catholic Church or joint “protection of the national

economy” deserve extended, in-depth research.

Bibliography

Brudne wspólnoty. Przestępczość zorganizowana w PRL

w latach siedemdziesiątych i osiemdziesiątych XX wieku



Rakowiecka w remoncie. Transformacja polityki bezpieczeństwa wewnętrzne-

go Polski w latach 1989–1993

-

   







item 102.

-











    -

nia”, 1986.



-









The Main Aspects of Cooperation between the Citizens’ Militia…

-



       -





         -

       -

chii i kleru, 1970.







        -

-

-





          





Summary

The article concerns the rarely described cooperation between the Citizens’ Mili-

tia and the Security Service in the seventies and eighties of the twentieth century. Both



-

ed, as well as show the areas where their interests often overlapped. By the example of

internal studies and cases, the cooperation between MO and SB is shown, regarding the



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