Język Polski
English
Zacharski – A True Story? Marian Zacharski’s Intelligence Activities in the Light of the Materials of Department I of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Polish People’s Republic
Władysław Bułhak
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0803-3061
Instytut Pamięci Narodowej
Bio(b. 1965), PhD with habilitation; a holder of a postdoctoral degree in security sciences, chief specialist in the Historical Research Office of the IPN Headquarters in Warsaw; co-organiser and former deputy director of the IPN Bureau of Public Education (2000–2006, 2011–2016); originator and co-organiser of a series of international conferences ‘Need to Know’ devoted to the history of intelligence (ten editions since 2011); visiting professor at the University of Southern Denmark in Odense (2019); member of the International Intelligence History Association (IIHA) and the Cold War Research Centre at the University of Southern Denmark, Odense. Author of the publications on Polish-Russian relations in the 19th and 20th centuries, the political thought of National Democracy and Roman Dmowski, intelligence and counterintelligence of the Polish underground during World War II, and Polish communist intelligence.
He has recently published a monograph entitled Wywiad PRL a Watykan, 1962–1978 [People’s Poland Intelligence and the Vatican, 1962–1978] (Warsaw, 2019)
Patryk Pleskot
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5627-8325
Instytut Pamięci Narodowej, Oddział w Warszawie i Uniwersytet Rzeszowski
BioPhD with habilitation, PhD in Political Sciences since 2015, PhD in Humanities in History since 2007, professor at the University of Rzeszów; graduate of the University of Warsaw and École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris; he also studied at the University of Nancy; was a scholarship
holder of the Foundation for Polish Science, the Ministry of National Education and the Government of the French Republic; a visiting fellow at the University of Western Sydney (2013); member of, among others, the Polish American Historical Association (PAHA), the Polish Studies Association (PSA), and the Baltic Intelligence and Security Studies Association (BISSA); currently, a chief specialist at the Branch Historical Research Office of the Institute of National Remembrance in Warsaw. Author of over 150 scientific articles and author, co-author or editor of about 40 books. Winner of, among others, the "Polityka" Historical Awards, the KLIO Award, and the "Historical Book of the Year" competition
Aparat Represji w Polsce Ludowej 1944-1989, No. 19 (2021), pages: 752-786
Publication date: 2023-03-29
https://doi.org/10.48261/ARPRL211919
PDF (Język Polski)
Abstract
The article presents the intelligence activity of Marian Zacharski, who was probably the best-known spy of the People’s Republic of Poland. The analysis is based on archival records declassified a few years ago and kept in the Institute of National Remembrance. They make it possible to verify the self-portrait drawn by Zacharski (and by some journalists) and reveal a somewhat less heroic image of the main character, who was portrayed as an experienced intelligence officer from the very beginning. However, one cannot be overwhelmingly impressed by documents produced by the communist Security Service and claim that they present a full-scale profile of Zacharski. However, they constitute one more element necessary to create such an image.
Keywords
wywiad PRL • Zacharski • dokumentacja SB • IPN PRL intelligence service • Zacharski • SB documentation • IPN
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