Tuesday, May 29, 2007

How to read the Polish secret police reports

From time to time, we'll publish sections of the Polish secret police reports as we did a short while ago. The question has come up about the significance of the Roman numerals in each case file entry. Here's what the Roman numerals mean:

I signifies "agents";
II signifies "persons under investigation," i.e., "human targets";
III signifies "investigative matters";
IV signifies "objects/buildings/institutions under investigation"; and
V denotes files of secret police functionaries.

As said earlier - and this is extremely important - the fact that an individual's name appears in the index of files in no way means that that individual is guilty of anything. Many of the people, as Roman numerals II, III and IV show, are likely to be completely innocent victims of the secret police. We must always keep this in mind when reading, analyzing or reporting on the secret police files.

Monday, May 14, 2007

The first hundred names

The bad guys won a victory May 11 when Poland's "Constitutional Tribunal" of a few appointed judges overrode parliament and decided that the law on vetting former communist collaborators and secret police agents was unconstitutional.

Moreover, the Tribunal closed the archives at the Institute of National Remembrance to scholars and journalists. Secret police documents are to remain secret until such time as a "fair" way of dealing with the agents is discovered.

It looks like another attempt by the old guard to help Poland's Soviet collaborators to remain burrowed throughout the country's civil society.

Fortunately, the KGB is not the only group that has the files. Some of us have had copies for quite a long time. To help Poland find a "fair" way of resolving the issue we will begin publishing the names on the list of several thousand agents, handlers, targets, and files of entire operations available at the Institute of National Remembrance in Warsaw.

Today we start with the first hundred names.

Cautionary note: This list is compiled from the archives of Poland's old Communist secret police. Such lists in other formerly Communist countries have been found to contain names of people who had been incorrectly or wrongly identified as secret police agents or collaborators. Many names on the list are of secret police targets (victims), rather than informants or collaborators; they are of individuals who were targeted for recruitment but who refused. They were still noted in the catalogue of assets, but must be considered innocent victims.

Consequently, this blog is not accusing the people whose names appear on the secret police list of being secret collaborators. Each person deserves a fair hearing and must be considered innocent until sufficient evidence of guilt is presented.

The list is categorized as follows:

The first line of each entry is the "Sygnatura" or file name. IPN signifies the Institute of National Remembrance. BU roughly signifies the Archival Office. The numerals indicate the file's call number.

On the next line, the numerals are designated as "Nr. mikro.," or "microfilm call number."

The third line contains the individual's name, usually the surname followed by the given names. In some instances, the names are cryptonyms.

Below the individual's name is the "Aktotworca," or the entity that created the file. For example, WUSW Kielce means the Provincial Office of Internal Affairs in Kielce. SUSW means the Capital City (i.e., Warsaw) Office of Internal Affairs. MSW refers to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The last line of several entries contains digits followed by a slash and what looks like the Roman numeral II. This is the "numer materialu" or internal call number of the documents assigned to the file by the secret police.

