July 9, 1953
Report of the Chief of WUBP in Olsztyn (Poland) for June 1953
This document was made possible with support from Leon Levy Foundation
Olsztyn, 9 July 1953
The Voivodship Office
Of State Security
in Olsztyn
STRICTLY SECRET
Copy 1
To
Minister of State Security
in Warsaw
A Report of the Chief of WUBP in Olsztyn for the Period from 1-30 June 1953.
I. The state of security:
The state of security in the Olsztyn voivodship, as compared with the previous period, has not changed significantly.
The main issue, which has been commented on among all social groups and hostile circles, were the events in the GDR.
The Berlin provocation has been broadly commented on in revisionist circles operating among ethnic Germans. In our voivodship the indigenous population [autochthoni] constitutes a separate problem, as proved by their number: 104,000.
All ethnic German groups have been saying that a revolution broke out in the GDR, that the Berlin events resulted from the destitution and poverty of the population in the GDR, because their leader cannot govern properly, as he himself had been a worker. They were also saying that Soviet forces will soon leave the GDR, that Adenauer is preparing the unification of Germany and the liberation of the former East Prussia. They also point out that a similar situation is going to occur in Poland.
Hostile pronouncements are taking place most commonly in the following counties: Biskupiec, Mragowo, Szczytno, Pisz, Ostróda, Barczewo, with the city of Olsztyn. These counties have the most hostile revisionist elements, originating from the ethnic Germans--with the exception of Ostróda and Pisz.
As an example, I am citing below pronouncements from the ethnic [German] intelligentsia:
Informer of Division I of WUBP ps. “Marta” reports that an ethnic German with an intelligentsia background—Irena Fuchs, working as a clerk in a carpenter cooperative in Olsztyn and living there—admitted she had been listening to West German radio and learned various details about what happened in the GDR, including the news about a funeral for seven people killed by the people's militia. There were about 500,000 people attending the funeral. As a sign of mourning, workers in all of East Berlin stopped working, shutting down their machines for 5 minutes. Further on she told the informer that the Berlin events are just the beginning of what will follow, because people in the GDR do not want communism, and Adenauer in his speech of the 23rd of last month stated that unification of the whole of Germany would take place soon, and the lands of former East Prussia would be incorporated into the motherland.
Typical is the pronouncement of an ethnic German, member of the PUWP.
Informer of the PUBP in Bartoszyce, ps. “Jelen” reports that an ethnic German member of PUWP—Edward Otto, a farmer on a plot of 9 hectares, living in Perkujki, commune Dabrowa, was saying that the revolt in East Berlin was caused by the fact that the workers had not been paid. The revolt had been suppressed by Soviet tanks. He further argued that workers in the GDR are demanding reunification with the American zone, and therefore he is expecting a war.
The ethnic German group is also talking about the Berlin provocation with hostility and adopting an expectation for war.
Informer of Division III, ps. “Lech” reports that an ethnic German—Marianna Pinkowska, a cleaning lady in a department store in Pisz and living there—said that she has a son-in-law in East Berlin, who holds a high position. She has just received a letter from him in which he reassures her that they will soon get together because the territories of Warmia and Mazury will return to Germany, or rather will be taken back as a result of war. She is very happy, arguing that the Berlin events are confirming the content of this letter, and thus in the near future she will be able to unite with her family.
Informer of PUBP Wegorzewo, ps. “Elka” reports that ethnic German Trajkowski Frydrych, living in Harszyn, commune Pasodze, was saying to the informer that the president of the GDR is well known to him as a former worker and that he does not think he can govern a country. That is why there is hunger, which led to a revolution. He further argued that there must come a change, since Russia had not yet defeated the Germans. As a result of the revolution, part of the GDR's population had escaped to West Germany, taking along with them one minister.
In a similar manner the Berlin events are being discussed among the immigrant population, which is arguing that the same situation as in the GDR will soon arise in Poland, because people cannot tolerate communism. In the GDR there is hunger, poverty and distress and that is why the people revolted to overthrow the system.
As reported by an informer, ps. “Bogaty”, living in Dobre Miasto, county Lidzbark Warminski, a co-op worker responsible for procurement—Szymon Bas—argued that in East Germany there had been a revolution and Soviet tanks had injured hundreds of people. And the same must take place in Poland, and if not, then in Ukraine surely there must be a revolution. He is listening to foreign broadcasts in Ukrainian from Madrid where there are many Ukrainian patriots who do not tolerate that system. Currently, those who hate Poles are returning and they are going to get even with them. He said, among other things, that he too would return to Ukraine. He has a brother in the U.S. who had served in the OUN-UPA gang and had escaped from Poland.
A glaring example of the mood among the younger generation in connection with the Berlin events is the situation in an SP brigade stationed in the Kzlowo commune, county Nidzica, where a junior member, Adela Lolej, was spreading anti-Polish propaganda directed against our Oder-Neisse border, and on 23 June, at her instigation, most of this brigade did not show up for work. The reason allegedly for not appearing was that for breakfast they were served only bread with jam and that the above-mentioned Lolej Adela was still under 18 years of age.
