Relationships between the scientific communities and the Communist security apparatus are one of the most interesting and important topics in the socio-political history of the People’s Republic era. The nature of these relationships was extremely
complex and versatile; significantly more complicated than in the case of any other social environments. Scientific communities were supervised by Division III of the Security Service (SS), also involved in the fight against the political activities of the opposition. These environments were of interest to other operating divisions of the SS, in particular Division II, which dealt with issues like eradicating pro-German attitudes in the Opole province, and Division V, whose tasks included the fight against „Solidarity”. An important part in the surveillance of the scientific communities was played by the SS’s personal sources of information, derived both from scientists and auxiliary technical or administrative staff. Universities were not only an object of interest and operational activity for the SS. Over time, they began to play an increasingly important role as sources of highly qualified personnel for the security apparatus. Future Security Service officers employed the acquired knowledge and the capital of personal experience and contacts in later operations. A similar situation occurred in the case of officers in training at civilian universities or those trying to combine work in the SS with their own scientific careers. These issues are illustrated by the examples of the Silesian Institute, Higher School of Pedagogy and the Higher School of Engineering in Opole.