Untried and unpunished: operational and common criminality of the Security Service (SB). An outline of the problem Cover Image

Nieosądzona i nieukarana operacyjna oraz pospolita przestępczość funkcjonariuszy Służby Bezpieczeństwa. Glosa do problemu
Untried and unpunished: operational and common criminality of the Security Service (SB). An outline of the problem

Author(s): Józef Brynkus
Subject(s): History
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Komisji Edukacji Narodowej w Krakowie
Keywords: repression apparatus in People’s Poland;security services;crimes of functionaries;secret collaborator;personal source of information

Summary/Abstract: The apparatus of repression in People’s Poland, including the security services, employed illegal methods also from the point of view of the contemporary law applicable to its functionaries. Unfortunately, today such activities are often considered justified due to the so-called service that the security services (UB, SB) rendered for communist Poland. The article presents selected cases of this criminal activity, which included invading the privacy of correspondence, practicing blackmail by the use of compromising materials (for example, regarding the person’s sexual preferences), and often combined with intimidation, cessation of investigation proceedings involving offenders, as well as tolerance of protection, nepotism, and alcoholism in the inner circles. While the legal assessment of these activities is challenging, their historical evaluation ought to be easy.

  • Issue Year: 2021
  • Issue No: 13
  • Page Range: 174-185
  • Page Count: 12
  • Language: Polish