In connection with the Berlin events hostile propaganda has also been revived in all social circles with a hostile past.
And thus an informer of PUBP Lidzbark, ps. “R” reports that former member of the Home Army in Wilno, Józef Obulewicz, said in the presence of other people that in Czechoslovakia serious strikes had taken place after the monetary reform and the GDR's President Pieck had left for the USSR and his adjutant had fled abroad. In the GDR there are disturbances—the workers are on strike. Weapons had to be used to suppress the strikes. Fifteen workers were killed in those fights. He argued further on that Szczecin will be given back to the Germans and Poland will retain only Mazury.
Informer of PUBP Wegorzewo, ps. “Lis” reports a conversation with a Baptist displaced here under operation “W,” who was saying that the West Germans had entered the GDR sector and provoked a revolution, and that we should be expecting the same here.
It should be stressed that we have not noticed any special intensification of hostile acts in the Olsztyn voivodship connected with the Berlin provocation, with the exception of SP members not reporting to work and setting fire to a motor-bike at a dairy plant in Mragowo, an act committed by ethnic German Ernst Kolodziej, born 1933, no party affiliation, of a worker's background. He has been arrested. This incident took place right after the Berlin events.
In connection with the above events the apparatus of the WUBP and PUBP has set in place an information network with the aim of reaching people who are spreading hostile pronouncements, consistent with the Minister's Ruling of 20 June 1953, No. AC-R-1022/53.WO-89.
In addition, we have set out to prepare informant recruitment to reach to those segments of the population where our present network could not reach.
In connection with the above problem, the Investigation Division of our Office is analyzing the materials obtained and is preparing matters for implementation.
[...]
Chief of WUBP
in Olsztyn
Romaniu K. lieutenant colonel
[Source: CA MSWiA, MBP, Gabinet Ministra, sygn. 215. Published in Andrzej Malkiewicz and Krzysztof Ruchniewicz, Pierwszy Znak Solidarnosci (Wroclaw: Oficyna Wydawnicza Arboretum, 1998), pp. 143-146. Translated by Jan Chowaniec.]
The Voivodship Office
Of State Security
in Olsztyn
STRICTLY SECRET
Copy 1
To
Minister of State Security
in Warsaw
A Report of the Chief of WUBP in Olsztyn for the Period from 1-30 June 1953.
I. The state of security:
The state of security in the Olsztyn voivodship, as compared with the previous period, has not changed significantly.
The main issue, which has been commented on among all social groups and hostile circles, were the events in the GDR.
The Berlin provocation has been broadly commented on in revisionist circles operating among ethnic Germans. In our voivodship the indigenous population [autochthoni] constitutes a separate problem, as proved by their number: 104,000.
All ethnic German groups have been saying that a revolution broke out in the GDR, that the Berlin events resulted from the destitution and poverty of the population in the GDR, because their leader cannot govern properly, as he himself had been a worker. They were also saying that Soviet forces will soon leave the GDR, that Adenauer is preparing the unification of Germany and the liberation of the former East Prussia. They also point out that a similar situation is going to occur in Poland.
Hostile pronouncements are taking place most commonly in the following counties: Biskupiec, Mragowo, Szczytno, Pisz, Ostróda, Barczewo, with the city of Olsztyn. These counties have the most hostile revisionist elements, originating from the ethnic Germans--with the exception of Ostróda and Pisz.
As an example, I am citing below pronouncements from the ethnic [German] intelligentsia:
Informer of Division I of WUBP ps. “Marta” reports that an ethnic German with an intelligentsia background—Irena Fuchs, working as a clerk in a carpenter cooperative in Olsztyn and living there—admitted she had been listening to West German radio and learned various details about what happened in the GDR, including the news about a funeral for seven people killed by the people's militia. There were about 500,000 people attending the funeral. As a sign of mourning, workers in all of East Berlin stopped working, shutting down their machines for 5 minutes. Further on she told the informer that the Berlin events are just the beginning of what will follow, because people in the GDR do not want communism, and Adenauer in his speech of the 23rd of last month stated that unification of the whole of Germany would take place soon, and the lands of former East Prussia would be incorporated into the motherland.
Typical is the pronouncement of an ethnic German, member of the PUWP.
Informer of the PUBP in Bartoszyce, ps. “Jelen” reports that an ethnic German member of PUWP—Edward Otto, a farmer on a plot of 9 hectares, living in Perkujki, commune Dabrowa, was saying that the revolt in East Berlin was caused by the fact that the workers had not been paid. The revolt had been suppressed by Soviet tanks. He further argued that workers in the GDR are demanding reunification with the American zone, and therefore he is expecting a war.
The ethnic German group is also talking about the Berlin provocation with hostility and adopting an expectation for war.
