ORGANIZATION OF THE MINISTRY OF PUBLIC SECURITY AND THE INTERNAL SECURITY CORPS (KBW)

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00457R012100100008-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 21, 2013
• Sequence Number: 8
• Publication Date: September 30, 1952
• Content Type: REPORT

- Declassified in Part- Sanitized Copy Approved forRelease2013/07/09 : CIA-RDP82-00457R012100100008-2
Ji 4i f.i. fi3
tr
FORK' NO. 51-4AA
FEB 1952
COUNTRY
SUBJECT
DATE OF
INFO.
PLACE
ACQUIRED
CLASSIFICATION
Poland
CENTRAL
rift
liiTRATE
- G
AN)
INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
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-
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SECURITY INFORMATION
INFORMATION REPORT REPORT
Organization of the Ministry of Public
Security and the Internal Security Corps (KBW)
CD NO.
' DATE DISTR. 30 September 1952
NO: OF PAGES 5
NO. OF ENCLS.
(LISTED BELOW)
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
50X1-HUM
THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS INFORMATION AFFECTING THE NATIONAL DEFENSE
OF THE UNITED STATES, WITHIN THE MEANING OF TITLE 18, SECTIONS 793.
AND 794, OF THE U.S. CODE, AS AMENDED. ITS TRANSMISSION OR REVE-
LATION OF ITS CONTENTS TO OR RECEIPT BY AN UNAUTHORIZED PERSON IS
PROHIBITED BY LAW., THE. REPRODUCTION OF.THIS FORM IS_ PROHIBITED.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
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1. The PolishlKinistry of Public Security (Ministerstmo Bezpieczenstwa PUblicznego
- MBP) is headed by General Stanislaw Radkiewicz, under whom serve tour vice-
ministers ,each with his own sphere of operation:
let.
2nd
3ra.
4tb.
Vice-Minister Mieczyslaw Mietkowski
Vice-Minister Roman Romkowski
Vice-Minister Konrad Swietlik 1
Vice-Minister Waclaw Lewikowski
Admtnistration
Political Police (UB) -
Internal Security Corps
Purges
2. The administrative and executive organs of the Ministry, collectively known
as the Directorate of Public Security (Urzad Bezpieczenstwa Publicnego UBP)
supervise a number of subordinate organs, organized and located so as to cover
all of Poland.
3. Under the Minister of Public Security and his four vice-ministers there are a
number of departments and divisions. Their designations and duties are
approximately as follows:
1st Department
2nd Department
3rd Department
4th Department
5th Department
CLASSIFICATION
Counter-espionage, control of aliens.
Registration of the population, archive
for current and closed cases.
Action against movements hostile to the
government.
Control of economic life, investigation and
disposition of matters under the juris7
diction of the public prosecutor.
Control of the Communist Party (PZPR) and
direction of propaganda. Control of the
"old" parties.
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STATE
ARMY
NAVY
AIR
NSRB
FB I
DISTRIBUTION
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6th Department
9th Department
Surveillance A spesial'dirtston for
internal (MIA -estionme ceoirtr 618'1033
functionariea.
Investigation and disposition of matters
under the jurisdiction of the military
prosecutor'.
'Me numbers of the following departments are not knoWn:
Personnel Department
Department of Prisons
Special Department
Recruitment of personnel, placement, and
transfer.. Training regulations for officers'
and non-commissioned officers' schools.
Custody ,of prisons and work camps.
Procurdient of agents and informers among
prisoners.These are employed as cell "plants'
and "stool pigeons" in prisons and camps,
but they are also, after their eventual
liberation, used against the general
population. This department must be regarded
as one of the principal arresting agencies.
EXeCutive Department
Department for Postal alad.
Courier Service
Department for Administration
and Supply
Ordnance Department Issuance of weapon permits to private
individuals.
