Ministry of Public Security of Poland

Soviet control and political repressions
Political and military dependence of the People's Republic of Poland on the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was easily visible in post-war Poland. It was particularly visible in the command and administrative structure of the armed forces and special services organs, Intelligence Counter-intelligence and Internal security, civilian - Ministerstwo Bezpieczeństwa Publicznego (Ministry of Public Security (MBP) and military - Główny Zarząd Informacji Wojska Polskiego (Main Directorate of Information of the Polish Army). The work of these special organs was the main guarantee of political control the new Polish socialist state after the Second World War.

The Soviet Union provided plenty of assistance to the MPB in the form of advisors. These advisors were well trained and highly experienced intelligence and counter-intelligence officers, from services such as NKGB, NKVD, GRU and SMERSH, and in later years MGB, MVD and KGB. The first Soviet chief advisor to the MPB was Major General Ivan Serov, an experienced officer familiar with Soviet security organs. In 1939 Serov was appointed to the position of deputy commander, later commander of Soviet militsiya within the structure of the NKVD. Later he was nominated chief of the Secret Political Department (SPO) of the GUGB/NKVD, before becoming People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1941-1945, he was the First Deputy People's Commissar of the State Security and later - Deputy People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of the USSR. When he become main advisor to the MBP in March 1945, as a general, Ivanov oversaw the apprehension 16 polish underground resistance leaders. The Ministry of Public Security was very famous for its repressive nature. It played an important role in the so called Trial of the Sixteen.

Armia Krajowa structures had been infiltrated by NKGB and NKVD agents, with assistance from members of the People's Guard (Gwardia Ludowa) later renamed the People's Army (Armia Ludowa) during German occupation of Poland. When the Red Army entered Polish territory, the new Ministry of Public Security, coupled with Main Directorate of Information of the Polish Army quickly arrested members of the resistance who were opposed to Communist ideas and ideology. Dissident members of the Armia Krajowa were imprisoned, executed or deported to the Soviet GULAG system.

Soviet chief advisors to the Ministry of Public Security from 1945 - 1954

1945 – Ivan Serov (Major General)
1945-1946 – Nikolai Selvanovsky (Major General)
1946-1950 – Semyon Davydov (Colonel)
1950-1953 – Mikhail Bezborodov (Colonel)
1953 – Nikolai Kovalshuk (Lieutenant General)
1953-1954 – Serafim Lialin

Defections
In November 1953, First Secretary of the Polish United Workers' Party Bolesław Bierut asked Politbiuro member Jakub Berman to send MBP Lieutenant Colonel Józef Światło on an important mission to East Berlin. Światło, deputy head of MBP Department X, together with Colonel Anatol Fejgin, were asked to consult with the East German Ministry for State Security's chief Erich Mielke about eliminating Wanda Brońska.

The two officers traveled to Berlin and spoke with Mielke. On 5 December 1953, the day after meeting Mielke, Światło defected to the United States through their military mission in West Berlin. The next day, American military authorities transported Światło to Frankfurt and by December, Światło had been flown to Washington D.C, where he underwent an extensive debriefing.

Światło's defection was widely publicized in the United States and Europe by the American authorities, as well as in Poland via Radio Free Europe, embarrassing the authorities in Warsaw. Światło had intimate knowledge of the internal politics of the Polish government, especially the activities of the various secret services. Over the course of the following months, American newspapers and Radio Free Europe reported extensively on political repression in Poland based on Światło revelations, including the torture of prisoners under interrogation and politically motivated executions. Światło also detailed struggles inside the Polish United Workers' Party.

Among other activities, Światło had been ordered to falsify evidence that was used to incriminate Władysław Gomułka, who he personally arrested. He had also arrested and falsified evidence against Marian Spychalski, the future Minister of National Defence, who was at the time a leading politician and high ranking military officer.

1954 reorganization
The highly publicized defection of Colonel Światło, not to mention the general hatred of the Ministry of Public Security among Polish public led to changes in late 1954. In December of that year, the Polish Council of State and the Council of Ministers decided to replace the ministry with two separate administrations: the Committee for Public Security (Komitet do Spraw Bezpieczeństwa Publicznego or KDSBP), headed by Władysław Dworakowski, and (Ministerstwo Spraw Wewnętrznych or MSW), headed by Władysław Wicha. The number of employees of the Committee for Public Security was cut by 30% in central headquarters and by 40-50% in local structures. The huge network of secret informers was also substantially reduced and the most implicated functionaries of the Ministry of Public Security were arrested. Surveillance and repressive activities were reduced; in the majority of factories, special cells of public security, set up to spy on workers, were secretly closed.

The Committee for Public Security took responsibility for intelligence and counter-espionage, government security and the secret police. From September 3, 1955 to November 28, 1956 it also controlled the Polish Army's Main Directorate of Information (Główny Zarząd Informacji Wojska), which ran the Military Police and counter espionage service. The Ministry of Internal Affairs was responsible for the supervision of local governments, the Milicja Obywatelska police force, correctional facilities, fire and rescue forces, and the border guard. In 1956 the Committee was dissolved, most of its functions merged into Ministry of Internal Affairs; the secret police was renamed to the 'Security Service' (Służba Bezpieczeństwa).