Informer of Division III, ps. “Lech” reports that an ethnic German—Marianna Pinkowska, a cleaning lady in a department store in Pisz and living there—said that she has a son-in-law in East Berlin, who holds a high position. She has just received a letter from him in which he reassures her that they will soon get together because the territories of Warmia and Mazury will return to Germany, or rather will be taken back as a result of war. She is very happy, arguing that the Berlin events are confirming the content of this letter, and thus in the near future she will be able to unite with her family.
Informer of PUBP Wegorzewo, ps. “Elka” reports that ethnic German Trajkowski Frydrych, living in Harszyn, commune Pasodze, was saying to the informer that the president of the GDR is well known to him as a former worker and that he does not think he can govern a country. That is why there is hunger, which led to a revolution. He further argued that there must come a change, since Russia had not yet defeated the Germans. As a result of the revolution, part of the GDR's population had escaped to West Germany, taking along with them one minister.
In a similar manner the Berlin events are being discussed among the immigrant population, which is arguing that the same situation as in the GDR will soon arise in Poland, because people cannot tolerate communism. In the GDR there is hunger, poverty and distress and that is why the people revolted to overthrow the system.
As reported by an informer, ps. “Bogaty”, living in Dobre Miasto, county Lidzbark Warminski, a co-op worker responsible for procurement—Szymon Bas—argued that in East Germany there had been a revolution and Soviet tanks had injured hundreds of people. And the same must take place in Poland, and if not, then in Ukraine surely there must be a revolution. He is listening to foreign broadcasts in Ukrainian from Madrid where there are many Ukrainian patriots who do not tolerate that system. Currently, those who hate Poles are returning and they are going to get even with them. He said, among other things, that he too would return to Ukraine. He has a brother in the U.S. who had served in the OUN-UPA gang and had escaped from Poland.
A glaring example of the mood among the younger generation in connection with the Berlin events is the situation in an SP brigade stationed in the Kzlowo commune, county Nidzica, where a junior member, Adela Lolej, was spreading anti-Polish propaganda directed against our Oder-Neisse border, and on 23 June, at her instigation, most of this brigade did not show up for work. The reason allegedly for not appearing was that for breakfast they were served only bread with jam and that the above-mentioned Lolej Adela was still under 18 years of age.
In connection with the Berlin events hostile propaganda has also been revived in all social circles with a hostile past.
And thus an informer of PUBP Lidzbark, ps. “R” reports that former member of the Home Army in Wilno, Józef Obulewicz, said in the presence of other people that in Czechoslovakia serious strikes had taken place after the monetary reform and the GDR's President Pieck had left for the USSR and his adjutant had fled abroad. In the GDR there are disturbances—the workers are on strike. Weapons had to be used to suppress the strikes. Fifteen workers were killed in those fights. He argued further on that Szczecin will be given back to the Germans and Poland will retain only Mazury.
Informer of PUBP Wegorzewo, ps. “Lis” reports a conversation with a Baptist displaced here under operation “W,” who was saying that the West Germans had entered the GDR sector and provoked a revolution, and that we should be expecting the same here.
It should be stressed that we have not noticed any special intensification of hostile acts in the Olsztyn voivodship connected with the Berlin provocation, with the exception of SP members not reporting to work and setting fire to a motor-bike at a dairy plant in Mragowo, an act committed by ethnic German Ernst Kolodziej, born 1933, no party affiliation, of a worker's background. He has been arrested. This incident took place right after the Berlin events.
In connection with the above events the apparatus of the WUBP and PUBP has set in place an information network with the aim of reaching people who are spreading hostile pronouncements, consistent with the Minister's Ruling of 20 June 1953, No. AC-R-1022/53.WO-89.
In addition, we have set out to prepare informant recruitment to reach to those segments of the population where our present network could not reach.
In connection with the above problem, the Investigation Division of our Office is analyzing the materials obtained and is preparing matters for implementation.
[...]
Chief of WUBP
in Olsztyn
Romaniu K. lieutenant colonel
[Source: CA MSWiA, MBP, Gabinet Ministra, sygn. 215. Published in Andrzej Malkiewicz and Krzysztof Ruchniewicz, Pierwszy Znak Solidarnosci (Wroclaw: Oficyna Wydawnicza Arboretum, 1998), pp. 143-146. Translated by Jan Chowaniec.]
Chief of WUBP reports the state of security in regions of Poland following the riots in East Germany, and some hostile disturbances in Poland. The public opinion and intelligentsia of ethnic Germans living in Poland is also discussed.
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CA MSWiA, MBP, Gabinet Ministra, sygn. 215. Published in Andrzej Malkiewicz and Krzysztof Ruchniewicz, Pierwszy Znak Solidarnosci (Wroclaw: Oficyna Wydawnicza Arboretum, 1998), pp. 143-146. Translated by Jan Chowaniec.
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