Przygotowania do stanu wojennego
Preparations for the Martial Law in Opole Silesia

Summary/Abstract: The martial law introduced in the night of 12/13 December 1981 had been preceded by a many month political, organizational and legal preparations carried out by the apparatus wielding power in the Polish People’s republic, kept secret from society. From 18 august 1980 Sztab Komendy Wojewódzkiej Milicji Obywatelskiej (the Staff of the Provincial Commanding Headquarters of the Civic Militia) based in Opole had been coordinating actions of Służba Bezpieczeństwa (SB) /Security Service/ and Milicja Obywatelska (MO) /Civic militia/ within the operation framework „Summer-80”. From November 1980, there were made successive applications to isolate (intern) trade union and opposition activists in case a serious internal threat occurred. In the period between august and December 1981, similarly as on the territory of the whole country, there were introduced, in the area of Opole Province, several states of intensified alertness or higher readiness to act by units of the Civic militia. Among the functionaries of the MO and SB there was aroused and maintained the feeling of threat from the opposition forces. It was planned to call to life a self-defense formation consisting of activists of Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza (PZPR) /the Polish united workers’ Party/ and of former functionaries of the MO and SB. An element of the preparation for the imposition of the martial law in Poland was the activity of army-based operation groups being established since the end of October 1981. The operations under the cryptonyms „element” and „ring” carried out by the mo, SB and the army forces in November and December 1981 were of the similar character.

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