IPN BU 0770/1
1
MISZCZYK ANTONI
WUSW Kielce
51/II

IPN BU 0770/2
2
KWIATKOWSKI TADEUSZ
WUSW Kielce
2/II

IPN BU 0770/3
3
JABŁOŃSKI SATURN
WUSW Kielce
3/II

IPN BU 0770/4
4
BARCIK ANDRZEJ
WUSW Kielce
4/II

IPN BU 0770/5
5
OLEKSIK STANISŁAW
WUSW Kielce
5/II

IPN BU 0770/6
6
WÓJCIK JÓZEF
WUSW Kielce
11/II

IPN BU 0770/7
7
SIBILA FRANCISZEK
WUSW Kielce
13/II

IPN BU 0770/8
8
WAWRZAK STEFAN
WUSW Kielce
14/II

IPN BU 0770/9
9
LEWANDOWSKA KATARZYNA
WUSW Kielce
15/II

IPN BU 0770/10
10
SZELICHOCIŃSKI KAROL
WUSW Kielce
18/II

IPN BU 0770/11
11
SERAFIN WŁADYSŁAW
WUSW Kielce
19/II

IPN BU 0770/12
12
TOMASIKIEWICZ TADEUSZ
WUSW Kielce
21/II

IPN BU 0770/13
13
KAMIŃSKI HENRYK + 1
WUSW Kielce
22/II

IPN BU 0770/14
14
ŁUCZYŃSKI MICHAŁ
WUSW Kielce
25/II

IPN BU 0770/15
15
WIELOWIEJSKI JERZY
WUSW Kielce
27/II

IPN BU 0770/16
16
STĘPIEŃ PIOTR
WUSW Kielce
29/II

IPN BU 0770/17
17
GISZKO TADEUSZ
WUSW Kielce
30/II

IPN BU 0770/18
18
GRZEGORCZYK WŁADYSŁAW
WUSW Kielce
32/II

IPN BU 0770/19
19
SZENUAR HENRYK
WUSW Kielce
33/II

IPN BU 0770/20
20
TYBURSKI STANISŁAW
WUSW Kielce
34/II

IPN BU 0770/21
21
NĘDZIAK STEFAN
WUSW Kielce
35/II

IPN BU 0770/22
22
LASEK ADAM
WUSW Kielce
37/II

IPN BU 0770/23
23
KABAŁA TEODOE
WUSW Kielce
38/II

IPN BU 0770/24
24
PRZYGODA STANISŁAW
WUSW Kielce
39/II

IPN BU 0770/25
25
STOGA MIECZYSŁAW + 1
WUSW Kielce
41/II

IPN BU 0770/26
26
KSIĄŻEK RYSZARD
WUSW Kielce
42/II

IPN BU 0770/27
27
SERWATA STANISŁAW
WUSW Kielce
43/II

IPN BU 0770/28
28
SZKUTA ZYGMUNT
WUSW Kielce
44/II

IPN BU 0770/29
29
KOPANIA FRANCISZEK
WUSW Kielce
46/II

IPN BU 0770/30
30
MIĘTUS ADAM
WUSW Kielce
49/II

IPN BU 0770/31
31
ZAJĄC WŁADYSŁAW
WUSW Kielce
54/II

IPN BU 0770/32
32
KOŃCIK MIECZYSŁAW
WUSW Kielce
55/II

IPN BU 0770/33
33
DENAROWICZ TEODOR
WUSW Kielce
56/II

IPN BU 0770/34
34
KACZOR ANTONI + 1
WUSW Kielce
57/II

IPN BU 0770/35
35
PAWLENKO MIKOŁAJ
WUSW Kielce
58/II

IPN BU 0770/36
36
BOJKO ANDRZEJ
WUSW Kielce
60/II

IPN BU 0770/37
37
KUŁAGOWSKI FELIKS
WUSW Kielce
61/II

IPN BU 0770/38
38
IDZIK JAN
WUSW Kielce
62/II

IPN BU 0770/39
39
PRĘDKI JAN
WUSW Kielce
66/II

IPN BU 0770/40
40
KOŁODZIEJCZYK JÓZEF
WUSW Kielce
67/II

IPN BU 0770/41
41
PRYGIEL JAN
WUSW Kielce
68/II

IPN BU 0770/42
42
PIETRZYKOWSKI WITOLD
WUSW Kielce
72/II

IPN BU 0770/43
43
WRONA WŁADYSŁAW
WUSW Kielce
73/II

IPN BU 0770/44
44
SUWAŁA JAN
WUSW Kielce
77/II

IPN BU 0770/45
45
KALĘBASA KAZIMIERZ
WUSW Kielce
79/II

IPN BU 0770/46
46
CIESIELSKI FELIKS
WUSW Kielce
80/II

IPN BU 0770/47
47
KRAJEWSKI JAN
WUSW Kielce
82/II

IPN BU 0770/48
48
ĆWIEK WŁADYSŁAW + 1
WUSW Kielce
83/II

IPN BU 0770/49
49
SMUGA JÓZEF
WUSW Kielce
84/II

IPN BU 0770/50
50
SOCHACKI JÓZEF
WUSW Kielce
85/II

IPN BU 0770/51
