Język Polski
English
Warszawska Pielgrzymka Piesza w świetle dokumentów operacyjnych Służby Bezpieczeństwa znajdujących się w zbiorach Archiwum Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej w Warszawie
Przegląd Archiwalny Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej, Nr 10 (2017), strony: 221–262
Data publikacji: 2023-04-05
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Abstrakt
Every year, the Warsaw Walking Pilgrimage to Częstochowa was a challenge for the Communist authorities in Poland to engage both the security and administration authorities to keep it under surveillance and victimize its participants. The Ministry of the Interior initiated and coordinated “exploratory, neutralising and preventive actions”. A standard set of actions undertaken by the Security Service comprised preventive (e.g. interviews with organizers, multiplication of thebureaucratic requirements), propaganda and provocative measures of a disintegrating nature (the most difficult to prove due to the covering of tracks and meticulous destruction of documents), as well as criminal and administrative repression after the pilgrimage. Available technical security means and personal information sources were also used to keep the pilgrimage under surveillance. The case of the 247. Warsaw Walking Pilgrimage of 1963, which was deemed “illegal” and prohibited under the pretext of a chicken pox epidemic, turned out to be particularly interesting. Three years later, the Communist authorities ordered a record mobilization of officers to operationally secure the 250. Jubilee Warsaw Walking Pilgrimage celebrating the millennium year. The operation code-named “Twilight” was secured by 1723 officers who used 30 radio cars, over 20 motorcycles, 45 trucks, 2 water cannons, and 5 chemical launchers.
