LODZ CITY PZPR COMMITTEE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80T00246A052900340001-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 2, 2010
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: February 29, 1960
• Content Type: REPORT

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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
This material contains information affecting the National Defense of the United States within the meaning of the Espionage Laws, Title
18, U.S.C.. Secs, 793 and 794, the transmission or revelation of which in any manner to an unauthorized person is prohibited by law.
COUNTRY Poland
SUBJECT Lodz City PZPR Committee
DATE OF
INFO.
PLACE &
DATE ACQ.
report describing the organization
of the Lodz City PZPR (Polish United Workers Party) Committee.
STATE X ARMY X NAVY
DATE DISTR. ! 9 FEB 19N
NO. PAGES 1
REFERENCES RD
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1. The Lodz City Committee of the Communist Party (Lodzki
Komitert Partji) was equal in status to a voivodship Party committee
(Wojewodzki Komitet Partji) because of the special administrative
position of the city of Lodz, which was similar to that of Warsaw.
The offices of the Lodz Committee were located at 107 Aleja Koscius-
ski, in a three-story building constructed after the war. Prior to
1956, between 120 and 130 people had worked in these offices. After
Gomulka's assumption to power, however, this number was reduced to
about 50 and remained at that level thereafter. The many rooms which
thus became vacant were turned over to the Party Training Center
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(Osrodek Szkolenia Partyjnego) and the Evening University for
Marxism-Leninism, two institutions which had previously been housed
on other premises in the city.
2. Along with the reduction of staff, an organizational retrench-
ment was effected, resulting in the dissolution of the Committee's
trade department (Wydzial Handlu), culture department (Wydzial Oswiaty),
and transportation department (Wydzial Komunikacji). The duties of
the trade and transportation departments were transferred to the
economic department (Wydzial Ekonomiczny), and those of the cultural
department to the propaganda department (Wydzial Propagandy). Since
this retrenchment, no further organizational changes were made. In
1958, therefore, the Lodz City Party Committee consisted of the follow-
ing departments:
a. Organization department (Wydzial Organizacyjny), the most
important of the departments. All the other departments were
subordinate to it in matters concerning work among Party members
and activists (Aktyw). The duties of the organization department
included: organization of meetings and consultations in the
framework of the committee proper, organization of Party meetings
in institutions and factories, organization of various Party
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campaigns and operations (national days, elections, etc.), as
well as the admission of new Party members.
b. Economic department, which supervised the execution
of the government's economic policy in the Lodz area. Accord-
ingly, it had a say in the management of industrial plants,
institutions and commercial agencies during all stages of
operations, from planning to final processing.
c. Propaganda department, which, in addition to its agit-
prop work proper, was also in charge of training Party personnel,
supervision and direction of cultural activities, as well as
general and physical education. It was composed of two sections:
an education and culture section and a mass organizations section;
it was the only department which retained its subdivisions after
the retrenchment of 1956.
d. Control Commission (Komisja Kontroli Partyjnej), an
independent body directly subordinate to its counterpart at
the Central Committee in Warsaw. Its official duty is to assure
the integrity of the Party.
3. The supreme body of the Lodz City Committee is the Plenum,
to which all departments were subordinate. It convened from time to
n1irT
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time as required or to decide on some particular issue. It lay down
the general policy to be followed by the committee between plenary
sessions and decided on specific matters if it was convened for an
extraordinary session.
4. The second body which ranked above the departments was the
Executive Committee (Ekzekutywa Komitetu), consisting of about
15 members elected by the Plenum. The Executive Committee, which
met more frequently than the Plenum, directed the execution of
principal decisions taken by the latter.
5. A third body controlling the everyday work of the City
Committee was the Secretariat (Sekretariat), which was composed of
four members: the First Secretary, and the Secretaries of the
Organization, Economic Affairs and Propaganda Departments.
6. There were six Ward Party Committees (Dzielnicowe Komitety
Partyjne) operating under the authority of the Lodz City Committee,
whose status corresponded to that of District Party Committees
(Powiatowe Komitety Partyjne) in a regular voivodship Party organi-
zation. The jurisdiction of the Ward Committees extended over the
corresponding administrative wards of the city: Srodmiescie, Baluty,
Polesie, Ruda, Chojny, and Widzew. In Octob& 1956 stringent
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 1 50X1-HUM
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,TTFT
retrenchment measures were carried out in the Ward Committees,
comparable to those in the City Committee: personnel was reduced to
one-third of its previous number and organization subdivisions, i.e.,
sections, were abolished. The strength of personnel varied in the
individual Committees according to the character of the ward and the
number of existing Party cells; the average establishment was 12-13
persons.
7. The Party activists were mobilized on a large scale only for
special operations, such as elections or' strike-breaking. Apart from
such occasions, the activists work only in their respective Party
cells, in accordance with individual duty directives. During the
events of October 1956 there was a large activist organization opera-
ting in Lodz. It consisted mainly of industrial workers who believed
in Gomulka's ability to improve the prevailing situation and his
power to pursue his own course. These men willingly responded to
the appeal of the Party and were encouraged to some extent by
sympathetic Western broadcasts, particularly those of In 50X1-HUM
1958 most of these activists were disillusioned with Gomulka's
performance; only a minority were willing to explain away his failure
on the basis of Poland's geographical position. Gomulka's popularity
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among activists and Party members in general had dropped considerably.
When he visited Lodz on 22 July 1958 for a military parade, he was
received with marked coolness, in contrast to his reception in the
city in October 1956. Bitterness toward Gomulka and his government
was particularly evident among the Lodz textile workers, who felt
discziminated against, with regard to wages, in comparison to other
sectors of industry.
8. In 1958 the activist organization in Lodz was limited in
numbers and its members were not devoted to their tasks. Neither
could they be relied upon, for most of them did not identify them-
selves with the Party's policies and means of execution. Although
they regarded their duties as a mere formality, they nevertheless
continued to belong to the activist organization for material advan-
tages and for the sake of their careers.
Personalities
9. Karol Krajski was Secretary for Economic Affairs of the
Lodz City Party Committee from before October 1956 until the end
of 1958. At that time he was appointed department head at a
ministry in vdarsaw.
M "I
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10. llichalin] Tatarkowna-Majskowska, female, has been First
Secretary of the Lodz City Party Committee since before October 1956.
SiCRET
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