51
MUSIAŁ MIECZYSŁAW
WUSW Kielce
86/II

IPN BU 0770/52
52
CECOTA HENRYK
WUSW Kielce
87/II

IPN BU 0770/53
53
GRADEK STANISŁAW
WUSW Kielce
88/II

IPN BU 0770/54
54
BABULA HENRYK
WUSW Kielce
89/II

IPN BU 0770/55
55
NATORSKI EDWARD + 1
WUSW Kielce
90/II

IPN BU 0770/56
56
NAPORA WACŁAW
WUSW Kielce
95/II

IPN BU 0770/57
57
DUDEK ADAM
WUSW Kielce
98/II

IPN BU 0770/58
58
ŻABA JAN
WUSW Kielce
100/II

IPN BU 0770/59
59
LEGODZIŃSKI MICHAŁ
WUSW Kielce
104/II

IPN BU 0770/60
60
LISICKI ROMAN
WUSW Kielce
106/II

IPN BU 0770/61
61
KAMIONKA WŁADYSŁAW
WUSW Kielce
107/II

IPN BU 0770/62
62
KUŚMIERZ TADEUSZ
WUSW Kielce
108/II

IPN BU 0770/63
63
TROLL FRANCISZEK
WUSW Kielce
109/II

IPN BU 0770/64
64
KOŁDEJ JÓZEF
WUSW Kielce
110/II

IPN BU 0770/65
65
OLSZEWSKI KAZIMIERZ
WUSW Kielce
111/II

IPN BU 0770/66
66
CHROST STANISŁAW
WUSW Kielce
120/II

IPN BU 0770/67
67
DYL JAN
WUSW Kielce
121/II

IPN BU 0770/68
68
PACHOLCZYK WŁADYSŁAW
WUSW Kielce
123/II

IPN BU 0770/69
69
WITKOWSKI JAN
WUSW Kielce
130/II

IPN BU 0770/70
70
BULLI KONSTANTY
WUSW Kielce
135/II

IPN BU 0770/71
71
ZAKRZEWSKI ALEKSANDER
WUSW Kielce
136/II

IPN BU 0770/72
72
CHOLEWA STANISŁAW
WUSW Kielce
137/II

IPN BU 0770/73
73
KOPEĆ JAN
WUSW Kielce
138/II

IPN BU 0770/74
74
KAWKA KAROL
WUSW Kielce
139/II

IPN BU 0770/75
75
JÓŹWIAK JÓZEF
WUSW Kielce
140/II

IPN BU 0770/76
76
FURGAN JÓZEF
WUSW Kielce
141/II

IPN BU 0770/77
77
WILCZYŃSKI STANISŁAW
WUSW Kielce
142/II

IPN BU 0770/78
78
DĄBEK LIDIA
WUSW Kielce
144/II

IPN BU 0770/79
79
ŻYCKI TADUESZ
WUSW Kielce
147/II

IPN BU 0770/80
80
BIERNAT EUGENIUSZ
WUSW Kielce
149/II

IPN BU 0770/81
81
SEREDY WACŁAW + 3
WUSW Kielce
150/II

IPN BU 0770/82
82
ROZPĘDOWSKI FRANCISZEK
WUSW Kielce
151/II

IPN BU 0770/83
83
KACA JAN
WUSW Kielce
152/II

IPN BU 0770/84
84
KUZKA EUGENIUSZ
WUSW Kielce
155/II

IPN BU 0770/85
85
ROZBORSKI BOLESŁAW
WUSW Kielce
156/II

IPN BU 0770/86
86
CHOŁUJ MARIAN + 3
WUSW Kielce
161/II

IPN BU 0770/87
87
ZIELONY ANTONI
WUSW Kielce
162/II

IPN BU 0770/88
88
PRZYGODZKI JÓZEF + 4
WUSW Kielce
163/II

IPN BU 0770/89
89
SITKOWSKI WACŁAW
WUSW Kielce
113/II

IPN BU 0770/90
90
WASILEWSKI MICHAŁ
WUSW Kielce
115/II

IPN BU 0770/91
91
TETELEWSKI JÓZEF
WUSW Kielce
116/II

IPN BU 0770/92
92
ADAMSKI STEFAN
WUSW Kielce
165/II

IPN BU 0770/93
93
CIAUS MARIAN
WUSW Kielce
169/II

IPN BU 0770/94
94
GRABEK STANISŁAW
WUSW Kielce
170/II

IPN BU 0770/95
95
PARADOWSKI FRANCISZEK
WUSW Kielce
172/II

IPN BU 0770/96
96
WOLSZCZAK ANTONI
WUSW Kielce
173/II

IPN BU 0770/97
97
DRAB STEFAN
WUSW Kielce
179/II

IPN BU 0770/98
98
WRONA STANISŁAW + 14
WUSW Kielce
174/II

IPN BU 0770/99
99
NOWAK ANTONI
WUSW Kielce
175/II

IPN BU 0770/100
100
BABIARZ FELIKS
WUSW Kielce
181/II