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SECURITY SERVICE SURVEILLANCE OF POLISH POLITICIANS OF JEWISH BACKGROUND PRIOR TO AND AFTER MARCH 1968

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Sobor-Swiderska A.

Studia Historyczne

2008

vol. 51

issue 2(202)

185-206

This article, based on data from the archives of the Communist security service (SB), presents the surveillance operations in the 1960s and 1970s, which targeted Jewish communists who had belonged to the political elite in the Stalinist years and as a result of the 1956 'thaw' either disappeared from mainstream politics or hung on to relatively inconspicuous posts. Of the reasons for dedicating that particular group to the special attention of the security apparatus none is as important as the demand for material that could be used to incriminate communists of Jewish background. The targeted persons were to have bugs installed in both home and workplace. Their telephone conversations were to be tapped and their letters read; their activities monitored by informers. The surveillance data was to demonstrate the bad character of the members of that group: it would show that they had no qualms about plotting against the official party line, or undermining the authority of the party, or getting involved in 'anti-socialist and Zionist activities'. Undercover operations against prominent communists of Jewish background started in late 1964, after Mieczyslaw Moczar became head of the Ministry of the Interior. They peaked in March 1968 and December 1970, in conjunction with the anti-semitic campaign of 1967-1968 and its aftermath, and were eventually called off in the early 1970s. It was then decided that a decade of investigations had produced no evidence of anti-party activity from that quarter and that the alleged culprits had got too old and obsolescent to have any impact on events.

INFORMAL SOCIAL REACTIONS TO THE ILLNESS AND DEATH OF JOSEPH STALIN IN MARCH 1953 ( Nieformalny spoleczny rezonans choroby i smierc Józefa Stalina w marcu 1953 roku)

100%

Mazur M.

Studia Historyczne

2009

vol. 52

issue 3-4

277-293

The death of Joseph Stalin, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, in March 1953 came as a shock to everybody regardless of the fact what was one's personal attitude to the Soviet leader and what emotions were elicited by the unexpected news. While the type and range of reactions cannot be assessed by reference to 'hard' statistical data, we have plenty of testimonies and opinions which blend into hasty generalizations and conjectures. That should not mean, however, that no valid generalizations can be made. For one thing, it was obvious to everybody, without exception, that Stalin's death marked the end of an era. One can also be certain that the reactions to that death ranged from hysterical grief and despair to indifference (probably a rare response), relief (probably more common) and even joy. The momentous event heightened the sense of fear, but also woke up hopes of a change for the better. As not all of those sentiments could be shown in public people tended to express their opinions in a very guarded manner within a narrow circle of family and friends they could trust. There were some isolated cases of people unable to hide their relief and joy at the death of the dictator: in so far as the authorities found out about such incidents the culprits had to face the inevitable consequences. This article uses as its primary source a series of reports written in the wake of Stalin's death on 5 March 1953 at the local branches of the Ministry of Public Security of the Voivodeships of Cracow and Lublin. The author has also consulted a raft of memoirs and biographical materials, among them the memoirs of Maria Dabrowska, Zofia Nalkowska and Marian Wyrzykowski.

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2 Studia Historyczne

1 Mazur M.

1 Sobor-Swiderska A.

1 2009

1 2008

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SECURITY SERVICE SURVEILLANCE OF POLISH POLITICIANS OF JEWISH BACKGROUND PRIOR TO AND AFTER MARCH 1968

INFORMAL SOCIAL REACTIONS TO THE ILLNESS AND DEATH OF JOSEPH STALIN IN MARCH 1953 ( Nieformalny spoleczny rezonans choroby i smierc Józefa Stalina w marcu 1953 roku)