Railway Division
4, The provinces (voivodships wojewodstwa) and counties (powiaty) have divisions
and sections which correspond to the departments of the Directorate and have
the same respective duties.
5. Under the Executive Department are those organs which the Ministry of Public
Security has at itsdisposal for the implementation of its duties:
a. The Ministry of Public Security's own agents ,-.the UB.
b. Police forces under the Ministry of the Interfier - the regular police, the
river and railway police.
c. The Defense Ministry's internal security forces -KBW and WOP.
6, The Ministry of Public Security's own agents are,organized along military lines;
they have military ranks and wear either uniforms or civilian clothes, depending
upon circumstances. The security forces mentioned in paragraph b and c above
are, for administrative purposes, under the Ministry of Interior and Ministry
of Defense, respectively. They are, however, at the disposal of the Ministry
of Public Security and its executive organs, which can requisition the services
of these forces either permanently or for the time which the immediate
situation requires.
7. KBW$ the Internal Security Corps, was formally established7as a special
military organization by resolution of the Council of Ministers on 24 May 1945.2
Actually, KBW was already in existence prior to 1945, since the 4th Infantry
Division (Kilinskiego), srvtcelorigades? and an ammult battalion,which,were
incorporated into General Berling's Army (1943-1945) for the purpose of Performing
security operations and other special tasks, came to form the nucleus of the
new organization.
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_3.
8. KBW headquarters is located in the Mokotow section in the south part of
Warsaw at the corner of Ulica Rakowiecka and Ulica Pulawska. The command center
for all KBW units, the Corps Staff, is located here. Existence of the following
divisions of the Corps Staff, has been confirmed:
1st Division (Operations and 0ommand)0.aud Diligton (Training), consisting of
two SectiOns; 3rd Division; 5th DivisicaL(Contacts); Personnel Division;
Organization Division (Party organization of PZPR); Political Indoctrination
Division; Supply Division; Ordnance Division; Medical Division; and the
Informacja (internal counter-espionage).
9. KBW units are distributed throught the country with probable concentration in
Warsaw an. the provincer bordering on the Soviet Union. It is taken for
granted that in each 'province there is aTBW force tf at least regiment strength,
there being, hoWeverlsOne uncertainty regarding the three newly established
provinces of Koszalin? Zielona Gora, and Opole which were created in the
afore-mentioned revision of 1950.
10. On the basis of available infOrmation? the probable disposition, though
incoppleter isas follows:
C-
Guard,Regimfft (Satodr7nityPillk,-Ochr-ony-Riadu) Warsaw
Tc
1st EBWSrtgade Gora Kalwaria
2nd " " Bialystok
3rd " Lublin
2nd OW Regiment
3rd " Warsaw
5th
10th
12th
14th
9th
6th
7th
8th
Poznan
Szczecin
Olsztyn
Wroclaw
Katowice
Kielce
Lodz
,Rzeszow
Gdansk
Bydgoszcz
Krakow
-.Toszalin
Zielona Gora
Opole
An 11th and 13th KBW Regiment do exist and are depItyeatin an area within the
seven last-named provinces, possibly in the provinces of Bydgoszcz and Gdansk
respectively.
11. On completion of the above outlined system, KBW is to consist of at least
3 brigades, 16 regiments, and the government guard, plus schools of various
types, The total strength of a brigade is approximately 2,400 men and that
Of a regiment is about 1,800 men. Recruit units are included in these figures
since they are placed under brigaded and regiments Basing calculation on the
information on KBW Units which is given below, the aggregate strength of KBW
can be estimated at approximately 37,000 men.
Company: 108 privates plus commissioned and non-commissioned officers, 3 platoons
Battalion: Battalion Staff, with, inter allay, the following units: Operations,
Personnel, Supply, and Liaison,
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3 Rifle Companies
Signal platoon
Engineer Platoon
Motorized Platoon.
Regiment: Regimental Staff, with'inter alai the following sections Operations,
Personnel, SupplY, and Liaison
3 Battalions.
Brigade: Brigade Staff, with,inter allay the following sections: Operations,
Personnel, Training, Supply, .Medical, Political, Ordnance? and
Informacja (internal counter-espionage)
4-5 Battalions.
12, The organization chart of a brigade, in outlinepis as followst
Chief
Brigade Staff
1st Battalion
2ndBattaliont 3rd Battalion
4th Battalion
Artillery Battalion
1st Company
4th Company
7th Company
10th Company
13th Company
2nd Company
5th Company
8th Company
11th Company
Cannon Company
3rd Company
6th Company
9th Company
. 12th Company
(uncertain)
KBW units are armed principally with infantry Weapons of Russian modelt rifles,
pistols,. machine pistols, and recoil-operated automatic rifles. Heavy weapons
have not been confirmed with certainty. Possibly, there are special units
directly under the KBW high command which are equipped with armored cars, tanks
and self-propelled guns. In 1949, materiel of this kind was housed in the KBW
barracks on Ulica Rakowiecka, but it has not been possible to confirm whether it
has been used:. Administrative use of the term. Bron Pancerna KEW (Armored
Branch of-W) indicates that such units exist. Utilization of a small armored
vehicle(Pancerka) has been confirmed.
14,. KBW is not completely motorized?. Troops are often transported via railway,
Brigades and regiments apparently have a motorized company and each battalion
is assigned a motorized platoon, normally consisting of one passenger car and
twelve trucks.. During operations, IW often borrows the necessary vehicles
from the local security authorities-. The vehicles used are GAZ 51, Star,
Willys.? and Dodge types.
15. Up to and including 1949, recruits were called up two times a year (April and
Novenber)? but this may have changed and recruits may now be inducted only once
a years Enlisted men conscripted for service in the security forces may later
be transferred to the Army or one of the other branches of the Armed Farces;
in likeintnner? personnel drafted into the Ilremy may be transferred to service
with the security forces.
16. A number of the conscripts having the necessary qualifications are immediately
placed in speCial training units for non-commissioned officers, while the rest
go: through basic training for about a year. The conscript is released after
15 months maximum service, except if he wished to retain in the permanent
service (sluzba Zawodawa).
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17. The training is rigid and follows schedules worked out by the training division
of the KBW staff. As a rule, there -seems to be a great deal of difficulty in
maintaining the training schedule, marksmanship training often lagging far
behind schedule. The reason for these difficulties lies in the system's lack
of f1ex1bility4 lack of training materiel and available firing ranges, and the
early entry of KBW soldiers into active-Service.
18. On the brigade and regimental level, political indoctrination is under the
direction of the deputy to the chief .(zastepca lolityczna). This officer
receives. his directives from the Political Section of the KEW high command.
Administratively, the political information operations aret on the regimental
and brigade level, under the political sections; on the battalion level, they
are under the political units,
19. The work of the United Polish Workers Party (PM) is carried on independently
with only members of the Party and the Union of Polish Youth (ZMP) taking part.
Political officers are always Party members and octUpy prominent positions in
the Party committees of their units. Party committees are formed in the units
down tO company\level. The following illustrative membership figures indicate
the strength Of 'company level party organizations. Company officers are Undoubted-
ly included in these figures:
3rd Battalion of the 2nd Brigade: Company 7
Company 8
Company 9
4th Battalion of the 1st Brigade: Company 10
Company 11
Company 12
1.
2.
- 16 members
19 members, 1 candidate
13 members, 3 candidates
14 members and candidates
.? 9 members and candidates
? 24 members and candidates.
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Comment: Konrad Swietlik was removed from his position in 1949
and replaced by Major General Juliusz Huebner (also, Hibner).
Comment: From 1945 to 19471 the KBW bore the name Wojska
Bezpieczenstwa Wewnetrznego (WBW- Internal Security Army), 50X1-HUM
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